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Nancy Grace

Missouri Teenager Kara Kopetsky Disappeared From High School in 2007

Aired February 25, 2011 - 21:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Vanished into thin air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need to find her.

GRACE: So many cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still looking.

GRACE: So few leads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.

GRACE: Missing person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our duty to find her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The witness seen the suspect on the NANCY GRACE show.

GRACE: There is a God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NANCY GRACE show was out there for us.

GRACE: Found alive, 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights. Let`s don`t give up.

RHONDA BECKFORD, KARA`S MOTHER: The last time that I saw and spoke to my daughter, Kara, was the morning of May 4th, 2007. It was a Friday. And I would normally take her to school, but on that morning, she decided to walk.

JIM BECKFORD, KARA`S STEPFATHER: She looked at me and smiled and we both kind of chuckled. And then we just sat there and talked a little while. And one of the last things that I told Kara when I saw her was how pretty she looked.

RHONDA BECKFORD: She just said, Well, bye, Mom. See you later. Love you. Good-bye.

JIM BECKFORD: Kara had not called in to work. Kara didn`t call either one of us.

RHONDA BECKFORD: By 5:30 that evening, we called the Belton Police Department to report her missing. When a teenage person, male or female, goes missing, I think a lot of law enforcement agencies -- I think a lot of them automatically assume that the person is possibly gone of their own free will.

JIM BECKFORD: Several leads still come in on Kara, even though it has been more than 3-and-a-half years later now.

RHONDA BECKFORD: As the mother of a missing child, you survive on hope, faith, trust and love.

JIM BECKFORD: I don`t think she ran away! I think someone or something is keeping her or has kept her from coming home.

RHONDA BECKFORD: And you get up every morning with the hope that today will be the day that you find your missing loved one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Every day, 2,300 people go missing in America, disappear, vanish, their families left waiting, wondering, hoping, but never forgetting. Neither have we -- 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights we go live, spotlighting America`s missing, boys, girls, mothers, fathers, grandparents gone. But where?

Tonight, a beautiful Missouri high schooler, Kara Kopetsky, walks to school, but just before classes realizes she forgets a history book, calls Mom to drop it off. Kara gets the book later that morning but never shows up for the rest of school. School surveillance video captures Kara leaving school 10:30 AM. Her shift at Popeye`s Chicken starts at 4:00, but she never makes it. Cell phone off since that morning, debit card left behind in her school locker, clothes, makeup, hair straightener, even the iPod she just got for Christmas left at home.

Tips flood in from across America, including sightings in California, Kansas. One even claims to see Kara at Disney World. But no Kara. Tonight, who took 17-year-old high school beauty Kara Kopetsky? Jean, what happened?

JEAN CASAREZ, HOST: Nancy, it was a Friday, May 4th, 2007, Belton High School, Belton, Missouri. School was almost out for the year, but not quite. And Kara Kopetsky was going to school. It was a normal day. She went to school. She`d forgotten a book, and so her mother brought it to school. But all of a sudden, she left school. And surveillance cameras caught her leaving school, but then she was gone and nobody ever knew where she was after that.

I want to go to Bill Grady, reporter from News Radio 980 KMBZ joining us from Kansas City, Missouri. Bill Grady, I want you to go through the day step by step on that fateful last day that anyone ever saw her, which was May 4th, 2007.

BILL GRADY, NEWS RADIO 980 KMBZ (via telephone): Well, actually, Jean, it was very much like this young woman just kind of vanished off the face of the earth. As you mentioned in the walk-up to the interview here, she was seen on the surveillance tape, did not appear to be in any distress or anything of that nature. She was in the hallway of Belton High School, chatting with some other kids, walked out. The surveillance camera was very near the exit in the hallway there.

She walked out and left a backpack, I believe it was, in her locker with an ATM card and basically all of her personal effects, and that has been pretty much it. Now, there have been -- we were told by an investigator last week, who asked not to be named, that his agency not be named, either, that there are a number of persons of interest. However, not enough evidence to charge any suspect, not enough evidence to actually even make an arrest in this particular case.

