Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Missing Georgia Woman`s Remains Found
Aired January 03, 2011 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. A young mom, just like millions of moms across America, goes for an evening walk on a country road not far from her own home, talking away on the cell phone. The boyfriend on the other end hears screaming, Please don`t take me. Her voice never heard again. She vanishes without a trace, that cell phone discarded, thrown onto someone`s lawn two miles away.
Bombshell tonight. A woman`s decomposed remains just discovered only nine short miles away from where Kristi last known alive, her remains burned, partially buried, discovered not by police or state patrol, but by her own brother. As we go to air, those remains confirmed to be Kristi`s. Tonight, who killed beautiful single mom Kristi Cornwell?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really want her back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard has been searching diligently for his sister, Kristi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bones found this weekend in Georgia are the remains of Kristi Cornwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He found the remains of his sister, Kristi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the identification was made using dental records.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-eight-year-old mother of a 15-year-old son, Kristi Cornwell, disappears while out exercising, going on a long walk through a rural area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last seen walking here on Jones Creek Road.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s on the phone with a boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He overheard her tell him that, I`ve got to step off the road, there`s a vehicle approaching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then suddenly, he hears her say, Don`t take me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he hears what he believes to be a struggle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The line drops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He loses contact with her.
JO ANN CORNWELL, MOTHER: We didn`t want to end this way, but that`s the way it is. And we can bring her home now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a 13-year-old cheerleader, broad daylight, leaves home around lunchtime, heads by foot down the street to a little friend`s house for a sleepover. She`s never seen again. Tonight, where is 13-year- old cheerleader Hailey Dunn (ph)?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen 13-year-old cheerleader Hailey Dunn?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody took her. She`s mine and Clint`s daughter. God gave her to us. We want her back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hailey supposed to walk over to a friend`s house, but never arrives. She`s never been seen since.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Several leads, and they say they`re checking into all of them, but they keep hitting dead ends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hailey, 5-foot-1, 120 pounds with pierced ears. Last seen wearing navy blue sweatpants, a light-colored short-sleeve T- shirt and pink and white shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to have her back. Her dad has to have her back. We`re torn up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who would want to harm the excellent student who has lots of friends and is popular in school?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s mine and Clint`s daughter. God gave her to us. We want her back. I want her to know that I have to have her back. Her dad has to have her back. We`re torn up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A woman`s decomposed remains just discovered only nine short miles away from where Kristi was last known to be alive, on the cell phone, talking to her boyfriend, screams out, Don`t take me. Her remains partially buried, burned, discovered not by police or state patrol but by her own brother, who tirelessly every weekend, whenever he can, goes out and looks for his sister`s remains. As we go to air, those remains confirmed to be Kristi`s. Tonight, who killed beautiful single mom Kristi Cornwell?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Skeletal remains were recovered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have identified Kristi Cornwell`s remains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The skeletal remains were found in conjunction with the abduction site, approximately nine miles from the Jones Creek area where Kristi was abducted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tests say bones found this weekend are, in fact, her remains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cause of death is ruled as homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last known contact was with her boyfriend in Atlanta.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristi`s cell phone was on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As she`s being abducted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was some sort of a struggle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last thing he reports hearing is her saying, Don`t take me, and then he loses the connection. And there`s been no sign of her since then.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She took this walk every night.
RICHARD CORNWELL, BROTHER: Thankful that Kristi can now have a proper burial that she deserves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight out to Eric Jens, news director, WRGA News Radio joining us out of Atlanta. Eric, she went missing in 2009, as I recall on the top of my head. And the brother finds her remains?
ERIC JENS, WRGA NEWS RADIO: I know you remember it well, Nancy, August 11th, 2009. I think you spent two weeks on your program covering this story, hoping for any kind of lead to find the whereabouts of Kristi Cornwell. And of course, the family over the course of the last 17 months nearly has never given up the search for her. And of course, that just came to an end, now that search for her and the positive identification of those remains through dental records that that was, in fact, 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell.
