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Nancy Grace

Brittany Smith Found Alive in San Francisco

Aired December 10, 2010 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SAM CHAMPION, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight. Out of Virginia, literally as we go on the air tonight, they have found her. Twelve-year- old Brittany Smith has been located by investigators with the man accused of kidnapping her, 32-year-old Jeffrey Easley, a man her mother meets on the Internet just months before moving him into the home, the same home where she`s found dead and Brittany`s taken from.

We are standing by for a live news conference. Twelve-year-old Brittany Smith and Jeffrey Easley are found all the way across the country, in San Francisco. And it`s all on the heels of investigators releasing this brand-new, chilling surveillance video from a Virginia Wal-Mart. Now, the surveillance video shows 32-year-old Jeffrey Easley buying a tent, a sleeping bag and other camping gear, all while using Brittany`s mom`s credit card. And not only that, Easley taking a call on his cell phone at the register. Who`s he talking to? But the big news tonight is 12-year- old Brittany Smith is found alive.

And good evening. I`m Sam Champion of ABC`s "Good Morning America," in for Nancy Grace. We want to go to this story, but we also want to tell you that the presser`s going on right now. Let`s listen.

CHIEF RAY LAVINDER, ROANOKE, VA, POLICE: Good evening. It is with a tremendous sense of relief that I say tonight that we have located Brittany. She is well, and she is in good hands at this time. We`ve also located Mr. Easley. Mr. Easley is in custody with the San Francisco police. It`s been a long evening. We understand that Brittany has been in touch with her family, and I`m sure they`re anxiously awaiting her return to Virginia.

We have a lot of events unfolding here. A lot of things are happening quickly, and we are doing everything possible to gain as much information as possible. But please understand that the information we have at this time is very limited.

Brittany and Mr. Easley apparently were in a retail store, where they were recognized by someone who had seen the wanted posters or the alerts, something of that sort. They notified the San Francisco police, who responded to the area and located Mr. Easley and arrested him, and made sure that Brittany was safe.

QUESTION: [ inaudible ].

LAVINDER: I`m sorry?

QUESTION: You say the police responded. Were they arrested in the store?

LAVINDER: No, sir. The call came in to us around 6:00 PM. We`re continuing to work throughout the night with the San Francisco police to gain additional details. We will have detectives from Roanoke County responding to San Francisco as soon as we can get a flight out of Roanoke, or any other close by city. We`re anxious to get there.

I just can`t say enough about the help that you folks in the media have provided us, and I think without your support and getting the word out, we might not be where we are tonight. But we`re so very pleased, and I want you to know how much we appreciate your help and assistance in finding Brittany.

I also want to thank the FBI, the Marshals Service, Roanoke city police, Salem police, Secret Service. And I`m sure I missed one or two persons, but please forgive me if I`ve missed anyone. But we`ve just had fantastic assistance. It`s a great evening for us, and we are so very pleased to report this to you tonight.

QUESTION: Chief, what`s the connection to San Francisco, California? I mean, that`s not a state that you guys threw out there, you know, the entire week. Any idea what the connection is?

LAVINDER: I don`t at this time.

QUESTION: Where were they arrested? And did he put up a fight or just surrender? Was he armed?

LAVINDER: I understand that there was no resistance.

QUESTION: Do you know if they`ve been there all week? Have they been traveling during the week?

LAVINDER: I really don`t know. We`re just getting bits and pieces of the facts right now. And as I said, we`re going to be working with them throughout the night to gain as much information as we can. And hopefully, we can report that to you maybe at a later time.

QUESTION: Do we know when Brittany`s coming back to Virginia?

LAVINDER: I would say as soon as we can make travel arrangements for her. We may have to deal with social services out there. But as I said, she`s been in touch with her family. They are very relieved, and I`m assuming that maybe a family member will go out there and escort her back.

QUESTION: Does Brittany know that her mom is dead?

LAVINDER: Yes.

QUESTION: How did she find out?

LAVINDER: I don`t know.

QUESTION: Any idea (INAUDIBLE) Brittany`s state, how she was when Easley was arrested?

LAVINDER: No. I...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

LAVINDER: I understand that she is well and she`s not harmed. There are no visible signs of injury.

QUESTION: Is she in the care of social services now?

LAVINDER: I don`t know.

QUESTION: Did you locate the vehicle at all, the Dodge Neon?

