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Nancy Grace
Tennessee Police Search for Missing 24-Year-Old Teacher; Missing Teacher`s Family Not Allowed to See Grandchild
Aired March 11, 2011 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight out of Tennessee. A beautiful 8th grade school teacher and mother goes missing without a trace. Just hours later, her Pontiac Grand Prix found engulfed in flames. New developments tonight, as we learn investigators find evidence inside the burned-out Grand Prix. At this hour, TBI agents analyzing the items for clues.
Tonight, with her 6-year-old girl left without a mother, Shelley`s ex is now refusing to let the grandmother see the little girl. So why? Where is 24-year-old teacher Shelley Mook?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s just -- she`s vanished.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: A gorgeous young 8th grade school teacher goes missing without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mook, an English teacher at Harris Middle, was last seen by her ex-husband (INAUDIBLE) dirt road home. She was dropping off their 6-year-old daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had an appointment at her apartment with a maintenance man around 4:30 that afternoon. Her landlord says she never showed up for that appointment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not sure what happened, at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then the case took a terrifying turn. Deputies found Mook`s Pontiac Grand Prix burned and charred in Murfreesboro. No sign of Mook.
GRACE: Her Pontiac Grand Prix goes up in flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) when I saw the car burning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) able to tell what chemicals were used to burn the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After calling around and finding out no one heard from her, they knew something was wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Especially to leave her daughter without her mother, she would never do anything like that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, any information is greatly appreciated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re concerned and we`re looking. We`re going to -- we`ll try to turn her up pretty quick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Good evening. I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. New developments in the search for an 8th grade school teacher, Shelley Mook, who goes missing without a trace. Hours later, her care is found engulfed in flames.
For the latest, let`s go out to Rita Cosby, investigative reporter. Rita, what do we know?
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, Pat, we do know some details about that car, as you pointed out, that small white Grand Prix, which was found by authorities a few hours later. They didn`t know it was Shelley Mook`s car. They just saw this car engulfed in flames.
We do know that they were able to get some items from the car. They are investigative those items, as well as items that they seized in a search warrant on Shelley Mook`s ex-husband`s home.
Additionally, there`s some good news for the family. We do know -- remember, earlier this week here on the show, we had Shelley Mook`s mom and also her brother. Well, soon after their appearance here on this show -- authorities, a number of other people were watching -- she was able to get access and see her little granddaughter. That`s the daughter of Shelley Mook and her ex-husband. She was able to pay a visit with her. She drove through the night, was able to see her at school, but is still now fighting for visitation rights. Some reason, Tyler Mook, the ex-husband, does not want her to get access to this 6-year-old girl.
LALAMA: And we are, in fact, privileged to have Patrick Jones with us, Shelley Mook`s brother. Good evening, Patrick. The latest -- what are police telling you? What is the mental and emotional condition of Lily this evening?
PATRICK JONES, BROTHER (via telephone): The police are kind of, you know, keeping tight-lipped as far as their investigation. And you know, we just -- we want to help them out as much as possible on (ph) that end.
As far as Liliana (ph), the visit my mother did have with her after -- on this past Wednesday, she got to eat lunch with her at school. And it was just good to -- you know, my mom was there and able to see Lily smile and know that she was in school and doing well.
LALAMA: Oh, Patrick, it`s heartbreaking to even think about, you know, what`s going on potentially with your sister, and of course, your niece. Were you able to glean any sense that she`s doing OK? Is she aware of anything? Does she have any sense that something may be wrong with Mommy?
JONES: From the brief -- we don`t want to, you know, question her. We just -- you know, want to be able to be with her and...
LALAMA: Obviously. Obviously. Yes.
JONES: ... yes, and give her love and everything. And she -- she hasn`t asked my mother where her mother is. So you know, we kind of -- we kind of are wondering, you know, what -- why she doesn`t ask those kind of questions. But like I said, we`ve had limited contact, but we`re hoping soon to get more contact for my mother to be able to see her granddaughter.
LALAMA: Yes, yes. We hope for that, too. I`ll get right back to you in a minute, Patrick. I want to go back to the issue of evidence. Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author, "The Profiler," it`s a sneaky dude or woman who burns up a car and knows exactly what they`re up to. How does that compromise -- well, first of all, what does it tell you about the perpetrator?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, it tells me it`s unlikely to be something like someone who just grabbed her off the street because they`re not going to really waste their time doing that. They`re just going to, you know, dump her car. So somebody is really trying to get rid of some evidence that`s going to link back to them, so they think they`re going to be known by the police.
