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Nancy Grace
Missing Chioma Gray Traced to Mexico
Aired April 01, 2011 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Vanished into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need to find her.
GRACE: So many cases.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still looking.
GRACE: So few leads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.
GRACE: Missing person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our duty to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The witness seen the suspect on the "NANCY GRACE" show.
GRACE: There is a God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "NANCY GRACE" show was out there for us.
GRACE: Found alive, 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights. Let`s don`t give up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the morning of December 13th, 2007, Desmond Gray dropped off his daughter, Chioma, at Buena High School. That would be the last morning Desmond Gray would see his little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moments after arriving at the school, police say Chioma got into a stolen car driven by 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya, who had just been released from jail hours earlier for unlawful sex with a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Andrew Joshua Tafoya was ordered to have no contact. There were no ifs, ands, buts or exceptions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she ever consider him her boyfriend?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he was not considered to be her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she consider him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, she did not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A warrant was issued for Tafoya for child stealing, and the investigators immediately began searching for any sign of Chioma. A surveillance camera at the Mexican border reportedly caught Tafoya`s license plate as it crossed the border.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chioma`s mother believes her teenage daughter did not leave on her own. As a result, the family hired their own private investigator who uncovered some startling clues in Mexico -- a stolen car linked to Chioma`s disappearance spotted in the resort town of Acapulco. Witnesses say Chioma and 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya set up residence in a vacation spot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the three years since her disappearance, Chioma`s family is not giving up hope and believes the now 18-year-old is still alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want their daughter back, their sister back, their friend back. And they really miss her and they just need to break their silence about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Every day, 2,300 people go missing in America, disappear, vanish, families left waiting, wondering, but never forgetting. And neither have we -- 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights we go live, spotlighting America`s missing, boys, girls, mothers, fathers, grandparents gone. But where?
Tonight, Oxnard, California. Beautiful 4.0 high school sophomore Chioma Gray heads to school. Dad drops her off at the schoolhouse doors, but moments later, surveillance shows the 15-year-old getting into a luxury Acura TSX driven by 20-year-old Andrew Tafoya, released from jail one day earlier for sex with a minor. Friends tell the FBI Tafoya plans to run away to Mexico with the teen.
Grainy border surveillance video spots the American girl at the border. Tonight, after police tell Chioma`s mom her girl is dead in Mexico, a PI discovers Chioma is alive. Tonight, where is American teen Chioma Gray?
Jean Casarez, it`s a fantastic -- fantastical story, but it`s true. What happened?
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Oh, Nancy, it`s an amazing story. We want to tell everybody, authorities believe Chioma Gray is alive. The question is, where is she? And she has to be found. Well, here is how it all began.
Chioma Gray, high school student -- she liked this guy and this guy liked her. He played on the football team with her brothers in high school and then in college. Well, there was one big problem, one major problem. She was 15 years old and he was 20 years old. So charges were brought. He pled guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. As part of that plea agreement, he had to serve 210 days in the county jail work furlough program, and he was supposed to stay away from Chioma Gray.
Well, late on December 12th, 2007, or the early morning of December 13th, he was released.
I want to go to Debra Mark, anchor, KABC Newstalk radio in Los Angeles joining us. What happened on December 13th, 2007?
DEBRA MARK, TALKRADIO 790 KABC (via telephone): Jean, Chioma`s father took her to school. She got out of the car. However, she never made it inside the school building. Now, security cameras showed that Andrew Tafoya came onto the school grounds in that stolen car and he allegedly got Chioma into the car.
Now, the big question is, was she forced into that car? Did she go willfully? That`s the question that everybody wants to know. And she has not been heard of -- or heard from, I should say, since then.
CASAREZ: Ellie Jostad, "NANCY GRACE" producer, stolen car? The guy just gets out of jail. How does Andrew Tafoya get a stolen car?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, here`s the thing. A little bit after midnight, he`s released from his work furlough program. What we believe happened, what authorities believe happened is that he went to the Acura dealership. His stepfather is a service manager there. He worked there on his work furlough program as a car washer. He had access to keys. They believe he took a car from that lot.
