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Nancy Grace
19-Year-Old Mom Vanishes: Car Found Ransacked, Keys in Field; Police Allege Texas Man Kills Wife With Insulin
Aired January 07, 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, live, Austin. Did a young mother, a gorgeous mom of an 8-year-old girl, meet with foul play? Bombshell tonight. Police theory -- someone actually sneaks into her home, puts her into a coma, injecting her with insulin, not one but with two syringes. The perpetrator knows she`s a diabetic, then strangles the young mom to death. But why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A marriage on the verge of divorce ends in murder. Sylvia Reyes Holt was ready to move forward with the final divorce in just a few weeks when her life was cut short. The alleged culprit, her estranged husband of 15 years, who now sits behind bars on murder one. And now their 8-year-old daughter is left alone, one parent dead, the other in the slammer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a beautiful 19-year-old, Shonda Townsend, visits friends, boating, grilling out. But as the night comes to an end, she texts her mom to let her know she`s on her way home. Shonda never makes it. Tonight, where is Shonda Townsend?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Texas police are desperately searching for a 19- year-old missing mom, Shonda Townsend. Shonda was driving home from a friend`s house and sent a text message to her mother saying she was on her way. She never made it. Authorities found her ransacked car a few hours later in front of a residential home, the keys reportedly thrown across the street into a field. Cops searched the home and interviewed everyone in the area, but there has been no sign of the young mom. As Shonda`s 2-year- old son waits at home, hoping for his mother`s return, cops continue to search for Shonda, admitting foul play is likely involved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Police believe someone actually sneaks into a young mother`s home, puts her into a coma, injecting her with insulin with not one but two separate syringes -- the perp knows she`s a diabetic -- then strangles the young mother to death. But why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unable to verify a shopping alibi on the day of his estranged wife`s murder, Jonathan Douglas Holt is behind bars after allegedly admitting he killed her. Holt allegedly tried to put the mother of his 8-year-old daughter into a diabetic coma and then used a rope to strangle her. Paramedics pronounced Sylvia Reyes Holt dead on the scene, leaving her daughter motherless. Tonight, police are still searching for answers on why the 36-year-old mother`s estranged husband snapped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. But first to Joe Gomez, reporter, KTRH Newsradio. Joe, that`s quite the elaborate scheme.
JOE GOMEZ, KTRH NEWSRADIO: That`s right, Nancy. You know, there are no words to describe a murder this horrific. Sylvia Reyes and her estranged husband, Jonathan, have been separated for about a year. They shared custody of their 8-year-old daughter. Well, Sylvia was finalizing the divorce next month because she finally had enough of Jonathan`s verbal abuse. Well, that was apparently when Jonathan snapped.
Police say one night, Jonathan arrived at Sylvia`s house and said he wanted to come in. It was odd because he wasn`t due to pick up their daughter, but Sylvia thought she`d hear him out anyway. Well, Nancy, that was her last mistake. You see, Sylvia was a diabetic. And when Jonathan entered the home, he had two syringes in his back pocket. He knew how to - - how to -- how to try to over -- try to make it seem like she was overdosing on insulin to try to induce a diabetic coma.
He walked into the refrigerator, filled the syringes with insulin, held Sylvia down, allegedly, planted the needles in her neck. And as though that wasn`t bad enough, he then apparently took a cord from the kitchen and then used it to strangle her before sliding out the back door, Nancy, like a thief in the night.
GRACE: Leaving behind an 8-year-old little girl to be raised without a mother. Take a look at Sylvia Reyes Holt. She died because the alleged perpetrator sneaks into her home and then uses not one but two separate syringes on her. Murder weapon, insulin.
We are taking your calls. But first, unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Renee Rockwell, defense attorney, Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta, Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor, death penalty-qualified.
Eleanor, if this does not qualify for the death penalty, I don`t know what does.
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Well, I think you`re right, Nancy, especially the cruel way that he killed her. Not only did he inject her with the insulin, which he knew would kill her and put her in a coma, he then strangled her. He went over there with this in mind, and this certainly does qualify as a death penalty case.
GRACE: Come on, Renee Rockwell. He`s got the two syringes in his back pocket. How can you say it wasn`t planned?
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, this is the biggest problem in the case is that it was so calculated. Instead of as a defense attorney being able to say, Well, he planned something -- I`m sorry, instead of as a defense attorney being able to say, He absolutely went off his rocker, he got upset and he grabbed her and he strangled her, how are you going to say that when he has these syringes?