LALAMA: And Detective Lieutenant Steven Rogers, Nutley, New Jersey, Police Department, former member, FBI joint terrorism task force -- it compromises the evidence. You`ve probably seen cases like this. But all doesn`t have to be lost necessarily, correct?
DET. LT. STEVEN ROGERS, NUTLEY, NJ, PD: All is not -- all is not lost. There could be evidence in that vehicle, but as well, there could be evidence around the perimeter of that vehicle. For instance, there could be footprints. There could be debris that was left by a potential suspect. So the police are going to be looking very carefully not inside the vehicle, but also outside the vehicle.
LALAMA: And Dr. Radha Mikkilineni, doctor of internal medicine, it`s so crucial to find something that can lead us to Shelley. What is your concern about the compromising of that evidence in the car in terms of tracing it to her, finding her?
DR. RADHA MIKKILINENI, INTERNAL MEDICINE: Well, with the car having gone up in flames, the inside of the car in particular would be significantly damaged and likely evidence with that would have -- would be a lot harder to collect. So it will make the investigation a lot more difficult. That being said, they`re still going to thoroughly investigate the inside of the car, and as well as the outside, to look for trace evidence, for fibers, for footprints, for fingerprints. And there may be some things in the car that are still salvageable that they can -- that they can utilize.
LALAMA: Oh, we sure hope so. And back to Rita Cosby. I`m assuming they`ve also checked out the ex`s house and car.
COSBY: Indeed, they have, Pat. As you can imagine, they went to his home. They served a search warrant. Remember, both he and Shelley were in the process of moving. They`ve obviously had a big division within themselves. They`ve had the divorce. Remember, she filed divorce papers. That was in July 2009. They were both in the process of moving, which made it a little more difficult. Things were out and about. She had moved just a few days before, in fact, was in the process, which is why she wasn`t reported missing for two days, which was -- does make it more difficult for authorities in terms of tracing evidence, remember, because whoever did this had two days` lead on the authorities.
On the other hand, his place was searched, and we are told that they did get some information, that they`re testing it. They`re very tight- lipped, which also begs the question, What did they find?
LALAMA: Marc Klaas, president, founder, Klaas Kids Foundation. I`m really concerned for this little girl, obviously, for Shelley, as well. What crosses your mind in terms of the little one`s welfare this evening?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I`m sure the little one is being taken care of, but it seems to me that the authorities need to interrogate this child. She has to have a heck of a story to tell. And what they need to do is take her into a very secure and safe environment, make sure all of the relevant players are there, and have somebody that is -- that is -- that is educated in interrogating children. Find out exactly what the series of events were that afternoon when Shelley dropped her off.
LALAMA: Yes, we`re going to get back to that in a minute. I want to return to Patrick Jones. Again, we`re privileged to have you, Patrick, at such a difficult time. You are Shelley Mook`s brother. What was your relationship -- what is your relationship with your sister? Tell us about her.
JONES: It`s a very good relationship. You know, we take a family trip at least once a year, you know, spend the holidays together. I come and visit her, you know, once in a while, and she`s been to visit me, as well, where I live in North Carolina. But you know, just...
LALAMA: And...
JONES: Sorry.
LALAMA: No, you go right ahead.
JONES: OK. Just a little bit about her -- you know, she`s a loving - - loved teacher. You know, she loved her students working on student council at the school. You know, like I said, she`s just a great sister to have, you know, loving daughter. Most of all, amazing and loving mother to her daughter, you know, and she was looking forward to a fresh start, just moved to a new place, and she also had just enrolled in graduate school, as well.
LALAMA: Ellie Jostad, NANCY GRACE producer, let`s go to just some -- let`s keep everyone up to date on the case, then we`ll go back and examine some of the other issues. Is there a search, and is it still a missing persons case?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: It is still a missing persons case. We`re told by authorities that they are working on this 110 percent. As Rita explained earlier, they are processing that car. We still don`t know yet, as well, what was seized from the ex-husband`s house, if there`s any potential evidence there, if there`s anything there that would suggest a crime. Still no word on that yet. Police have not released a search warrant or the return of items seized.
