Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Missing 5 an 6-Year-Old Brothers Found
Aired March 15, 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, Alabama. A young Russellville dad heads to work, leaving his two little boys, Angel and Christian, ages 5 and 6, at home, safe and sound with the baby-sitter. But when Daddy gets home from work, Angel and Christian gone. Amber Alert issued for the two little boys. What And About the baby-sitter? Was she overpowered, beaten, kidnapped, attacked, left tied to a staircase or the kitchen chair? No, the baby-sitter is the kidnapper!
Bombshell tonight. As we go to air, little Angel and Christian found alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news.
GRACE: Boys ages 5 and 6, Angel and Christian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allegedly abducted by their baby-sitter, have just been found safe, located in Indiana, along with baby-sitter Teresa Lynn McGee, who is now under arrest. Questions swirling!
GRACE: Why did she take the children?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You must not trust anybody.
GRACE: Did anybody do a background check?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to be vigilant.
GRACE: What was going through Easterday`s mind?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to be aware.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It appears as though it was an intentional act.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s looking at kidnapping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Knowing right from wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s looking at custodial interference.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She took the children to another state, where she was not supposed to take them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s looking at also unlawful imprisonment.
GRACE: Take a look at Teresa Lynn McGee.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just don`t know why she`s doing this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, EMTs, police race to a Colorado Springs home after a 911 call reports a newborn baby unconscious, unresponsive after bath time. Too bad Mommy couldn`t pull the baby out of the bathtub, but she was busy across the street running errands at the liquor store! Thanks, Mommy!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nine-month-old Erich Tyler, Jr., died after drowning in a bathtub and sustaining severe burns to his body after police say the mother admitted to leaving the boy and his 2-year-old brother unattended to buy chicken wings and cigarettes. The mother allegedly tells police she was gone for about 10 to 20 minutes and left her boys in about an inch of water in the bathtub, but claims when she returns, the hot water was running and the tub was now about half full, little Tyler found floating face down in the tub while his 2-year-old brother stood outside the tub. Nine-month-old Erich Tyler, Jr., died from not only drowning, according to authorities, but from severe burns, burns so serious that when police arrived, they found residue of the boy`s skin in the bathtub and on a washcloth. Now the boy`s mom behind bars on suspicion of felony child abuse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A young Russellville dad heads to work, leaving his two boys, Angel and Christian, ages 5 and 6, home safe and sound with the baby-sitter. But when Daddy gets home, Angel and Christian gone. And what about the baby-sitter? Was she overpowered, beaten, kidnapped, attacked, tied up to the staircase? No, the kidnapper is the baby-sitter. As we go to air, little Angel and Christian found alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This just in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-year-old Teresa Lynn McGee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who allegedly abducted two little boys.
GRACE: The boys, ages 5 and 6.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have just been found in an apartment complex in Indiana.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s crossed over state lines, it`ll be (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where she was not supposed to take them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But why did the baby-sitter allegedly snatch the kids in the first place?
GRACE: Everyone, you are taking a look at the trusted baby-sitter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The baby-sitter facing first degree kidnapping charges.
GRACE: Who steals a 5 and 6-year-old child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say the boys appear to be unharmed.
GRACE: Who steals a 5 and 6-year-old child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The children now in protective custody, waiting to be reunited with their father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Law enforcement took this seriously enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, she`s going down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This just in. A search across state lines for the baby-sitter who allegedly abducted two little boys has paid off. Baby- sitter, Teresa McGee, AKA, Teresa Easterday, has just been found in an apartment complex.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Straight out to Trang Do, CNN affiliate WAFF, joining us there at the Russellville Police Department. Trang, the boys alive! It`s my understanding this baby-sitter, who had taken care of the two little boys for six to eight months, actually had taken them on a Greyhound bus far away to another state, crossing three or four state lines, and was posing as their mother and telling people that they were her little boys, basically, a real, live "Hand That Rocked the Cradle," where the baby-sitter usurps the role of mother and pretends the children are hers?
TRANG DO, WAFF CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Nancy. She had gone up there because she actually had ties in Indiana. She had grown up there since she was 18 and moved away from there. So she was staying with a friend where she was keeping these two young boys in an apartment, and that`s where FBI agents and officers eventually found the three of them there.
