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Nancy Grace

Missing Ohio Mother`s Body Found in Church Septic Tank

Aired March 30, 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 to the heartland, Ohio. A beautiful 25-year-old mother of three, Summer Inman, kidnapped from the parking lot of a local bank. Eyewitnesses kidnappers include a woman with long bleach-blond hair and two men. Bank security video emerges of Summer at the bank just before she`s snatched. You think you`ve got in- law problems? Police target Summer`s own mother-in-law and that big mama`s boy, Summer`s estranged husband.

Bombshell tonight. As we go to air, a female body found stuffed deep underground into a church septic tank. This as the husband and in-laws drive over 100 miles away to get caught on car wash surveillance just after the kidnapping, furiously cleaning the car interior. Then they follow up with more cleaning at two other car washes, and then race into a tire shop for new tires. We learn the husband and in-laws members of their own offshoot church.

We go live now for breaking news on the discovery of a body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF ALLEN MILLER, LOGAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: Summer Inman`s body has been located. She was located in a septic system. The body was in a septic system at the rear of the church.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

MILLER: Correct.

Sandra Inman, incarcerated in Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, revealed the location of Summer Inman`s body.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was here at the Blue (ph) Sonic (ph) wash where the surveillance video was taken showing Summer Inman`s estranged husband, along with his parents cleaning out their white Crown Victoria less than 12 hours after Summer was abducted outside a bank in Logan, Ohio, thoroughly cleaning out and wiping down the inside of their car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In these rural areas, of course, they don`t have plumbing and water and whatnot. They use wells and septic systems. Most of the system certainly is under the ground, and you have a portion that comes up so the system can be maintained. The body was very much intact. Her identification was found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A beautiful 25-year-old mother of three, Summer Inman, kidnapped from a local bank. As we go to air now, a female body found stuffed deep underground into a church septic tank.

Straight to Walter Allen with CNN affiliate WSYX. Walter, what happened?

WALTER ALLEN, WSYX CORRESPONDENT: Well, authorities got a tip from Sandra Inman. She -- apparently, they negotiated with her some sort of a plea deal to find out exactly where this body was. For the last week, they did not know where this was. And they finally got a tip and searched it late last night. And they had to remove the lid of the septic tank to find the body. According to the police chief here, the body was intact. But he would not confirm or speculate on whether they would have found the body without Sandra Inman`s help.

GRACE: Straight out to Matt Bruning with 610 WTVN radio. We are hearing a female body has been discovered stuffed down into a church septic tank. What happened, Matt?

MATT BRUNING, WTVN RADIO (via telephone): Well, Nancy, we can tell you that Logan police this morning -- they held a press conference. They told us that this body they found last night in the septic tank at this church over near Nelsonville, which is just about 10 miles away from Logan, is confirmed it Summer Inman`s body. And they believe that it was dumped there by her in-laws.

GRACE: With me is Matt Bruning from 610 WTVN, joining us out of Columbus. Matt, how far away is the church from the bank where she was kidnapped?

BRUNING: Well, the church is about 10 miles down U.S. 33, which is the four-lane highway that goes through that area. It`s a rural area. It`s probably about a 10 to 15-minute drive from where she would have been abducted.

GRACE: Matt, if you could, could you please describe the septic tank? I understand it`s an underground septic tank. Is it behind the church? Is it in the wooded area? How difficult was it to get the lid off of that septic tank? What do you know?

BRUNING: Well, Nancy, what I can tell you is that the septic tank is mostly underground. There`s a small hole that comes up to the top of the ground, where the septic tank is maintained. We`re told that there was a lid that had to be unscrewed to get access to it. It`s not a huge area. It`s a pretty small little hole there. And it would be reasonably difficult to get somebody down inside that.

GRACE: You are seeing a shot of the discovery of the female body stuffed down a septic tank behind a local church there in Ohio, this after 25-year-old Summer Inman is kidnapped, snatched out of a bank parking lot. Eyewitnesses say she was taken by two men and a woman wearing a long bleached-blond hairdo. You know, you`re seeing video of the discovery of the body.

Matt Bruning, joining us from Columbus, Ohio. Matt, how did they manage to get the body out? Liz, let`s see that diagram again. I understand it was deep, deep underground.