LALAMA: Leslie Austin, psychotherapist, whenever mothers, women are in this kind of a trouble, it`s just a heartbreaking thing. What stands out to you tonight about this particular case?
LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, two things. If there was a past history of domestic violence, it`s very good that she was trying to break away from the relationship and move out. Secondly, I`m very concerned for the little girl, that she`s already being polarized between the ex-husband and her grandmother. At this time, it would be so important for her to have contact with all of her family members who she loves, and I`m very concerned that she`s being kept away from her grandma for reasons -- and we don`t know why, but there`s some kind of family politics going on there. It can`t be helpful to her.
LALAMA: Daniel Horowitz, defense attorney, does he have every right to keep that child away from the grandparents?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, he has every legal right to keep the child away, but it focuses great suspicion on him because people have to be thinking that this child knows something that he doesn`t want to be revealed to other family members. So if he`s innocent, he`s doing the wrong thing. If he`s guilty, well, then, he`s really being cruel to this child.
LALAMA: And Randy Kessler, also a defense attorney, very quickly, it sounds like maybe he has rescinded that strictness a little bit because, apparently, there has been a visit. That was probably smart on his part. Do you agree?
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely. I`m sure it`s still in a controlled environment. He`s trying to control her at all costs. The grandparents could file suit for visitation rights, but there`s some high standards. They`d have to prove probably that the mother is not going to return, and they don`t want to cross that bridge yet. But they will get visitation, it`s just time travels fast and the kid is suffering right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is 24-year-old teacher Shelley Mook?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something happened to Shelley between 3:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hours later, Shelley`s car was found 25 miles away in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mook`s car was found in flames on the side of Broad Street in Rutherford County.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sets off a red flag. It sure does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shelley Mook`s become the poster child in around Shelbyville for a mother who`s missed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities discovered the late-model white Pontiac Grand Prix Mook was last seen driving burned in this field off Manchester Pike in Murfreesboro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her car has been found in Rutherford County, and the TBI crime lab is being called in to process that site.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Harris Middle School teacher was last seen at around 3:00 PM. She had left school and was dropping off her 9-year-old daughter to her ex-husband`s house, Tyler Augustus Mook. That`s the last that anyone saw Shelley Mook.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loves teaching and she loves being with her daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Mook did not show up to work, her friends became worried.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s left this child, and they say that would normally never happen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The police have been diligently looking. I understand there`s different counties involved in Tennessee, with the location of her home, the location of the car. But sheriffs from Rutherford County, the police from Shelbyville have been working together to locate my daughter and bring her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. A tragic story that we`re discussing this evening. And you know, we can`t ignore the fact that it appears that Tyler Mook, Ellie Jostad, does, in fact, have a criminal record of some consequence. Can you tell us about it?
JOSTAD: Right. Well, what raises a bit of a red flag is that when Shelley Mook filed for divorce back in 2009, July of 2009, she told the judge that she was afraid that Tyler Mook could cause bodily harm to either herself or her daughter, so she asked the judge to give her a temporary restraining order, which he did.
Now, just two months after that, Shelley called police. She said that she was on the road, her ex-husband pulled up next to her, he began swerving as if he was going to try to run her off the road or hit her vehicle. He then pulled around in front of her, slammed on his brakes. She had to hit her brakes really hard to avoid hitting him. She said he was screaming at her, Get out of the F`ing car. She pulled into a gas station parking lot, called police. So there is that in the background and that is something police tell us they`re looking into.
LALAMA: And you know, Daniel Horowitz, whether you like it or not, you can`t ignore this pattern. She even stated in her petition, her divorce petition that he suffered from emotional mood disorder. You know, you guys like to say that, you know, there`s a rush to judgment, but who else do you think the police might be looking at, at this point?
HOROWITZ: Well, you know, it -- the police are probably only looking at him. I have to say that when they`re searching the house and the car, what they`re looking for is blood to show that she was killed in the house and moved in her own car or something that ties to him.
I think that if they can`t pin it on him, they are really out of luck at this point in terms of finding other suspects. She seems like such a wonderful person that she would have no enemies, and -- but you know, we also understand that in these cases without a body, so many men are suspects, but they end up not being charged.
