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Nancy Grace
Bodies of Mother and Toddler Found in MA Trash Bin
Aired February 14, 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, Massachusetts suburbs. In the last hours, a woman minding her own business gets the shock of a lifetime when she spots a female hand and foot sticking out of a loaded dumpster. A tipster calls police, who race to the scene and make their own gruesome discovery, a 25-year-old young mom murdered and thrown away like she`s trash.
Bombshell tonight. The entire dumpster transported immediately to the medical examiner, where the story only gets worse. Mommy`s 2-year-old toddler boy dumped in the same trash bin along with his dead mommy. And tonight, we want justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Information at this point indicates that the victim was last seen at her residence at 427 Warren Avenue, Brockton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maria Avelina Palaguachi-Cela was 25. After an anonymous phone tip, police found her body in a dumpster behind her apartment, and they found her son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the dumpster was also an additional body of her toddler son, Brian Palaguachi, date of birth 3-17-2008.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators won`t say how the victims died or talk about the suspects. Neighbors saw a male, believed to be a boyfriend, coming and going all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a terrible crime, especially when you think about what happened to the small child and his mom. And I think that gives the investigators and police the resolve to make sure that they work very hard to as quickly as possible get somebody off the streets who would do that. I mean, who would do that to a 3-year-old child?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a Florida community reeling. School lets out broad daylight, three separate little girls on separate days sexually attacked as they walk home after school, including a little 12-year-old snatched out of a church parking lot. It`s all caught on grainy surveillance video. We have the video. All the attacks within just blocks of the girls` school. Talk about a predator! Tonight, we want him off the streets and behind bars where he belongs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The images are eerie. In the far background of this home surveillance video, can you see a sexual predator going after his latest victim, a 12-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re in school, sort of. You just don`t think that`s going to happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Victor Taylor`s (ph) security system captured the attack. It took place in broad daylight near his front yard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as I heard what it was, I started running the video back to take a look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His driveway camera caught the suspect has he hurried after that 12-year-old girl in a church parking lot. You can`t see her getting away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re very concerned about the safety for everyone out there, and we need everybody looking. We need more eyes out there for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Manatee County sheriff says we may be dealing with a flat-out predator here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. In just the last hours, a woman minding her own business gets the shock of a lifetime. She spots a female hand and foot sticking out of a loaded dumpster. A tipster calls police. They race to the scene to make their own gruesome discovery, a 25-year-old young mom murdered and thrown away like trash, the entire dumpster transported to the medical examiner. The story gets worse. Mommy`s 2-year-old toddler boy dumped in the same trash bin with his dead mommy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are searching for a killer after the bodies of a young mom and her toddler son were found in a trash bin. Police discovered the body Sunday night after receiving an anonymous tip about a body inside a bin behind the building where the mother lived. Police discovered the mother`s body first and the boy`s body shortly thereafter. Cops say the mother was last seen at her home on Thursday. Their bodies have been sent to the state medical examiner in Boston to determine the cause of death. Cops have also removed the trash bin, hoping a more thorough examination will reveal physical evidence as to who killed this mom and her little boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. We are just getting this information in as we go to air. A woman minding her own business gets the shock of a lifetime when she spots a female hand and foot sticking out of a load of trash. A tipster calls police, who discover at the medical examiner`s office the woman`s 2-year-old toddler boy also dead in the trash bin. Tonight, as of this moment, no leads, but tips now pouring in.
Straight out to Jean Casarez. Jean, what can you tell me? What more facts do you know?
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": All right, Nancy, we`re learning that this is about 25 miles south of Boston. And it was originally an anonymous call that came in, talking about this horrifying scene. They keep referring to it as a bin, the bodies were in a bin. It was a trash bin, Nancy. It was a trash bin behind where it`s believed this woman lived.
GRACE: Straight out to Steve Damish, managing editor of "The Enterprise" of Brockton. Steve, thank you for being with us. You`re there on the scene. What do you know?