GRACE: Eric Jens, let`s go back. Let`s go back to the time she went missing. No, first, I got to tell you, I was right in there with the cops. I wanted to find out where was the boyfriend, where was the ex, where`s the father of the child? I know she`s a single mom. Well, as it turned out, and it took me a while to win me over on this, she was on phone, on the cell phone with her boyfriend at the time she went missing. I thought that was a little too convenient, so I wanted to find out where was he? How far away was he, can we confirm that cell phone conversation? Am I just taking his word for it? And what did we learn, Eric Jens?
JENS: Well, those are the normal avenues of the investigation that you mentioned there, is to find, you know, where the people who may have known her, who may have been close to her, or you know, may have any connection to her, where are they located, what kind of interest do they have in this case? And it appears now that for all accounts and purposes, that it may have been a complete stranger in this instance, although will are no official suspects.
GRACE: Let`s go back. What happened that evening that she went missing? Think about it, ladies. How many times have you or I gone for a jog, gone for a walk, and you`re talking on your cell phone the whole time? You know, you look around, you see traffic. But what happened when she went missing, Matt Zarrell?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: What happened was is that she is on the phone with her boyfriend. The boyfriend initiated the call. Cops proved the boyfriend called her from Atlanta, so they ruled him out as a possible suspect. He is talking on the phone with her. They`re discussing things. She`s walking down a rural road just outside her home. She is -- there are signs of a struggle on the phone. She reportedly says, Don`t take me. The call ends an abruptly.
Cops immediately go to the scene, they find possessions of hers at the scene -- shoes, eyeglasses. A couple days later, her cell phone is found about two miles away. Cops began searching a pond a couple miles from the cell phone. Didn`t find anything. They believe she may have been taken to the Carolinas. They were looking everywhere. No sign of her.
GRACE: To Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining me out of Raleigh, North Carolina, via Skype. Ben, how do I know -- why am I positive that the boyfriend was in Atlanta, city of Atlanta? She was, like, 45 minutes to an hour away, taking a walk. How can they pinpoint his location?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Well, Nancy, when you are on a cell phone, you have to be connected to a cell tower. And there are a tremendous number of records that are kept. The investigators did the right thing in this case. They probably immediately went to the boyfriend`s cell phone company and said, We want to know what cell tower he was connected to. And that`s how they know.
GRACE: Straight out to the location where the body is found, standing by right now, Natisha Lance. Natisha, what do you see?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, we`re about 50 yards away from where this discovery was made, and what we do see there is a roped-off area, taped-off area, and there are a number of flags that are within this area. The area is about 25 by 20 square feet, square box area. There are several flags that are in that area. When we looked a little bit closer at those flags, we were able to see writing in pen on those. Some of the flags say "tire." Other -- one of the flags said "skull." And there`s also numbers and letters that are on these various flags. The colors are yellow, as well as orange.
Now, this area -- police say that the body was found about 75 yards off of the road. And I have to tell you, Nancy, we spoke to people who live in this area, and all of them have said unless you are familiar with this area, it is not an easy place to get through, just walking back and trekking up through there. This is an area where people come pretty normally to hunt deer, but they use ATVs to get to this area. So police do believe, as well as people in the area, that this person who is responsible for Kristi Cornwell`s death had to have been familiar with the area.
GRACE: Natisha, you skipped out on me. Did you actually say they went back in there on ATVs, all-terrain vehicles, to get to that location, and that`s where Kristi was taking a walk or that`s where the ping picked her up, or that`s where the body`s found?
LANCE: Actually, Nancy, the ping was found around this area, about a 2-mile radius from this area where the remains were found. Now, people who live in the area generally go through this area on a ATVs. However, police were walking through this area, able to remove the remains from this area. But trekking through this area, it is not easy to get through. It is densely wooded area. There`s a lot of twists and turns. So people in the area have said that you would have to be familiar with this area in order to get back there.
GRACE: Natisha, did I hear you say police were trekking through and they were able to remove the body? Because my information is they did not find the body, even though it`s only about two miles from where the last ping was. What I`m understanding is that her brother found her body. And I don`t understand that, either.