LALAMA: Pat Brown, criminal profiler, doesn`t it seem, you know, based on the divorce papers -- we`re talking about that she feared for her and her child, emotional mood disorder, there`s a restraining order. Wouldn`t there be some sort of legal -- now, you know, I can ask the lawyers this, too. But I would want to rush and grab that kid, right, for fear of what could happen next.
BROWN: Well, that`s only what she says and how well documented it is that when you`re talking about legal matters. So at this point in time, we don`t know that he did anything. It`s possible some serial killer came along after she left his house and grabbed her, and he`s just -- you know, he`s just becoming a target.
And the same thing is true with his little girl because I`m not saying he`s not involved in this crime, but let`s assume he weren`t and he gives the child over to the grandparents and they believe he is. What are they going to be saying to the child? So you see, he could be very upset about that. So we really just don`t know why he`s keeping the kid from the grandparents because he doesn`t want the kid around and because she`ll say something. So I think the police need to get in and interview that child before there`s any kind of contamination, shall we say, from either side anymore. So get to the information and find out who committed this crime.
LALAMA: Rita Cosby, investigative reporter, I`m just thinking to myself if she drops off her child to the ex, is it possible a witness might have actually seen that, have seen him follow her, if, in fact, you know, he`s responsible? How about that burning car on a main road? Nobody saw anything? (INAUDIBLE) witnesses come forward?
COSBY: It`s interesting, Pat, I was just thinking the same thing. I bet they probably have some other witnesses that we don`t know about. The other thing, too, that we haven`t talked about -- there were two incidents of vandalism at her house, and neighbors saw him in the area. So if, indeed, this is him, he probably was a little bit sloppy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: News of Shelley Mook`s missing status is spreading, with her Pontiac Grand Prix found burned and abandoned on the same day she was last accounted for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sets off a red flag. It sure does. We`re concerned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the sheriff and Shelbyville police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s just -- she`s vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grow more uneasy with each passing day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just make sure that everyone keeps her in their thoughts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve all missed two or three nights sleep here, four or five nights sleep, trying to figure all this out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. I want to go out to our callers. We have Dorothy in Illinois. Good evening, Dorothy. Your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I have a question and a comment. That is that first, I`m sorry about this young school teacher life`s been cut short. (INAUDIBLE) I believe she was abused and perhaps (INAUDIBLE) by her ex-husband. And also, I believe that her child seen and heard something.
LALAMA: Well, that`s something we definitely want to get into. Most likely, Leslie Austin, psychotherapist, the child was not able to avoid witnessing something. And what kind of impact would that have on a child?
AUSTIN: Well, it would have significant impact. If a child sees some parents quarreling or some violence, that has an imprint. We don`t know really what happened, and we also don`t know what she did or didn`t see or what happened between them the day that Shelley went missing. So there`s a lot we need to know from this child, and I do hope she`s interviewed in a safe environment very soon so we know what she`s going through.
LALAMA: Patrick Jones -- again, you are Shelley Mook`s brother, and we thank you for being with us tonight during this very difficult time. You know, she probably was -- is a fantastic mother. Tell me about that, please.
JONES: Oh, I mean, she -- you know, she went to school or taught right next to her daughter, so you know, every day, she would take her to school with her. And then every day after school, you know, she would pick her up, and you know, just take her to play out in the park, or you know, take a bike ride, or you know, just -- just spend as much time as she could with her daughter, as often as she could.
LALAMA: And let me ask you this. Is the daughter still attending school? And is it at that same school?
JONES: Yes, she is still at the same school, and we check to make sure that she is there every day. And she has been attending school this week, yes.
LALAMA: And Ellie Jostad, NANCY GRACE producer, what is the custody situation right now? How will this family be able to spend more time with this little girl?
JOSTAD: Well, the family does tell us that they`ve hired a lawyer. They`re looking into what their rights might be, what the possibilities are. But right now, our understanding is that the little girl is with the ex-husband or with his family members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She never would just leave somewhere without, you know, letting us know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We aren`t giving up hope. Shelley will come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s just -- she`s vanished.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: A gorgeous young eighth grade schoolteacher goes missing without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mook, and English teacher at Harris Middle, was last seen by her ex-husband at his old National Dirt Road home. She was dropping off their 6-year-old daughter.
NICOLE PARTIN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: She had an appointment at her apartment with a maintenance man around 4:30 that afternoon. Her landlord said she never showed up for that appointment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not sure what happened at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Then the case took a terrifying turn. Deputies found Mook`s Pontiac Grand Prix burnt and charred in Murfreesboro. No sign of Mook.