This is something that he cooked up over a period of days. Not a good move when a prosecutor can say, This did not happen in the heat of passion, this was calculated, planned. And it is something so horrendous.
GRACE: Renee, that`s what I just told you.
ROCKWELL: I`m saying...
GRACE: You`re supposed to give me the defense...
ROCKWELL: ... he could have gone...
GRACE: ... 0not regurgitate up what I just told you.
ROCKWELL: He could have gone in there, a better move, not this is not how to kill your wife...
GRACE: A better move?
ROCKWELL: ... but the better move from him, if you`re the defense attorney...
GRACE: OK, you know what?
ROCKWELL: ... is wishing for the way...
GRACE: Never mind.
ROCKWELL: ... that she would have gone down...
GRACE: Peter...
ROCKWELL: ... is for him to have gone down there and simply strangled her.
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy...
GRACE: OK. Peter, let me just try with you. Let`s see if you can give me a defense other than what Renee Rockwell just says, a better way to commit murder.
PETER ODOM: Nancy, just because they can prove premeditation doesn`t mean it`s going to be a death penalty case. As a defense attorney, I`m going to go into this primarily trying to save his life.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Laura in Florida. Hi, Laura.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I love you. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you, Laura. Thank you for watching. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, did this woman, this poor woman, did she have any kind of restraining order or anything against her husband?
GRACE: Oh, good question, Laura in Florida. Out to you, Rupa Mikkilineni. What can you tell me?
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right. She was supposed to get a temporary restraining order, Nancy. But what happened was in the end, she didn`t follow through and do it. She was worried for her safety for sure, but up until this point, there had not been any domestic violence in the home. According to her family members, this is what we understand. Now, she didn`t do the TRO, and instead -- and the reason for this is because she wanted to continue to be able to see her 8-year-old daughter with him present.
GRACE: Now, what was the situation -- out to you, Claudia Grisales, reporter with the "Austin American-Statesman." Who had custody? Who had the little girl?
CLAUDIA GRISALES, "AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN" (via telephone): Well, basically, the couple was undergoing divorce proceedings and they were sharing custody of the little girl.
GRACE: Where did she live?
GRISALES: Well, she primarily -- my understanding is she primarily lived with her mother. However, she spent time with both her mother and her father separately. But primarily, she was with her mother.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Joyce in Illinois. Hi, Joyce.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Love you! Your twins are beautiful!
GRACE: Thank you, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to know, did she have any life insurance, or is there any reason why he would have done this?
GRACE: Good question. Excellent question. Back to Joe Gomez, KTRH. Is there a life insurance policy lurking around there?
GOMEZ: Well, right now, we`re unaware of any sort of life insurance policy in existence. Right now, it appears as though Jonathan Holt apparently acted strictly out of rage. You know, the horrible part about this, as you mentioned, Nancy, is that she had an 8-year-old daughter. What was going through this man`s head, if he, indeed, went through with this killing? Wasn`t he thinking about his poor daughter? Or what if she had, God forbid, walked in on this while it was happening? I mean, it`s just horrible!
GRACE: Where was the daughter? Where was the daughter? Do we know, Claudia Grisales?
GRISALES: Well, her older sister told me that at the time, her daughter was at a neighbor`s home.
GRACE: Out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers." You know, they had been talking about divorce for so long and the divorce was to be done in just one month. There was finally a light at the end of the tunnel. And then this. Why now?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, I think the fact that she was finally going to be separate from him and gain her freedom destabilized him. And it`s very important, Nancy, for women who are victims of domestic abuse to know that the period of greatest danger is at the moment when they want to leave the relationship. And women who are victims of domestic homicide, 76 percent of them are stalked in the year prior to the divorce, and then the homicide is after the divorce.
And I imagine what was going through his mind -- he couldn`t stand that she was beautiful, reclaiming the power in her life, making her own decisions, getting the love of the child, potentially dating other men. And as the control slipped, he took the ultimate control by taking her life.
And the thing with these guys is they go to the woman like a moth to the flame. They can`t just separate themselves and lead their own lives. They become obsessed, and the woman`s very presence on this earth feels threatening to them, and that`s why they kill them.
GRACE: Dr. Bethany, while I`ve got you, I just don`t understand the timing, though.