LANCE: Yes. You`re absolutely right, Nancy. It was her brother who made the initial discovery of the body. Police then trekked through, and that is when they set up their grid to remove the remains from there. Now, what police are saying is that they received information about the person they believed to have possibly been the perpetrator, based on another investigation that was going on. Now, through that information, they went through the cell records. They were able to find pings that led to this area. They turned it over to Kristi Cornwell`s brother, and that is when he made this discovery.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. On the scene, Natisha Lance. The remains of Kristi Cornwell, a 38-year-old single mom out on a walk, talking to the boyfriend on the cell phone, have just been found.
To Connie in Kentucky. What`s your question, Connie?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Thank you for taking my call. Had the police searched the area where Kristi Cornwell`s body was found prior?
GRACE: Good question. Natisha Lance, had police been out there before now?
LANCE: No, they had not been out here before now, Nancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was abducted, placed in a vehicle and removed from the area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The remains, although they were partially buried, they were also burned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have mercy on her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bones found in Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn`t want it to end this way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are the remains.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s the way it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of Kristi Cornwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send my condolences to Ms. Cornwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s a loving mother, sister and aunt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) her family (INAUDIBLE) that Kristi can now have a proper burial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know in my heart she`s in heaven!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That she deserves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ll see her again!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what happened to Kristi Cornwell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s on the phone with her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He overheard her tell him that, I`ve got to step off the road, there`s a vehicle approaching.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He heard a scuffle, a cry for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The line drops.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was abducted, placed in a vehicle and removed from the area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you all for coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. As we go to air, you may recall the case of a disappearing mom, 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell out for a walk. It was not dark. It was late in the afternoon. She had her cell phone with her, on the cell phone when her boyfriend hears her screaming into the phone, Don`t take me, don`t take me. As we go to air tonight, we learn her remains have been positively identified only nine miles away from where that call was made.
We are taking your calls. Out to Jai in North Carolina. Hi, Jai.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Love your show. My question is, she was found nine miles from her home. Have the police been able to determine if her body had been in that location since her disappearance?
GRACE: Well, I can tell you this. Depending on the items that were found around her, we may have a very good clue whether she was killed there, whether she was killed elsewhere and disposed there. For instance, if she`s got on -- if her clothes had been torn off of her and they are there, that would suggest the incident happened there. If she`s wearing one shoe and not the other, that would suggest to me that the incident happened there because if she were assaulted and murdered elsewhere, I doubt they would have made a special trip to dump her belongings there with her.
Let`s go back out to Natisha Lance. What have we learned about the belongings surrounding the body?
LANCE: Very limited information, Nancy. But what I can tell you is that they believe the body was partially burned. Also, from those flags that were in the area where the remains were found, we are able to see that there are marks that say a tire was there. However, police are not revealing specific information about the items that were there because they have not determined whether or not they are related to the death.
GRACE: OK, another question. You`re saying that clothing, a tire, was found there, too, and you`re basing that on your observation of evidentiary sign markers. Let`s see those sign markers, Liz. I recall they were yellow -- at the scene, like, exhibit 8, exhibit 4. And sometimes, they will have something written on them. That`s what you`re talking about, Natisha?
LANCE: Right, Nancy. There were no indications of clothing, but we did see indications that said a tire was there and also that a skull was there.
GRACE: To Paul Penzone, former sergeant, Phoenix PD, victims` advocate, joining us out of Phoenix. What do you make? Was this location where she was killed, or was she killed elsewhere and the body disposed of here?
PAUL PENZONE, FMR. SGT. PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, I think you were right on, Nancy, with what you were describing. The scene itself will tell you a lot based on what`s left behind, how she was murdered, any aspects of it that could give you indicators if the original crime took place there of if this is a place that she was just buried. The fact that he burned her meant that he was trying to destroy some evidence that would tie him to that victim.
But I have to say, I commend -- I don`t know how the brother put all this together, but whatever he did and the dedication and commitment that he showed to find his sister, is just amazing. You know, the best investigators aren`t always the most talented but the ones who are just dedicated to persevere, never give up on their victims. And what that brother did is quite amazing.
GRACE: Speaking of families who never give up, let`s go out to Marc Klaas joining us out of San Francisco. He is the president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. He lost his little girl, Polly, to violent crime many years ago.