CASAREZ: And Bill Grady, we want to tell everybody this is an active case. Investigators tell us a day doesn`t go by that they don`t focus on this case.

To Natisha Lance, "NANCY GRACE" producer joining us tonight from Atlanta. In fact, there was a very targeted search in this case very recently.

NATISHA LANCE, "NANCY GRACE" PRODUCER: Just last week, there was this targeted search. It was over approximately two square blocks. Police said that they were led to this area by information that had developed over the last couple weeks. They`re not sharing with the public what that information is.

But it`s a sparsely wooded area that they searched. A creek runs through this area. There were about 40 officers who were there. There wasn`t any digging that was done at this location, but police were scraping the surface, pulling back debris and pulling back leaves, trying to get to this area.

Jean, the problem with this area is that because of the weather, they had been hampered in going there to begin with. But they do plan to go back. There was nothing found of evidentiary value at this point, but police will be going back at some point to continue searching.

CASAREZ: All right. And tonight, we do have very special guests, you saw them in the beginning of the show, the parents of Kara Kopetsky joining us, Jim Beckford and Rhonda Beckford, Kara Kopetsky`s mother and stepfather.

Thank you. We felt the pain that we saw in you at the beginning of this show, every day of your life knowing that you don`t have your daughter. I want to take you back to that day, though, for a second because I think there`s some very significant things. First of all, you found her ATM card in the locker at school, the card that could have given her money to go somewhere?

RHONDA BECKFORD: Yes. Her ATM card was actually found in her backpack in her locker.

CASAREZ: That, to me, is very significant, Rhonda, because if you were going to run away on your own volition, you`d take your ATM card.

RHONDA BECKFORD: Yes. We feel that Kara had every intention of going back to school that day, and something or someone prevented her from going back.

CASAREZ: Did she call you, Rhonda, when she got to school, saying that she`d forgotten something?

RHONDA BECKFORD: Shortly after Kara got to school, she phoned me and informed me that she had forgotten a textbook for a class she needed the book for, and that she needed to be at work at 4:00 o`clock and she needed her work uniform washed.

CASAREZ: How did her voice sound to you when you spoke with her?

RHONDA BECKFORD: Sounded like any other normal day. You know, Kara didn`t seem in distress or anything of that sort.

CASAREZ: So you went to school and you dropped off the book. Did she pick up the book?

RHONDA BECKFORD: When I dropped the book off, I dropped it off at the office. I didn`t see Kara. But yes, shortly after I dropped it off, Kara did retrieve the book from the office.

CASAREZ: Which shows an intent to stay in school and go to that class. Once it came to the afternoon -- and Jim Beckford, let me ask you this. School was out and you got home from work and Kara wasn`t there, right?

JIM BECKFORD: Yes. I get home from work generally about noon. And the day proceeded as any other. And it was nearing -- it was a little after 3:00 o`clock, and we hadn`t -- I hadn`t saw or heard from Kara. And I called and left a message on her cell phone just saying, Hey, hon, where are you at, and knowing that she had work, and Kara -- she`s always called back and responded to our calls. But the call never came back in from her. And then when Rhonda came home shortly after 3:15 -- at the time, we had just one cell phone and she had not heard from Kara, either.

CASAREZ: So she had her cell phone, Mr. Beckford, right? When she left home for school, she had taken that with her?

JIM BECKFORD: Yes, Kara always had her cell phone. That was her lifeline. She`s a very socially active girl, and it was...

CASAREZ: I think I read that, a phone bill that was 40 pages long, right? Someone that loved to use that phone.

JIM BECKFORD: Yes. Actually 80 to 100...

CASAREZ: Oh, my goodness!

JIM BECKFORD: ... with all the texting and stuff.

CASAREZ: So you called police. And what do police tell you when you call them, that your daughter`s gone?

JIM BECKFORD: Well, it was roughly 4:45 when we first placed our call to the police department. And they showed up at our door at 5:00 o`clock, and we expressed our cares and concerns. I mean, the big flag to us was that Kara did not return our phone call. We had one incidence in the past where she didn`t answer her call, and we told each other we had to -- no matter what the situation, if one of us called, we had to answer. And we tried to impress upon the officer at the door that, you know, we felt that there was something seriously wrong.