GRACE: Her Pontiac Grand Prix goes up in flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It worried me when I saw the car burned out. They`ll be able to tell what chemicals were used to burn the car.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: After calling around and finding out no one heard from Mook, they knew something was wrong.
PATRICK JONES, BROTHER OF MISSING TEACHER, SHELLEY MOOK: Especially to leave her daughter without her mother, she would never do anything like that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, any information is greatly appreciated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re concerned. And we`re looking. We`re going to -- we`ll try to turn her up pretty quick.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: I`m Pat Lalama in for Nancy Grace.
Ellie Jostad, NANCY GRACE producer, does Tyler have a lawyer?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: I`m sorry, does Tyler have a lawyer is the question?
LALAMA: Have a lawyer.
JOSTAD: Yes, he does. And we have left messages for him and I should also point out that he is not named at this point a suspect, a person of interest, any of that. And we`ve called them for comment, tried to get his side of it, have not heard back.
LALAMA: Well, Randy Kessler, defense attorney, is that what you`d be advising your client to do, is just lay low, shut up, don`t talk?
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. But I would also (INAUDIBLE) him to share the child, that`s what`s best for the child. Unless there`s something the child knows, and if that`s the case, you know, then you just deal with it.
You say this is a young who`s never made -- but you don`t keep a child from her grandmother and you don`t keep your child away from giving evidence unless there`s something really to hide. So it depends on whether he`s innocent or guilty. But I would tell him lay low, don`t talk to the press. Definitely don`t talk to us.
LALAMA: And you know what? I want to talk about what legal rights anybody may have to take this child and delicately try to figure out what`s gone wrong.
Marc Klaas, can law enforcement -- I`ll get to law enforcement just a second, so hold on there, Stephen.
Can law enforcement, and should they be talking t this child at this point?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Absolutely. They should be talking to her if in fact as the story has been unfolded that she was last seen at school and then dropped the child off at the ex-husband`s house and it hasn`t been seen since, then it`s very important for law enforcement to talk to her.
And very quickly, Pat, I need to take back something I said earlier. I said that the little girl was probably all right. Well, I think I was wrong, and everybody else is absolutely correct. She`s in a hostile and cruel environment right now, and she really needs to be dealt with, and I think she probably needs to be saved.
LALAMA: Well, Daniel Horowitz, defense attorney, your interest may be -- you know, because you are a defense attorney for Tyler, as the father, but wouldn`t it be in his best interest to let that child come forward, be with the grandparents, cooperate in any possible way?
Because the cops are saying, quote, "he`s cooperating some." What would you be telling this guy to do?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, OK. When you put aside my feelings as a parent and as a human being and I talk about my job as lawyer, I would tell him not to let these people near your daughter.
You know, if you presume that he`s innocent --
LALAMA: Are you talking about the -- wait, wait, are you talking about the grandparents?
HOROWITZ: From a lawyer`s point of view, not from Dan Horowitz, the person. Yes, you`d have to say, look, you`re innocent -- assuming that you believe your client is innocent -- these people think you are guilty and they`re going to turn your child away from you, alienate you from your child, upset her and make your child think you`re guilty when you`re not.
It`s your child. Tell them to take a hike. That`s the advice a lawyer would have to give.
LALAMA: Pat Brown, what do you think about that? These are the grandparents.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "THE PROFILER": I`m actually totally in agreement. This is the problem. I mean right now if he is innocent and the grandparents think he is not, they are going to talk to the child, perhaps -- I mean, maybe they won`t, but that`ll take a lot for them to do that. If they don`t -- if they really think he`s guilty. Do not say something negative.
And also for his protection if he`s innocent, they could be saying what did you -- what happened? What happened? And could be implanting ideas. Now, you know -- I just think it`s not a good time. I think this is the time when the police need to talk to her. Get that taken care of. Find out if he`s guilty or he`s not guilty.
And hopefully, if -- you know if he`s guilty then, the child can hopefully find a better home. And if he`s not guilty, then the grandparents will know that, maybe they can work something out with him, but I don`t think it`s the time to do it right now.
LALAMA: Well, good point, but Detective Lt. Steven Rogers, in terms of the actual investigation, do law enforcement have the right, the authority to go knock on the door and say hand her over, we need to talk to this little girl, she may have seen something, she could actually help us solve this case?