A witness who spoke to the feds said he saw Tafoya early that morning in that Acura. They show that car -- we`ve got surveillance video of that car crossing the border into Mexico, and new information coming to light that a private investigator working with Chioma`s family located that car in Mexico.
CASAREZ: Everybody, we have got that private investigator with us tonight. You`re not going to believe what he found in Mexico, who he spoke with.
I want to talk, though, to the police that have handled this police from the beginning, Detective Sergeant Rick Murray joining us from the Ventura Police Department. He is the lead investigator on the Chioma Gray case. When you initially found out that she was gone from high school, what did you do?
DET. SGT. RICK MURRAY, VENTURA POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Our first indication she was gone is, obviously, Ms. Black came to the Ventura Police Department in that evening and indicated that she was missing. At that point, we started an investigation and started interviewing witnesses, and eventually entered her into the missing persons system, as well as pieced together the stolen vehicle aspect. And after that, we immediately notified all allied agencies and federal agencies of the potential that Chioma was stolen from the school.
CASAREZ: And when did you find out that that video surveillance camera at the border, San Ysidro, Tijuana, Mexico, found that car crossing over around 1:20 that afternoon?
MURRAY: Correct. About 10:00 in the evening, we were notified that the car had passed over into Mexico at 1:20 in the afternoon of that day.
CASAREZ: All right, everybody, we`re taking your calls live tonight. And Franciene Black is with us. She is the mother of Chioma Gray.
Ms. Black, thank you for joining us. First of all, your daughter -- she is an American beauty. She is gorgeous in the pictures that we are seeing. I want to ask you, please relive for us -- and I know it`s hard, but that day of December 13th. You saw her in the morning. When she went to school, did she take anything unusual with her, like she knew she`d be going to Mexico?
FRANCIENE BLACK, CHIOMA`S MOTHER: No. Chioma had her backpack, which was full of her books from her studies from the night before, and she was dressed in her clothing only and she had no clothing with her, nothing extra. In fact, she had left her Sidekick telephone...
CASAREZ: So when...
BLACK: ... at home.
CASAREZ: That`s interesting. So when you found out that she wasn`t in school, how did you find that out?
BLACK: Well, at 3:00 o`clock, school gets out, and I sent my niece, Ashley (ph), and my son, Paul, to pick her up. As they went to the school to pick up Chioma, Chioma was nowhere in sight. So they called me back and asked me what they should do, and I said, I wonder if Andrew Tafoya was released from work furlough today because if...
CASAREZ: You mean, you hadn`t been told? Nobody had told you that this young man that pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor was being released on that day?
BLACK: I was not informed about his release whatsoever. He was released early. His sentence was 210 days in work furlough. He was release early after serving 157 days, and I was not notified by the probation department, nor was I notified by any authority.
CASAREZ: So did you immediately believe that he had her?
BLACK: Well, I was talking to my daughter, and I reached over to my daughter and I said, I wonder if Andrew Tafoya was released from jail today because if he did -- if he was released, he has probably kidnapped my daughter. And my daughter said to me, Oh, Mom, stop acting like a drama queen. But in fact, that was the case.
CASAREZ: Did police believe, initially or even today, that your daughter went voluntarily with Mr. Tafoya?
BLACK: It has been the police belief that my daughter went willingly, but I can tell you that my daughter did not go willingly.
CASAREZ: And why do you say that?
BLACK: Because I know my daughter. If my daughter would have been going somewhere, she would have packed her bags. She would have taken everything that she needed to go with. And I know that she was doing quite well in school. And this is totally against what every -- anything that Chioma believes in. And I know for a fact because I know my daughter.
CASAREZ: All right, everybody...
BLACK: And I know that the...