CASAREZ: To Natisha Lance, "NANCY GRACE" producer. We were able to get from the courts in Mississippi (SIC) a restraining order that was taken out against Kara`s ex-boyfriend, and this was taken out four days before she disappeared. Natisha Lance, why was this taken out?

LANCE: Well, this stemmed from an incident back on April 28th. What Kara`s parents said is that Kara had gotten to work. This boyfriend at the time had showed up at work, and he had been disruptive inside the Popeye`s. The supervisor kicked him out of Popeye`s. But when Kara left work that night at about 10:30, he had parked around the corner and apparently dragged her into his truck.

A friend called Kara while she was in the truck with the boyfriend. She said that the boyfriend had abducted her. He took her to a parking lot off the interstate. And at that point, that is when Kara was able to get free. And that is what stems from -- that is what this protection order stems from.

CASAREZ: All right. To Paul Penzone, former sergeant from the Phoenix Police Department, joining us tonight from Phoenix. Here is what it says, and this is from the protective order itself. "He kidnapped me. He restrained me. One month ago, he choked me. December 6th, he had a knife in his hand and he said, I`m going to slit your throat. In March, wouldn`t let me out of my home."

That is what Kara wrote in her own handwriting about this ex- boyfriend, who has never been charged, not been named a suspect or even publicly a person of interest in this case. But are there some red flags to you?

PAUL PENZONE, FMR. SGT. PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: Absolutely. Actually, it breaks my heart when I hear what this family expresses and other families when law enforcement -- it`s not a criticism, but they fail to act aggressively when there are circumstances that indicate she`s a very responsible young lady and there were extenuating circumstances that showed that she lived in danger. They should have immediately acted and conducted an aggressive search for her at that time because as time passes, it becomes more and more complicated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RHONDA BECKFORD: There`s been no money taken out of the bank. She`s got over $100 sitting in the bank. She hasn`t pulled any out. We were able to retrieve her ATM card. It happened to be in her locker. But you know, as far as I know, she still has her cell phone, and there`s been no activity. It`s either dead or been turned off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A person that knows something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To anyone out there that knows the whereabouts of Kara Kopetsky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kara Kopetsky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t have Kara.

RHONDA BECKFORD: My daughter.

Somebody has to know.

Somebody somewhere knows what happened to her, knows something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the last place that 17-year-old Kara Kopetsky was last seen.

RHONDA BECKFORD: The day that she went missing, she did leave school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Walking through the halls of Belton High School.

RHONDA BECKFORD: She was known to do this on a regular basis, but she always returned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somewhere between second and third hour, she disappeared.

RHONDA BECKFORD: She did not return that day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police released footage from the high school security tapes.

RHONDA BECKFORD: Your mind sometimes (INAUDIBLE) that dark, long road.

JIM BECKFORD: That`s the last picture of Kara.

RHONDA BECKFORD: The negative thoughts and the dark thoughts.

JIM BECKFORD: Hope that Kara comes home.

RHONDA BECKFORD: It`s like being stuck in perpetual limbo.

JIM BECKFORD: We hope that Kara is found.

RHONDA BECKFORD: Right now, we know nothing. I mean, it`s like she has vanished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez. Kara Kopetsky -- we need to find Kara Kopetsky. She went to school. It was a normal day. She was going to go to Popeye`s for work. She asked her mother to wash her clothes, her work clothes, but she never came home to change into them to go to work.

With us tonight are the parents of Kara Kopetsky joining us, Rhonda Beckford and Jim Beckford. Thank you so much. I want to ask you, what was left in her bedroom? What did she not take with her? I assume a lot of things were left.

RHONDA BECKFORD: Oh, she left her iPod that she had just gotten for Christmas. She left her cell phone charger. He left her hair straightener and her makeup, all of her clothes. Everything that a teenage girl would need was left.

CASAREZ: And what good is a cell phone without the charger, right? We are taking...