LAVINDER: It`s my understanding they`re still looking for the vehicle.

QUESTION: Have police had a chance to speak with Easley and question him?

LAVINDER: I think they`re questioning him at this time. They haven`t relayed any information to us about him.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) where were they arrested? You said they were seen in a retail store, but the police didn`t arrest them in the store.

LAVINDER: No, they were located somewhere near a tent, which was apparently located within walking distance from the retail store. And you know, I`m trying to give you as much information as I can and be as candid with you as I can, but I do know that there was a tent involved and I know it was near a retail store of some sort.

QUESTION: Do you know what the store is?

LAVINDER: No, I don`t have the name of the store.

QUESTION: Chief, can you just describe just sort of your feelings when you hear this alert store clerk all the way out in San Francisco -- here we are in Roanoke, Virginia, hundreds of miles away -- saw this and knew something was wrong and had the initiative to make that phone call?

LAVINDER: It`s a fantastic sense of relief. And I know in my heart that it`s due to information that you folks put out and the national news media, and as it was relayed to them. And it`s just a tremendous sense of relief.

QUESTION: Now that Jeff Easley is in custody, will he be extradited back to Virginia? How does that happen?

LAVINDER: We would have to take him before some type of judicial official in San Francisco, and he would have to waive extradition. If he refuses to waive extradition, we`ll have to have some hearings, which could take as long as 30 days or maybe up to several months. Hopefully, he`ll waive extradition and be back with us in Virginia here within the next week.

QUESTION: What kind of charges is he facing? I know he has previous ones. But are we seeing additional ones now that he`s in custody?

LAVINDER: We have not made any additional charges at this time.

QUESTION: OK, now that we know he`s in custody, are you willing to reveal how Tina Smith died?

LAVINDER: No, sir.

QUESTION: Chief, if you could just talk about -- because a lot of times with cases like this, they don`t end well. This one has today. So can you just talk again about how happy you are that she will be returned safe and sound to her family?

LAVINDER: I can`t express it. I`m happy. Believe me, I`m happy. And it`s difficult to put into words. We have together worked through this for the entire week, and I think we`ve talked about it between each and all of us and all of us wanted so much for her to be safe and well and get back to Roanoke OK.

QUESTION: Chief, can you describe how you found out? Was it a phone call? From whom? And sort of share that with us?

LAVINDER: Yes, sir. The San Francisco police called Sergeant Mason (ph) upstairs, who was kind of in charge of the investigation, and relayed the information to him, had a few questions for him. And sure enough, it was the folks we were looking for.

QUESTION: What time were they arrested San Francisco time? Obviously, they`re on the West Coast.

LAVINDER: We got information around 6:00 o`clock, so I would say that`s around 3:00 o`clock.

QUESTION: What was the atmosphere like upstairs when that call came through (INAUDIBLE)

LAVINDER: It`s a party atmosphere, believe me!

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Chief, do we have any idea how long -- I know we`ve asked this -- but do we have any reason to believe that they had stopped several times along the way to San Francisco, or could they have been there the whole week?

LAVINDER: I just don`t know. I don`t have a timeline. Hopefully, we will be able to relay that to you sometime in the future.

QUESTION: Do you have any idea whether she went with Easley on her own or whether he forced her to go with him?

LAVINDER: We don`t know at this time. I understand that she is talking with the police officials in San Francisco, so we should know something pretty quickly.

QUESTION: Who made the phone call to her family that she had been found?

LAVINDER: I`m not sure. It may have been Mr. Mason. I`m not sure who called the family, but they did call the family as soon as we knew she was safe.

QUESTION: Do you expect to charge Mr. Easley with murder?

LAVINDER: I don`t know. I don`t know. That`s something that is going to happen in the future. We`re starting to really ramp up the investigation of murder, and so we`ll see some things happen, hopefully, within the next week.

QUESTION: Chief, I know (INAUDIBLE) you`re the head of the department and everything, but I know you mentioned that Lieutenant Mason, he got the call from San Francisco. Is there any way he could talk to us a little bit about that call and what that was like receiving that call personally?

LAVINDER: Sure. Sure.

QUESTION: If you don`t mind. I hate to put you on the spot.