CASAREZ: We are taking your calls live tonight. This is a young, beautiful girl, Chioma Gray. It is believed she is alive, but the question is where? Surveillance videocameras on December 13th, 2007, caught a vehicle that they say was being driven by the young man that had been serving time because of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, that minor being Chioma Gray.
Detective Sergeant Rick Murray joining us, as the lead investigator from Los Angeles tonight. Charges were filed almost immediately that you saw that she was missing. What were those charges, Detective?
MURRAY: It was 278 of the penal code, which is child stealing or non- custodial persons detaining an individual.
CASAREZ: But why did you feel that she went voluntarily? She was only 15 years old. And if she can`t consent to sex, how could she consent to being driven over the border to Mexico?
MURRAY: Well, we consulted with the district attorney`s office and that was the most appropriate charge. It was a felony. We had also contacted the probation department and requested them violent (ph) violation of probation, which is also a felony warrant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Andrew Joshua Tafoya was ordered to have no contact. There were no ifs, ands, buts or exceptions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want their daughter back, their sister back, their friend back. And they really miss her and they just need to break their silence about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want their daughter back, their sister back, their friend back. And they really miss her and they just need to break their silence about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fourteen-year-old Chioma Gray was on her way to her first class at her Ventura, California, high school on the morning of December 13th, 2007. Moments after Chioma`s father dropped her off outside the school, Chioma vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she ever consider him her boyfriend at all?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he is not considered to be her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she consider him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, she did not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police believe before even making it to class, Chioma was picked up in a stolen car outside the school by 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya, who had been previously convicted of unlawful sex with a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Andrew Joshua Tafoya was ordered to have no contact. There were no ifs, ands, buts or exceptions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surveillance video reportedly captures the stolen car`s license plates as it crossed the border into Mexico. While police search for Tafoya, Chioma`s family is holding out hope for a safe reunion with their little girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez. Her mother and father want to know where she is. They want to find her. Authorities believe she is alive, and they don`t necessarily think she`s in Mexico anymore. Chioma Gray may very well be in the United States.
We`re taking your calls tonight. Allison in South Carolina. Hi, Allison.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Miss Jean. I just wanted to thank you and Miss Nancy for all that you do for getting the victims` word out and everything. But my question tonight is, you know, it`s been three years since she`s been reported missing and going into Mexico. But has anybody reported seeing him back in the United States?
CASAREZ: Well, Allison, listen to this. We have got a very special guest tonight. It is a private investigator. Chuck Hookstra is joining us from Los Angeles. He is the private investigator for Chioma Gray`s family.
Thank you so much for joining us tonight. But I think her mother thanks you so much for jumping on board with this investigation. When you began to do your research, you decided you personally were going to go down to Mexico. And this was last year, right, Mr. Hookstra? What did you find?
CHUCK HOOKSTRA, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR FOR FAMILY: Last July, I was acting on some three-year-old tips that we had, and I decided to give it a shot and go to -- went to Acapulco, had incredible luck. The first business that I visited that was associated with Tafoya was a scuba diving shop, and it`s where they worked at one point. It`d been a couple of years since they`d been there, but that led me...
CASAREZ: And how did you find out that they`d worked there? How did you -- how`d you realize that?
HOOKSTRA: We had a tip that he was possibly teaching snorkeling where he ended up at. So I just happened to be -- I went to the waterfront thinking I was going to canvass all the shops down there, of which there are a lot. And it just so happened, the first one I went into, showed the flier, the guy goes, Oh, that`s Josh. He was here two years ago. And that led me to some -- to where they lived and some other places of employment.
CASAREZ: So you were able to show through that that they had lived -- now -- there. When you were there, did they tell you how long they`d been gone from that area in Acapulco?
HOOKSTRA: Well, that particular shop, it had been a couple of years. But they led me to an island off in the bay there, a resort island, where they both had worked up until 10 months before I got there. So when I got on the island, showed their picture around, everyone -- people recognized them, said, Oh, yes, they were here, recognized -- knew them by name and said they left 10 months prior to that.