MARSHALL: The timing in terms of the divorce, the culmination of the divorce being in about a month?
GRACE: Yes.
MARSHALL: Well, the timing is symbolic. It was the final big rejection. She was going through with that. We don`t know if, in fantasy, he felt he could turn her around or that she wouldn`t go through with it. And also, what did the actual divorce proceeding mean? Was he going to have to pay child support or spousal support and he didn`t want to let go of his money? So I think that in that regard, the timing is very important.
GRACE: Out to Rupa Mikkilineni, on the story. Rupa, who found the body?
MIKKILINENI: The police found the body, but they were sent there after colleagues from work saw that she didn`t show up and they got worried, so they called police.
GRACE: And how long had she been there, Rupa, if colleagues were calling? How long had she been lying there dead?
MIKKILINENI: Twenty-four hours, Nancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s very, very sick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Holt allegedly tried to put the mother of his 8- year-old daughter into a diabetic coma and then used a rope to strangle her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just hours before 36-year-old mother Sylvia Reyes Holt is set to visit family, she is strangled to death. Holt`s estranged husband, Jonathan Douglas Holt, allegedly admits to police he killed his wife after his alibi crumbles. Douglas Holt now sits in jail on $1 million bond, facing first degree murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unable to verify a shopping alibi on the day of his estranged wife`s murder, Jonathan Douglas Holt is behind bars after allegedly admitting he killed her. Holt allegedly tried to put the mother of his 8-year-old daughter in a diabetic coma and then used a rope to strangle her. Paramedics pronounced Sylvia Reyes Holt dead on the scene, leaving her daughter motherless. Tonight, police are still searching for answers on why the 36-year-old mother`s estranged husband snapped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A marriage on the verge of divorce ends in murder. Sylvia Reyes Holt was ready to move forward with the final divorce in just a few weeks when her life was cut short. The alleged culprit, her estranged husband of 15 years, who now sits behind bars on murder one. And now their 8-year-old daughter is left alone, one parent dead, the other in the slammer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Levi in Louisiana. Hi, Levi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Do we know if she had a boyfriend and that`s what made him flip out?
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Wa-wait. Would you repeat the question, please?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we know if she had a boyfriend and that`s what made him flip out?
GRACE: Bethany Marshall, Eleanor Odom -- see, that`s what`s wrong right here. And that could very well be the mentality of someone on the jury, that it`s her fault that made him flip out. Can I see Eleanor Odom and Bethany Marshall? Is that possible? First out to you, Bethany. Weigh in.
MARSHALL: Well, I mean, the fact is, maybe she was beginning to live her life and...
GRACE: Wait, wait. Do I still have Levi in Louisiana? Because I`d like to know exactly where in Louisiana he`s from and where he would get the idea that it could possibly be her fault for this guy climbing into her apartment, into her home, and shooting her up with two syringes of insulin to put her into a diabetic coma? Go ahead.
MARSHALL: Well, these stalkers, perpetrators, men who commit domestic homicide, they go after the woman to undo the perceived rejection. They kill the woman as the ultimate revenge for having rejected them. So I don`t imagine this guy could tolerate anything from his wife, let alone her divorcing him, her having a voice...
GRACE: I`m not talking about him!
MARSHALL: ... for having a live...
GRACE: I`m talking about the nutjob that just called in and suggested it`s her fault! What about that?
MARSHALL: It is not -- it is not her fault.
GRACE: I know that! I know that!
MARSHALL: It`s so easy to blame the victim.
GRACE: I`m asking you to shrink the nut that just called in!
MARSHALL: Well, because I think the guy who called in has a hard time believing that women can be faultless and blameless in a situation like this. But she is. No woman asks to be abused. And the fact is, she wanted to reclaim her life. It was her right to reclaim her life.
GRACE: Eleanor?
MARSHALL: She and only she owns her life.
ELEANOR ODOM: Nancy, I hate to see this. It`s blame the victim mentality. And as a prosecutor, we have to fight that all the time because lots of jurors feel this way. It`s the woman`s fault. She must have done something to make the man snap. Well, how`s this, Nancy? He committed a crime. He killed her. That is a crime. It is not her fault.
GRACE: Out to you, Renee Rockwell. You`re from...
ROCKWELL: Louisiana.
GRACE: Yes, I know that. I was just trying to remember the exact parish. What about it?