GRACE: OK. Trang Do joining us from the Russellville Police Department there in Alabama. I understand that while she may have been, let me say, a trusted baby-sitter, she wasn`t all that smart because she faxed -- she went so far as to try to withdraw the children from their school. She faxed the school, telling them that she was going to home- school the children, that she was the mother and was going to take them out of school so, basically, they could never be traced again. But they got the fax number, right, Trang?
DO: Yes, that`s right. It`s -- she actually faxed it from a Home Depot in Indianapolis, which was an immediate red flag to school officials. They immediately came here to the Russellville Police Department to bring that information to the police.
GRACE: Joining us also, Jean Casarez, on the story. Jean, it`s my understanding she was at an Office Depot and actually faxed the school back home in Alabama the boys would no longer be attending there, that she was the mom and she was withdrawing them from school.
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": That`s right. And Nancy, it was the school that said, There is something very wrong with this story. It is the school that ultimately called police yesterday. And Nancy, it was about an hour-and-a-half after your show ended last night that these boys were found.
GRACE: You know, Ellie Jostad, we had all been hoping and praying for the best, and it really came true in this case. But I want to dissect what happened. It sounds like the father was working on the home where the boys lived. They had a sagging floor and he was worried it was dangerous for the boys. So would work all day, and then he would work on the house. And this baby-sitter had been taking care of the boys at her home. And she had actually pulled them out of school for a week, but the father didn`t know. He was going over there every day to take care of his children, but he didn`t know they were not attending school during the day.
What was she doing, Ellie?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right, Nancy. Well, apparently, they had a routine. The baby-sitter would drop the father off at his work. She`d take the kids to school. At the end of the day, she`d pick the kids up from school, pick up Dad from work. They`d spend some time together in the afternoon. And then Dad would go back to the house, which he was trying make more habitable for the kids.
So apparently, he was unaware that the kids hadn`t been in to school all last week until on Saturday, he got a letter from the school saying they`d been absent. He asked the baby-sitter about it. By that time, she`d already left. She said she was taking the kids on vacation.
GRACE: Out to the lines. To Debbie in New York. Hi, Debbie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just wanted to say I really love your show.
GRACE: Thank you. And thank you for calling in. Did you hear that last point, Debbie in New York? She actually lied to the father. She lied to the school. She lied to the father. She said she had taken the children out of school to take them on a vacation to Florida. And the father, of course, nutted (ph) up. He didn`t want his children out of school. Debbie in New York, what`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, what`s the best defense (ph) for McGee going to be?
GRACE: The best sentence?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
GRACE: OK, unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, veteran defense attorney, former prosecutor Darryl Cohen, also Meg Strickler, defense attorney. Darryl Cohen, what`s she looking at?
DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I think she`s looking at kidnapping. I think that her best defense is, I just shouldn`t have done it and trying to cut a deal. This woman...
GRACE: Oh, please...
-- what she did is incredible...
GRACE: ... put him up. Put him up! Put him up! Darryl...
COHEN: I don`t see...
GRACE: ... you said the best defense is...
COHEN: ... any defense.
GRACE: ... I just shouldn`t have done it?
COHEN: Well, Nancy...
GRACE: Wouldn`t that apply to...
COHEN: ... I don`t see a defense.
GRACE: ... every crime? Well, what about the creepy part? Didn`t you two see "The Hand That Rocked the Cradle" with Rebecca DeMornay, where the baby-sitter starts taking on more and more of the mom`s responsibility, usurps her role, and then, basically, tries to become the mother?
COHEN: Absolutely.
GRACE: Don`t you see some -- I could see a defense attorney using some weird, wacky defense that she thought she was the mother.
COHEN: Well, I agree. I wouldn`t want to represent her, but if I did, I would be having a psychological on her. I would do everything I could to show that she did some of the right things, and then she assumed the role of the mother and she exceed it, so far exceeded it, that she just did not know what she was doing. But having...
GRACE: Well, you know what?
COHEN: ... said that, she knew right from wrong.