CASAREZ: And that -- everybody, that is where they lived right there. Mr. Hookstra found where they had lived, and that`s the apartment complex. Now, you were able to locate that stolen car down there, weren`t you.
HOOKSTRA: That was incredible luck. I found the apartment. I talked to one of the neighbors. I talked to the landlord. And they mentioned just some hints about where they may have been when they first got to Acapulco, one of which was a hotel. I went to the hotel, and the car was still there three years later, sitting on flat tires.
CASAREZ: Amazing. Now, here`s what I think is a critical piece of information. You learned that Chioma was possibly pregnant?
HOOKSTRA: That`s correct. One of her -- well, actually, two of her friends -- two of her friends and her landlord told me that at the time they left Acapulco, she was pregnant.
CASAREZ: But even more than that, that she had expressed to them that she didn`t want to have the baby in Mexico?
HOOKSTRA: That`s correct. And one of the hints, or one of the places she had mentioned was Texas, and in particular, San Antonio, and that led me to her -- I called the Marshals Service shortly thereafter, and -- with an address, a possible address. And that`s -- and they developed some more leads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She left behind her beloved Chihuahua, Pink, and all her clothing, two reasons why Chioma`s mother believes her teenage daughter did not just leave on her own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cops in Ventura, California, believe 14-year-old Chioma Gray went missing from her high school with a man who had just served time for unlawful sex with a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say Chioma got into a stolen car driven by 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya. A warrant was issued for Tafoya for child stealing, and the investigators immediately began searching for any sign of Chioma.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Border surveillance video shows the same vehicle crossing into Mexico. Is Chioma Gray still alive?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Fifteen-year-old Chioma Gray is dropped off at high school. It`s just another day. She`s got her bookbag, just the clothes on her back. But surveillance video sees a car driven by the young man that was serving time because of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, and it`s believed she got in that car and went with him. But we don`t know what was said in that car. We don`t know if she was threatened and that`s why she left to Mexico. Authorities believe she voluntarily left.
I want go out to Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor, death penalty- qualified. You tell me, Eleanor -- a 15-year-old girl just voluntarily leaves with someone that wanted her and possibly demanded that she be in that car with him.
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Exactly, Jean. And besides, don`t forget, 15 years old is a child. Both legally, mentally, emotionally, that is a child. He was definitely contributing to the delinquency of her. If they had sexual intercourse again, that is another crime. He could be charged with statutory rape. And taking her away from the United States -- they went to Mexico -- that`s a federal crime. It needs to be charged.
CASAREZ: And it is charged. To Peter Odom, defense attorney. There are a lot of charges, at this point, on the books. But the fact is, because it was determined that it was a voluntarily going, there was no Amber Alert and there was no charge of kidnapping.
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right, Amber Alerts really only issue when there`s some grave danger of harm to the victim. And the police at least concluded, rightly or wrongly, that there was not in this case. And that might have had to do with the fact they had this prior relationship for which he went to jail. But you know what? Whether she went willingly or not, it really is an abduction because he took this child away from her family.
CASAREZ: OK, Marc Klaas, agree or disagree?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I totally agree. And I think it`s illustrative of the challenges that are faced by crime victims in our society. They had every right to know that he was being released and they were not informed. And in fact, he went on to commit a subsequent crime that is still ongoing. It`s a travesty the way crime victims are treated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she ever consider him her boyfriend?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, he is not considered to be her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she consider him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, she did not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Vanished into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need to find her.
GRACE: So many cases.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still looking.
GRACE: So few leads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.
GRACE: Missing person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our duty to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The witness seen the suspect on Nancy Grace.
GRACE: There is a God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy Grace show was out there for us.
