Return to Transcripts main page

Nancy Grace

Strange Text Messages in Missing Atlanta-Area Mother Case

Aired April 13, 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, Atlanta suburbs. A gorgeous mother of five and kindergarten teacher heads to Wal-Mart to rent a movie, never seen again. Her husband just headed out for a weekend hunting trip but turns back when he had the wrong weekend, only to find the five children all alone.

Bombshell tonight. Mommy`s gray Nissan found in a parking lot just 12 miles south of Wal-Mart. As suspicious text messages from Mommy`s phone emerge, in the last hours, after police comb through hours of surveillance video, we confirm Mommy never makes to it Wal-Mart. Tonight, where is mother of five Wazineh?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s about 130 pounds, 5-foot-7, very beautiful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to this mother of five?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went out to get a movie at a Red Box at Wal- Mart in Cartersville, her husband, Abed, says, and she never came home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was on a hunting trip. And when his trip was canceled, he came home early, she was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no clue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Abed Suleiman told investigators, that he and his wife exchanged text messages after she disappeared and she told him she wasn`t going to text him any more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one of the texts that he said, said that, I`ll just throw my phone out the window. Now, that`s strictly from him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators have subpoenaed 147 pages of cell phone records to try to verify what her husband is telling them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said something to the effect that she was going to throw her phone away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police find her car abandoned 12 miles away from the Wal-Mart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officers are checking for surveillance video, any evidence of whether she even made it to Wal-Mart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, police race to an upscale tree-lined suburb to find a mom lying shot dead on the den sofa. Who shoots Mommy execution- style as she watches TV? Suspect number one, her own 15-year-old daughter. Why? Mommy doesn`t want her 15-year-old dating a 17-year-old boy. Icing on the cake, after shooting Mommy dead, the teen invites the boyfriend over to have sex while her mom sits dead on the sofa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 15-year-old teen is girl is accused of shooting her mom, an Army recruiter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a gunshot wound to the back of her head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As her mom watched the TV, cops say the daughter used her parents` gun to shoot her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her daughter confessed to shooting at her mom, the culmination of a series of heated arguments, police say, about everything from boys to school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of calling 911, authorities say, the teen girl invited her boyfriend over to the home and the couple allegedly admitted to having sex while her dead mom`s body laid (SIC) on the couch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell. A gorgeous mother of five, a kindergarten teacher, heads to Wal-Mart to rent a movie, never seen again. Her husband just headed out for a weekend hunting trip, but turns back when he realizes he`s got the wrong weekend, only to find the five children all alone. In the last hours, after police comb through hours of surveillance video, we learn Mommy never makes it to Wal-Mart.

We are taking your calls live. And joining us right now is the husband in this case, Abed Suleiman. Sir, thank you for being with us.

ABED SULEIMAN, HUSBAND OF MISSING WOMAN (via telephone): Thank you, Nancy. Thank you. A lot of people tell me, you know, I need to talk to you, to help us -- we got our situation, you know, just very devastating, and I could use all the help, and everybody was telling me to talk to your show.

GRACE: Mr. Suleiman, your wife is absolutely beautiful. And we understand that she has never left the children at home alone before. Why would she leave that evening? I don`t know. Isn`t one of your children 12 years old?

SULEIMAN: Well, first of all, that`s not true entirely because she has left the home before, but never has left them home alone at night. But if she`s left them alone, you know, it would be very quick just to go (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: Yes.

SULEIMAN: But that`s it, really. And (INAUDIBLE) broad daylight or - - I would know about it. I might be, you know, on the way home from work or something like that, but that would be (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: So never before at night. Never at night before.

SULEIMAN: Never at night (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: But on the other hand -- on the other hand, one of your children is about 12 years old. A lot of times, a lot of parents think that`s old enough to be gone for 20 or 30 minutes. And also, at this time the year, around -- you know, it doesn`t get dark until around 8:00 o`clock at night. What time was it she left to go to Wal-Mart?

SULEIMAN: According to my son, she left -- I got home at around 8:50, and that`s about time that she -- I got home -- I got home around 9:00, and he said that she left about 10 minutes ago. And I said, well, you know, he`s going to be 13, in a few months, so I -- you know, I did ask him, though, still, even though I know he`s very intelligent and knows what 10 minutes means -- you know, some kids, you tell them 10 minutes, that can (INAUDIBLE) you know, 20, 30. I said, Son, are you sure it was 10 minutes not 15, not 30, maybe an hour? He said, No, no, no, no, no. No, about 5 or 10 minutes. That`s it. And she said she was going to get a Red Box movie and come back, and she would be right back.