Marc, weigh in. What do you think about this?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, first of all, Nancy, today would have been Polly`s 30th birthday. I have to agree with what your previous guest said about the tenacity of the brother. I think this points out, too, a couple of things. Number one, the power of the ping. Number two, having viable locations to search in so that you can, in fact, recover a body.
But it also tells us other things. I think this tells us that whoever committed this crime has probably got an extensive criminal history and went to extreme lengths not to be found. So we`re probably looking for somebody with an extreme history, somebody that knows the area, is familiar with the locations there. And hopefully, the evidence now that they find at this scene will enable them to, hopefully, solve this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An innocent evening stroll on a warm summer night.
GRACE: Who saw her last?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A casual phone conversation.
GRACE: Who can tell me that they saw her go out for a walk?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then Georgia mom Kristi Cornwell goes missing.
GRACE: How do I know she wasn`t dead already?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a huge break.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bones found in Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is our belief that she has been at that location.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are the remains of Kristi Cornwell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since the -- immediately after the abduction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was on her cell phone with her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then suddenly, he hears her say, Don`t take me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m glad that we were able to bring her home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m thankful that Kristi can now have a proper burial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know in my heart she`s in heaven and we`ll see her again! So that`s what`s going to make me able to be able to go on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Tonight, we learned the remains have positively been identified of a young single mother, Kristi Cornwell. We covered her disappearance when she went missing. Since that time in 2009, no sign of Kristi, Last known alive as she was talking on the cell phone to her boyfriend. She screamed, Don`t take me, don`t take me. She was never heard of again. Her brother miraculously, search after search after search for his sister, finds her remains.
Out to the lines. Melody in Ohio. Hi, Melody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Nancy, my concern also is over this brother. Is it known how their relationship was, if they got along or anything of that nature? My focus is on this brother. I`m sorry. And he knows this area. I just -- help me out here, Nancy.
GRACE: OK. Eric Jens, I was wondering when this would happen. Like in Casey and Cayley Anthony, everyone thought the meter reader was somehow involved. Put Melody`s mind to rest. How do we know the brother is not involved in her disappearance?
JENS: Just the sheer emotion from the start of this and how closely he`s been working with law enforcement, everywhere from the FBI to the GBI to all the local authorities and every place that they`ve searched for them. He has been dedicated to this search. And if there had been any suspicions, it almost seems certain that would have surfaced somewhere at some point.
GRACE: In fact, police have been looking at a particular male, and it`s not the brother. Who is it, Natisha Lance?
LANCE: Well, Nancy, this male apparently is involved in other incidents that were in this area just a few days before Kristi`s incident occurred. Very similar circumstances, about 25 miles...
GRACE: Natisha...
LANCE: ... away. Another...
GRACE: ... why are you saying "incident"? Incident. I mean, to me, that sounds like you`re saying the cashier rang it up wrong at Wal-Mart. It`s a rape, an attempted rape...
LANCE: You`re right.
GRACE: ... and more. The "incidents"?
LANCE: You`re right. You`re right. This incident -- well, this incident occurred, actually, about 25 miles away, Nancy, very similar circumstances, drove up in the car, knocked this woman down. As he got out of the car, another vehicle approached behind him, scared him away, and then he went away. After that point, after seeing Kristi Cornwell`s story is when this woman reported her incident to police.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERNON KEENAN, GBI DIRECTOR: We would very much like to bring complete closure to the Cornwell family.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bones found this weekend in Georgia --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They`re the remains of Kristi Cornwell.
KEENAN: By being able to identify the murder of Kristi Cornwell.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Found Kristi`s burned and partially buried body in a heavily wooded area near the North Carolina border.
KEENAN: This remains an active case.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The search intensifies for her killer.
RICHARD CORNWELL, KRISTI CORNWELL`S BROTHER, FOUND SKELETAL REMAINS OF SISTER: An awful predator or predators put behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Investigators say she was kidnapped while she was out for a walk.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She was on the phone with her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who heard a struggle before the line went dead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The last thing he heard was the 38-year-old screaming.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: We are taking your calls. Let`s go out to Sarah in Pennsylvania. Hi, Sarah.