DET. LT. STEVE ROGERS, NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY, POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, look, absent the permission of the parents unfortunately police are not able to do that automatically. Perhaps court orders. But I`ll tell you, there`s another avenue they can go down.
If they feel that the child is in danger, then Child Protective Services could move in immediately and talk to that child, and there`s kind of a backdoor way of getting the police involved.
Happens all the time.
LALAMA: Very --
ROGERS: And that`s the way to do it.
LALAMA: Yes. Leslie Austin, psychotherapist, you know, you have to tread so carefully when you`re dealing on the young and the innocent. How -- if police are able to talk to her, how do you approach this? How do you keep her safe emotionally going though something like that?
DR. LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, first of all, you stay very low key and supportive, and you don`t want to trigger any alarm. And secondly, you have to be very careful with the language you use. It needs to be very neutral and just draw her out gently so that you don`t load your questions to lead her somewhere.
You really want to find out. At 6 she has some awareness, not as much as we would like if she were older, but you want to draw her out gently so she gives you whatever information she has spontaneously and accurately as she perceives it.
LALAMA: Patrick Jones, Shelley Mook`s brother, I`m looking at these pictures, a beautiful sister and a beautiful niece you have.
How hard is it for you and your family?
JONES: Oh, you know, it`s been very difficult. Somebody that, you know, you grow up, you know, most of your life with, and then she`s there one day and gone the next. And, you know, it`s taken a toll on all our family, not even just me and my mother, but, you know, relatives that have been down to try to help us, you know. It`s been difficult for everybody.
LALAMA: What, Patrick, is going on with the search of your sister? Are there active searches? Do police tell you what they`ve got going there?
JONES: Yes. The police have searched, you know, around where the burned car was found, and we also have contacted some other search parties locally to narrow down some spots to start looking. So we`ve been active in doing that.
LALAMA: Rita Cosby, investigative reporter, do we have any reason to believe she would have gone off with someone else or been accosted by a total stranger? Any -- any information there?
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, AUTHOR, "QUIET HERO": We have not heard anything like that at this point. In fact, you know, all signs, they keep going to the husband`s home. We haven`t heard warrants anywhere else. I thought you hit a great point before, Pat, where you said this car burning on the side of the road.
Probably somebody saw something along the way. Whether it was this gentleman or whether it was somebody else, you can bet if it`s a public time -- and it was also during a daytime hours, remember, she went over there at 3:00. Cell phone records confirm that. There probably are some other eyewitnesses.
The other point I wanted to hit, too, the fact -- and Patrick made an interesting point, that the little girl is not wondering where mommy is. I thought that was a very interesting point. And I do hope that authorities get to the bottom of that. I`m sure they are wondering what happened, where are all these pieces.
LALAMA: Yes.
Doctor Radha Mikkilineni, you know, just in terms of evidence and evidence is so crucial, but yet here we are, another situation where you know, we haven`t found anything yet. In order to find out whether harm was done to her, let`s say hypothetically, inside Tyler`s home, what would we need to be looking for?
DR. RADHA MIKKILINENI, INTERNAL MEDICINE: If something were to happen in the home, they would be looking for blood evidence, evidence of weapons, signs of a struggle, scratches, you know, the -- that would -- those would be the essential.
LALAMA: And what do you think may have -- I guess it would be easy to find out what materials were used to start the fire and maybe try to match that to something in the home or in the car?
MIKKILINENI: Yes. Absolutely. That that would be -- that would definitely be something they`d be looking for as well. You know, I do think it would be interesting also to consider this apartment that she was looking at, where she was supposed to meet the maintenance person. Is it clear that she never was there? Could that be also another potential crime scene so.
LALAMA: Interesting.
Ellie, very quickly, how far is it from her ex-husband`s house to the point where the car was located?
JOSTAD: That`s only about 25, 30 miles away or so.
LALAMA: But that is a significant amount of distance.
JOSTAD: Right.
LALAMA: To me anyway.