STEVE DAMISH, "THE ENTERPRISE" OF BROCKTON: Not much more than that, Nancy. We know that there is a killer on the loose in this region. It is an unsettling story to report, unsettling story for this region, I`m sure, to read. It`s one of the most heinous crimes we have covered as a newspaper in some time, certainly one of the worst involving a child. So we have not learned much more. We do know the family, we believe, comes from Ecuador. We believe there is a -- might be a domestic violence connection to this case. But it is a case and a story, Nancy, that does have this region on edge even though the DA said she was not a random target.
GRACE: OK. Let`s go out to our guests. We are taking your calls live. To Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Not a random target. Interpret.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I believe that -- I believe that this is a targeted killing, that this is something that -- somebody wanted this woman and this young boy dead very badly, and they went ahead and did it. I think what we have to probably look at is boyfriend, significant others, the little boy`s father. And we`ll probably get to the bottom of this thing sooner, rather than later.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. To Sheila in Illinois. Hi, Sheila.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morn -- good aft -- good evening, Nancy. You look like an angel tonight, a saint on Valentine`s Day, for sure.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys kind of touched on that, on what I was -- my question. We know who she is because she was found behind her house. So do we know of any orders of protections or restraining orders or boyfriends, or you know, acquaintances that she may have, you know, had or any persons of interest or last -- you know, last seen?
GRACE: Sheila, you`re starting exactly where police start. I want to go back to Jean Casarez. Jean, they`re saying that this is not random. Other than that, we don`t know. For all we know, this could be a stalker, this could be the grocery delivery boy, this could be the pizza delivery guy, the cable guy. It could be anybody. What do we know domestically regarding who is the father of the 2-year-old boy?
CASAREZ: Well, who is the father -- well, that`s a good question. You know, I`ll tell you what I do know. I do know that she didn`t live at the house alone. Others lived there, family members, even friends. But the last time she was seen alive was on Thursday.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, high-profile lawyer out of Seattle, Anne Bremner. Another high-profile lawyer, out of New York, Doug Burns, defense attorney. Anne Bremner, Doug Burns -- first to you, Anne. Of course, he`s got one thing going for him, whoever did this. In Massachusetts, there`s no death penalty. The most he`ll ever have to do is get his food and lodging paid for by the government. That`s us. Our taxes are only going to go up.
That aside, we`re seeing the trash dumpster. Liz, let`s see that in full, please. You are seeing video we are just getting in of the scene of the crime. There you see the woman`s body being taken out of the dumpster. And in an even more heinous discovery, when the dumpster is taken to the medical examiner and they start sifting through all the debris, they find the 2-year-old toddler boy also dead in the dumpster with his mom.
So bottom line, Bremner, in Massachusetts, mass murder -- that`s more than one body -- is there anything you can do there to get the death penalty, anything at all?
ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Apparently not, Nancy. Happy Valentine`s Day. I see you`re wearing red today. Happy Valentine`s to you your twins and David and everybody watching. But I...
GRACE: I appreciate that, but let`s get back to the death penalty. Go ahead.
BREMNER: I know. I know. And I heard from Sheila or Sheeba in Illinois about what she wanted to look for, and there`s a lot of things to look for in a case like this. But the answer is no. I mean, the fact is, is this is going to be a life without parole case.
GRACE: Weigh in, Doug Burns.
DOUG BURNS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY No, I mean, they don`t have the death penalty in Massachusetts, so there`s really nothing to discuss. I mean, terrible, terrible crime. But I`ll tell you, there`s definitely a storyline behind this crime. I agree with Marc and others, it`s a domestic violence scenario because otherwise, you wouldn`t see the killing of the 2- year-old child like this, in my opinion.
GRACE: Well, you know, back it up just a moment, Doug Burns.
BURNS: Yes.
GRACE: Just a few days ago, we covered a case where a guy stalked a family. He actually stayed in a sleeping bag through the night across the street from their home, broke in, wiped out the whole family to get the 12- year-old girl.
BURNS: Right. Well...