ROCKWELL: Baton Rouge.
GRACE: I know.
ROCKWELL: Nancy, everybody keeps saying "snapped." This was not...
GRACE: I didn`t say snapped!
ROCKWELL: ... a snap -- well...
GRACE: Because there`s no such thing as saying...
ROCKWELL: I heard your...
GRACE: You know, pretty soon, I`m going to send you...
ROCKWELL: I heard Eleanor say "snap."
GRACE: I`m going to send you down to work for the prosecutor...
ROCKWELL: OK.
GRACE: ... because that`s what I would argue to a death penalty jury, that this is not a snap. There`s no such thing as a snap.
ROCKWELL: No.
GRACE: This was planned out.
ROCKWELL: It`s just like when your caller called in, Levi from Louisiana, says whatever made him freak out, her having a boyfriend. All I`m telling you is the point that I`m trying to make is no matter whether it was contrived, calculated or if he snapped, this is not a death penalty case, period, Nancy.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Rebecca in Texas. Hi, Rebecca.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`m just curious, what would an insulin overdose do to someone? Would it actually kill them?
GRACE: Good question, Rebecca. To Dr. Howard Oliver, joining us out of LA, former deputy medical examiner, forensic pathologist. Dr. Oliver, thank you for being with us. What exactly would the two syringes of insulin do to her?
HOWARD OLIVER, FMR. DPTY. MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, they would lower her blood sugar. She would become jittery, irritated. She may be diaphoretic -- that is sweaty. She would eventually...
GRACE: Would it put her into a coma?
OLIVER: ... go into a coma, where she would sustain brain damage over a period of time.
GRACE: But how does insulin, which your body creates naturally, put you into a coma?
OLIVER: The insulin causes you to use up all your sugar. That`s the fuel that your muscles use to operate your body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unable to verify a shopping alibi on the day of his estranged wife`s murder, Jonathan Douglas Holt is behind bars after allegedly admitting he killed her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A marriage on the verge of divorce ends in murder. Sylvia Reyes Holt was ready to move forward with the final divorce in just a few weeks when her life was cut short. The alleged culprit, her estranged husband of 15 years, who now sits behind bars on murder one. And now their 8-year-old daughter is left alone, one parent, dead, the other in the slammer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just hours before 36-year-old mother Sylvia Reyes Holt is set to visit family, she is strangled to death. Holt`s estranged husband, Jonathan Douglas Holt, allegedly admits to police he killed his wife after his alibi crumbles. Douglas Holt now sits in jail on $1 million bond, facing first degree murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unable to verify a shopping alibi on the day of his estranged wife`s murder, Jonathan Douglas Holt is behind bars after allegedly admitting he killed her. Holt allegedly tried to put the mother of his 8-year-old daughter into a diabetic coma and then used a rope to strangle her. Paramedics pronounced Sylvia Reyes Holt dead on the scene, leaving her daughter motherless. Tonight, police are still searching for answers on why the 36-year-old mother`s estranged husband snapped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to Paul Penzone, former sergeant, Phoenix PD, child advocate and victims` advocate. Weigh in, Paul.
PAUL PENZONE, FMR. SGT. PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, first and foremost, let`s make a point of this. Victims are just that, they`re victims. The only person responsible for a crime is that perpetrator, and anyone who tries to find a justification otherwise is doing a disservice to those victims. It`s not acceptable.
This case is just an odd one because it`s so unorthodox, the manner that he tried to kill -- that he did kill this victim, that the prosecution should have no problem justifying that it was all premeditated and he should get the most severe penalty available.
GRACE: I`m just trying to imagine what she went through, struggling there on the floor, seeing him taking the insulin out of the refrigerator, loading up the syringes in his back pocket. Out to the lines...
PENZONE: If I could weigh in on...
GRACE: Go ahead.
PENZONE: I was just going to weigh in -- domestic violence is such a problem in our society, and women primarily are the victims and need to recognize that an order of protection and those other things are not going to give you enough safety, that you really have to take precautions to understand that relationships can lead to violence very quickly with men, and you have to protect yourself. A paper won`t do that for you.
GRACE: Out to Rupa Mikkilineni. Any idea so far what the defense is going to be?
MIKKILINENI: Nancy, we actually do not know at this point at all.
GRACE: How about it, Joe Gomez?
GOMEZ: No clue yet. What kind of defense could he have?