RHONDA BECKFORD: Definitely.

CASAREZ: ... your calls live tonight. Jana in Kansas. Hi, Jana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

CASAREZ: Thank you for calling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I -- my heart goes out to Kara`s parents. I live in Kansas City, and everywhere I go, I look for this child. And my heart breaks. But I want to know, have they ever investigated the guy, the person who kidnapped and killed Kelsey Smith, that when he kidnapped her in Overland (ph) Park and drove her out to Longview Lake and dumped her body, it was in the general vicinity. And he at one time had lived in that vicinity, but nothing has ever, ever been said whether or not they had checked into his...

CASAREZ: Yes, it`s a very good question, Jana. First of all, thank you so much for saying those kind words to Kara`s parents because I can imagine how much it means to them to know that you constantly have their daughter on your mind.

I want to go out to Bill Grady, reporter, News Talk Radio, 980 KMBZ, Kansas City, Missouri. Kelsey Smith was abducted from a Target. Edwin Hall (ph) convicted, pleaded guilty. Talk to us about that case and how close it was geographically to where Kara went missing from.

GRADY: Well, Jean, Overland Park is a suburb of Kansas City, much like Belton is. They`re not that far apart. I mean, you`re talking a distance of maybe 15 miles, 12 miles, along about there. And of course, the proximity because it was only a few weeks apart these two young women disappeared -- that question did come up. And as a matter of fact, investigators did take a look into it as to see if Mr. Hall had any connection. And so far, there haven`t been any links established. But it is a question that just keeps resurfacing because of the ages of these two young women and the proximity.

CASAREZ: And we spoke with Paul Cramm (ph), the attorney for Edwin Hall, who said he has spoken to his client and that he has said to him that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Kara Kopetsky.

Out to Joey Jackson, defense lawyer. You know, protective orders, we have them in the legal system. They are to protect someone. But they can also infuriate someone. They can go a way they are not intended to go, right?

JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They really can, Jean. You know, the law does as much as it possibly can to protect the integrity of a person and to prevent them from danger. Unfortunately, there are limits. People do become infuriated. Let`s just hope at the end of the day that she`s OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Information`s always coming in. We appreciate the public`s help in this and your all`s help in getting the information out. We are still looking for her, and if anybody has information, we encourage them to come forward with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RHONDA BECKFORD: As the mother of a missing child, I just want to know. You survive on hope, faith, trust and love. I want my daughter to know that I love her. And you get up every morning with the hope that today will be the day -- I just want to know where my daughter is -- that you find your missing loved one. Somebody has to know where my daughter is. Somebody somewhere knows something. Somebody has to know what happened to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez. We`re taking your calls live tonight. Doreen in New York. Hi, Doreen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Jean. Good evening. First, I want to just say my thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Kara, and of course, Kara herself. But I just want to know, why is the boyfriend, the ex- boyfriend of this young girl, not being charged, A, and B, not (INAUDIBLE) more for this because this is something that is horrible. And I know -- I live in Buffalo, and if that was to happen somewhere around here, he would have been the (INAUDIBLE)

CASAREZ: All right, to Paul Penzone, former sergeant of the Phoenix Police Department. Here we are, 2007 she went missing. We`re in 2011 now. What do you think law enforcement should do -- as they say, this is an extremely active investigation -- re-interview those close to her at the time, including the ex-boyfriend?

PENZONE: Absolutely because as time passes, it`s more difficult to recover evidence. So you`re dependent on tips. You`re dependent on possible witnesses or people close to the suspect or even the suspect himself being remorseful or wanting to come forward. So you have to stay aggressive in those interviews and constantly revisit that maybe you overlooked in the past.

And I have to say, when it comes to orders of protection, I wish they`d change the name to a prosecution order because it does not protect you. It just enhances the opportunity to prosecute someone who`s either harassing or threatening you. That protection statement really is so deceiving.

CASAREZ: To Bill Grady, reporter, News Talk Radio 980, joining us out of Kansas City, Missouri. Do we know anything about this ex-boyfriend? I think he went to school with her, right? Does he still live in the area?