GRACE: So...
BURNS: ... yes...
GRACE: ... it does happen.
BURNS: Yes. No, I don`t have a crystal ball and I`m not a profiler. However, percentages-wise, Nancy, I`m just giving you the opinion that I agree with the initial analysis, that the police undoubtedly are focusing on the person`s relationships, just the way the caller had set it out at the beginning.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Sue in Illinois. Hi, Sue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Nice to speak with you again, my friend.
GRACE: Likewise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for taking my call. And your twins are just beautiful. And I just wonder if they have a lead, any leads on who the perpetrator was?
GRACE: Good question. Ellie Jostad -- everybody, we`re getting the news right now -- I`m getting it piped into my ear as we`re on the air. We`re learning right now more and more facts. But for those of you just joining us, as we go to air, there in Brockton, Massachusetts, which is basically, the Boston suburbs, a woman gets a shock of a lifetime when she sees -- she spots a lady`s hand and foot sticking out of a loaded dumpster. Right now, you`re seeing the video, as we`re getting it in.
Ellie, I want to throw the question to you.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, investigators did say that the victim did not have any orders of protection out against her. We don`t know of any threats against her. But one interesting thing to point out regarding the boy`s father. She had filed a request back in November that he pay child support. And at the time, he was living in Rockland County, New York. Not clear if he is still there.
GRACE: But bottom line, Rockland County, New York -- this is the Boston suburbs -- he`d have to take a train or a plane to get there to do this murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That just makes it even worse. That is just -- how could somebody do that to a mother and child? It`s just unconscionable. And I hope they catch them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police made a shocking discovery Sunday night when the body of a young mom and her little toddler son were found in a trash bin behind her home. Police responded to an anonymous tip and found the mother and toddler`s bodies inside the trash bin. The bodies, which were said to be fully intact, have been taken to the medical examiner`s office to determine cause of death. The initial investigation is focusing on relatives and friends of the mother, who was last seen at her home on Thursday. Police describe the investigation as very active and are hunting day and night for the killer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Information at this point indicates that the victim was last seen Thursday, February 10th, 2011, at her residence at 427 Warren Ave in Brockton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the dumpster was also an additional body of her toddler son, Brian Palaguachi, date of birth 3-17-2008.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. For those of you just joining us, we are getting information in as we go to air about a woman`s body just discovered in a Boston suburb dumpster. After the entire dumpster is taken to the medical examiner`s office, a more gruesome discovery, her toddler boy also in that dumpster dead.
The wires I`m just getting now -- neighbors say the young woman lived in the home just behind the dumpster, just in front of the dumpster. We also learn she has two children, described as tiny, short, long brown hair. The woman regularly left early in the morning, came back in the afternoon as if going to a full-time job. Also, information about a duffel bag and a truck is coming out.
Jean Casarez, what do you know about a duffel bag and a truck?
CASAREZ: All right, the duffel bag -- it looks like that`s what at least one of the bodies was in. But it looks like the duffel bag was pretty small, and that`s how you had the hands and the feet and different things hanging over. As far as that pickup truck, it`s a Ford 150 pickup truck. That is what a young woman used to drive what we believe would be work every day. And that has now been taken into the possession of law enforcement.
GRACE: Jean, where did they find her pickup?
CASAREZ: In the front of the house.
GRACE: So it obviously was not a carjacking or a theft of the vehicle because the car was still sitting there in (SIC) the house.
I want to go to Jay Salpeter, private investigator, former NYPD homicide. Jay, what does it say to you that the body was hidden right behind the house? Number one, that it was hidden says it`s not random because if it`s random, you know, it`s a drive-by shooting, they leave the body where it falls. They don`t go to such great pains to hide the body. But number two, that it`s discarded right behind the home.
JAY SALPETER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, a couple of things, Nancy. The first thing is that anonymous tipster I`m sure has been found, and she could be very crucial. What the police are giving with regards to, you know, just finding the woman`s hands sticking out -- she might have seen more, and that`s what`s so important. And to answer your question is, the person that, you know, committed this crime definitely is close enough to this woman that could walk in and out of that building with garbage, unfortunately, the garbage or (ph) the deceased bodies.