BRUNING: Yes, the police chief wouldn`t say how deep he thought that that tank was, but it is -- you know, when you talk about these tanks, we`re talking, you know, in some cases, 500 to 1,000 gallons. So that`s a pretty big tank, and it would be several feet deep.

GRACE: I understand police had to unscrew, bring in workers to unscrew a cover that was about 20 inches across, with six screws basically hammered in on the septic system, to remove the body. How did they do that late in the night? Did they have to bring in government workers, sewage workers to do it, or could they do it?

BRUNING: I would imagine they could do it since this isn`t a public sewer system. This is a private septic tank. This is a rural area, Nancy, and so they don`t have public sewers out there. It`s basically a tank that all of the waste from the restrooms would go into this tank and it just kind of sits there and then leeches out. So, you know, it`s privately owned. It`s not a public sewer. So yes, the police officers or someone there at the church or a maintenance person could probably do that work.

GRACE: I`m taking it that the perpetrators did this under cover of darkness so no one would see them, or is the septic tank in a wooded area or is it plain to see, in daylight hours?

BRUNING: No, it`s plain to see. It`s not far from the church there. And you`re right, the police indicated that they believe Summer Inman was killed fairly shortly after she was abducted because she was wearing the same clothing that she was wearing in the surveillance video. So they think it happened a short time later. And again, that`s not too far from where that bank is, so it wouldn`t take them more than a half an hour to get to that point. And that would be in the middle of the night.

GRACE: I understand also, Matt Bruning, that she had her photo ID still on. She still had it on, which indicates that the murder occurred almost immediately after taking her, snatching her out of the bank parking lot.

BRUNING: Yes. Absolutely. The police did say they did find her ID. That was one way that they sort of made the preliminary identification of her. They will do more testing and some things to absolutely confirm what their worst fears are, but they do think that that is Summer Inman. And yes, when we asked the police chief -- we said, you know, How long do we think that she was there? How long was she with her captors? He said it was not long at all and he felt that she was killed fairly quickly after being abducted.

GRACE: You mean that evening, she was killed, the same night that she was abducted?

BRUNING: That`s the indication that the police chief gave us.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Right now, out to Joe Gomez with KTRH. Joe, what`s extremely unusual and in my mind damning is the mother-in-law, the father-in-law, and the estranged husband`s behavior immediately after she goes missing. Go ahead. Hit me.

JOE GOMEZ, KTRH: On, Nancy, you`re right. This is very bizarre behavior. You know, the morning after they allegedly kidnapped Summer, the first thing they do is they go to a car wash. We have surveillance video footage capturing this trio washing out the inside of a car...

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait!

GOMEZ: ... changing out the license plate on this vehicle...

GRACE: Wa-wait! Wa-wait! Hold on, Joe. We`re showing the video right now. Here you see the mother-in-law, the monster-in-law, the father- in-law, who runs his own church, and the estranged husband. There they are in the white Crown Vic. They show up -- they drive, don`t they, Joe -- I want to keep this shot up, please. They drive over 100 miles away from the bank parking lot just to wash their car? Explain, Joe Gomez.

GOMEZ: Just to wash their car, Nancy, just to -- just to wash a car!

GRACE: And then what happens?

GOMEZ: And not only do they go to one car wash, Nancy, they went to two after that, police believe!

GRACE: So three...

GOMEZ: I mean, come on! You can...

GRACE: ... car washes. And Joe, isn`t is true they`re focusing mostly on the interior of the Crown Vic, Joe?

GOMEZ: That`s right, which is a strange place, you figure they`re going to go to a car wash -- three car washes especially. You`re going to -- you`re going to focus on the interior. But that`s what these folks were doing. This deadly trio, let`s call them, were focusing mostly on the interior of the car. They were swapping out a license plate on the vehicle. And after they decidedly, you know, had scrubbed this car clean enough to their liking, Nancy, where do they head next? They went to an auto body shop! And what did they do there? They wanted to buy new tires! New tires!