GRACE: With us, everyone, and taking your calls, is Wazineh`s the husband. He had gone out of town with a friend for a camping trip, got several miles away from home, finds out -- realizes he has the wrong day for the camping trip, turns back around to come back home, gets home, his five children are there alone, and learns that Mommy has gone to Wal-Mart to rent a movie and get some candy for the children. She never comes back, her car found abandoned in an empty parking lot about 10, 12 miles south of the . Wal-Mart after hours combing through video, surveillance video at Wal-Mart, we now learn she never made to it the Wal-Mart.

With us is her husband, Abed. Let me ask you this, sir. Did she know that you were turned around and coming back?

SULEIMAN: No, no, she didn`t. She did not.

GRACE: Did you call her and tell her you had the wrong weekend?

SULEIMAN: No, I did not.

GRACE: How far away from home had you gotten, an hour?

SULEIMAN: About -- we were -- we were in the Dalton area, which is about an hour -- hour more or less north of Cartersville, which is where we live.

GRACE: Got it. Everyone, you are seeing photos of an absolute stunning young woman and a mother of five, a gorgeous kindergarten teacher, beautiful on the inside and the out. She goes to Wal-Mart to get a movie and candy for her children. She`s never seen again. Tonight, where is Wazineh?

Taking your calls, with us, her husband. He had only been gone a couple of hours, comes back to fine her gone.

OK, back to you, sir. I understand that you kept texting her, going, Where are you? What`s going on? Why aren`t you here? You wouldn`t hear back anything from her, and then suddenly, a flurry of texts started coming in.

SULEIMAN: Yes. Well, they weren`t -- I mean, they were coming in, you know, slowly. There were a lot of -- exchanging a lot of text messages. but from the very first one -- and I just finished talking to one of the investigators and we just finished going over -- it took us about two, two-and-a-half hours. We went over all the text messages. He asked a lot of great questions.

And we -- it`s too early to discuss most of those texts, and I tell you that because I only want to talk about facts. I don`t want to say anything that`s going to lead to any false -- you know, any misleads or any false assumptions or anything like that. The reason I say that again is because we don`t have a concrete source. We have reason to believe -- the text messages were slightly out of character for Wazineh.

GRACE: Well, I already know that she is extremely religious, and some of these text messages have profanity in them, which would be totally unlike her to either talk that way, or much less write out a curse word in a text message. You`re saying that`s completely out of character, and maybe there`s more out of character that I don`t know about. Go ahead, sir.

SULEIMAN: She would never, ever, you know, send me a text message or use that word in front of me or to me or, you know, at all. Just that`s the way she is. And there was, like, an "F" word one time, and I was, like -- when I saw it, my jaw dropped. I was, like, Whoa. Then there were a few other things that were said, and I was, like -- from the very beginning, I was, like, Something`s not right here. What`s wrong?

And then after a while I started -- you know, is this from her? And I just couldn`t make sense. And that`s what even the -- you know, the investigator now was complaining (ph) that we (INAUDIBLE) there must have been somebody with her. I don`t know if they were actually physically texting those things or making her put these in there or forcing -- we -- I don`t know. I don`t know. We don`t know. Nothing for sure.

But we do believe that, you know, this is not only her just doing this but, you know -- of course, we don`t know anything for certain, and that`s why, you know, we don`t want to go into any details.

GRACE: Well, hold on. Let`s -- I`ve been asking you a lot of questions. Let me get your story out.

Everyone, take a look at this woman. A mother of five, a kindergarten teacher goes to Wal-Mart to rent a video, never seen again. With us, her husband.

Tell me what happened in the hours just before you leave the home up to the point where you learn she`s gone. Tell me your story.

SULEIMAN: OK. First of all, just to correct one thing, she`s a -- she`s a -- she`s a kindergarten teacher assistant.

GRACE: OK. Good to know. Good to know. OK, what happened?

SULEIMAN: She -- well, that morning, I went to work. I went to work. I got off work. After work, I went to my Friday service that I go to every Friday for my Friday prayer. And then while I was there -- I always leave my cell phone in the vehicle so it doesn`t interrupt our service. And while I was there, I walk out to the vehicle and I get a missed call from her. And I also got a text message from her saying to please, you know, go to Domino`s and pick up four pizzas for us. So I pick -- I went across the street, grabbed some -- grabbed four pizzas, went home. We got -- we went -- I went home, we sat in the back yard, we ate the pizzas and we had some drinks. While I was admiring...

GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What do you mean by drinks? What did you drink?