GRACE: Well, let me ask you this, Jay Salpeter. Don`t police have caller ID? You think they could add that on to their package? Of course they have the ID of whoever called in, unless it was from a pay phone.
SALPETER: Well, like I said, Nancy, I`m not arguing with you, the body -- the -- I said first the anonymous caller probably has been found, and it`s more important if the anonymous caller saw more than what the police are giving to the public. That`s what`s important.
GRACE: And what do you make of, Marc Klaas, the fact that the child was also murdered?
Everybody, you`re seeing the video as we`re getting it in. A woman`s body has just been found in a dumpster. Once they get to the medical examiner, start sifting through the dumpster, they find the woman`s child also dead in the dumpster.
Why kill the child too, Marc Klaas?
KLAAS: You know, Nancy, in many of the cases that we cover, we see that the perpetrator wants to disappear the family. He wants to get rid of the wife, the husband, the children. And they get very meticulous about it, and oftentimes there`s never a recovery. This is a sloppy case. This is somebody who wanted to be rid of these people, and he didn`t take nearly the kind of care in hiding the evidence that we oftentimes see. A pretty sloppy crime, I would say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, there`s nobody in custody. And at this point, nobody`s under arrest. They are working very hard right now to come to a determination of whoever did this heinous crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At 9:30 PM, police received an anonymous call reporting a body in a dumpster located behind Warren Ave in Brockton. Uniformed Brockton police officers arrived and found what appeared to be the body of a young woman located inside of a dumpster. The victim in this matter has been identified as Maria Avelina Palaguachi-Cela. Date of birth, 11-5-85. In the dumpster was also an additional body of her toddler son, Brian Palaguachi. Date of birth, 3-17-2008.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victims have been transported to the office of the chief medical examiner in Boston, where the autopsies will be performed later to determine the cause and the manner of the death. At this point, the case is under investigation by the state police detectives assigned to the Plymouth DA`s office and the Brockton police detectives. The state police crime scene services have also assisted in processing the scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing the video as we get it. We are live tonight out of Massachusetts suburbs. A woman gets the shock of her life when she spots a female hand and foot sticking out of a loaded dumpster. Only later was it discovered the woman`s 2-year-old little boy was also dead in that dumpster. Who would have done this? Tonight, police running down every clue possible. They`ve only got as far as identifying the victims, but that`s actually a very big start.
To Dr. Eric Braverman, founder of Path Medical Centers, joining us out of New York. Doctor, thank you for being with us.
DR. ERIC BRAVERMAN, FOUNDER, PATH MEDICAL CENTERS: Hi, Nancy. Thank you.
GRACE: If they had not been able to identify them, this would be a very, very difficult case to crack. How would they have had to go about identifying them?
BRAVERMAN: Well, they go by the teeth and other types of IDs and cosmetic and medical literature that you can find. These kinds of crimes, though, are typical in rageful men, testosterone males that have brain damage or have had concussions or head injury. I mean, we don`t see women...
GRACE: How about that are just...
BRAVERMAN: ... as a rule, doing these kinds of crimes.
GRACE: How about guys...
BRAVERMAN: We see men.
GRACE: ... that are just plain mean? You know, you don`t have to have a concussion...
BRAVERMAN: I`ve tested a lot...
GRACE: ... to commit murder.