GRADY: To the best of our knowledge, yes, he does still live in the area. And they had known each other for a good long while, and they had, according to Kara, according to her own words, they had had a bit of a stormy relationship. And as a matter of fact, in the order of protection, in her application for it, she was -- stated in her own words, again, that she was afraid of what he would do next because she was afraid that -- she said the abuse had gotten worse over time. So there were some red flags there. And again, this young man has been questioned but not charged.

CASAREZ: All right, to Jim Beckford, Kara Kopetsky`s stepfather joining us tonight. When you called police to say that your daughter was missing, this protective order was in place. What did police do immediately?

JIM BECKFORD: Well, the night Kara went missing, the protective order wasn`t in place.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Vanished into thin air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need to find her.

GRACE: So many cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still looking.

GRACE: So few leads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.

GRACE: Missing person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our duty to find her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The witness seen the suspect on Nancy Grace.

GRACE: There is a God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy Grace show was out there for us.

GRACE: Found. Alive. 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights. Let`s don`t give up.

RHONDA BECKFORD, MOM OF KARA KOPETSKY: The last time that I saw and spoke to my daughter, Kara, was the morning of May 4th, 2007. It was a Friday. And I would normally take her to school, but on that morning, she decided to walk.

JIM BECKFORD, OF KARA KOPETSKY: She looked at me and smiled, and we both kind of chuckled. Then we just sat there and talked a little while and one of the last things that I told Kara when I saw her was how pretty she looked.

RHONDA BECKFORD: She just said, well, bye, mom. See you later. Love you. Goodbye.

JIM BECKFORD: Kara had not called in to work. Kara didn`t call either one of us.

RHONDA BECKFORD: By 5:30 that evening, we called the Belton Police Department to report her missing. When a teenage person, male or female goes missing, I think a lot of law enforcement agencies, I think a lot of them automatically assume that the person is possibly gone of their own freewill.

JIM BECKFORD: Several leads still come in on Kara, even though, it has been more than 3 1/2 years later now.

RHONDA BECKFORD: As the mother of a missing child, you survive on hope, faith, trust, and love.

JIM BECKFORD: I don`t think she ran away. I think someone or something is keeping her or has kept her from coming home.

RHONDA BECKFORD: And you get up every morning with the hope that today will be the day that you find a missing love one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Every day, 2,300 people go missing in America, disappear, vanish. Their families left waiting, wondering, hoping, but never forgetting, neither have we. Fifty people, 50 days, 50 nights we go live, spotlighting America`s missing, boys, girls, mothers, fathers, grandparents gone, but where?

Tonight, a beautiful Missouri high schooler, Kara Kopetsky, walks to school, but just before classes realizes she forgets a history book, calls mom to drop it off. Kara gets the book later that morning but never shows up for the rest of school. School surveillance video captures Kara leaving school 10:30 a.m. Her shift at Popeye`s Chicken starts at 4:00, but she never makes it.

Cell phone off since that morning. Debit card left behind in her school locker. Clothes, makeup, hair straightener, even the iPod she just got for Christmas left at home. Tips flood in from across America, including sightings in California, Kansas. One even claims to see Kara at Disney World, but no Kara.

Tonight, who took 17-year-old high school beauty, Kara Kopetsky? Jean, what happened?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, Nancy, let`s look at it. it was 7:30 in the morning on May 4th, 2007, that school started. Kara was there. She never walked to school, but as her parents said, that morning, she wanted to walk to school. So, she was there in class. About 8:00 in the morning, she calls her mother because she forgot her history book. She said, hey, mom, can you bring my book to school for me, and besides that, can you wash my work clothes because I`m going to Popeye`s at four in the afternoon.

So, that shows a clear intent that she wanted to stay in school that day, and she wanted to go to work after school. In fact, she even had another job interview on the very next day.