SARAH, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hello. How are you?
GRACE: Hi, dear, I`m good. What`s your question?
SARAH: I was just wondering, I have a disability and so I have problems with my memory. When did she go missing?
GRACE: She went missing in August, as I recall, August 2009. It was close to 9:00 p.m., but it was still daylight outside from what we understand.
SARAH: And with her brother, do they usually keep like the family in like -- like they`re keeping him in the loop and like he is doing a lot of like -- doing his own searching. Is that like a normal thing that they do?
GRACE: Out to you, Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation. I think when you believe cops are at a dead end, family will do just about anything.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, they will and this case proves it better than most. You know another one of your callers had mentioned that she suspected the brother, and I think the statistics would take you there.
That in the vast majority of murders, people are murdered by somebody that`s either in their family or that`s well-known to them. But that is by no means across the board.
I think in this case he is the one who showed an interest in continuing to search for his sister. Therefore, whenever a lead was developed such as the ping that led him to that location, they would contact the brother and they would give him that information and then he would go and do what KlaasKids, Laura Recovery Center, so many others do.
He conducts his own his own volunteer type of searches. And he happened to be the one that ultimately found his sister. If that hadn`t occurred, she may never have been found. So now we have a young lady who has been found. She`s been put to rest and justice still needs to be served.
GRACE: You know, Marc, I agree with you completely. The brother had nothing to do with this murder.
KLAAS: No.
GRACE: In fact, he is the one responsible for finding her, not police, not state patrol, not the sheriff. The brother is solely responsible for finding her.
To Matt Zarrell, I want to talk about this attack, it was nine, just nine days earlier.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Yes, apparently police believe that this attack is related. It`s about 25 miles away, but the big significance here, Nancy, is the time.
Also 9:00 just like Kristi Cornwell, also a light colored SUV also involved. Police have reason to believe the cases are connected. And this suspect, James Carringer may be involved in both cases.
GRACE: OK. Let`s talk about the suspect. First of all, tell me about his vehicle.
ZARRELL: OK. It is a silver Nissan Xterra. According to police, he actually owns three of them. One of which had a brush guard on it. Now the brush guard is key because the witness, the victim from the August 2nd attack, said -- silver Xterra she described had a brush guard on it.
Now reports have emerged Carringer actually removed the brush guard just days after Kristi Cornwell was abducted.
GRACE: OK. Take a look at this guy. And what you can tell me about him living in the Young Harris, Georgia area? That is a college town.
ZARRELL: Yes he did live in the Young Harris, Georgia area, which is not far from where Kristi Cornwell was abducted. He also used to live in an area that is also nearby where the August 2nd attack took place, so a lot of circumstantial evidence developing right now, Nancy.
GRACE: OK. What else can you tell me about this guy, Natisha Lance?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, what I can tell you, just as Matt said, he did live close to this area. He also had a criminal history, not only was that attack on his record, but also back in about April of 2010, to other attacks.
He attempted to abduct a 10-year-old girl from an Easter egg hunt at a Church. Also three days later, attempted to rape or did carry out a rape on a 19-year-old relative of his.
And another criminal history record, Nancy, is that he had an assault record from back in 2000. He did take a plea for a lesser charge for a misdemeanor.
GRACE: Well, isn`t it true that he tried to abduct a 10-year-old girl out of a public parking lot at her church around the time of an Easter egg hunt?
LANCE: Right. Right. Right. That was the first thing I said. He attempted to abduct this 10-year-old girl from an Easter egg hunt. He was talking to the girl`s brother apparently. As the -- as he ended the conversation with the brother, he grabbed the girl, put her into the car.
As he was backing his vehicle out, that is when the little girl was able to jump out of the car. And Nancy, at that attack also, he was driving an Xterra. But that one was black.
GRACE: So his MO, to those of you in the Young Harris area, and all the areas you are seeing on our map -- Liz, put up the map. Take a look at his Xterra as well as his face. His MO was to literally grab people off the street.
And that attack nine days earlier before Kristi Cornwell went missing, Matt, wasn`t that foiled when another vehicle came up?