BRAVERMAN: ... of males that have committed crimes and murder and violence, and we need to realize it`s very sick brains that do it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are searching for a killer after the bodies of a young mom and her toddler son were found in a trash bin. Police discovered the bodies Sunday night after receiving an anonymous tip about a body inside a bin behind the building where the mother lived.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Information at this point indicates that the victim was last seen at her residence at 4:27 Warren Avenue in Brockton.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Maria Avelina Palaguachi-Cela was 25. After an anonymous phone tip, police found her body in a dumpster behind her apartment and they found her son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the dumpster was also an additional body of her toddler son, Brian Palaguachi, date of birth 3/17/2008.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Investigators won`t say how the victims died or talk about suspects. Neighbors saw a male believed to be a boyfriend coming and going all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a terrible crime scene, especially when you think of what happened to a small child and his mom. And I think that gives I think the investigators and the police the resolve to make sure that they work very hard to as quickly as possible get somebody off the streets who would do that. I mean who would do that to a 2-year-old child?
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Who would do it? That`s exactly what we are asking tonight.
We are taking your calls, out to Sue in Illinois, hi, Sue. Lost Sue.
Sandra in Maine, hi, Sandra.
SANDRA, CALLER FROM MAINE: Hi.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?
SANDRA: I love your show, Nancy.
GRACE: Thank you. And thank you for calling in.
SANDRA: And I love your kids.
GRACE: You know what? We spent the whole afternoon delivering Valentine`s and hunting for trolls. So you know I come in and I hear this story -- it was just coming in as I was coming in to work about somebody killing a 2-year-old child and their mother and dumping them in a dumpster?
I just can`t believe it. And you know, there`s another childless woman, apparently, has another child. She was leaving in and out of the house, working long days every day, according to our sources. And somebody kills a mother, a young 25-year-old mother, and her 2-year-old baby boy?
All I can say is rot in hell, and we will find you.
Sandra, what`s your question?
SANDRA: I`ve got a question. Has a family member reported her missing at all or --
GRACE: That`s a great question. Did you have another one?
SANDRA: Yes, I did.
GRACE: What?
SANDRA: And do you know if they`ve been sexual abuse or anything like that at all?
GRACE: Let`s find out. Out to Steve Damish, managing editor with "The Enterprise" of Brockton.
Had this woman been reported missing? And I`ve got another question for you, Steve. I`ve been taking a look -- I`ve got some other pictures, we`re just getting them in right now, I want to show the viewers. But it looks like maybe a two, maybe a three-story home that she lived in.
And this dumpster was behind it, the home was shared with a couple other families apparently. One to Sandra`s question, had anybody reported her missing? And two, how do you get two bodies out of the home and into a dumpster with nobody seeing it? How does that happen?
STEVE DAMISH, MANAGING EDITOR, THE ENTERPRISE OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Well, first off, Nancy, she had not been reported missing as far as we can tell. Number one. Number two, what has not been reported yet is that this dumpster was or this trash bin was scheduled to be removed this morning and brought to the local incinerator.
So this person might have known that the dumpster schedule is Monday morning pickup because this was only a few hours away from being picked up, mixed with other trash and brought and mixed with more trash. And essentially not too long down the road, we`re finding out, incinerated.
This is a 13-unit, three-story home in a dense section of Brockton. The assumption is that the person who made the call is -- it didn`t go undetected and she might have seen something more than she called in. But she saw the body, phoned that in, and she might have been a resident there just bringing out her trash.
And it`s not uncommon for people in this region to use the nearest trash bin for their refuse, so you are correct. If it happened more than a day or two ago, the suspicion is, somebody would have seen the body before then.
GRACE: Well, hold on, Steve Damish, don`t go anywhere.
Everybody, joining me out of Massachusetts, Steve Damish, managing editor of "The Enterprise" at Brockton, talking about the trash schedule. That really narrows down possibly a timeline. If the killer was watching when the dumpster would be dumped he knew it would been today and the body would have been incinerated.
And my other question was, somebody had to -- I mean do you get a body out and I`m seeing a different picture now on air that I`m pulling up on the wires of the home. How do you get a body out of that home and nobody sees it? Nobody sees that or the body of the child.
She did not fit in a duffle bag. And also when I am throwing something in a dumpster, I don`t do a chin-up and look in. How did she manage to see what was down in the dumpster, Steve Damish?