LAVINDER: Kevin Faust (ph) with the FBI -- he`s here tonight with us, and he has asked to say a few words. And if it`s OK if he says a few words, and then we`ll get Lieutenant Mason up here. I called him Sergeant Mason, but he is a lieutenant. He`s been a lieutenant forever. My mind is not totally clear right now, but -- Kevin?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ll be very brief. Obviously, we`re very relieved on the news tonight, and there are many people across the United States to thank. And hopefully, they will all be thanked in the proper time as the days go forward. But on behalf of all the agencies that came together to work this case, the FBI, Virginia State Police, U.S. Marshals Service, National Center for Exploited and Missing Children, I personally. on behalf of all these agencies, would love to give a huge thank you to Chief Lavinder of Roanoke County Police Department for their excellent, excellent leadership in this matter. The chief brought together the necessary...

CHAMPION: Brittany Smith is found alive. You are watching as it happens, the press conference out of Roanoke, Virginia. And let`s just go over what you`ve heard. Seen in a retail store -- we`ve confirmed it`s a Safeway. They are recognized by a clerk. The clerk calls the San Francisco police. So much of the investigation had been around the Virginia idea, Kentucky, all the way down into Florida. This is in San Francisco. So they call the San Francisco police. Twelve-year-old Brittany is safe. Thirty-two-year-old Easley is in custody.

This is kind of -- it`s an incredible set-up for this story because there just weren`t a lot of clues coming out in this, until tonight, it breaks, and just moments before we go on the air. We`ll answer all the questions when we come back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVINDER: Brittany and Mr. Easley apparently were in a retail store where they were recognized by someone who had seen the wanted posters or the alerts, something of that sort. They notified the San Francisco police, who responded to the area, and located Mr. Easley and arrested him, and made sure that Brittany was safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LAVINDER: The call came in to us around 6:0 PM. We`re continuing to work throughout the night with the San Francisco police to gain additional details. We will have detectives from Roanoke county responding to San Francisco as soon as we can get a flight out of Roanoke or any other close by city. We`re anxious to get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMPION: You are watching it live as it happens. That`s the press conference out of Roanoke right here on NANCY GRACE.

Good evening. I`m Sam Champion, in for Nancy tonight. And it happened right in front of us. Let me just go over this press conference for a moment. They were seen in a retail store, 12-year-old Brittany and 32-year-old Easley, both in custody now, Brittany safe and sound, recognized by a store clerk in a Safeway that they were in. It seems that they were just walking distance from a campsite. It`s believed they might have been there. Brittany does know -- indeed, Brittany does know that her mother is dead.

Let`s go right to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent with truTV`s "In Session." Jean, it`s been an incredible week with very few clues, and now this bombshell right in front of our eyes tonight. Take us back to a little bit of a timeline, if you would.

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Well, you know, it`s amazing. And it`s been a week, and authorities were very concerned because that one-week mark out can be very significant. And they couldn`t find Brittany. And they had Amber Alerts, electronic billboards all over the Southeast near Virginia. And it looks like they took flight to California.

And we want to say, Sam, one other thing. We have just learned that that store clerk that went to police San Francisco, she recognized both of them from a show on the CNN network. This show, NANCY GRACE, she`s been doing this story all week.

CHAMPION: No doubt.

CASAREZ: If it at all helped in finding Brittany, that is the value of a show just like this.

CHAMPION: Absolutely. And Nancy`s the only one who will take these stories and just doggedly pursue them until somebody comes up with an answer to them. You`ve been on the show and on the stories all week, as long -- all week, as well. So the most surprising thing that came out of the press conference, what was it for you?

CASAREZ: You know, I think it was San Francisco. I never dreamed San Francisco. They had an Amber Alert in Florida last night. And I think, legally speaking, that that could come into a court of law, taking flight, consciousness of guilt, going all across the country, where authorities, you wouldn`t think, would find you. But they sure did.

CHAMPION: Well, now that we know that Brittany is safe and she`s talking to the San Francisco police, I have to just concentrate on Brittany for a moment before we even go all the different ways in this story.

Dr. Michael Hunter, chief medical examiner, Panama City, Florida, and a forensic pathologist -- Michael, I have to guess that Brittany is going to go through some kind of physical exam with them during this questioning. She`s 12 years old. She`s been with a 32-year-old man for a good part of the week here, and we`re all highly suspicious of what may have happened to her here. So tell me what they`re going to do with Brittany now.

DR. MICHAEL HUNTER, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, PANAMA CITY: Right. Well, you know, she needs to be interviewed in a very non-threatening environment. She needs to be interviewed by someone who has expertise in child protection. That type of information`s going to guide what happens further.