GRACE: Hearing you say it -- yes. Exactly. She knew how to fake off the father, how to fake off the school. In fact -- hold on. Meg, I`ll be right with you. I`m hearing in my ear we now have Chief Chris Hargett with us, the chief of the Russellville Police Department.
Chief, your team, basically, did everything right. You were on this from the get-go. And you managed to find out exactly where she was. Chief, tell me how this all unfolded and how you found the boys last night.
CHIEF CHRIS HARGETT, RUSSELLVILLE PD (via telephone): Well, Nancy, of course, obviously, we owe a lot of gratitude to the school system for making us aware of it at an early stage. And also, we owe a lot of credit to the FBI for helping us in this. You know, it was -- everything just fell into place pretty quick. We were able to get the information from the school. And of course, it being suspicious in nature from the -- basically, from the facts, from the Office Depot to the actually going and contacting the father, who was still here, so we knew that he wasn`t with them at that time. So we went ahead and notified all the other agencies, the FBI, got them involved. And we just started at that point.
GRACE: But Marc Klaas, the scary part that she took the children without the father`s permission, refused to bring them back, lied about it and then began posing as if she were the mother.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: To what end? Did she want to keep those kids for ransom? Did she want to raise them as her own? Or did she have some kind of victimization in mind?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What`s she looking at now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s looking at a lot of time. She`s looking at kidnapping. She could be looking at life. She`s looking at custodial interference. She`s looking at also unlawful imprisonment. And we just don`t know why she`s doing this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. Two young brothers who were allegedly abducted by their baby-sitter have just been found safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a very urgent situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six-year-old Angel and five-year-old Christian located in Indiana, along with baby-sitter Teresa Lynn McGee, who is now under arrest.
GRACE: Two little boys, Angel and Christian.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Their mother comes home from work. The children are gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taken by their baby-sitter, Teresa Lynn McGee.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The baby-sitter is gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say the kids are now in protective custody, the baby-sitter facing first degree kidnapping charges after warrants were issued for her arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kidnapping warrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police allege McGee, also known as Teresa Easterday, abducted the children she was baby-sitting hundreds of miles away in Alabama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s looking at a lot of time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Questions swirling! How was the baby-sitter located?
GRACE: Angel, where are you? Nobody answers. And then she probably thinks nothing is wrong at first.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But when she finds out something is wrong, she thanks her lucky stars that law enforcement took this seriously enough that although they didn`t fulfill...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. For those of you just joining us, the two little boys that we told you about last night were found shortly after our show alive in Indianapolis, where we suspected they were, the baby-sitter actually taking them across state lines across multiple states, lying to the father, saying she had taken them on a Florida vacation, pulling them out of school without the father`s permission, and then posing as if they were her biological children and she their mother.
In fact, isn`t it true -- out to Trang Do, CNN affiliate WAFF, joining us at the police department -- she actually puts a man up to getting on the phone and pretending to be the father.
DO: She did, and she had that man speak to school officials. But they were not convinced, Nancy. I mean, they have been in contact with the child`s father, and they just knew that this guy was not him.
GRACE: Joining us right now Woodrow Tripp, former police commander, polygraph expert. Woody, how do you go about cracking a case like this?
WOODROW TRIPP, FMR. POLICE COMMANDER: Well, Nancy, it`s -- it`s a multitude of different things. You have technology. And then it comes down to good, old-fashioned basic police work. And when you put those two together, you obviously have the results that you have got now. And they did an absolutely excellent job in investigating this and bringing it to a conclusion.
GRACE: Well, you know, she was at Office Depot, not Staples, but she did push the easy button by sending a fax to the school that says "Office Depot, Indianapolis" with the phone number right there.
But you know, with somebody like this, Marc Klaas, even though that sounds easy, once you get to Indianapolis, it`s like looking for a needle in a haystack.
KLAAS: Well, you know, the chief said that things fell into place, but things don`t fall into place unless you have good systems...
GRACE: No, he`s being modest.
KLAAS: He is, because you need good systems. You need good training. You need good partnerships. You need education. You need awareness. When that happens, you have a great investigation and you recover the kids.