I want to go out to Pat Brown, criminal profiler and author of "The Profiler," joining us from Washington, D.C. As we do know, there was an ex-boyfriend that Kara had been having some problems with. An ex-parte application had been filed with the court four days before she went missing where she alleges that he tried to choke her, that he had a knife, and she said the abuse just keeps getting worse over time and also allegations of kidnapping. That order of protection went into effect right after she went missing. Your thoughts?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, obviously, as was said before, it`s not really a protection order. It`s really a warning order which does you no good. All it can do is help prosecute, but here`s what I can believe. Kara had no intention of running away. That was shown by the fact she was interested in getting her history book and that she`s interested in her job that afternoon.

She only took with her cell phone means to me she just was going to walk off the school property and either go to a hangout spot that was within walking distance or she was going to meet someone or she`s just going to walk around the block and blow off some steam. So, to me, she either met somebody she knew or somebody grabbed her. So, they`re going to be looking at the ex-boyfriend to see what his alibi is, because, of course, she`s been having trouble with him.

And anybody else she knew who had no alibi, and then, look around that area for serial killers or serial predators that might have been in the area because she is a little 5`2", 120 pounds. She`s perfect type of, you know, young girl to grab because she`s kind of smallish. So, that`s what they`re going to be looking at. Both avenues are not let one of them just, you know, just not ignore anything.

CASAREZ: And everybody, look at Kara Kopetsky`s picture. Have you seen her at all?

With us tonight are Kara`s mother and stepfather, Rhonda Beckford, Jim Beckford. Rhonda, did you talk with anybody that she had spoken with at school? Because that video surveillance that we see your daughter walking in the hallway, I believe, it also shows that she was talking to some people at a drinking fountain. What did they say later to you that she had told them?

RHONDA BECKFORD: No one actually told me what they had said to Kara that day in the hall, but I had heard that the girl that she`s last seen speaking with, she, basically, I`ve heard she informed her that she was going to leave school for a little while and go hang out and wanted to know if the girl wanted to go with her.

CASAREZ: So, once again, a full intent to stay at school, stay in town, stay with her friends, stay with her family. To Fran in New York, Hi, Fran.

FRAN, NEW YORK: Hi. Thank you for taking my call. I`m looking at the surveillance as she`s walking out. I see her, a purse hanging from one shoulder and a book in the other hand. And I wonder if that`s the book her mom dropped off. Has anybody taken some notice to maybe finding those articles nearby?

CASAREZ: That`s very interesting. To Jim Beckford, nothing has ever been found, right, from Kara?

JIM BECKFORD: Nothing to our knowledge, no.

CASAREZ: All right. To Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaaskids Foundation. I think what Fran brings up is very interesting because she`s got her book in her hand, her purse on her shoulder. That`s not somebody that`s leaving school.

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT & FOUNDE, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I don`t know if she`s leaving school, but it`s firmly established that this young girl had every expectation of living out the rest of the day and certainly the rest of her time. First, I would like to add my own sense of sorrow to the purgatory, the limbo that Kara`s family has to go through as the ebb and flow of this investigation has to play on them incredibly badly.

What we do know is that protocols now exist for missing person cases. Unfortunately, we don`t have the training in the field for a lot of agencies to effectively investigate these kinds of cases. Therefore, opportunities are lost. For instance, the only reason we even know that this boyfriend was a serial abuser is because Kara`s family brought it up. The police told them to discount this information.

In fact, charges were dropped against this guy shortly thereafter in some sort of a strategy to get him talked in case he might be guilty of something. So, I think there are an awful lot of missteps, and we have to step up the training so that law enforcement agencies don`t do that. So that they know how to move forward and they know how to solve these cases in the future.

CASAREZ: Time is such of the essence. To Leslie Austin, psychotherapist, your thoughts.

LESLIE AUSTIN, PH.D., PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Obviously, my heart goes out to her parents also. This is just the most unthinkable situation to have to be in, but I really want to acknowledge that you did support her to get a protective order. It`s limited in its usefulness, but it was very important to take a stand against abuse. If it happens one time, leave the relationship. It always gets worse. So, I want to applaud your efforts to protect her.

CASAREZ: And tonight, please help us find Dedrick Smith. He is 26 years old. He vanished on October 3rd, 2006, from Winston Salem, North Carolina. He`s 6`1", 178 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. If you have any information, please call 336-773-7700.