JOSTAD: Well, right. And the other thing, too, that complicates this, is that you`ve got two counties involved, you`ve got have Bedford County where Shelbyville is located where the ex-husband lives, and then you`ve also got Rutherford County, Murfreesboro, where the car was found, so you`ve got both of those agencies working in as well as the TBI and the Shelbyville police. Everybody trying to find this mom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: English teacher Shelley Mook has been missing from these hallways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best word to describe it is overwhelming. Devastated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hope she comes home. We want her to come home, and we would anything that we could to make that happen.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Shelley left the Harris Middle School where she was a schoolteacher. She left the school, went to her to her ex-husband`s home where she dropped off her 6-year-old daughter.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Cops were actually not able to link the car to Shelley until Wednesday, because Shelley wasn`t reported missing until Wednesday.
DEBRA SIKORA, MOTHER OF MISSING TEACHER, SHELLEY MOOK: I called the school and found out she hadn`t reported for school.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With each passing day, it`s getting tougher especially since many can`t help but think something has gone terribly wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shelley is an excellent communicator and would have called me if there had been some reason she was delayed or anything. And so we knew immediately something was wrong.
SIKORA: When I called the school on Wednesday, I knew definitely something was wrong. This was not like my daughter.
JONES: We just take it as a day-by-day thing and, you know, if we don`t find her today, there`s -- you know, this much hope that we`re going to find her tomorrow.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace.
Back to Patrick Jones, Shelley Mook`s brother. I know there is a reward. I believe it`s $10,000, and could you please tell us, how can we help you and your family?
JONES: I mean you`re helping us right now. You know, you`re just getting the information out there to everybody. And like you said, there is a $10,000 reward so if anybody has any information, we would greatly appreciate if they contact Bedford County Sheriff`s Department or the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
LALAMA: Patrick, is it possible that -- you know, you were talking about Shelley finding a new life. Was she seeing anyone new? Is there anyone else that you might be thinking about that you`d like police to look at?
JONES: I mean, I`m not sure. She had went out on a few dates with somebody, but it wasn`t anything that she had been exposed lately to her daughter. But as far as I know, there should be no reason -- these people have been a tremendous help, just everybody in the community and family and friends. So there`s nobody that`s really not been there supporting us 100 percent.
LALAMA: Rita Cosby, investigative reporter, there was some information on Facebook -- Facebook can be a help and a hindrance. A hindrance being that there was an erroneous report that a body was found? Is that correct?
COSBY: Yes, there was a report on Facebook. And in fact, the school looked into it right away, it turned out that it was a student. And when that student was interviewed apparently that student said I did it to be funny. Obviously a very sick joke.
But it caused actually the school -- I will give a lot of credit to the school in this case, because the school actually said we have counselors on hand. We want to inform everybody up to date. They even called basically a general assembly with all the students to say this rumor on Facebook is just a terrible rumor. It is not correct. We are still looking for her.
And also encouraging students if they see anything or hear anything to report it to authorities. So the school has really been top of it. But so far no body has been found.
LALAMA: Yes. OK.
Detective Lieutenant Steven Rogers, on that note, finding someone, finding Shelley, it`s a daunting task for the police. I mean you have your ideas about, you know, who it could be but where do you begin? How do you map out a plan to try to find someone who is missing?
ROGERS: We always begin at what we call the center of gravity, and that`s right in the home of the victim and the people closest to that victim. And then we extend out into the community, the neighborhood, the schools, and more often than not, we end up, guess what, back at the home.
So that`s how this whole pattern will be unfolded as the police continue with this investigation.
LALAMA: Leslie Austin, again, no one has been names as a suspect, let`s get that straight.
AUSTIN: Right.
LALAMA: But, you know, we can`t ignore, you know, the allegations of domestic violence. What is it about men -- and let`s just not talk about Tyler, but men in general, a of them if they can`t have their exes, they decide to get rid of them? You know why isn`t it like -- why isn`t it good enough just to let them go? There`s a child involved.
AUSTIN: Do we have three days for me to answer that question?
LALAMA: Yes. Exactly.
AUSTIN: Seriously, it`s a very, very complicated issue. If there is the slightest trace of over control, out-of-control anger, where you can`t manage the anger, any traces of violence, it is incumbent upon the woman to do something and get out, do not expose yourself or your child. Do not tolerate a second incident.
It`s that black and white. No relationship is worth harming yourself or your child. And if pole, get help for the guy, if you can.
LALAMA: Doctor Mikkilineni, you had mentioned something very interesting about the other -- the other scene where she was going to. I mean, that`s not out of the question that some -- you know, untoward maintenance guy could be involved?