Now, if there`s a question about possible sexual assault on the part of the male here, she`s going to have to undergo likely an examination in one of the child protection units, usually in San Francisco area. And you know, that`s something that may happen. But all that information`s going to be coming out, I think, very quickly from her with someone who`s skilled in speaking with young children like that.

CHAMPION: Michael, we find out that she`s been with this man and she knows that her mother`s dead. We don`t know when she found out. But we`ve seen some of the pictures of her walking through the store earlier this week, and we`ve got more tape that we`re going to go through tonight. And I`m sure there`s footage of them walking through the Safeway. But I mean, what`s her state of mind like now? What do you think?

HUNTER: Yes, you know, I -- who knows. But you know, that type of trauma can be very, very detrimental to that child. The information that she has that we need to find out about, that that child protection team needs to find out about, may be locked away for a bit. You have to give her a chance to release that to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVINDER: She`s been in touch with her family. They`re very relieved, and I`m assuming that maybe a family member will go out there and escort her back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Does Brittany know that her mom is dead?

LAVINDER: Yes.

QUESTION: How did she find out?

LAVINDER: I don`t know.

QUESTION: Any idea (INAUDIBLE) Brittany`s state, how she was when Easley was arrested?

LAVINDER: No, I...

QUESTION: Her appearance, or she was hurt or anything?

LAVINDER: I understand that she is well and she`s not harmed, or there are no visible signs of injury.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMPION: Twelve-year-old Brittany is with police and safe in San Francisco. She is safe. Easley is in custody. With us tonight on the phone is Brittany`s great-aunt, Lois Choquette Lois is also the aunt of Tina Smith, who we need to remember is Brittany`s mother who was found dead on Friday. So Lois, are you with us?

LOIS CHOQUETTE, BRITTANY`S GREAT-AUNT (via telephone): Yes, I am.

CHAMPION: First of all, I need to say that we are so sorry for your family`s loss, and we are at the same time excited about this news. So how is the family? How are you guys now?

CHOQUETTE: Everybody here is just elated. There are so many tears, I`m afraid we may flood South Boston.

CHAMPION: Well, have you talked to Brittany?

CHOQUETTE: I have not talked to her. Her father has talked to her, and he was -- he was -- he couldn`t even believe it was her. He wanted to know for sure that it was her. He asked her for the name of his dog and the name of her dog to make sure it was her.

CHAMPION: So he just had to be going through all kinds of emotion, and getting a chance to talk to Brittany, when, you`re right, I guess you guys were thinking that that might not happen. What did they tell you about Brittany in this situation, Brittany with Easley? What did they tell you?

CHOQUETTE: When they found her?

CHAMPION: Yes, ma`am.

CHOQUETTE: They didn`t tell us too much of anything. They just said that they had found her and that she was OK.

CHAMPION: And when she`s talking to her father, what were the questions he was asking her? How does she feel? Is she OK?

CHOQUETTE: I did not talk to the father. I talked to his sister.

CHAMPION: OK.

CHOQUETTE: And she told me that.

CHAMPION: But we know that Brittany`s OK and she did get a chance to talk to her father.

CHOQUETTE: Yes, she did.

CHAMPION: They told us in the press conference that she does know that her mother is dead. And was that something that they mentioned came out in that conversation?

CHOQUETTE: I don`t know if she talked to him about that at all. I heard that on TV, was the first time that I had heard it also.

CHAMPION: We are so thrilled for this bit of news, yet so sorry for what you and your family are going through tonight. We thank you...

CHOQUETTE: It`s been a terrible thing, but we are just so thankful. And I want to thank everybody for all the prayers that they have given for Brittany.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE CHIEF RAY LAVINDER, ROANOKE CO. POLICE, ON THE CASE: It is with a tremendous sense of relief that I say tonight that we have located Brittany. She is well and she is in good hands at this time.

We`ve also located Mr. Easley. Mister Easley is in custody with the San Francisco Police.

It has been a long evening. We understand that Brittany has been in touch with her family and I`m sure they are anxiously awaiting her return to Virginia.

We have a lot of events unfolding here, a lot of things are happening quickly, and we`re doing everything possible to gain as much information as possible, but please understand that the information we have at this time is very limited.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SAM CHAMPION, GUEST HOST: Good evening. I`m Sam Champion in for Nancy Grace.