ZARRELL: Yes, apparently she was -- the guy was approaching her and another vehicle pulled up and that is what scared him off. He gets back in the car, he starts to drive away, but she got a look at him through the driver`s side window which was down. She gave a description of the suspect to cops. Cops released a sketch, male, mid-20s, dark hair. But police have not been able to develop any further lead from there.
GRACE: Now, Eric Jens, WRGA News Radio, tonight -- what can you tell us about this guy tonight?
ERIC JENS, NEWS DIRECTOR, WRGA NEWS RADIO: We have no official suspects in this case. He might be someone that authorities are considering to be a likely suspect in the Kristi Cornwell instance here, but you know we`ve had a couple of almost suspects and people that they`d like to get closer contact with and questioned. But they can`t point their finger at any one in particular at this point.
GRACE: OK, now, to you, Natisha Lance, when police tried to arrest him on another warrant, he killed himself.
LANCE: Right. You`re absolutely right, Nancy. Now this was two days after the rape of the 19-year-old relative. He ends up in Atlanta. He is in Buckhead. Police have a three hour standoff with the suspect and that is when he commits suicide.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Ann Fitz, defense attorney, Atlanta, Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former fed with the FBI, joining us tonight out of New York.
First to you, Hugo, we can`t tie him to Kristi Cornwell`s disappearance yet. Her murder. . But his ping, one of the last pings on his cell phone was just two miles from where her remains are found. That`s the information the cops give the brother.
Now, if he`s not absolutely connected to Cornwell at some point, will the defense, if anyone else is arrested, make a big deal out of the brother finding her remains?
HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FMR. FBI AGENT: Possibly as we`ve done in other cases. Possibly. But what`s interesting in this case is that they had no other solid lead until the ping which they must have received information about 18 months later in that two-mile grid search is what created her body.
There also -- the Xterra is an off-road vehicle. Obviously it could have gotten back in there. There`s a lot of things that lead to him, but all of those things will be raised in the defense if there is another suspect who is arrested.
GRACE: What about it, Ann Fitz?
ANN FITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, yes. I think that there`s always finger pointing. Anytime that you have a defendant, you have to look at other possibilities in order to defend that person.
Here, however, I think the defense is going to have a hard time because we have Carringer actually in the place of where the murder and the body was found. We have him trying to disguise the vehicle by removing the brush guard. And we have a pattern of similar behavior on his behalf. So I think the prosecution has a good case against Mr. Carringer in this instance.
GRACE: And to Dr. Howard Oliver, former deputy medical examiner joining us out of L.A., how hard is it going to be to prove the cause of death since her body has been partially burned?
HOWARD OLIVER, FMR. DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: It`s going to be almost impossible to prove the cause of death because the soft tissues are all gone by now. From what I understand, you only have skeletal remains at this time and you need soft tissue to determine cause of death.
GRACE: To Dr. Brian Russell, forensic psychologist, joining us out of Kansas City tonight.
Brian, thank you for being with us. How hard it this on the brother? He`s gone over and over and over on his own searches for his sister. He finds the body and then people are pointing the finger at him.
BRIAN RUSSELL, PH.D., FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. Exactly, Nancy. And to illustrate the magnitude of what he had to do to find this body, if I told you that there was a body within 10 miles of where you are right now but I didn`t tell you which direction, that would be a circle of 314 square miles that you would have to search in.
So this brother was out there week after week after week looking. How does he feel having been the one to find her? It depends, Nancy, on the extent to which he was holding out hope that she would be found alive. Obviously if he was hoping that she was alive, this shatters that hope.
But many people in situations like this tell us that once they resign themselves to the fact that the person is probably deceased, they do get a sense of relief in having that finality that we heard some of the family members talking about in the clips earlier.
GRACE: And very quickly -- to you, Ben Levitan, joining us out of Raleigh. How quickly can cops get pings on cell phones? I`m just amazed that this has taken so long.
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Nancy, the faster the better. The fact is that the cell phone companies don`t keep this stuff forever. After a couple of days, it`s probably thrown away. You can get it immediately. And I would like to know where Mr. Carringer was another time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thirteen-year-old Hailey Dunn is missing.