GRACE: Found. Alive. 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights. Let`s don`t give up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the morning of December 13th, 2007, Desmond Gray dropped off his daughter, Chioma, at Buena High School. That would be the last morning Desmond Gray would see his little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Moments after arriving at the school, police say Chioma got into a stolen car driven by 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya who had just been released from jail hours earlier for unlawful sex with a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Andrew Joshua Tafoya was ordered to have no contact. There were no ifs, ands, buts or exceptions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she ever consider him her boyfriend?
FRANCINE BLACK, MOTHER OF MISSING 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL, CHIOMA GRAY: No, he is not considered to be her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she?
BLACK: No, she did not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A warrant was issued for Tafoya for child stealing, and the investigators immediately began searching for any signs of Chioma. A surveillance camera at the Mexican border reportedly caught Tafoya`s license plate as it crossed the border.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chioma`s mother believes her teenage daughter did not just leave on her own. As a result, the family hired their own private investigator who uncovered some startling clues in Mexico. A stolen car linked to Chioma`s disappearance spotted in the resort town of Acapulco. Witnesses say Chioma and 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya set up residence in a vacation spot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the three years since her disappearance, Chioma`s family is not giving up hope and believes the now 18-year-old is still alive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want their daughter back, their sister back, their friend back, and they really miss her, and they just need to break their silence about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Every day, 2,300 people go missing in America, disappear, vanish. Families left waiting, wondering, but never forgetting, and neither have we. Fifty people, 50 days, 50 nights we go live, spotlighting America`s missing, boy, girls, mothers, fathers, grandparents, gone, but where?
Tonight, Oxnard, California, beautiful 4.0 high school sophomore Chioma Gray heads to school. Dad drops her off at the schoolhouse doors, but moments later, surveillance shows the 15-year-old getting into a luxury Acura TSX, driven by 20-year-old Andrew Tafoya, released from jail one day earlier for sex with a minor. Friends tell the FBI, Tafoya plans to run away to Mexico with the teen. Grainy border surveillance video spots the American girl at the border.
Tonight, after police tell Chioma`s mom her girl is dead in Mexico, a P.I. discovers Chioma is alive. Tonight, where is American teen, Chioma Gray? Jean Casarez, let`s go through it again. What was the timeline?
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, the timeline, Nancy, as best we know it, is that Chioma was dropped off about 8:00 in the morning for high school just like a normal day. She was always dropped off around 8 o`clock, but surveillance cameras, thank goodness for those, they were found from the school to the parking lot and saw this car, just as you`ve described, driven by this young man that she had known, that have pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, the minor being Chioma Gray.
Well, listen to this. At 1:20 in the afternoon on that very same day, surveillance cameras at the Tijuana Border, San Isidro, California, caught that car going to Mexico. That is four hours and 20 minutes later. Is that consciousness of guilt or what? To get to the border from Central California in that amount of time? We`re taking your calls live.
Tonight, Francine Black is with us. She is the mother of Chioma Gray. Miss Black, I want to ask you, when your private investigator called you up to tell you that he had found people in Mexico that had seen your daughter and knew she was alive, what went through your entire body and soul?
BLACK: Well, I have always believed that Chioma was alive, even though, I was told by the FBI that my daughter was deceased. It was a charred body that they had found a couple of days after my daughter was abducted. But as I told the agent, until I can identify a body or I see that that`s Chioma, I know that Chioma is alive.
CASAREZ: How did you prove them wrong? How did you prove the FBI wrong on that?
BLACK: Well, I proved them wrong by going to Mexico and finding out that Chioma was very much alive. But I continue to always believe and know that Chioma is alive and well.
CASAREZ: To Chuck Hookstra, private investigator for the Chioma Gray family, when the FBI came and said that a charred body was Chioma`s, didn`t dental records come into play at that point? Weren`t you able to exclude Chioma as a victim of that dental records (ph)?
CHUCK HOOKSTRA, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR FOR CHIOMA GRAY`S FAMILY: You know, I wasn`t involved in the case that early on, but I believe that, at some point, before I became involved that the dental records were taken from her dentist for comparison.