GRACE: I would guess insanity. That`s where this is headed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paramedics pronounced Sylvia Reyes Holt dead on the scene, leaving her daughter motherless. Tonight, police are still searching for answers on why the 36-year-old mother`s estranged husband snapped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST (voice-over): Texas police are desperately searching for a 19-year-old missing mom, Shonda Townsend. Shonda was driving home from a friend`s house and sent a text message to her mother saying she was on her way. She never made it.
Authorities found her ransacked car a few hours later in front of a residential home, the keys reportedly thrown across the street into a field. Cops searched the home and interviewed everyone in the area, but there`s been no sign of the young mom.
As Shonda`s 2-year-old son waits at home hoping for his mother`s return, cops continue to search for Shonda, admitting foul play is likely involved.
New details merge in the case of a missing Texas mother who cops say has likely been the victim of foul play. Nineteen-year-old Shonda Townsend was heading home after a day spent swimming and boating with friends at a nearby lake.
She sent a text message to her mother saying she was on her way home. That was the last contact anyone has had with her. Cops say they located Shonda`s car in front of a local home a few hours later but no sign of Shonda.
Investigators have reportedly given polygraphs, searched with cadaver dogs, reviewed surveillance video and questioned everyone connected to Shonda or the location where her car was found, but have found no clues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining us tonight, special guest, Sergeant Brian Boetz with the Mineral Wells Police Department joining us from Texas. Sergeant, thank you for being with us.
SERGEANT BRIAN BOETZ, MINERAL WELLS POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): You`re welcome. Thank you.
GRACE: When you say the car was ransacked, what do you mean by that?
BOETZ: Whenever we found Shonda`s car, it was found with the passenger door open, the trunk open and the radio missing.
GRACE: So someone made it look like a theft?
BOETZ: Possibly.
GRACE: And the keys were thrown across into a grassy field?
BOETZ: Yes, ma`am, across the street from where the car was is a field. There was a gentleman mowing the day after and he come across some keys. We were still doing a search of the area. He brought the keys to us. We just on a hunch brought the keys down to the car and of course, it fit the locks and the ignition.
GRACE: Joining us from Houston, Joe Gomez. Joe, tell me what led up to her being declared missing.
JOE GOMEZ, KTRH NEWS RADIO: Well, Nancy, by all accounts this was supposed to be the perfect day for Shonda. She had left her 2-year-old baby boy with her mother. She was going to go boating at the lake with her friend, hotdogs, grilling out on the patio. You know, eventually the day wore on, it was getting late.
Shonda was so responsible, she said you know, it`s about time, it`s getting late at night, I`m going to go home. She texted her mom, she said I`ll be home soon, but you know what, Nancy, she never made it home.
Subsequently investigators found her abandoned vehicle next to a crack house with the stereo ripped out of it, the car essentially gutted. Investigators have been scouring the area since, but have found no trace of this beautiful teenaged mother.
GRACE: Back to you, Sergeant Brian Boetz. Sergeant, I want to go back to that evening. Did she go to the party with a boyfriend?
BOETZ: Our information indicates she was at Lake Bridgeport.
GRACE: Yes.
BOETZ: She returned back to Mineral Wells between 9:00 and 10:00, at a friend`s house here in Mineral Wells, and then at 11:50 p.m., we have video footage of her being at an Easy Mart in town. That`s the last known time that we know she was in Mineral Wells other than cell phone record.
GRACE: So back to my original question, was she or was she not with a boyfriend?
BOETZ: No. No, ma`am. She was with family and friends, then she come back to Mineral Wells with just a girl friend.
GRACE: OK. What happened to the girl friend? Where did she go?
BOETZ: She left the girl friend`s house, that`s where Shonda come to, when she come to Mineral Wells, she left her friend`s house. Right before she left her house is when she texted her mother saying she would be on her way.
GRACE: So she was there at like that convenience store?
BOETZ: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: OK. Out to Marc Klaas, president and founder, Klaaskids Foundation. Marc, what do you think?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I think it`s unfortunate that she was 19 years old because there are very few resources available for missing adults. Law enforcement believes that they are gone because they want to be gone.
However, many of them may have faced foul play, which is probably what happened in this case. She did have everything to live for. She had everything going on in her life, and it just looks like somebody might have stalked her and done her bad.
GRACE: Back to you, Sergeant Boetz, what time was she spotted on the video at the convenience store?