GRACE: And what`s so unusual is they go in and their tires were practically brand-new. They wanted to get rid of any identifying hub caps or tires that could be associated with their car. And as Gomez was just reporting, they take the license tag that they removed and stick it back on the back of the car.

I want to go now to a special guest joining us at where this body has been found, Jewel Cavinee. She is a very dear friend of Summer Inman -- Jewel Cavinee. Jewel, thank you for being with us.

JEWEL CAVINEE, FRIEND OF SUMMER INMAN: Sure. I`m glad to be here.

GRACE: Jewel, I`m just stunned at this whole scenario. What led up to this?

CAVINEE: Well, Summer had been emotionally and mentally abused and captive in the marriage for several years and -- but none of us ever dreamed that she would end up -- that it would end up like this. We just never dreamed. We knew there were some problems and -- but again, we never knew that -- just never dreamed that it would come to this.

GRACE: With me, I believe -- is it Cavinee? Is that how I pronounce your last name, Jewel?

CAVINEE: Yes, Cavinee.

GRACE: Thank you.

CAVINEE: Cavinee.

GRACE: Ms. Cavinee, describe to me where you are right now. Are you where the body was found?

CAVINEE: Yes. I`m just outside Faith Tabernacle.

GRACE: And what, if anything...

CAVINEE: It`s about four miles from where I live.

GRACE: What, if anything, was their connection to this church?

CAVINEE: They had -- I think this was the last church that they had attended.

GRACE: Now...

CAVINEE: Because they have attended several -- I`m sorry. They have attended several churches in the area, and this is the last one that they were attending.

GRACE: With us is Faith (SIC) Cavinee, who is a very dear friend of 25-year-old Summer Inman. Do you see where the police found the body? Is it within plain sight of where you are?

CAVINEE: No, it`s not in direct sight of where I am.

GRACE: Are you familiar with the grounds of the church?

CAVINEE: Somewhat. I go by here quite often.

GRACE: So is the septic tank out behind the church?

CAVINEE: Yes.

GRACE: How is Summer Inman`s family doing?

CAVINEE: You know, honestly, it`s amazing how well her parents are holding up. I said they have handled this with such grace and strength. It is just amazing.

GRACE: Well, what`s amazing to me is that the mother-in-law actually said, I`m sorry, to Summer Inman`s family. That is a big, big confession, to actually say, I`m sorry, to them. Jewel, are you familiar with the mother-in-law at all?

CAVINEE: Yes, I`ve spent some time with her, not one on one, but you know, in church services, church activities. They spent some time with our youth group. We took our youth to Kings Island here in Ohio, and they went with us, and that was really my first interaction with them.

GRACE: Well, do you believe that she would just go along with whatever her husband told her to do, including murder?

CAVINEE: Well, the reason why I believe that she would was because she was also emotionally and mentally abused. And you know, she and Summer both had to do what they were told. And these men kept them under control and limited what they were allowed to do.

GRACE: Tonight, we are taking you live to Ohio and the discovery of what we believe to be 25-year-old Summer Inman`s body. It has been found deep underground, stuffed into a church septic tank, leaving behind her three Chicago, ages 5, 3 and 1. In custody, her mother-in-law.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: 911. Where`s your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m calling about my daughter, Summer Inman. She`s nowhere to be found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Summer Inman`s body has been located.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found her coat and her iPod.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her body was in a septic system to the rear of the church.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 25-year-old Summer Inman moments before she was kidnapped outside a bank in Logan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Evidence supports complaints, obviously, to the grand jury that all participated in the kidnapping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there a deal offered to Mrs. Inman in exchange for information to find her body?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did negotiate with Mrs. Inman to get information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was here at the Blue Sonic Wash in Seven Hills where the surveillance video was taken showing Summer Inman`s estranged husband, along with his parents, cleaning out their white Crown Victoria less than 12 hours after Summer was abducted outside a bank in Logan, Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was, I believe, a location or a route that the Inmans had taken once the crime had been committed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight out to Jennifer in California. Hi, Jennifer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.

GRACE: Thank you for calling in, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know if the husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law are all three incarcerated, and if the police understand really what the motive here is because I`m missing it.

GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer on the story. Weigh in, Ellie.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, they are all incarcerated right now, their bond set at $1 million each. And apparently, the motive here, although police haven`t commented on it, but we do know that Summer Inman and her husband were in the middle of a very contentious divorce case. They were fighting over custody of their three kids.

GRACE: To Matt Bruning joining us from WTVN there in Columbus. Matt, what can you tell me about their marital history? It seems to be pretty involved.

BRUNING: Absolutely, Nancy. It sounds like -- we`ve had several court documents that have shown Summer was worried. She was concerned. She said that her husband had threatened her, threatened to kill her in the past. We do know from friends and family -- they`ve said that it seemed like the males in this relationship, meaning the husband and the father-in- law, were very controlling of the women in their relationships. They weren`t allowed to go out much. They dressed in black often. We understand it was just a very controlling relationship, very contentious. We also know of at least one incident in which...

GRACE: Hey, Matt...

BRUNING: Yes?

GRACE: ... you can say that again because I`ve got the complaint for divorce right here in my hands. And in it, it outlines how he would take her cell phone, her money, her keys and basically leave her there with the children alone in the house with no way to get out or go anywhere.

BRUNING: Absolutely. And we know of one incident where she was going to get her items from her home, and the father-in-law got in a big fight with her boyfriend. So we have a history here.

GRACE: Oh, Matt Bruning, you`re so right! And it wasn`t just a fight. Police had to hold him down at taser point with his face in the carpet!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Akron officers, with information obtained, supported by the FBI, conducted a search warrant of the Inman home in Akron, Ohio. This search revealed significant evidence against the Inmans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Summer Inman`s body has been located.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body of Summer Inman was found inside of a septic tank behind a small church.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say two witnesses saw the kidnapping take place near the intersection of Hunter and Market Streets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After receiving a number of frantic calls of a woman being forced into a white Crown Victoria at a nearby bank at the corner of Market and Hunter Streets in the city of Logan. The woman was forced in the car by two men wearing dark clothing, and a woman driving the car had bleached-blond hair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. As we go to air, a woman`s body has been found concealed, buried deal underground in a church septic tank. And amazingly and coincidentally, Summer Inman`s in-laws and her estranged husband go on a car-cleaning spree, driving over 100 miles to go to a car wash -- they`re caught on video -- to clean out the interior of their car.

That`s not all. They then go to other two car washes to clean out their car. And top it all off, the cherry on top of the ice cream, is that they then go try to unload their tires, worried about tire tracks, apparently. They call them "police wheels." They don`t like them. They don`t want them to be spotted.

Unleash the lawyers. Peter Elikann, defense attorney and author of "Super Predators" out of Boston, Anne Bremner, high-profile Seattle attorney. First to you, Anne Bremner. Go ahead, hit me with your defense. Why, why race to three separate car washes, and not only that, drive 100 miles to get to the first one?

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I knew you were going to say this, Nancy, "hit me with your defense." And you know, I -- the only thing you can do is break it down, which is to say, where`s the evidence here that they actually committed the crimes, other than the mother, the mother-in- law, the monster-in-law coming forward with some evidence?

GRACE: Well, I`m glad you asked that question.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: I`ve just gotten the return from the search warrant. Take a listen to this, Peter Elikann. They all go out and get all these black outfits, like they`re ninjas -- black hoodie found in the laundry area, black hoodie in closet, black backpack, .45-caliber firearm, 9-millimeter Beretta, walkie-talkies, a gold security enforcement badge, knives, you name it. They were armed with ammo out the ying-yang, Elikann! Explain.

PETER ELIKANN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I would have no credibility at all if I told you this was going to be an easy defense. It is pretty -- pretty darn tough. However, I think I would do the same thing that Anne had just said. I`d break it down one by one. There`s reasons why people go to car washes, reasons why people change their tires, et cetera...

GRACE: Give me the last time that you...

ELIKANN: ... and I`d have to...

GRACE: ... Peter Elikann, drove your little sports car over 100 miles for a car wash? Listening! Not hearing. When?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found her coat and her iPod.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detectives think that she possibly may have come out of this door and emptied trash in this dumpster, and that`s when she was forced into that car right in this alley.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family says Summer is going through a divorce with her husband.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a restraining order against her husband.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF AARON MILLER, LOGAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: It is difficult to tell the family that their daughter is no longer alive. It was behind a church that she was located in a septic system. We were comfortable that Summer was, in fact -- the body we had located.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You say Mrs. Inman confessed?