And it all happened right here, right on this show live, right in front of you, out of Roanoke, that press conference that says 12-year-old Brittany Smith is safe. She`s talking with police right now.

Let`s go to Paul Penzone, former sergeant, Phoenix PD, and child advocate.

Paul, from a police standpoint, this bombshell discovery of these two found in -- of all places -- San Francisco, California, nobody`s thinking that they might be there or looking for them there, and now we have this big question that comes up in the press conference of extradition.

So what happens now? What do they do now in this case?

PAUL PENZONE, DIRECT OF PREVENTION PROGRAMS, CHILDHELP.ORG, FMR. SERGEANT, PHOENIX PD: Well, I want to point two things were critical as to why this was just -- this is a heroic recovery for this young lady to still be alive.

But that police department did an exceptional job of keeping the focus on her and not allowing for it to be diverted with details of that homicide. That was key, because what that did, it made the exposure about recovery.

And the fact that the news media, this show particularly, was so engaged that where we thought she was in the southeast and she literally ended up in the northwest, that`s why we were able to recover her safely because people were engaged by what they were seeing looking for this little girl.

Extradition, really, unless things have changed much, the process is not so much probable cause for the crime itself, but that you have a crime and that the person in custody is the person you`re looking for, that you can prove that identity.

It does take about 30 days should they try to fight it but if he`s willing to waive that, he could be back in Virginia within a few days. But this is just an amazing situation.

Now, for that little girl, one thing I want to point out, when there are victims of sexual abuse, what they go through to recover from that is traumatic and extremely difficult. But she has an added variable. And that is that she may know information about that homicide. So she`s got a long road to recovery and she`ll need a lot of love and support.

CHAMPION: Absolutely, Paul, because here -- here are some things that we don`t know even though a lot came out in this press conference. We don`t know if Brittany saw any of this happen. We don`t know when she was told that her mother, that police say her mother was murdered.

We just don`t know any of this right now. And so here`s a 12-year-old -- this is a little girl. This is just a little girl who is having to deal with this, being taken across the country, and all of this coming in at one time.

Kelly Saindon, you`re a former --

PENZONE: There`s an additional --

CHAMPION: Go ahead.

PENZONE: I was just going to say there`s an additional factor to keep in mind. She may be a critical witness. If he shared information with her while they were -- while they were on the run there, or if she saw anything at all, she`s a witness in this trial, in the future trial, so there are so many variables that are just very upsetting for this poor little girl to have to go through.

CHAMPION: And, you know, there was all this new tape released today, six minutes of new tape of them in this Virginia Wal-Mart, where she`s walking very close to him, but there`s really not a lot of contact between them, and when you watch this tape, it actually -- you know, just casually if you`re watching it, it gives you chills to think of this situation.

This girl isn`t happy and speaking out and they`re not moving around the store. She`s staying very close to him, almost as if she was directed to stay very close to him.

Kelly Saindon, you`re a former prosecutor, as I was going to say. You`re a family law attorney now. When we talk about this and we never want to forget that Brittany is a victim, certainly, here.

What do they do about extradition of Easley? What`s your first -- if you`re prosecuting, what`s the first thing you do to get him back so we can get some answers?

KELLY SAINDON, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, you immediately file a motion to have him extradited back and he really -- he`s crossed state lines, he took a minor across multiple states, I don`t really think you`re going to have a problem doing it.

It should be pretty easy to drag him back and start investigating the murder but separate and apart we have the credit card fraud, we have the identify theft, we have the abduction of the minor, because even if she went with him willingly, Brittany can`t consent to anything. She`s not an adult and she`s 12.

CHAMPION: Absolutely. And there are people that are saying, did she go willingly? And I just want to say, she`s 12 years old. Nothing of this is willingly. She would be easily led in a situation and easily manipulated in a situation, and you`re right to bring up the fact that he was using Brittany`s mom`s credit cards on Friday, the day that police believe Brittany`s mom was actually murdered.

So all of this combined together -- all right, we`re going to put some law on this and see what happens.

Randy Kessler, defense attorney. Randy, let`s say you`re defending him. What do you do? Do you start fighting extradition? Do you say there`s no proof? What`s your line here?

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, my hands are sort of tied. And he tied my hands. He should have turned himself in as soon as he knew he was wanted. You know the fact that he was caught means he didn`t do anything to try to mitigate the circumstances.