If your loved one is missing and you need help, go to CNN.com/nancygrace. Send us your story. We want to help you find your loved ones.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BECKFORD: We have the understanding that no matter where we were at --

RHONDA BECKFORD: We tried to call Kara.

JIM BECKFORD: Whether you`re happy or sad or upset.

RHONDA BECKFORD: She did not answer the cell phone.

JIM BECKFORD: You know, we would answer each other`s phone calls.

RHONDA BECKFORD: She did not call back.

JIM BECKFORD: She was expected to be to work that day.

RHONDA BECKFORD: Did not receive any messages from Kara.

JIM BECKFORD: Prior to going missing, only had roughly $50 on her.

RHONDA BECKFORD: Walked in from work, and my husband asked me if I had heard from Kara and I told him no.

JIM BECKFORD: During the time that we didn`t hear from Kara returning our phone calls, we were concerned because she had had some problems with a prior boyfriend, and we were uncertain about a lot of things.

RHONDA BECKFORD: By 5:30 that evening, we called Belton Police Department to report her missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I want to go out to Kara Kopetsky`s mother, Rhonda Beckford, joining us tonight and her husband, Jim Beckford. What do you think happened to her? What does your gut tell you?

RHONDA BECKFORD: I think after Kara left school that day, I think something bad happened to Kara. I think she walked out of that school and either somebody that she knew did something bad to her or she was abducted and harmed by a stranger.

CASAREZ: If you could talk to anybody tonight, what message would you want to give them?

RHONDA BECKFORD: To the person that`s responsible for my daughter`s disappearance, if you think I`m going away, you`re wrong. I`m not ever going to give up on looking for Kara, and you`re not going to get away with this.

CASAREZ: To Jim Beckford, the police told us that every day they work on this case and that it is very, very active. How often are you in correspondence with them?

JIM BECKFORD: We call any time we have a question, and then, I can`t say that we get a regular routine call, but every time they have something that they`re concerned about or want to inform us about with, like, the searches, I mean, we`re given a heads-up. And we can`t expect them to call us with every tip because they don`t want to overwhelm us with what they don`t know is true, and the case is still active and ongoing.

CASAREZ: Yes. You know, an important thing that I want to bring out, the surveillance video we`ve been showing of you of Kara in school as she`s walking, the surveillance cameras were inside the hallway, but right after that is when she walked outside and was never seen again, and there were no surveillance cameras outside. So, that`s why you only see her walking in a hallway, but that is seconds before she disappears forever. Debbie in Massachusetts calling us tonight. Hi, Debbie.

DEBBIE, MASSACHUSETTS: Hi.

CASAREZ: What`s your question, Debbie?

DEBBIE: My question is, they keep talking about the last call that she made from her cell phone, but have they checked any of the calls that came in to her cell phone? I mean, they can check the records. And I`m just curious. They`re not talking about that.

CASAREZ: Good question. And we`ll see if the parents know. Rhonda, do you know at all what calls she made other than the call to you at eight o`clock in the morning?

RHONDA BECKFORD: Well, actually, she had a 20-minute phone conversation with her ex-boyfriend and after she left the school, it`s our understanding that the phone was either shut off or the battery had run down. So, they weren`t able to ping it like you hear about.

CASAREZ: So, this 20-minute call to the ex-boyfriend, was this after you spoke with her at eight o`clock in the morning?

RHONDA BECKFORD: Yes, it was after I spoke with her at eight o`clock. It was shortly before she left the school, actually.

CASAREZ: Wow. To Marc Klaas, your thoughts of that?

KLAAS: Well, I think that this guy needs some real attention to be paid to him. I mean, he`s got more red flags than a Chinese new year at this point, but I think that the last thing I`d like to say is in any missing person case, law enforcement, number one, needs to have a point of contact with the family so that they don`t half-hazardly contact somebody at the law enforcement agency, and they also have to make a promise that any relevant information that`s going to be made public about the case has to come from police before the parents would hear it on the media.