GRACE: To Wendy Walsh, psychologist and expert there on Momlogic.com. Wendy, we have seen a lot of cases where children are kidnapped and a female is involved who actually begins to pretend and soon begins to believe that these children are her children. It is a psychological phenomena unlike no other. And that is what this baby-sitter was doing. She purported these were her biological children to everyone involved.
WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGICAL: It`s so true, Nancy. It`s not in the textbook, but I like to call it "maternal psychosis." She`s having this -- imagining that she`s the mother and has the kids. And you know, the real issue there isn`t so much, obviously, her mental instability and the horrible crime she committed. It`s the trauma to the children! I mean, these children, I don`t know what happened to their mother and why they`re being raised by a single dad, but now they`re being kidnapped and taken to another state? Just imagine the emotional trauma, taken away from their friends and family, and maybe even told, Listen if you tell anybody, you know, I`ll -- I`ll hurt you. So there`s these -- these threats of abuse as a potential. I mean, my heart goes out to these children because they`re having a tough time.
GRACE: You know, Meg Strickler, what`s the defense? Can you imagine going home and the baby-sitter that you trusted for nearly a year is gone, your children, and then you find out that she has gotten some kind of a complex that she is the mother and has taken your children and is trying to raise them as her own in another state? And don`t bother, Strickler, to say insanity because she gets on the phone, lies to the father that they`re in Florida, lies to the school, lies to everybody in Indianapolis. She knows darn well what she`s doing!
MEG STRICKLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, there`s a lot of intent here. So you`ve got -- you can`t argue insanity. I would just her information as mitigating, that she`s not completely stable and hope that that -- that the judge take some compassion for her.
GRACE: Well, come on, Meg. Everyone that commits a violent crime, you could argue, is not stable. But it`s got to rise to insanity.
Headline tonight, Angel and Christian are found safe and alive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This just in. A search across state lines for the baby-sitter who allegedly abducted two little boys has paid off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teresa McGee. She has two boys, 5 and 6 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby-sitter Teresa McGee, AKA Teresa Easterday, has just been found at an apartment complex in Indiana. The boys, ages 5 and 6, also located.
GRACE: The trusted baby-sitter who steals a 5 and 6-year-old child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The baby-sitter found hundreds of miles away...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your call. Out to Stella in California. Hi, Stella.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`m a really big fan. I have a question regarding this case. Can the children, ages 5 and 6, be called as witnesses against McGee?
GRACE: They absolutely can be called as witnesses, and most likely will be called as witnesses. A jury, unless she takes a plea, will hear all about everything she told them, what her plan was, what she told them on the way from Alabama to Indianapolis. And in that jurisdiction, for a kidnapping, the maximum penalty is life behind bars.
To the lines. Dino in Michigan. Hi, Dino.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. Nice to finally speak to you.
GRACE: Likewise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does crossing state lines make charges more serious?
GRACE: They really do. What about it, Darryl Cohen?
COHEN: Well, they don`t really make them more serious, but it means the feds can come in...
GRACE: Well, it brings in the feds.
COHEN: ... and makes it serious, showing what she did, that she left Alabama. She went to Indianapolis or Indiana. She was going to make sure that she could do everything she could to prevent these kids from finding their father.
GRACE: Put Cohen up!
COHEN: So yes, that makes it more serious.
GRACE: Darryl! Darryl!
COHEN: Yes?
GRACE: I know that you, as I, have practiced in not only state but federal court. Now, one -- a state prosecutor is bad enough. But what you don`t want is to find the feds picking through your computer or look out the kitchen window and see them going through your trash. When you get the feds on your tail, you`re in trouble.
COHEN: Oh, absolutely, Nancy.
GRACE: So when you cross state lines and the feds come after you, oh, yes, I would say that`s a lot more serious! But I will also say that, don`t you agree this case will be handled in state court?
COHEN: Oh, absolutely. Now that they found them and the FBI (INAUDIBLE) a minimal but important part, clearly, it will be handled in state court. But I agree with you. If the feds get involved, you are toast. But she`s still going to be toast. It`s just a different type of toast.
GRACE: Out to the lines. To Janet in Florida. Hi, Janet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. So nice to talk to you.
GRACE: Likewise. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have two questions. One is...
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Do we know what the baby-sitter intended to do with them? I mean, everyone`s talking about having them as her own children. Maybe she intended to do harm or worse?