You know there is the death penalty in Virginia, if you purposefully, willfully, deliberately, premeditatedly murdered somebody in the course of an abduction, he could face the death penalty.

I`m begging for a life sentence or I`m begging for some sort of plea. And, you know, the best hope is that she doesn`t testify. This little girl -- you know, she may have bonded with her captor, she may have identified with him, but sooner or later she`s going to get back to reality and she is going to defend her mom and her family.

And that`s when he`s in trouble. If there`s a deal to be got, he should try to get it.

CHAMPION: And Randy, we need to say that police have not named him as a suspect in the murder. They did have a warrant out, and I believe it was a felony for abduction but he has not been charged or named as a suspect in this murder.

We just know -- to go backwards just a little bit -- that he was the boyfriend. He moved into the house with Brittany and her mother, and then we know that she -- Brittany`s mom was found dead and Brittany was gone from the house.

So Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, author of "How Can You Defend Those People," that is my question to you. Who is going to take this case?

MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": Well, there`ll be a lot of lawyers who will take this case. Not necessarily for publicity or for money but just because they believe it`s the right thing to do. You know the noblest, you know, spirit of criminal defense.

Couple of observations I just like to make.

CHAMPION: Sure.

SHERMAN: This really -- this case demonstrates the value of a couple of things. Number one, surveillance cameras. Good quality surveillance cameras. And most importantly, the value of shows like the NANCY GRACE show, of course, the genre was invented by John Walsh, just to get this person`s name and picture out there is what saved this girl`s life.

And the last thing I just want to mention is how professional the police chief was in his news conference. He was just so media-unsavvy. And I say that in the most admirable way.

I don`t know this, I do know this, I know that, I don`t know that, I know this. He wasn`t there to politic. He was there to say what he saw. It was like the real Andy Griffith.

CHAMPION: Yes, I got to say that`s true. These -- the folks who have been working on this case and publicly giving interviews have been wonderful and actually expressing their concern for Brittany and the family the entire time. And it`s been refreshing to kind of see that taken.

Sheila Ellis, you`re a reporter for the "Roanoke Times," you`ve been working on this story. You have actually had a lot of inside information on this. Did you -- but you couldn`t have seen this coming because we didn`t see this coming tonight, this press conference in San Francisco.

What have you learned, if anything, from your contact since then about that?

SHEILA ELLIS, REPORTER, ROANOKE TIMES: Well, we have -- actually we know just as much as you guys do, pretty much, from after the press conference.

As we heard, the police chief is not giving out much more information. We are just thrilled that Brittany is safe. We did speak with the grandmother and she did say that they are ecstatic. She said that the families are, quote, "bouncing off the walls."

CHAMPION: Yes. We spoke with Lois Choquette, Brittany`s great-aunt, and said the same thing. And even as difficult as it is, just barely not even a week after knowing that Brittany`s mother was found murdered but to know that Brittany is safe, the family seems to be kind of celebrating that moment.

Just quickly, Jean Casarez, I want to go back to you for just a second. Anything that you have found out since we saw that press conference that we need to know?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Yes. We`ve got some more information coming in. What we`re learning is that four detectives are actually going to be on their way from the Virginia area to San Francisco, two for Brittany and two for Easley.

Now if he fights extradition, they will be there for awhile. But Brittany is currently in the custody of the child protective services in California tonight.

CHAMPION: And that is tricky. It`s got to be.

Jeff Gardere, you`re psychologist, contributor to healthguru.com. When they`re dealing with someone like Brittany, she`s 12 years old, you know we see these pictures and she looks older and she looks like she`s confident. And we`ve seen her Facebook pages and she has confidence, but she`s just a child.

And how do you go about getting information from her in this situation?

JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST, CONTRIBUTOR TO HEALTHGURU.COM: Well, the forensic physician that you had on earlier I think answered that question by saying you have to have someone who`s trained, who has worked with kids and who can understand that she`s traumatized and they have to do this very carefully. They have to gain her trust and go very slowly, Sam.

CHAMPION: There is so much more to this story. We`ll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVINDER: I understand that she is well and she`s not harmed. There are no visible signs of injury.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is she in the care of social services now?

LAVINDER: I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you located the vehicle at all, the Dodge Neon?