CASAREZ: Right. That`s exactly what I had heard. Chuck, I want to ask you also. You say you got a tip that actually took you to Acapulco?
HOOKSTRA: We had several three-year-old tips that had come into play early on in the investigation. I was just following up on those tips.
CASAREZ: And nobody had followed up on them before?
HOOKSTRA: No, no. When I -- when I was in Mexico, I was told that the FBI had been there, I think ten months -- I`m sorry -- eight months prior to me being there. At least, by one of the witnesses I spoke to said that he had been interviewed by the FBI. The problem is that they have to go with the Mexican police on these interviews, and the folks that live there don`t always trust their own police department. So, I think I got a little bit more cooperation from witnesses.
CASAREZ: Because you were just in plain clothes walking around with a picture and asking people if they knew Chioma.
HOOKSTRA: That`s correct. And, you know, I told everybody who would listen the story and everybody`s got a mother, everybody`s got a heart, and people were more than willing to help me.
CASAREZ: And everybody who`s joining us, Chuck Hookstra, found where Chioma had worked and where Andrew Joshua Tafoya had worked. People said, oh, yes, Josh, yes, I remember him. So, they were down there. We`re taking your calls. Jenny in Tennessee. Hi, Jenny.
JENNY, TENNESSEE: Hello.
CASAREZ: Thank you for calling.
JENNY: First, just let me say that me and my aunts watch your show religiously, like, we love it. We love what you guys do. I actually have two questions. First question, how did they know that she was not drugged and forced into the car? And second, are they for sure that the baby that she`s carrying is, in fact, the male that took hers?
CASAREZ: OK. To detective Sergeant Rick Murray joining us, he is the lead investigator in this case, joining us tonight from California. None of us know what conversation transpired in that car, and I know it was the district attorney`s decision to determine that she voluntarily left, but what facts can you tell us that made that determination that she went willingly?
VOICE OF DET. SGT. RICK MURRAY, VENTURA POLICE DEPT.: Well, we interviewed many students at the campus, and they gave us the indication that this had been a planned event for several weeks, even though, he was in custody. Do we know if she was drugged? No, we don`t. What we do know is that she did go with him in that vehicle, and they did cross over the border, and our ultimate goal is to get her back.
CASAREZ: And what`s happening right now to try to get her back? Because she could be in the United States at this point.
MURRAY: Well, certainly. There are some jurisdictional issues. The FBI has been involved. At one point, we requested a UFAP warrant, which is a Federal Warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want their daughter back, their sister back, their friend back, and they really miss her, and they just need to break their silence about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she ever consider him her boyfriend?
BLACK: No, he is not considered to be her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she?
BLACK: No, she did not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police believe before even making it to class, Chioma was picked up in a stolen car outside the school by 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya, who had been previously convicted of unlawful sex with a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Andrew Joshua Tafoya was ordered to have no contact. There were no ifs, ands, buts, ors, exceptions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Surveillance video reportedly captures the stolen car`s license plates as they cross the border into Mexico. While police search for Tafoya, Chioma`s family is holding out hope for a safe reunion with their little girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez. Her mother and father want to know where she is. They want to find her. Authorities believe she is alive, and they don`t necessarily think she`s in Mexico anymore. Chioma Gray may very well be in the United States.
We`re taking your calls tonight. Allison in South Carolina. Hi, Allison.
ALLISON, SOUTH CAROLINA: Hi, Miss Jean. I just want to thank you and Miss Nancy for all of you do for getting the victims` word out and everything, but my question tonight is, you know, it`s been three years since she`s been reported missing and going into Mexico, but has anybody reported seeing him back in the United States?
CASAREZ: Well, Allison, listen to this. We have got a very special guest tonight. It is a private investigator, Chuck Hookstra, is joining us from Los Angeles. He is the private investigator for Chioma Gray`s family. Thank you so much for joining us tonight, but I think her mother thanks you so much for jumping onboard with this investigation.