GRACE: What about it Marc Klaas?
KLAAS: Well, the options would be raising them as her own kids. The options would be victimization of some type, or possibly selling them into sexual slavery or a ransom. That`s where you go (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as mental problems, it appears as though it was an intentional act, knowing right from wrong, because she took the children to another state, where she was not supposed to take them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Boys ages 5 and 6. Angel and Christian.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Allegedly abducted by their babysitter have just been found safe. Located in Indiana along with babysitter Teresa Lynn McCee who is now under arrest.
Questions swirling.
GRACE: Why did she take the children?
LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT, AUTHOR OF "TOXIC PEOPLE": You must not trust anybody.
GRACE: Did anybody do a background check?
GLASS: You have to be vigilant.
GRACE: What was going through Easterday`s mind?
GLASS: You have to be aware.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It appears as though it was an intentional act.
ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She is looking at kidnapping.
GLASS: Knowing right from wrong.
BREMNER: She is looking at custodial interference.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They took the children to another state where she was not supposed to take them.
BREMNER: Looking at also unlawful imprisonment.
GRACE: Take a look at Teresa Lynn McGee.
BREMNER: We just don`t know why she`s doing this.
GRACE: What was going through Easterday`s mind?
GLASS: Well, you know, when you look at something like this, you really have to, as every parent, has to be aware, you must, you must do a background check. You must put cameras in your house. You must not trust anybody.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: For those of you just joining us, the story we brought you last night about these two boys ages 5 and 6, Angel and Christian, stolen out of their family home in Russellville, Alabama, were found after our show last night. They were found all the way up in Indianapolis.
Joining us right now Chief Chris Hargett from the Russellville Police Department.
Chief, again, thank you for being with us. When they were found, what were they doing?
CHIEF CHRIS HARGETT, RUSSELLVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: It is my understanding one of the agents from the FBI office in Indianapolis and the local authorities arrived, one of the children were asleep, the other was playing with toys.
GRACE: Were they in an apartment or a house? Where were they?
HARGETT: They were at an apartment in Indianapolis.
GRACE: Doe know whose apartment it was?
HARGETT: It was an acquaintance of the subject`s that she had known from a previous time up there.
GRACE: And back to you, Trang Do from WAFF, joining us outside the Russellville Police Department.
They say it`s an acquaintance. Do we know who the man was that she put u to calling, pretending to be the father taking them out of school?
TRANG DO, REPORTER, CNN AFFILIATE WAFF: Well, this man was initially one that police thought that she was with at the time but it turns out he was here in Alabama the entire time. Police brought him in for questioning. And that`s how they were able to get ahold of Miss McGee and find out where she was with the boys.
GRACE: Back to Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation.
You know, Marc, the level of deception is incredible here. You`ve got her calling the school. Faxing them, telling them she was going -- she was the mother and she was going to home school them. Translation, don`t worry about them missing school anymore. So she could fake off the father when the children were not reported at school.
She lies to the father. Telling him that they`re on a Florida vacation. That she is in XYZ car when in fact she went and got a bus -- a bus ticket to Indiana.
The lies just go on and on, telling all the people around her she`s the bio-mom, that these are her children, and she`s raising them in Indianapolis now.
What does that say to you?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, it shows you that there`s not much behind the whole concept of the criminal mastermind. And her life started caving like a house of cards almost immediately because good systems were in place and good people were doing the right thing.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Melissa in Oregon. Hi, Melissa.
MELISSA, CALLER FROM OREGON: Hi, Nancy. Where is the child`s biological mother?
GRACE: That`s a good question.
Jean Casarez, it`s my understanding the mom is not in this picture at all.
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": That`s right. She`s been out of the picture for some time. But the babysitter has been babysitting for six to eight months. But the children were living with her for about three to four weeks.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. The whole phenomena of her posing as the biological mother may certainly come in a trial.
Ellie Jostad, what do you know about the conditions in which the boys were found?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, they`re in this apartment. And I took a little look at it on Google Earth. It looks like it`s actually a series of like duplex or triplex houses on one street. They`re calling it an apartment complex. But it`s more of like little residences.