BILLIE DUNN, MOM OF MISSING TEEN CHEERLEADER, HAILEY DUNN: I have to have her back.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police desperately trying to find the 8th grader after she leaves her home to walk over to a friend`s house where she was supposed to have a sleepover, but Hailey never arrives.
DUNN: We love her. We all need her back.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Friends and family grow increasingly concerned. And are asking anyone to be on the lookout to bring their little girl home.
DUNN: Somebody took her. She`s mine and Clint`s daughter. God gave her to us. We want her back. Somebody took her. She`s mine and Clint`s daughter. God gave her to us and we want her back.
I want her to know that I have to have her back. Her dad has to have her back. We`re torn up.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A 13-year-old cheerleader leaves in broad daylight from her own home to walk down the street to a little friend`s sleepover. Reminds me a lot of the Carlie Brucia case out of Florida. She`s never seen again.
Take a look at 13-year-old Hailey Dunn. Absolutely precious. Where is Hailey?
Out to Michael Board, WOAI Newsradio. Michael, what you can tell us?
MICHAEL BOARD, REPORTER, WOAI NEWSRADIO: She was last seen a week ago, Nancy. It`s been a week since anybody has seen this beautiful little 13-year-old girl. About 3:00 last Monday, it`s the last time anybody ever saw her alive.
There`s no sign of what happened to her, no sign that she was going anywhere. She didn`t take anything with her when she left her house. No sign of what happened to this girl.
GRACE: Joining me right now is Hailey`s mother. This is Billie Dunn joining us from Dunn, Texas.
Miss Dunn, thank you for being with us.
DUNN: Thank you for having me on the show.
GRACE: Number one --
DUNN: And I really appreciate your media attention.
GRACE: Yes, ma`am. Number one, we are praying.
DUNN: Thank you so much.
GRACE: And when we look at the photo, the tip line is 325-728-5294. There`s a $10,000 reward. Help us find Hailey.
Miss Dunn, how far did she have to go to get to the little sleepover?
DUNN: Four to five blocks. It wasn`t rare for Hailey to walk a short distance during daylight. She wasn`t allowed out after dark especially to walk, but she only had four to five blocks to go.
GRACE: Tell me what happened the day she went missing, Miss Dunn.
DUNN: She went missing on Monday while I was at work. My boyfriend - - he came home from work about 3:00 -- or he got to my house about 3:00. And he`s seen Hailey. Hailey was there. She told him, I`m running across the street to my dad`s house for a few minutes but I`m going Mary Beth`s, and I`m staying the night there. Let my mom know.
So that evening when he picked me up from work, we got home, we were getting ready for bed. I didn`t get worried when I hadn`t heard from Hailey. I thought she was at Mary Beth`s. I was kind of upset that she didn`t call and confirm it with me, but not worried at that point.
Tuesday, I was at work again, I left my cell phone at home for my kids to use when I`m working. So Tuesday, I called my son. I said tell Hailey text the little girl, her friend, tell Hailey she needs to go ahead and get home. This was around lunch. My son called me back within a few minutes and she said, mom, she said Hailey never made it over there. She never spent the night.
So at that point I called Hailey`s dad and found out she didn`t over there and she didn`t stay the night with him. I left from work and went to the police station in Colorado City and reported her missing.
GRACE: Everyone, you are seeing pictures of a 13-year-old little cheerleader who by all accounts leaves home to go four to six blocks to a sleepover with a friend. She never makes it.
Now this would have been, Miss Dunn, the Tuesday following Christmas on Saturday?
DUNN: Right. She was last seen the 27th.
GRACE: And your boyfriend says what time was it she left the home?
DUNN: Right around 3:15.
GRACE: Did she have a cell phone?
DUNN: No, she didn`t have her own cell phone.
GRACE: Does she go online?
DUNN: Yes, she has a Facebook.
GRACE: Have the police looked at her Facebook account?
DUNN: They have. I know investigators are still doing a lot. It doesn`t look like -- they`re not sure if Hailey`s logged in any. We`re going to talk with investigators again tonight. They finally got some Texas rangers involved just barely yesterday, six days later. So we do finally have the Texas rangers help. And that makes me feel a lot better.
GRACE: Thank god for that.