CASAREZ: To Jim Beckford, did police know about this application that you had made, Your daughter had made for the protective order?

JIM BECKFORD: Well, it was just days before, and I don`t know if the officer at the door knew, but I mean, you would assume that everyone knew, I mean, coming to the house. I mean, with a call for, I mean, with, like what was said, the red flags and just the care and concern that we expressed at the door.

CASAREZ: Yes.

JIM BECKFORD: We repeatedly said something was wrong.

CASAREZ: OK. I mean, in legal terms, we call it relevant, extremely relevant. To Rita in New Mexico. Hi, Rita.

RITA, NEW MEXICO: Hi. My question is that they said they found a carton of cigarettes in her locker. I think she couldn`t smoke on school grounds, so could she have walked out just to have maybe a quick smoke and intended on coming back into class and somebody grabs her? Was she a smoker?

CASAREZ: OK. To Rhonda Beckford, there were some cigarettes, but I don`t think they were found in the locker, right?

RHONDA BECKFORD: No, they were not found in the locker. She actually had almost a full carton of cigarettes in her room minus the one pack that she had in her purse. She was a smoker.

CASAREZ: OK. What do you want law enforcement to do next?

RHONDA BECKFORD: I just want them to continue to actively investigate my daughter`s disappearance, and really, first of all, I want to find my daughter, and then, secondly, we can deal with possibly a prosecution of whoever`s responsible.

CASAREZ: All right. And we support you and we are with you.

And now, to tonight`s "CNN Heroes."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICIA SAWO, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Back in 1990s, I believed that AIDS was a punishment from God. When I personally tested HIV positive, it was, "Oh, my God. How could this happen to me?" I fasted and prayed for years hoping that I would be healed. When I went public, I lost my job. My husband lost his job. The landlord wanted us out of his house. The stigma was terrible. I realized that I`d been wrong.

My name is Patricia Sawo. My mission is to change people`s attitude about HIV.

All that you need is accurate, correct information.

As church leaders we need to shepherd the people. HIV is not a moral issue. It is a virus. I do a lot of counseling. When I`m helping somebody else who is HIV positive, I want them to know that you can rise above this.

The 48 children at the center, most of them saw their parents dying of AIDS. My HIV center brings some kind of a bond. I provide that motherly love and all the basic needs. HIV is making me a better person. We want to be there for people. So, if we have it, we share it out. It`s what I want to do because it`s what I`m meant to do. God has his own ways of healing. So, for me, I`m healed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: These are the faces of America`s missing. Every 30 seconds, another child, sister, brother, father, mother disappears. Families left behind wondering, waiting, hoping. We have not forgotten.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Jamie Grissim was last seen walking from her home on December 7th, 1971. Her sister holds on to good memories.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loved horses. She was very good at horseback riding. She had a great sense of humor. She was talented. She could draw. She actually had skipped a grade in school. Her belongings were found five months after she disappeared, leading to a trail where they found two girls. One still to this day is unidentified. I`ve been waiting a year for the DNA results on this girl. It may or may not be her.

Herman Arbas, a farmer in Lawrence, New York vanished in 2000. He is 73 years old, about 5`10" and 180 pounds. If you have any information, call 607-432-4844.

Blanca Elisa Roberson was heading to a friend`s house in 1989 and was never seen again. Her sister keeps praying for a break in the case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did the sister thing together, and she was always happy and smiley. It was about five o`clock when she to go to a friend`s house, and it took the rest of that night before we realized that she was gone. Elisa was 13 when she disappeared. We had a memorial for her in 2009 in Texas. the halfway point where her and her friend were meant to meet by a school, that is where we did the planting service of the tree. So, it`s symbolic that she`s now made it to her place.

It was very beautiful. Our private investigator wrote a poem for Elisa`s memorial. "Twenty years of sadness are etched into this stone. Twenty years of wishing that you will come back home. Twenty years of waiting for sunshine to appear to a family that`s known darkness, hopelessness, and fear."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: I`m Nancy Grace. See you tomorrow night, nine o`clock sharp eastern. And until then, we will be looking. Keep the faith, friend.

END