LAVINDER: It`s my understanding they`re still looking for the vehicle.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVINDER: I can`t express it. I`m happy, believe me, I`m happy. And it`s difficult to put into words. And we have together worked through this for the entire week, and I think we`ve talked about it, between each and all of us, and all of us wanted so much for her to be safe and well and get back to Roanoke OK.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMPION: Twelve-year-old Brittany is safe, 32-year-old Easley, in custody tonight. And this story unfolding right before our very eyes. There`s still stuff going on right now as we`re on the air because we are being told that Brittany is safe with San Francisco police, and she`s talking to them right now.

Found in a retail store, recognized by someone who saw them on a TV show, much like this? Called San Francisco police, police come to the scene. They are at -- as we said, the Safeway. And now there`s a camp nearby.

KRON confirms it`s a Safeway north of Golden Gate Park, so it would make sense that that might be the park. We also find out that Brittany knows her mother was murdered.

Our first caller tonight, Terry from Pennsylvania. Sorry you had to wait so long, Terry, but there`s so much happening this hour.

TERRY, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Oh, that`s OK. And it`s just absolutely wonderful that she`s been found and my condolences to her family on the loss of her mother.

CHAMPION: Absolutely.

TERRY: Also as a mother who at one time experienced a missing child, I would like to thank Nancy and the HLN Network for putting this show on the air, because it`s very crucial that this information gets broadcast and as we see in this case, from where you are until San Francisco, that this girl is actually able to be brought home safely is a marvelous, marvelous thing. Thanks to the media.

CHAMPION: Oh, Terry, absolutely. And -- I mean, just witness what happened tonight, you need no more proof than there is a reason that these pictures have to be shown and someone has to go after this story.

Jeff Gardere, let me go back to you for just a moment. And let me show you or watch with me some of the six minutes of brand new tape. We thought we`d be leading with this tonight, because this was brand new today.

Six minutes and they`re in this store in Norfolk, and they`re walking out and they`re actually stopped. You see in the tape that they`re walking together but she`s very close to him, but she`s not -- there`s not any contact, and then they`re stopped as they`re walking out because they trigger an alarm, and two guards come up to talk to them.

They`re then let go and you know those guards didn`t know -- this was Friday, they didn`t know that Brittany was missing. Nobody knew. There you see Brittany in the orange sweater right there.

When you watch this with us, Jeff, what do you see?

GARDERE: Well, what I see is a situation where a lot of people can mistake this as being that she has in fact done this willingly or they`re questioning why she didn`t run, and the answer is really quite simple. Either she was being threatened in a way that we really can`t see right now -- we see that with predators all the time, Sam.

They`ll tell the child if you scream, if you run, if you say anything, I will kill a relative, I have perhaps killed your mom in this case but I will hurt you or hurt someone else that you love.

And of course, the other thing that may be going on and you alluded to this, was some sort of Stockholm syndrome where the captive becomes dependent on that individual for her life, for her survival, and therefore, there is some sort of simpatico that`s going on but all of is part of a brainwashing and so when she does come to her senses, when she starts getting through some of this trauma, she is going to be able to say exactly what was on her mind. And the fact that she was traumatized, that she`s angry, that she`s scared for her life.

CHAMPION: Jean Casarez, I want to talk to you for just a moment because all this week, you were talking and I watched you. And you were on it talking about the relationship between the three of them, Brittany`s mother, Brittany and Easley, all being played out in social media.

What do we know? Do we believe that Brittany was afraid of him? Do we believe that she liked him? They had nicknames for each other? What do we get out of that?

CASAREZ: You know, I think we can go both ways on that, Sam. We don`t know. We know that Brittany`s mother met Easley on the Internet. He moved in in October -- that`s not that long ago. And so he was a live-in boyfriend, but it seemed like Brittany and Easley got along really, really well.

How well, we don`t know. We do know that her grandmother and her aunt were very concerned over Thanksgiving that he was touching her hair a little bit too much. The looks were just a little too long from Easley, and so I think it`s anybody`s guess what has happened to this young woman at this point.

CHAMPION: Well, I`ll tell you what I don`t like when I hear some of this stuff, I hear the nicknames going back and forth between a 32-year-old man and a 12-year-old. She looks very composed and almost adult-like in some of these pictures, but then you catch the little glimpse of her and you realize that she`s only, only 12 years old.

And he has a nickname for her like short stack and she calls him -- I don`t even know if I`m right on this, but somebody yell at me in my ear if I`m not, because I don`t want to mischaracterize this. But HCB or handcuff buddy?