BOETZ: 11:50.
GRACE: At night.
BOETZ: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: 11:50 p.m., and you could see her leaving the convenience store, she was in the same vehicle. Describe the vehicle, please.
BOETZ: She wasn`t in her vehicle. She was in her friend`s vehicle and then whenever they left the EZ Mart, she went back to her friend`s house and at that time, she texted her mom, told her she would be on her way, got in her vehicle and was heading back home.
GRACE: OK, got it. What was she driving?
BOETZ: She was driving a 1997 Toyota Camry. The color of it is purple- gray.
GRACE: OK. What can you tell me about, Joe Gomez, what can you tell me about the father of the baby?
BOETZ: Right now, Nancy, the father of the baby is apparently in jail. We don`t know exactly what he`s been charged with, but he was in jail --
GRACE: You know what, I guess that clears him. Out to the lines, Mike in New Jersey. Hi, Mike.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy. Can you ask the cop if they talked to all the people she was boating and swimming with that day?
GRACE: What about it, Sergeant?
BOETZ: They have all been interviewed and all been given polygraphs.
GRACE: OK. Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, Renee Rockwell, Peter Odom. Weigh in, Eleanor.
ELEANOR ODOM, FELONY PROSECUTOR: You know, Nancy, this is the scariest kind of case because this seems like a true abduction where maybe a stranger or somebody who had been watching her actually takes her. So this is very scary and the chances of her being found alive are very slim at this point.
GRACE: The tip line, 940-328-7770. In cases like this, Renee, I guarantee it, they didn`t take her far.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, Nancy. And you don`t know, somebody could have been in that car waiting for her at her girl friend`s house. It looks like a theft but it`s random, but -- and it`s violent. It just does not look good at all.
GRACE: But typically, Peter Odom, in cases like this, it`s not random. It`s someone that knew her.
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, there`s random, then there`s random, Nancy. It could be someone that had recently spotted her that had started to follow her that night.
It sounds as if the police really are doing all the things they should have done, interviewing the people in that concentric circle right close to her and then branching out. But it is not necessarily an acquaintance. It sounds as if the police have ruled that out.
GRACE: To Dr. Bethany Marshall, random or targeted?
DR. BETHANY MARSHALL: Well, I think of in terms of a serial killer abducted her, probably the perpetrator was out trolling about looking for a suitable victim and she fit his type, and so she was vulnerable, or if it wasn`t someone at the lake, maybe it was someone in her best friend`s apartment complex or in that neighborhood, but someone targeted her so random in the sense that it was not someone she really knew, but not random in that that person may have been following her all day long.
GRACE: If some type of DNA were found, Dr. Howard Oliver, say in her vehicle, how could you match that up or could you match that up to the data base, the DNA data base?
HOWARD OLIVER, FORMER DEPUTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: Yes. You would try to match it up to the data base. The data base contains DNA from many criminals, from military personnel, from government personnel, and hopefully there would be a match there. It`s not necessarily so, however.
GRACE: To Paul Penzone. Paul, there`s been a lot of speculation that this was a serial killer, but you know what, it could have just been dumb luck on the part of a criminal that had been watching her or as was suggested earlier, in that car waiting on her to get back.
But I still say this is somebody that knows her, whether they had been watching her, whether they are in that apartment complex, she may not know them, per se, but they know her.
PAUL PENZONE: You`re exactly right. It could have been someone for some reason was drawn to her and felt that she was going to be the targeted victim. You need to keep in mind, was it the abduction that came first and then the theft or was it a theft that turned ugly and that`s why she maybe was abducted and some worse harm came of her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE (voice-over): Shonda was driving home from a friend`s house and sent text message to her mother saying she was on her way. She never made it. Authorities found her ransacked car a few hours later in front of a residential home. The keys reportedly thrown across the street into a field.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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GRACE (voice-over): New details emerge in the case of a missing Texas mother who cops say has likely been the victim of foul play. Nineteen- year-old Shonda Townsend was heading home after a day spent swimming and boating with friends at a nearby lake.
She sent a text message to her mother saying she was on her way home. That was the last contact anyone has had with her. Cops say they located Shonda`s car in front of a local home a few hours later but no sign of Shonda.
Investigators have reportedly given polygraphs, searched with cadaver dogs, reviewed surveillance video and questioned everyone connected to Shonda or the location where her car was found, but have found no clues.