MILLER: We can say that she did provide information to the location of the body. Some information indicates that at least at one time they may have been members of this church.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The trio spent close to an hour and a half cleaning out and vacuuming the automobile. Although they never washed the outside of the car. Instead, they went shopping for a full set of tires.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tires were like new. So I did not know why he was want to change them.

MILLER: Akron officers with information obtained and supported by the FBI conducted a search warrant of the Inman home in Akron, Ohio. This search revealed significant evidence against the Inmans.

It would appear that she was killed very quickly. That evening. We have some information in talking with Mrs. Inman that I cannot get into. So we`re still looking into that. Just how long if in fact this was preplanned.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: We are taking your calls. For those of you just joining us, 25-year-old Summer Inman, we believe, is the female, the body found stuffed deep underground in a church septic tank. This after she was snatched out of a local bank parking lot.

Joining me there on the scene where the female body was found in Nelsonville, Ohio is Jewel Cavinee, the friend of Summer Inman.

JEWEL CAVINEE, FRIEND OF SUMMER INMAN, FROM CHURCH WHERE MISSING MOM BODY JUST FOUND: Yes.

GRACE: Ma`am, thank you again for being with us. I`m interested to find out what you know of or think of these in-laws and her relationship with them.

And also, Jewel, why would the husband, even though he was estranged, go along with something like this?

CAVINEE: Well, they were kind of clanish, for lack of a better word. It was Willie and Summer and the children, Willie`s mom and dad, and then the older Inman parents sometimes, too.

They lived together here in Logan for a while. Then they all moved to Florida for a few years. Then they all moved back to Vinton County and lived together. And they were very clanish. And -- so they were always together. And there wasn`t a lot of -- like Sandy and Summer. They were the only ones that they really socialized with.

Sandy -- Summer was the only friend that Sandy had. They were not allowed to have a lot of interaction with people outside of that family unit.

GRACE: Now when you say Sandy, you are referring to Summer`s mother-in- law, Sandra K. Inman, correct?

CAVINEE: Yes. Yes.

GRACE: Well, if they were not allowed to interact, how did you get to know them?

CAVINEE: Well, I have known Summer since she was born. We`ve gone to church together. My husband and I were her youth leaders. I did the music at their wedding. I was at her wedding shower. I taught the senior high class on Sunday mornings. And I checked (ph) them on my activities. I was going through my youth group pictures and posting a few on Facebook for some of the young people that had been in the same youth group.

And I just never realized how many pictures of Summer and Willie that I had had in my collection. But I have just known them. I`ve Summer all of her life and her mother and father.

GRACE: How did she get hooked up with someone -- this guy, her husband, and his family -- that controlled their every move?

CAVINEE: Well, see, I don`t think it was that way when they first got married. You see photos and they looked so happy when they were first and were married. And this is something that changed over time.

GRACE: In fact, we are showing those wedding photos right now. Joining us is a very dear friend of Summer Inman, knew her since she was born. Jewel Cavinee.

Jewel, again thank you for with us and braving the elements to joins us. This is just a lot for everybody to take in. That this young 25-year-old mom of three was not only murdered, but stuffed down the church septic tank and left there.

CAVINEE: Just unimaginable.

GRACE: What about the children, Jewel? What about her children? Where are they tonight?

CAVINEE: They are with their grandparents. With Summer`s mom and dad. And trust me, they are being so well taken care of. They really are. The church family -- friends and family have really gathered around them and are helping take care of them.

GRACE: We are taking your calls, including Jewel, who is standing by there in the church grounds.

Out to Cindy in West Virginia. Hi, Cindy.

CINDY, CALLER FROM WEST VIRGINIA: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.

GRACE: Thank you for calling, dear. What`s your question?

CINDY: Well, is the mother-in-law saying that she was like forced to participate in the crime? Seeing how she`s giving out the, you know, information?

GRACE: That is the gist of what I am getting.