DAMISH: It`s not too big a dumpster. It`s maybe four or five feet up the ground. It`s not too high. And by this point, Nancy, it`s full. It`s been there for a week or so, ready for the Monday morning pickup, and it`s brimmed with refuse.
So it`s very likely that this poor woman and her son were not buried and if somebody else said what they did earlier it was correct. It wasn`t well planned, it wasn`t well thought out. And this poor mother and her poor son were -- were not buried in the trash but were right on top, waiting for the Monday morning pickup, which was -- would have happened early this morning at sunup.
GRACE: A mother in death with her 2-year-old little boy, leaving behind another child to be raised without a mother.
Tonight, who dumped a young 25-year-old mom and her 2-year-old toddler boy in the dumpster behind their home? Well, I can tell you, some of the first questions that medical examiner will try to answer now that we`ve established identity is the time of death and the cause of death.
Out to Paula Bloom, clinical psychologist.
Paula, weigh-in on the mind of a killer.
PAULA BLOOM, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Wow. You know what, the doctor that was talking before about the brain injury and that kind of thing, it`s very interesting to me. Basically this is somebody -- you know people always ask, well, what were they thinking? What were they thinking? Who could do this?
You`ve got to be pretty disconnected from -- that this is a human being in front of you to be able to do something like this. Often this feels like a very impulsive kind of act that went very quickly from rage and anger to oh my gosh, fear, I`m going to get caught, I needed to hide it.
So this is a very, very intense thing. But I also think that yes, maybe there`s brain injury, but that doesn`t excuse what happened.
GRACE: Well, obviously, we`re going to find a location, it`s going to be her home, because of the disposal of the body, Marc Klaas, is so close to her home. That`s going to be the obvious crime scene. Agree or disagree?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: No, I totally agree, I suspect he probably was able to get her into that duffle bag and get her into the dumpster at which point various body parts came out.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Sheeba in Illinois. Hi, Sheeba.
SHEEBA, CALLER FROM ILLINOIS: Hi, Nancy. How are you? You do look wonderful in your red and your necklace.
GRACE: Thank you, love.
SHEEBA: My question is, I know a policeman can tell when they pulled somebody out, what generally, if they`re not too decomposed, what they died of. Did she have her throat cut? Was she decapitated? Was she in the medical profession, what we say gutted? Was she dismembered in anyway? And was the little baby dismembered?
GRACE: OK.
SHEEBA: I think of now --
GRACE: I know that from our police sources, they don`t know the cause of death. It says to me it must have been asphyxiation or strangulation. She was not dismembered. There were a lot of rumors flying rampantly that she had been dismembered. She was not dismembered according to our police source.
And if they pulled the body out and they can`t tell what happened, the best bet is to go with asphyxiation or strangulation.
To the lines, to Dashena in Ohio. Hi, Dashena.
DASHENA, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
DASHENA: I want to know -- now I heard you say earlier that the lady had other family members who live in the house? In that --
GRACE: We know that she has another child. I don`t know about other family members. We also know nobody reported her missing.
DASHENA. Right.
GRACE: Where is the other child then? Didn`t anybody -- do they have the boyfriend in custody yet?
GRACE: Good question. What do we know, Jean Casarez?
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": The other child is believed is in her native country of Ecuador. And as far as the father, he is not a suspect, not even a person of interest. Just someone that she is no longer with since last fall. She asked for child support through a court order.
GRACE: OK. Jean, we map quested it, it`s 210 miles from Rockland to this spot in Boston. That would be a heck of a drive. It has been done before. But they`re clearly broken up and he`s living elsewhere. That says to me that there is quite a bit of distance emotionally and geographically between them. I would look closer to home.
Everyone, to tonight`s case alert. The search for a missing Washington Heights teen, 13-year-old Chitara Plasencia. Last seen Feb. 10 at her school, IS-52 Academy Street. Take a look at this beautiful young girl. Cops say she needs her medication. She`s 5`2", 130 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes. Last seen in her school uniform. Blue shirt, gray skirt, black coat.