MIKKILINENI: Absolutely. I mean, there are really three potential crime scenes here. I would find it unlikely that the crime -- if there was a crime committed, that it was actually committed in the home of her -- of her ex-husband, only because there was a child there present.
So I would entertain more likely the crime scene to be in the car, which would makes sense given that the evidence was, you know, attempted to be destroyed. The other alternative is if, you know, she were abducted or stopped somewhere en route to this apartment that she was going to move to, that would be another -- another potential place where something untoward could have happened as well as perhaps just in the vicinity of the apartment where she was going to meet.
LALAMA: But just -- one thing real quick, three seconds, Marc Klaas, a lot of killers do kill in front of children, now don`t you think?
KLAAS: Well, I think that they do. But I also think it`s very -- there could be an accomplice here. I don`t know how you drop a car out in the middle of nowhere, torch it on fire and don`t have somebody there to take you away from that scene.
LALAMA: Thanks, Marc.
Now, to tonight`s CNN Heroes and (INAUDIBLE) story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN LIM, CNN HERO: The moment that a woman falls pregnant in Indonesia, she is 300 times more likely to die in the next 12 month than if she was not pregnant. If you have money, you can get excellent medical services, but the poorest people don`t always get the services they need.
In the hospital here, cannot take your baby home until you pay your bill. Sometimes the mothers wait outside the hospital all day waiting to get in to feed their baby and to change their baby`s diaper.
My name is Robin Lim, I`m a midwife. Most people call me Ebu Robin, because ebu means mother.
I`ve learned about the dangers of motherhood when my own sister, she died as a complication of her third pregnancy. I was just really crushed.
I came to Bali to reinvent my life.
Hi, baby. Hi.
I started the clinic run by Indonesian midwives. We offer prenatal care, birth services. No matter how poor they are, no matter their race or religion, we teach new graduating classes of midwives how to do a more natural, gentle birth. The women can stay as long as they want.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): Robin helps poor people. She cares about me very much, like my own mother. I`m extremely grateful.
LIM: Each baby, each adult deserves a clean, healthy, loving environment. Those are a human right.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LALAMA: And now a look back at the stories making the headlines this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is Bethany?
KIM NELSON, MOTHER OF MISSING PREGNANT ARMY WIFE, BETHANY DECKER: Does anybody know where my daughter is?
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST; FMR. D.C. POLICE DET., FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Cops have searched the home of the last person to see Bethany before she disappears.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This was the father of her unborn child.
GRACE: Is judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot set to walk on a sweetheart sentence of just three to five years behind bars?
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": She saw an e-mail that was sent to him about the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Somebody calling him a mongoloid and that`s how it all began.
GRACE: He kidnaps and murders a 5-year-old little boy. We learn the child killer set to walk years early.
ZARRELL: The boy`s father, John Foreman, appeared on "The John DePetro" radio show on 630 WPRO.
JOHN FOREMAN, FATHER OF MURDERED 5-YEAR-OLD BOY: I do intend, if this man is released anywhere in my vicinity or if I can find him after the fact, I do intend to kill this man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t have a clue yet to where she might be.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The teacher from Harris Middle School in Shelbyville was last seen by her ex-husband. Dropped off their daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Drops the child off and from there, have no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That same night Mook`s car was found in flames.
GRACE: Where is the missing eighth grade teacher?
SIKORA: Definitely something was wrong. This was not like daughter. No. No.
BROOKS: A 3-year-old boy beaten to death by his mother and her boyfriend for wetting his pants?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The couple orders up a pizza while the boy was clinging for life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Robin Greinke, correct? All right. You`re charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They (INAUDIBLE) and spanked him and punched him.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The couple allegedly drank beer and hit the child numerous times.
GRACE: Enjoy that pizza, mommy, in hell.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Tonight, let`s stop to remember Army Private 1st Class Ryan Christensen, 22 years old, from Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey. From a family of military veterans. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Army Commendation medal and National Defense Service medal.
He loved drawing and computers. An only child. He gave his mother away at her wedding before his deployment. He leaves behind his mother, Suzette and stepfather, Mark.
Ryan Christensen, an American hero.
Thank you to all of our guests, to you at home. See you tomorrow nig, 8:00 p.m. sharp Eastern.
Thank you, Nancy, so much for the opportunity.
Until then, good night, everybody.
END