DUNN: Right.
GRACE: So this is the Tuesday afternoon after Christmas. Let me ask you this. Did anyone see her other than your boyfriend that day?
DUNN: There were some people came forward, a neighbor saw her around lunchtime on Tuesday out in my backyard talking on the cell phone.
GRACE: Talking on what cell phone?
DUNN: I mean Monday, I`m sorry.
GRACE: Talking on what cell phone?
DUNN: On my cell phone.
GRACE: OK --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Well, that was Monday. Didn`t she go missing on Tuesday?
DUNN: No, I reported her missing Tuesday. That`s when I realized she didn`t make it to the friend`s house.
GRACE: Now I thought you were at work. Why was your cell phone at home?
DUNN: Because I left it there for my children.
GRACE: OK. So she goes missing Monday. You report it Tuesday after Christmas.
DUNN: Right.
GRACE: OK. So I know she`s alive at lunchtime. I know she`s fine, she`s at home. The boyfriend comes home at what time, did you say, around 3:00?
DUNN: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: So 3:00. Between 12:00 and 3:00, did anybody see her beside the boyfriend?
DUNN: Just my next-door neighbor.
GRACE: OK. And that was at noon.
DUNN: Yes.
GRACE: Did anyone see her out walking at all? Can we confirm that she was out walking to the friend`s house?
DUNN: No.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hailey`s supposed to walk over a friend`s house but never arrives. She`s never been seen since.
DUNN: Several leads and they say they`re checking into all of them. But they keep hitting dead ends.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hailey, 5`1", 120 pounds with pierced ears. Last seen wearing navy blue sweat pants, a light colored short sleeve t- shirt and pink and white shoes.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thirteen-year-old Hailey Dunn left home to walk over to a friend`s house for a sleepover, but Hailey never makes it. The 8th grade cheerleader, never seen or heard from again. Just how does a popular, smart student simply vanish? The reward climbing to $10,000. Police asking for your help.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Susan in Kentucky. Hi, Susan.
SUSAN, CALLER FROM KENTUCKY: Hi, Nancy. How are you tonight?
GRACE: I`m good, dear.
SUSAN: Great. My heart goes out to the Cornwell family and also to Hailey`s family. My question is Hailey`s case, is -- have the police already talked to other students?
GRACE: Good question. What about it, Billie Dunn?
SUSAN: You know, maybe someone has --
DUNN: We have, and since the Texas rangers came in today, they`re starting re-questioning. They`re starting from the top.
GRACE: Let`s go to Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation.
What do we do, Marc?
KLAAS: Well, first of all, the local police chief suggested that the evidence indicates that she ran away. As far as I can tell, there`s absolutely no evidence. So I really don`t know how he can say that.
That is an `80s, mid-`90s answer to a very relevant question today, what is happening to our little girls?
GRACE: Look. Look, Marc. Marc, look at the sex offenders in this area. This girl did not run away.
KLAAS: Listen, this case reminds me of others. Lindsey Baum, Ashley Pond, Amanda Ghettis (ph), three girls who left home to go from point A to point B, that never got to point B. In the case of the first -- in the case of Amanda and Ashley, it was a local pervert who had kidnapped and murdered the children.
In the case of Lindsey Baum it still has not been solved. They still say it might be a runaway. I don`t believe it in any of these cases.
GRACE: Tip line 325-728-5294. Where is Hailey?
Let`s stop and remember Marine Corporal Brad Squires, 26, Middleburg Heights, Ohio. Killed Iraq. Awarded the Purple Heart, National Defense Services, Armed Forces Reserve. Loved racing cars, wanted to be a firefighter. Leaves behind parents Donna and Bruce, brother Chad, sister Jody, wife Julie.
Brad Squires, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you. And congratulations to Whitewater High School softball star Katelyn. The 2010 player of the year. She just signed a scholarship to play for Georgia Southern Colleges -- Georgia Southern College.
Graduations, Katy, you superstar.
And tonight prayers to friend of the show Mallory, 22. This young woman battling Wilson`s disease. Already been through two liver transplants. Her lungs struggling.
Mallory, please, keep fighting. And we are praying.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