Please help us find Chitara. Call Crime Stoppers, 800-577-TIPS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a sick situation.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The disturbing video caught on his security system.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the one that caught that incident, yes. The other cameras are, you know, further away.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You can see a young girl jumping the fence. Moments later a man runs after her. Investigators say the girl told the man that there were people in the area and he better leave. He did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has to be something wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Deputies believe it was an attempted sexual assault.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The place the attack happened is popular with kids going to and from nearby Lee Middle School and Bayshore High.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`d probably be safer that they stayed where, you know, there is a lot of traffic and a lot of people around.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Investigator say this video from the high school`s camera shows the same man just minutes before the latest assault.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Take a look at this video. This guy is so brazen. It`s broad daylight, and look at this perv, running, chasing the little girl. You can see her in the distance walking. He caught her.
This is the third attack in the space of days. Just blocks from the schoolhouse. The youngest girl 12 was taking a shortcut across a church parking lot when the guy grabbed her and tried to sexually assault her.
What the hey is going on?
To Anthony Cormier, "Sarasota Herald Tribune" joining us out of Sarasota. You know Anthony, I`ve driven through Sarasota a couple of times, and I saw the St. Armand`s Circle. I saw the big fancy houses and the fancy restaurants. They don`t have better security than this? A couple of blocks from a middle school?
And you`ve got this perv running and a black mask and purple plastic gloves, actually getting girls and sexually assaulting them?
ANTHONY CORMIER, REPORTER, SARASOTA HERALD TIMES: Well, you`re talking about a different area, first of all, Nancy.
GRACE: Oh, so it`s OK for the poor people to get sexually assaulted. OK.
CORMIER: No, but to your point whether it happens in a poor neighborhood or in a rich neighborhood, it is certainly -- perhaps the most brazen attack that I`ve seen in 10 plus years of crime reporting. This is a guy who in the middle of the day is attacking girls that are walking from school in an area where, you know, there are other school children.
And number one, he`s done it before. And number two, he`s doing it in an area where, good lord, there are tons of other kids there. I mean this is a guy --
GRACE: What? He`s just running, running along. OK, explain to me. In addition to Anthony Cormier joining us from the "Sarasota Herald Tribune."
Matt Zarrell. Matt, give me the time line. What happened?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: OK. Well, police believe that this suspect is involved in three attacks, and they all fit a very similar MO, November 29th he attacks a 15-year-old girl while she`s walking home from school. Reaches and covers her mouth with his hand. Tries to sexually assault her. She`s able to kick her in the head and get away.
A couple of weeks later, January 31st, another 15-year-old girl is walking home from school. He grabs her, puts his arm over her mouth. He proceeds to sexually assault her. And then this one just last Thursday, same MO, girl walking home from school, guy comes up from behind her, tries to grab her, cover her mouth, take her to the ground, sexually assault her.
The 12-year-old was able to convince him that other people were watching in the area and he was going to get caught. So the suspect panicked then he fled.
GRACE: Now, back to you, Anthony Cormier, that with a 12-year-old, that happened in a church parking lot?
CORMIER: Nearby, yes. I mean you`re talking about a place where -- I mean thank god that a wary resident had security cameras. But yes, this is an area where there is a church nearby, there are businesses nearby, there are homes nearby.
Nancy, this is a place where kids walk every day, which speaks to perhaps the level of real scariness that this guy presents to the community.
GRACE: Joining me right now is a special guest, her name, Tiffany Signs. She called 911 after the attack on the 12-year-old little girl. Take a look at this guy. I know you can`t see his face. But look at him, look at what he`s wearing. Look at how he walks.
Who would be in the area of Bradenton, Florida at this time of the day in this location, between 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon when these little girls are getting out of school? I don`t know about you, but I walked home from school. My sister, my brother, our whole neighborhood, typically we`d be in a group, but sometimes we`d separate, walk separately.
Children walking home from school broad daylight, and he`s chasing them down.
Tiffany Simes called 911.
Miss Simes, thank you for being with us.