Joe Gomez, what do you know?

JOE GOMEZ, REPORTER, KTRH RADIO: More or less, it is -- she struck a deal with the police. The mother-in-law did. And led them to this very grizzly grave of this beautiful 25-year-old mother stuffed in a septic tank. I mean for goodness sakes. Who knows if the mother-in-law just couldn`t live with herself any longer or if she was afraid of a scarier sentence, or whatever the case.

She may have sold off or sold out her son, and not only her son, but her husband as well to negotiate some kind of a -- presumably a plea deal with police, Nancy.

GRACE: To save her own skin. That`s what this is all about.

GOMEZ: It would seem as though that would be the case.

GRACE: Isn`t it true that -- Ellie Jostad -- that they do -- do they have the death penalty there in Ohio?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Yes, they do, Nancy.

GRACE: And the mode is --

JOSTAD: Is injection. And there is currently a woman on death row.

GRACE: And that would be?

JOSTAD: That woman`s name -- I`m sorry, it escapes me right now. But she was convicted of conspiring with another man to kill her husband for life insurance money.

GRACE: And isn`t it true, Ellie, that in Ohio, kidnapping is one of the aggravating factors under which you can get the death penalty?

JOSTAD: Yes. That`s right. If it`s in the commission of or fleeing from a kidnap or to cover up a kidnapping, those are all aggravating factors for death penalty there.

GRACE: Which would absolutely apply here.

With me is Ellie Jostad.

OK. Back to Jewel joining us there on the church grounds. I`m referring to you by your first name so I don`t bungle your last name. I believe it`s Cavinee.

CAVINEE: That`s fine, sure.

GRACE: OK.

CAVINEE: Sure.

GRACE: Miss Cavinee, I want to talk to you again about the relationship. How a husband could be so intertwined with his family. They talk him into murder. What about this father-in law who appears to be the ringleader?

CAVINEE: Well, I think that`s exactly what it is. And you know, I think that Sandy Inman, the mother-in-law, I think she just over the years has lost the ability to think for herself, make choices. I think she was just been so controlled by him. And I said all along since this happened, that once she got out from underneath his control and knew that he could not get to her any longer, that she would talk.

Because even though she`s being called a monster-in-law -- I mean I`ve been in an abusive relationship many years ago and I know what it`s like to lose your voice. And I just pray that she would eventually -- once she knew she was safe and you know, couldn`t be hurt by him any longer that she would talk. And she did.

GRACE: To Sergeant Thomas Rich, founder of alwaysconnected.org, joining us out of New York.

Sergeant, thank you for being with us. I think one of the things that really tripped them up is the fact that cell tracking showed they were somewhere other than where they said they were. They told cops they were broken down with the Crown Vic broken down on the interstate near Cleveland near the time of the kidnapping. As it turned out, the cell phone placed them right there in Logan at the time of the abduction.

SGT. THOMAS RICH, FOUNDER OF ALWAYSCONNECTED.ORG: Right, Nancy. That`s crucial because you can get whatever excuse you want. But as you hit the cell phone and you ping it, it`s going to locate you almost to the exact pinpoint place. So no matter what you say the cell phone does not lie.

GRACE: And Sergeant Rich, this also shows how quickly police can turn around the pings off those cell phone towers. Does it not?

RICH: Absolutely. And it`s almost to the second. I mean having cases in the past where I can track a missing person, you know, just from text messaging. You can hit it from phones as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLER: Summer was, in fact, the person -- the body that we had located. It has been very difficult to deal with this case and make contact with her family each day not knowing what has happened to their daughter.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Twenty-five-year-old mom snatched in the bank parking lot?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Summer Inman was at this International Bank in Logan.

MILLER: It`s difficult to tell the family that their daughter is no longer alive.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: 911. Where`s your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m calling about my daughter Summer Inman. She is nowhere to be found.

MILLER: Once we were comfortable that Summer was, in fact, the person -- the body we located.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Went outside, was forced into a white vehicle.

MILLER: When arrived back at her parents home and revealed to them what we had found.

GRACE: One of the perps, according to an eyewitness, is a female with long blonde hair.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The woman has been described as having bleached blonde hair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did negotiate with Mrs. Inman to get information.