Texas police are desperately searching for a 19-year-old missing mom, Shonda Townsend. Shonda was driving home from a friend`s house and sent a text message to her mother saying she was on her way. She never made it. Authorities found her ransacked car a few hours later in front of a residential home, the keys reportedly thrown across the street into a field.
Cops searched the home and interviewed everyone in the area but there`s been no sign of the young mom. As Shonda`s 2-year-old son waits at home hoping for his mother`s return, cops continue to search for Shonda, admitting foul play is likely involved.
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GRACE: I want to go back to you, Sergeant Boetz. She told her friends she had to leave so her mother would not worry about her. She called her mother to tell her she was coming home. So it`s not as if she was going anywhere other than home.
But what about that odd text or e-mail she sent, just before she left her friend, Tiffany`s home. She got online, went on Facebook and said I got this, but then when the friend tried to find out who she was talking to, she hid it and wouldn`t tell.
BOETZ: We have not been able to make heads or tails of that exact message she sent out on Facebook at this time. It hasn`t produced any lead.
GRACE: Since the very beginning, has her phone been cut off? Have you tried to ping it?
BOETZ: Yes. We have done that. The last time that it was pinged, it was an incoming text to her phone. That`s the last time that it`s ever been in service.
GRACE: So the night she goes missing, 2:20 a.m., she gets an incoming text and who was that from?
BOETZ: We would rather not comment right now so we don`t compromise the case.
GRACE: I know the mother wakes up at 2:00 a.m. and discovers Shonda is still not home. This is two hours after she`s called saying she`s coming home. Around 6:00 a.m., she got up for good and starts looking for her. What more are we missing, Sergeant?
BOETZ: Well, there`s a lot of things, a lot of questions that just haven`t been answered for us. We have run down every lead possible to --
GRACE: You know what`s interesting is that her Camry was found right in front of a residence in Mineral Wells. Who lives there?
BOETZ: The people that live in that house are alleged drug users and people that we have dealt with on a not day-to-day basis, but at different times.
GRACE: Well, I`ve got a pretty strong feeling that she would not have gone to that area. So it sounds like someone took her car there. Yes, no?
BOETZ: Very possible.
GRACE: So now that we learn her car is in a drug area, how does that change the scenario to you, Paul Penzone?
PENZONE: Well, I think the key is going to be that stereo. I`m sure the officers in that department are working on this. You want to work backwards. I would be knocking down every door to every drug house in the neighborhood trying to locate that radio, work backwards from whoever traded that for drugs and trail it back right to the person who maybe abducted her and stole the car and move from there. I really think that`s going to be the key. I`m sure those officers are already working hard at that.
GRACE: But wait a minute. Let`s go back to the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, Renee Rockwell, Peter Odom. You don`t just yank the radio out, go in and trade it for dope and leave her sitting in the car. She has to be left somewhere long before that. What about it, Eleanor?
ODOM: Yes. You`re exactly right, Nancy. She`s probably been dropped somewhere else. What you`ve got to also remember, when they yank the radio out, there are probably fingerprints around the area the radio was in. I had a case like that where they determined who the perpetrator was by fingerprints in the car. So perhaps that can link them up.
GRACE: Well, another thing, back to you, Sergeant Boetz, how far from the friend`s house, Tiffany Sorel`s home, was her car found?
BOETZ: I would say probably about 15 city blocks.
GRACE: So I mean, she, her body, is somewhere right in that radius. They didn`t go far, did they, Paul Penzone?
PENZONE: I can`t imagine and you`re exactly right. Whatever happened to her occurred before that vehicle was moved into that area, before that radio was traded, and it`s somewhere in that progression.
That`s why I really feel like unfortunately you`re going to have to work backwards. I don`t want to undermine what they`re doing but that`s where it`s going to turn out. The drug houses are a big piece of evidence. Have other charges to hold over their head to press for information as to who sold that radio and how it changed hands from one person to another after that young lady was taken.
GRACE: Out to you, Marc Klaas, seeing the timeline, the way it`s coming out, you have only got about a two-hour period for all this to happen. She calls her mother around midnight. She leaves around 12:05. At 2:00 a.m., it`s over. She`s not answering her phone, she`s not answering texts. It`s all over. Two hours. That car didn`t travel far. Her body or wherever she is, it happened right in that radius.