The boys appear to be unharmed. They are working right now to get a plan together to bring them back to Alabama.
GRACE: To Jody in Missouri. Hi, Jody. What`s your question, dear?
JODY, CALLER FROM MISSOURI: Hi. Does the mother or the babysitter have a criminal record?
GRACE: You know we looked up the babysitter. We can`t find the mom. We looked -- nothing on the mom is appearing. So I guess the answer to the mom would be no criminal cord.
On the babysitter, she had a record, but it was not anything significant. It`s like driving with tinted windows. Things of that nature. No violent history.
This is a shot of Teresa McGee, aka, Teresa Easterly.
Here`s a hint, I guess, Marc Klaas. Don`t hire anybody that has an alias. Would you agree with that?
KLAAS: I would certainly agree with that. But I`d like to point out that this is a beautiful thing. Previously endangered kids have been returned safely and a dangerous criminal is in custody.
GRACE: You know, Woody -- Woody Tripp, it doesn`t normally end this way, does it?
WOODY TRIPP, FORMER POLICE COMMANDER, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: No, many times it doesn`t, Nancy. And I think Mr. Klaas would agree. It normally doesn`t and this is a fantastic ending to a very sad that started out.
GRACE: You know, you`ve got the father slaving away doing what he can for the boys. And then this happens.
What are the stats, Marc Klaas?
KLAAS: I don`t have the stats in front of me but the vast majority of children that are reported missing are returned. Under these kinds of circumstances, however, this is why we have protocols. This is why we have the Amber alert because these are the children that may fall through the cracks and that may never been seen again.
This is a testament to good cop work.
GRACE: Everyone, as we go to break, you know the death toll is rising into the thousands after the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Thousands of bodies not recovered. Thousands missing. Half a million in shelters. Survivors including Americans terrified of aftershocks and radiation. Temperatures below freezing.
Please help.
In case you`re wondering, the United Methodists are already there and have been there from day one. Why don`t you see Methodist advertisements? Because all, 100 percent of the UMCOR money goes directly to relief.
To donate -- if you want to do more than just watch it on TV, go to UMCOR, U-M-C-O-R.com. The Pacific Emergency Advance number 3021317.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Colorado Springs Police say a mother who left her two young children alone in a bathtub is now charged with child abuse causing death.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A 9-month-old baby is dead after police say he was left alone in the bathtub with his 2-year-old brother while his mother left the home to buy cigarettes and chicken wings.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mother allegedly told police she put both of her children in a bathtub with an inch of water.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ran out of the house for about 10 to 20 minutes to buy the smokes and chicken. When she returned the mom claims the hot water was flowing and the bathtub was now half full. The mother calls 911, but it was too late.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When she returned she found her 9-month-old unresponsive in the bathtub with the hot water running.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Nine-month-old Eric Tyler Jr. died from not only drowning according to authorities but from severe burns, burns so serious that when police arrived, they found residue of the boy`s skin in the bathtub and on a washcloth.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Nine-month-old Eric Tyler Jr. died after drowning in a bathtub and sustaining severe burns to his body after police say his mother admitted to leaving the boy and his 2-year-old brother unattended to buy chicken wings and cigarettes.
The mother allegedly tells police she was gone for about 10 to 20 minutes and left her boys in about an inch of water in the bathtub, but claims when she returned, the hot water was running and the tub was now about half full.
Little Tyler found floating face down in the tub while his 2-year-old brother stood outside the tub. Now the boy`s mom behind bars on suspicion of felony child abuse.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining us live from Colorado, Nia Bender, news director, 17 KNUS Newsradio.
Nia, thanks for being with us. Maybe I`m not understanding what actually happened. She left two infants, a 2-year-old and a 9-month-old in the bathtub?
NIA BENDER, NEWS DIRECTOR, 17 KNUS NEWSRADIO: In a bathtub.
GRACE: While she leaves the house, locks the door, and goes across the street to the liquor store?
BENDER: That`s exactly what happened. She claims that she just left a little bit of water in there and she left the two kids in the bathtub to go out. She claimed they needed milk. Actually she went and got cigarettes and hot wings.
GRACE: So, Nia, when cops caught up with her, did she have milk?