MILLER: We have some information in talking with Mrs. Inman that I cannot get into.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: For you of you just joining us, the body we believe to be that of Summer Inman, just 25 years old. A gorgeous young girl, a mother of three, has been found stuffed deep underground into a church septic tank. This as her mother- and father-in-law and estranged husband taken into custody. Their three young children now with Summer`s family.

We are taking your calls. I`ve got in my hands the search warrant return. What was found pursuant to the search of the search warrant.

Out to the lines, Marlena in Ohio. Hi, Marlena.

MARLENA, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.

GRACE: Thanks for calling, dear. What`s your question?

MARLENA: First, I`d like to express my condolences to the family.

GRACE: Yes.

MARLENA: My question is, was she murdered before she put her in the septic tank? How was she murdered?

GRACE: Marlena, you know what? I wish I hadn`t even contemplated that. I hadn`t even considered her being alive at the time that she is forced into a septic tank.

To Dr. Leigh Vinocur -- hold Marlena first, because I ought to get that second question.

To Dr. Leigh Vinocur, certified by Harvard Police Medical Examiner Program. She`s at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Vinocur, thank you for being with us.

DR. LEIGH VINOCUR, M.D., UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: My pleasure.

GRACE: How would we be able to tell whether she was stuffed in the septic tank alive?

VINOCUR: Right. Well, they -- there are postmortem intervals from the time of death. And until the autopsy results come out, we won`t know. But they said that they felt that she had been -- you had reported that she had been killed and then put into the septic tank pretty much after that amount of time.

And it`s usually by the amount of decomposition and a bunch of tests that they can do. But they -- until the autopsy results come out. But since they were cleaning the vehicle so many times, I mean, one would presume that she was murdered and then put into the tank.

GRACE: Well, yes, I would think that, too. But they may have been cleaning for trace evidence like hair or fibers from what she was wearing that night. Maybe she got injured during a struggled, but not killed. I`m guessing that they way they would determine whether she was alive at the time she was stuffed into the septic tank was if she had septic brine in her lungs from breathing it in.

VINOCUR: Well, yes. But -- I mean it`s not -- a septic tank has -- it`s not completely filled with solution and waste. And -- so it would depend how far that they had pushed her down and what they did. And they can`t tell -- you know, if she had been in the car before, there is ways to tell if there`s blood stain dating. So you can tell if blood was there from before because she had been in the car or if this was recent blood. And they`re going to examine all of that. But it usually makes more sense.

GRACE: OK. Unleash the lawyers. Peter Elikann, defense attorney out of Boston, Anne Bremner, high profile lawyer out of Seattle.

Anne Bremner, it seems to me that would also be an aggravating circumstance if they put her down in the septic tank alive. That would qualify as a heinous murder in my book. This isn`t your Saturday night special where you get shot --

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No.

GRACE: -- by somebody else at a bar.

BREMNER: No. It`s like deliberate depravity and you have -- in most states it had the death penalty. This is kind of encompassing. These kinds of cases, that there`s a special place in hell for people that would kill somebody, put them alive in a septic tank or anywhere like that and kill them. And so you`re absolutely right, Nancy, as usual.

GRACE: What about -- yes, I don`t know if I am buying that as usual thing.

BREMNER: As usual.

GRACE: Smiley face.

BREMNER: Yes.

GRACE: OK. Peter Elikann, what about it?

PETER ELIKANN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "SUPERPREDATORS": Yes, I agree. If it was essentially a torture death, I mean that would certainly be an aggravating circumstance in addition to the kidnapping. So you really are facing about the worst possible case against you as a defendant that I can possibly imagine. I do not envy the defense counsel here.

GRACE: Well, here`s another thing. Back to you, Sergeant Thomas Rich.

OK, take a look at this big -- the picture, Sergeant. They take with them the fake cop badges. The -- you know, the blue light they`ve got in the front dash. All the weapons. I mean there`s a huge list of weapons and ammo. They`ve got all kind of black ninja outfits.