KLAAS: And this would be a perfect opportunity for search teams to go out and bring this girl home so that she can get the burial she deserves, because I have to agree with everybody else that the chances of her being found alive are very, very slim.
GRACE: To Sergeant Boetz, is there a body of water, is there a nature preserve? What`s around there?
BOETZ: Yes, there is, but before I answer that, can I add something to what was just said just a minute ago?
GRACE: Sure.
BOETZ: The phone call, the incoming text at 2:20 a.m., it actually pinged off a cell tower north of Mineral Wells. So therefore, we know her phone was somewhere outside the city limits of Mineral Wells --
GRACE: How far?
BOETZ: It`s without -- it`s almost close to Perrin where she lives.
GRACE: I`m sorry, I couldn`t hear you. Are you saying 15 miles, 10 miles, 2 miles?
BOETZ: Probably about five to ten.
GRACE: So in that area, so to me, that says so much and have searches gone down in that area, Sergeant?
BOETZ: Searches have gone down in that area along with different areas here in Mineral Wells.
GRACE: Everyone, tip line, 940-328-7770. Now, CNN Heroes.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is my honor to present CNN Hero Dan Walrath.
DAN WALRATH: Being a top ten CNN Hero was just very humbling. The true heroes are service men and women who answer the call.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since the show aired, we have been getting phone calls and e-mails and donations from all over the world. It`s just been incredible.
GEORGE VERSCHOOR, EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION: We had seen Dan on the CNN Heroes tribute and we thought that`s a perfect guy, we got to team up with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, Patrick and Jessica!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ABC`S Extreme Makeover Home Edition joined forces with Dan to build a home for an Iraq war veteran wounded in the 2009 attack at Fort Hood in Texas. Thirteen soldiers died, but Staff Sergeant Patrick Ziegler pulled through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was shot four times, once in the head. He`s just made a remarkable recovery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Dan, who normally works with around 200 people, it`s a chance to help build a home on a much larger scale.
WALRATH: It`s probably 4,000 or 5,000 volunteers involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have tons of military folks helping us.
WALRATH: God bless you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This house is going to be built in about a hundred hours. Normally we take about six months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An event at Fort Hood honoring Patrick and his fiance Jessica, Dan made a special announcement.
WALRATH: We have established a Fort Hood victims fund to reach out to all the families affected by this tragedy. I feel so good all the time about seeing these lives change. Now we`ll be able to change a lot more.
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GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more important the people who touched our lives.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bones found in Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Been arrested 19 other times.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight, where is 13-year-old cheerleader Hailey Dunn?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hailey Dunn left home to walk to a friend`s house for a sleepover, left home to go from point A to point B.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just know I have to have her back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never got to point B. How does a popular, smart student simply vanish?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who killed beautiful single mom Christy Cornell?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We didn`t want it to end this way. That`s the way it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are the remains of Christy Cornwell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what happened to Christy Cornwell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is on the phone with a boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He heard a scuffle, a cry for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was abducted, placed in a vehicle, and removed from the area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then nothing. I want to take you to Knoxville, Tennessee and another missing child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allison Doherty?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring her home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best time that`s ever happened in my life. The teen has been missing since around 11:00 Sunday night after reportedly leaving her mother`s house. No sign of 16-year-old Allison.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, 911 what is your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Debra Mcvey. The 10-year-old reveals he shot his own mother in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-year-old Gregory Faber gunned down the trooper.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How could someone who has been arrested 19 different times --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still walk the streets of Atlanta?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want justice.
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GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Marine Master Sergeant Kenneth Hunt Jr., 40, Tucson, Arizona. Dies, San Antonio, Texas, from injuries sustained in Iraq. Was eligible for retirement but volunteered for a second tour. Awarded the Purple Heart, played football, baseball, ran track, loved to play guitar and listen to the band. He loved Kiss. Leaves behind parents Juanita and Kenneth, wife Maria, two children, Kenneth III and Kimberly. Kenneth Hunt Jr., American Hero.
Thank you to our guests, but our biggest thank you is to you for inviting us into your homes. And tonight a special thank you to Texas friend of the show for these beautiful hats and scarves and gloves for John David and Lucy. Armeen is actually legally blind and she knitted these by touch. Thank you.
Tonight a special good night from the New York Control Room. Good night, Bret, Liz, Rosie. Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp, Eastern and until then, good night.
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