BENDER: She did not have milk with her. But she did have the hot wings and the cigarettes.
GRACE: You know, it`s kind of hard to find that 2 percent organic milk at the liquor store.
Jean Casarez, what else do you know?
CASAREZ: -- herself when she got home she claims because she saw the 9-month-old floating in the top of the bathtub. The 2-year-old was outside of the bathtub. When police immediately came, they found the baby flat down on a rug. Like a throw rug. But the water was drained out of the bathtub. And there was skin residue on top of the drain along with the washcloth in the top that had skin residue from the baby.
GRACE: So the baby drowned and scalded to death.
CASAREZ: Yes. Cause of death.
GRACE: You know, Woodrow Tripp, I know you`ve been called to a lot of crime scenes. A lot of crime scene. But I cannot even imagine what is still going through the police`s mind that were called to this crime scene, the EMT.
TRIPP: Well, Nancy, many of us who have done this for a long period of time compartmentalize horrific incidents such as this. If not, we turn to alcohol and other type things. But for the rest of us who deal with this on a daily basis, it`s a horrific scene that you will encounter.
And you have to compartmentalize it. You have to more or else separate yourself. And at the same time, you still have those emotions as parents. But as a professional also.
GRACE: Woody -- put Tripp up, please. Quickly. The baby`s skin was in the bathtub. Now how do you compartmentalize that?
TRIPP: It`s very difficult, Nancy. But as you know, and as a prosecutor, in order for us to do what we need to do and to bring people to justice, and in this case, hanging may be a good way to bring that back into the death penalty, you have to, Nancy.
There is a greater good there. We have to get this person off the street. And if I shutdown, and I`m certainly not going to be able to do my job.
GRACE: You know what? You`re right. You`re right. I just don`t understand in this day and age -- do I still have Marc Klaas with me?
KLAAS: Yes.
GRACE: Marc, in this day in age, leaving a child alone in a bathtub?
KLAAS: I don`t know that I can believe it. I don`t know that this story has enough logic in it to be believed. Maybe something else entirely happened and this is all backtracking.
GRACE: She said she left them.
KLAAS: Well, she said she left them but you put a baby in the bathtub and then leave the home for wings and cigarettes?
GRACE: Yes.
KLAAS: I don`t understand that. I don`t understand -- it seems like the most irresponsible act imaginable.
GRACE: And when you leave children in the bathtub -- Wendy Walsh, I bathe mine together a million times. One of them is going to grab the water controls. One of them is going to turn on the hot or cold water or both. They are going to. It`s going to happen. And they`ve got those rings to sit babies in so they don`t fall over.
WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST, EXPERT ON MOMLOGIC.COM: She was missing on a million points here, Nancy. First of all, you turn your hot water heater down when you have babies and toddlers in the house so that scalding water cannot come out. Secondly a child can die in one inch of water. This is a 9-month-old baby who may not even be able to sit up unassisted for long periods of time. The development window is so great there. And then to leave a 2-year-old in charge. Oh my goodness. I just can`t imagine it.
GRACE: And when she gets there, the 2-year-old standing by the tub unable to do anything.
Out to the lines, Jessica in Florida. Hi, Jessica.
JESSICA, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. I have a question.
GRACE: OK.
JESSICA: If a deal was offered, would you suggest the mother to take it?
GRACE: I`m sorry, I couldn`t hear you. Would I suggest what?
JESSICA: The mother take it?
(CROSSTALK)
JESSICA: If the plea deal was offered, would you suggest the mother take it?
GRACE: A plea deal? Yes, she better take whatever deal she can get. Now what I have noticed sadly is that when victims are children, especially this young, very often they get very, very lenient plea deals. Even more so when the actor is the mother. So she`s probably going to get offered a plea deal down the road, but if I were handling this case, I would not take anything less than murder one.
Unleash the lawyers, Darryl Cohen, Meg Strickler.
Darryl Cohen, this absolutely can be indicted for murder one. Now a jury may come back on voluntary or involuntary. But there is enough here for a murder one indictment. Do you agree?
DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely, I agree, Nancy. What she did is bad enough, what she didn`t do is worse. You don`t leave your kids alone for five seconds. You don`t let them stay in the bathroom. You don`t, you don`t, you don`t.