They go all the way to a car wash 100 miles away so they don`t get caught getting rid of evidence. But then they talk on the cell phone en route. The pings. I mean --

(LAUGHTER)

THOMAS: Yes, you wonder what they were prepared for with all that stuff in the car. But with the pings, it doesn`t lie. So you can come up with a story and you can say what you want. But when you hit the phones, the data is there and it doesn`t lie.

GRACE: I mean they`ve got it all. They`ve got this LED bulb flashlight, USB drive. All sorts of stuff, surveillance stuff to help them surreptitiously commit a murder.

But then, out to you, Paula Bloom, clinical psychologist. You can find her at Paulabloom.com. They start using the cell phone. They`ve got it all locked in. They`ve got their alibi that they broke down -- their car broke down outside of Cleveland. But then they started yakking on the cell phone. And the cops get the pings.

PAULA BLOOM, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. It`s incredible. Listen. One of the things I was thinking about was they were saying that he`s a church leader. And people who are church leaders and people who are sort of sociopaths tend to be very charismatic. So they`re not mutually exclusive.

The other thing here is basically when there`s a custody situation, that`s one of the highest risk places that you can be in. But what`s amazing to me, I was very moved by Jewel, what she was talking about a woman losing her voice.

Summer had the courage to get out. And she was trying to get out. Unfortunately this is what happened. But for anybody out there, any women out there in an abusive relationships, when they say I`m going to kill you if you ever try to take our kids, Summer was right.

GRACE: Well, another thing is I don`t want to see is the misuse of the battered women syndrome as a defense to murder on behalf of this mother-in- law.

We are taking your calls including to Jewel Cavinee, Summer`s friend joining us there where her -- we believe to be her body has been discovered.

Out to sue in Georgia. Hi, Sue.

SUE, CALLER FROM GEORGIA: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

SUE: Jenny and Eric`s mother. You met us in St. Simon`s. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, guys. What`s your question, love?

SUE: OK. Was -- I don`t really understand this about the in-laws. What - - the evidence and everything, other than Sandra locating the body, could it have been any -- was there a motive or anything? Did they determine any motive like an insurance policy?

GRACE: OK, Sue. I think what you`re asking in addition to motive is anybody could have done this murder.

But Ellie Jostad, between the motive of custody of the children and the mother-in-law leading them to the body, that`s practically a full confession. What about motive, Ellie?

JOSTAD: Well, right. The motive here is allegedly this battle over the kids and a very contentious divorce.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: For those of you just joining us, a body that we believe to be that of 25-year-old Summer Inman has just been found out behind a church, a local church, just a few miles away from the bank parking lot where she was abducted. Her body has been stuffed -- down stuffed deep underground in a church septic tank.

Out to the lines, Jessica in Texas. Hi, Jessica.

JESSICA, CALLER FROM TEXAS: Hi, Nancy. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

JESSICA: Yes. I have two questions. But the first question I wanted to know, did these family members -- did they go to this church to where they knew that there was the tank back there? Because you know, a lot of people that don`t have like a sewage system, these are put there for that particular reason.

GRACE: To Jewel Cavinee, joining us there in Nelsonville.

Jewel, they did briefly attend this church, did they not, before the father-in-law and the son founded their own church?

CAVINEE: I don`t know if they faithfully attended here, but they did go here and I`m sure they were familiar with the grounds.

GRACE: Is it hard for you --

CAVINEE: And Nancy, I just want to --

GRACE: Hard for to you imagine that these three, including Sandy, as you call Sandra K. Inman, would murder and stuff her body, Summer Inman`s body, a mother of three, underground into a septic tank?

CAVINEE: It`s almost impossible for me to believe. But I think the two men were so consumed with the fact that they no longer had control over Summer or the children. But they did have visitation with the children up until this happened. They weren`t being kept from the children. They had regular visitations with them.

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Chief Warrant Officer Mitchell Carver Jr., 31, Charlotte, North Carolina, killed Iraq, on a second tour. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, buried at Arlington.

Loved aviation, received his flight school wings at 22. An aviation building at Fort Drum named in his honor. Motto and favorite bible verse, Isaiah 40:31. Leaves behind grieving parents Kyle and Judy, brother Aaron.

Mitchell Carver Jr., American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then good night, friend.

END