TIFFANY SIMES, CALLED 911 AFTER ATTEMPTED SEX ASSAULT OF 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL: Thank you, Nancy. Nice to be here.
GRACE: Miss Simes, thank god for you. Tell me what happened.
SIMES: Well, I was the first one who initially encountered the girl after the attempted assault. When I initially encountered her, she was visibly shaken and crying, and she actually initially, when she ran up to me, she did not have any pants on, she was wearing t-shirt, carrying her shoes in her hand. Leaves in her hair, her arms were badly scratched up and bleeding from the thorns in the bushes.
And the first thing she said to me was some guy just tried to rape me. And I tried to calm her down a little bit. I called 911. And I asked her for his description and gave it to them and I was actually extremely impressed and proud that this little girl gave the description she did for being so young.
GRACE: With me is a citizen who calls 911. The 12-year-old girl ran to her, Tiffany Simes.
Miss Simes, what is the description she gave you?
SIMES: She said that it was a tall black male, thin, probably between 18 to 30. Black basketball shorts, heavy black jacket, a beannie, something covering his face, and then the purple gloves. And initially I wasn`t sure what kind of gloves she meant, and then as the EMS people arrived, they were also wearing purple latex gloves. And she said those, gloves like those.
GRACE: So he planned his crimes well enough to wear gloves.
SIMES: Yes.
GRACE: All three victims giving a similar description of their attacker. With me, Tiffany Simes who called 911.
Miss Simes, by the time EMTs got there, was the girl calm down?
SIMES: She -- yes, she had calmed down. She had calmed down slightly. She had stopped -- she had stopped crying. She was still shaking a little bit, but she was clear headed enough, like I said, for -- the same description she`d given me the first time to everybody that asked.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Caught on camera, a predator following a 12- year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The images are eerie.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The neighborhood is on high alert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need everybody looking. We need more eyes out there for us.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There`s been three attacks in the same general area.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In the far background of this home surveillance video, you could see a sexual predator going after his latest --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A brazen sex predator who attacks one girl after the next in broad daylight within a block to the school. Bradenton, Florida.
Angie, New Hampshire, hi, dear, what`s your question?
ANGIE, CALLER FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hi. First I want to really, truly thank you because if it`s not for you, we wouldn`t know about these things. They`d be little articles in the paper that people would know. So I want to thank you from all the mothers and parents.
Secondly, I do want to point out that I just don`t understand, I just don`t understand -- do I have you there?
GRACE: Yes.
ANGIE: OK. I just don`t understand. I don`t believe -- I`m a Christian, I know we`re not supposed to judge, but you know what, Nancy, it makes me sick. Who are these perverted people? I do not believe they`re not -- they`re all mentally ill. They`re around all little kids. Preteens, college girls. All these people that aren`t even at parties or anything.
GRACE: Angie, I`m telling you, these people are not crazy as all the defense attorneys want you to believe. They are sex predators and they are cruel.
Tip line, 866-634-TIPS.
Let`s stop and remember Marine Sergeant Brian Dunlap, 34, Sacramento, California. Killed Iraq. Awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Loved history, video games, surfing. Chatting over coffee with friends. Firefighter back home. Member, San Diego Firefighters Emerald Society. Leaves behind mother, Dorothy, brother, Patrick.
Brian Dunlap, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you.
And on this Valentine`s Day, a special good night from Jamie, Letty, Patty, Barbara, Tracy, Mark, Kendra, Tim, Kathy, Steven, James, Sandy, Donya, Sharon, Jenny.
Brave men and women battling cancer with the help of Hope Lodge Atlanta.
Now there`s a beautiful bunch. Offering cancer patients a place to stay, medical, social, financial support. During the fight of a lifetime.
To donate, or for info, two go to cancer.org and click on Atlanta Hope Lodge.
And if you want to help fight cancer, log on to our Web site and find out about the Joan Geata Dancing for Joan at dancingforjoan.org, February 26th, Marietta.
Happy birthday, Tim Whitmore.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good, night, friend.
END