When you began to do your research, you decided you personally were going to go down to Mexico, and this was last year, right, Mr. Hookstra? What did you find?
HOOKSTRA: Last July, I was acting on some three-year-old tips that we had, and I decided to give it a shot and went to Acapulco, had incredible luck. First business that I visited that was associated with Tafoya was scuba diving shop, and it`s where they worked, at one point. They`d been a couple years since they`d been there.
CASAREZ: And how did you find out that they worked there? How did you realize that?
HOOKSTRA: We had a tip that he was possibly teaching snorkeling, where he ended up at. So, I just happened to be -- I went to the waterfront thinking I was going to canvass all the shops, of which, there are a lot. And just so happened, first one I went into, showed the flier, the guy goes, oh, that`s Josh. He was here two years ago. And that led me to where they lived and some other places of employment.
CASAREZ: So, you were able to show through that that they had lived there. When you were there, did they tell you how long they`d been gone from that area in Acapulco?
HOOKSTRA: Well, that particular shop had been a couple years, but they led me to an island in the bay there, resort island, where they both had worked up until ten months before I got there. So, when I got on the island, I showed their picture around. Everyone recognized them and said, oh, yes, they were here. They knew them by name and said they left ten months prior to that.
CASAREZ: Everybody, that is where they lived right there. Mr. Hookstra found where they lived, and that`s the apartment complex. Now, you were able to locate that stolen car down there, weren`t you?
HOOKSTRA: That was incredible luck. I found the apartment. I talked to one of the neighbors. I talked to the landlord. And they mentioned just some hints about where they may have been when they first got to Acapulco, one of which was a hotel. I went to the hotel and the car was still there, three years later, sitting on flat tires.
CASAREZ: Amazing. Now, here`s what I think is a critical piece of information. You learned that Chioma was possibly pregnant?
HOOKSTRA: That`s correct. One of her -- actually two of her friends, two of her friends and her landlord told me that at the time they left Acapulco, she was pregnant.
CASAREZ: But even more than that, that she had expressed to them that she didn`t want to have the baby in Mexico?
HOOKSTRA: That`s correct. And one of the hints, or one of the places that she mentioned was Texas, in particular, San Antonio. And that led me to -- I called the marshal service shortly thereafter with an address, possible address and that`s -- and they developed some more leads.
CASAREZ: Francine Black, very, very quickly, did you talk to any of Chioma`s friends after she went missing? Did they say that she voluntarily was going to Mexico?
BLACK: I talked to several of Chioma`s friends. I even took a couple of her friends to the FBI. And that was not a plan of Chioma`s. Chioma was not willing to go to Mexico. It has been the police belief that my daughter went willingly, but I can tell you that my daughter did not go willingly.
CASAREZ: And why do you say that?
BLACK: Because I know my daughter. If my daughter would have been going somewhere, she would have packed her bags. She would have taken everything that she needed to go with. And I know that she was doing quite well in school, and this is totally against what every -- anything that Chioma believes in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the morning of December 13th, 2007, Desmond Gray dropped off his daughter, Chioma, at Buena High School. That would be the last morning Desmond Gray would see his little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Moments after arriving at the school, police say Chioma got into a stolen car driven by 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya who had just been released from jail hours earlier for unlawful sex with a minor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Andrew Joshua Tafoya was ordered to have no contact. There were no ifs, ands, buts or exceptions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she ever consider him her boyfriend?
BLACK: No, he is not considered to be her boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she?