And yes, I think she can be indicted. I think she can be convicted. But I would doubt that she`ll be convicted of murder one. I would think there will be a plea to a lesser charge.
GRACE: You know, Meg Strickler, there have been times when I have been alone and I had to leave to get a towel or leave to get something with one of the twins in the tub. I was so -- I literally ran. I ran. Grabbed and ran back.
I was so afraid they could topple over or -- you know, and then after the only time I ever did that, I got so worried, I would pick them up and take them out of the tub which would cause a lot of screaming and commotion because they don`t want to get out. Rather than even leave them alone for the 20 seconds. Just so -- because you don`t know what could happen.
MEG STRICKLER, INTERNATIONAL ATTORNEY: That`s right. And I have two children the same age as yours. So I get you completely. And you do run. Any mother who has their head on top of their shoulders would not leave their children for a second.
And if you have to, like you said, you`ve got to run to get a washcloth or whatever. You run. And you`re panicking the entire time until you get back. Especially like a 9-month-old who cannot sit up. You`re not going to do that.
But in this situation, I do agree with Darryl. You`re going to get not murder one, probably voluntary. But then we`re going to worry about sentencing. And she probably would get less sentencing if this were a father versus the mother. I think she`s going to get less because of her overwhelmed, whatnot, and there`s going to be defense in that sense. And mitigating sentencing --
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. And as we go to break, very quickly, tonight`s case alert. The search for a 72-year-old grandmother vanishing in Oregon.
Sandra Meyer. Missing after she makes -- she never made it to her book club meeting. She did not have her cell phone. No activity on bank account. Her red VW abandoned in an old mill shopping district miles from the book meeting she was attending. She was last seen wearing a red turtle neck and black slacks.
If you have info, please take a look. Call Bend Police 541-693-6911.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t have any leads on her whereabouts. Anything that she left with. Any articles of clothing or personal belongings we`re looking for. And of course ultimately is to find Sandy.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say his mother admitted to leaving the boy and his 2-year-old brother unattended to buy chicken wings and cigarettes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One of those children died when they were reportedly left alone.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mother allegedly tells police she was gone for about 10 to 20 minutes and left her boys in about an inch of water in the bathtub.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The coroner has now ruled that the 9-month-old Eric Tyler Jr. died in the bathtub from drowning and scalding. The other child, the 2-year-old, was OK.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines, Katie in Indiana. Hi, Katie.
KATIE, CALLER FROM INDIANA: Hi, Nancy. I`m wondering what the defense could possibly be for a mother like this who leaves her kids in a bathtub to go buy cigarettes?
GRACE: Well, I can tell you this much. They`re going to say, maybe she`s a bad mother, maybe she was irresponsible, but she`s not a killer. That`s where they`re going.
Darryl, do you agree?
COHEN: I agree, Nancy. But I think in this instance the defense has to be mitigation. Has to show the things that she went through, what was happening mentally. And she was trying to make everything happen. But there is no defense. I have no defense.
GRACE: To Jean Casarez, where is she tonight?
CASAREZ: She is in the county jail, $150,000 bond.
GRACE: And what about the 2-year-old child?
CASAREZ: Department of Children and Services, they have custody of them at this point. And I believe a foster family will be taking care of them in the interim because they don`t know the birth father of the little boy that`s still living.
GRACE: And the other father -- it could be the father of both is on his way home from Afghanistan?
CASAREZ: Possibly already here.
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Private 1st Class Travis Grigg, 24, Enola, Oklahoma, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Loved sports, hunting, fishing, dreamed of college and being a firefighter in his hometown. Leaves behind grieving father, Barney. Four sisters, two brothers.
Travis Grigg. American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us.
And happy birthday, happy 5th birthday, to a little crime fighter out of New Jersey, Luke. He love Tae Kwon Do, painting, riding his ATV, his mommy, Corin, and his daddy, our executive producer, Dean Siccoli.
Happy birthday, Luke.
And good luck to one of our stars, Andrea, leaving our family to go to ABC News as a senior level producer for Barbara Walters.
Andrea, please, walk slow and hurry back, friend.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