I don`t even like what that sounds like. I don`t -- I don`t want to know. And now to know that the grandmother and the great-aunt are there at Thanksgiving and they see some -- as they`ve described it, some touching and they call, they call human services, right, and they say I see something I don`t like, I want somebody to investigate, and nobody investigates.

CASAREZ: And you know, Sam, that`s the common denominator in how many cases that they call the Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services, and that`s where it ends. And finally they called back, Sam, and guess what, that`s when the grandmother said it`s too late, she`s gone.

CHAMPION: That`s -- you know who we still have on the phone, Jean? So I`d like to go back to her, is Brittany`s great aunt.

Lois Choquette. Lois, I know you`ve been listening and I don`t -- in some way I know how tough this is for you because you have a loss in your family, and I know how joyous this moment is for you because Brittany is coming back to you as soon as she can get back.

But take me back to the conversations with other family members about what you all might have thought was inappropriate between Easley and Brittany. What were people uncomfortable with?

LOIS CHOQUETTE, GREAT-AUNT OF BRITTANY SMITH: I know that it was inappropriate. They were at my house, and he was stroking her hair. He was touching her hand. And if they had stayed very long, I probably would have said something that day, but I didn`t.

I called the mother. The first of the week and I asked her about it. And she said that she had talked to Brittany and that nothing inappropriate had happened and that he was leaving soon.

CHAMPION: So she said he was leaving soon.

CHOQUETTE: Yes. And I said well, you call me when he`s gone. I want to know.

CHAMPION: So now --

CHOQUETTE: She never called.

CHAMPION: So you called Salem and Halifax social services?

CHOQUETTE: Yes, I did.

CHAMPION: And one of them doesn`t respond to you, the other one gets back to you on Monday, you called on a Friday because you`re uncomfortable with this. Now you honestly, and all of us here and at home know that you did the best you could with the situation. There`s nothing more that you could have done. But how do you feel about that?

CHOQUETTE: I was very upset. I don`t know that it would have saved Tina, but it would have certainly given them a couple of extra days looking for Brittany.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAMPION: And now a look back at the stories making the headlines this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Search for the brother and sister.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Three-year-old Chase and 4-year-old Natalie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to find these children.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The father, John DeBlase.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Behind bars, charged with child abuse and two counts of abuse of a corpse.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said no, you didn`t kill them.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There`s a dead body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty-one-year-old Tina Smith.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her daughter, 12-year-old little girl.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Brittany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brittany Smith is with Mr. Easley.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: No stranger to a police cell, people.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Is she breathing at all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is not!

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did the doctor murder his wife?

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK, your wife is unconscious?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is unconscious. She`s underwater.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Authorities now reviewing possible homicide charges for the death of Michelle MacNeill.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Is she conscious?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s not. I`m a physician. I need help.

GRACE: The 12-year-old little girl, gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Caught on surveillance tape.

GRACE: Surveillance taken from a local Wal-Mart.

LAVINDER: We are extremely concerned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elizabeth Johnson, 7-24-86.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Allegedly confessed to a San Antonio Police detective that she killed baby Gabrielle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t really know what to say but everything is so false.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But the confession reportedly saved during an unauthorized meeting.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, BABY GABRIELLE`S FATHER: I asked her, where is he? And she said that I stuffed him in a diaper bag. And she suffocated him and put him in a diaper bag and threw him in the dumpster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The search for him is still on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Initially had been what appeared to be an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tried, convicted and in prison for killing his newlywed wife in 2003.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You never think that your daughter will leave for her honeymoon and her husband will kill her.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CHAMPION: And now, tonight, let`s stop to remember, Navy Hospitalman Robert Nathan Martens, 20 years old from Queen Creek, Arizona, killed in Iraq. He was awarded the Fleet and Marine Force pen, Navy Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and Iraqi Campaign Medal.

He loved football, baseball, animals, hiking in the mountains, dancing with his mother in the kitchen. He dreamed of being a pediatrician. He leaves behind parents Rob and Maria, his brother Matthew, his sister Bobbie -- his sister Bobbie Ann, grieving widow Erin and daughter Riley Jill.

Robert Nathan Martens, a true American hero. A true American hero.

Thank you to all of our guests tonight for what was breaking news all throughout this show. And to you at for being with us.

I`m Sam Champion, in for Nancy Grace. Thanks, Nancy. And we`ll see you all tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern. Until then, good night, everybody.

END