BLACK: No, she did not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A warrant was issued for Tafoya for child stealing, and the investigators immediately began searching for any signs of Chioma. A surveillance camera at the Mexican border reportedly caught Tafoya`s license plate as it crossed the border.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chioma`s mother believes her teenage daughter did not just leave on her own. As a result, the family hired their own private investigator who uncovered some startling clues in Mexico. A stolen car linked to Chioma`s disappearance spotted in the resort town of Acapulco. Witnesses say Chioma and 20-year-old Andrew Joshua Tafoya set up residence in a vacation spot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Tonight, "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ROSEANNA MEANS, MEDICAL MARVEL: You OK? Every week, I talk to women who are sleeping outside. It`s only 17 degrees out, so I didn`t want you to get frozen. There`s so much pain and suffering right on the fringes of our perspective.
Do you need some help, hon?
In Boston, despite all the medical resources for the homeless population, I was seeing very few of the women using the services.
For women who are poor, homeless or battered, to deal with a system of health care becomes overwhelming. They don`t have an address. They don`t have a phone. There are lots of emotional issues. Psychiatric issues. I just didn`t like the idea that they were falling through the cracks.
I`m Dr. Roseanna Means, and I bring free, high quality medical care to women and children in the shelters of Boston.
Good morning.
The women come into the shelters to get warm, to feel safe. And we`re there.
Come on in, Ellen.
There`s no registration. We`re not charging anything. If they want to come see us, we`ll use that moment to try to build a relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my safety net right here.
MEANS: The women learn to trust us as ambassadors of the health care system.
All right, honey. God bless.
Over time, we can teach them how to use the system as it was intended. And eventually, they do move forward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I knew she really cared, I started wanting to take care of myself.
MEANS: I love these women, no matter what.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You did a great job.
MEANS: That starts to get taken inside, that if I matter to somebody else, maybe I matter to myself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: These are the faces of America`s missing. Every 30 seconds, another child, a sister, a brother, a mother, a father disappears. Families left behind waiting, hoping. We have not forgotten.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF STRELSAN (PH), SENIOR ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, NEW HAMPSHIRE: Maura Murray was a 20-year-old college student in Massachusetts. She went missing in New Hampshire on February 9th, 2004. My name is Jeff Strelsan. I`m a senior assistant attorney general at the New Hampshire Attorney General`s Office. She had been involved in a car accident a day earlier in Massachusetts and had driven in New Hampshire and was involved in a single car accident on route 112 in Haverhill, New Hampshire at about 7:30 p.m. that night.
911 was called. There were some people there at the scene who saw Maura Murray, and within less than ten minutes, she basically disappeared from the scene, and then, she`s never been seen or heard from since. Nobody was continuously watching her. People saw her. And then, once the police arrived at the scene, they that noticed she was gone. And the police got there and obviously were called there because a woman had been involved in a car accident and couldn`t locate her.
Within a space of about ten minutes or less, she disappeared from the scene. No evidence of a struggle. The car had crashed into a snowbank. The airbag had deployed. There was evidence that Maura had been drinking alcohol, and it was extremely cold that night. It was February in New Hampshire. It was probably about 10 degrees out that night. And 7:30 p.m. would have been very dark. Unless, until we locate Maura Murray, we`re never going to know for sure what happened, but the state police have been involved as has our agency.
And we certainly treated it as a potential homicide case. Technically, it is a missing persons case. We don`t have enough information at this point to, you know, charge anyone or we haven`t located Miss Murray. So, for now, it is a criminal investigation. It is a missing persons investigation. But, you know, we haven`t reached the point where we can see definitively what happened to Maura Murray.
The smaller possibility, at least, from our perspective is that she is alive and decided to simply start a new life. People can vanish, but in this day and age, it`s probably more difficult. There are several reasons for that. You know, one is, you have to have the financial means to be able to do that. Second, if you go somewhere else, certainly in the developed world, you`re going to need a establish an identity. Establishing false identities is not as easy as it used to be in a post- 9/11 world. People get called to New Hampshire State Headquarters which is 603-271-2663.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: I`m Nancy Grace. See you tomorrow night, nine o`clock sharp eastern. And until then, we will be looking. Keep the faith, friend.
END