SULEIMAN: Oh, oh, no. I mean, just soda and juice for the kids.

GRACE: OK. Because it`s my understanding that you guys are extremely religious, and I know for a fact you would not be having alcohol if that were true. Go ahead.

SULEIMAN: ... use alcohol. Yes, no, not alcoholic. Never. So we were sitting down with family, all seven of us, and I was admiring all the work because all morning -- my kids have been on spring break -- well, was on spring break all of last week, and (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: OK, I want to get up to -- I want to get up to when you left the home at the time she went missing, the evening she went missing.

SULEIMAN: Yes. That`s only about an hour before I left.

GRACE: Oh, OK. Go ahead. I`m sorry.

SULEIMAN: We were sitting in the back yard. We were eating the pizza at around -- I got home -- by the time I got home, it was almost 3:00 o`clock. So we sat down, ate pizza -- you know, had the pizza and drinks and watched -- looked at the landscaping -- the hardscaping that her and all the kids were working on all day. All six of them were working on that. And you know, they did such a beautiful job, and I was telling them how great of a job they did and praising them. And then I told each one of them, you know, so I`m going to give you, you know, this much money, you know, for your hard work. And then I told my wife, I said, Honey, come on, I need you to help me finish packing for my trip. I got a few more things that I need...

GRACE: OK, now, let me clarify something, Abed. According to police releases, you two had a heated exchange of text messages before she goes missing. Now, are they referring to the text messages that came in after she went missing that you think someone else may have sent?

SULEIMAN: No, no, no. There was no -- the only -- the only messages that were heated was the ones -- the only ones that are text messages. There`s no other text messages. The only other text message was, Get pizza.

GRACE: Everyone, with me is the husband of Wazineh Suleiman. This gorgeous 5-7, 130 pounds, hazel eyes, brown care, mother of five, kindergarten teacher`s assistant is missing. Help us find her, 770-382- 5050.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Welcome back. A gorgeous mother of five, a kindergarten teacher`s assistant, missing, goes to Wal-Mart to get a DVD for her children, her five children. She`s never seen again. Her husband coincidentally has gone on a camping trip out of town with a friend. After they`re gone, driving for over an hour, they realize they`ve got the wrong weekend. He turns around, comes back, wife gone.

We are taking your calls live, but I want to go back to Mr. Suleiman. Abed Suleiman is joining us. Sir, again, thank you for being with us. You were telling me your story. You got up to the point where you guys have been in the back yard looking at all the hard work they had done. They had been working around the house all day. Then she goes in to help you pack. What happened then?

SULEIMAN: Then my buddy came over my house so we can get all the gear up on my trailer and attach it to his truck for our turkey-hunting -- our Kentucky turkey-hunting trip. And we went -- he got there at 4:00. By the time we finished, you know, loading everything up onto his truck and everything, then we headed out at around 4:30.

GRACE: OK, so you leave at 4:30. You drove for about a little over an hour. And you pull in at what, McDonald`s?

SULEIMAN: No, well, first we had to stop at the Yamaha dealership. He needed a part for his four-wheeler.

GRACE: All right.

SULEIMAN: So we did that first.

GRACE: Then you got stopped to get you some hunting boots.

SULEIMAN: Yes. Yes. I -- because we were in such a rush, I forgot a couple of items. I forgot my shave (INAUDIBLE) boots...

GRACE: Let me get to where you realize you`ve got the wrong weekend. When did that happen?

SULEIMAN: That was right after we just finished all that stuff and also eating at Steak-n-Shake. We -- my buddy was telling me, like, I`m really hungry. I got to eat. And I was, like, look (INAUDIBLE) pizza, but so you know, I`ll eat with you. Fine. You know, so we stopped. We ate. And then finished -- by the time we finished all of that, we were getting back to -- we got back in the truck and started heading north from Dalton, which is only minutes away from the...

GRACE: Right. When did you realize you had the wrong weekend?

SULEIMAN: Yes, that was it. We were heading towards the border, and then a buddy of his calls him and tells him -- he said, What are you doing? He said, Oh, I`m here with my buddy, Abed, and we`re going to the Kentucky property to do some turkey hunting. And mind you, him and I, we`d never -- this -- this...

GRACE: Is that when you realized you had the wrong weekend? That`s all I`m trying to find out. Is that when you realized it?

SULEIMAN: Yes, this is when I realized it.

GRACE: OK. Why didn`t you call your wife and say, Hey, I`m coming back?

SULEIMAN: Because I`m only an hour away from the house.

GRACE: OK. Got it.

Everyone, with us is Wazineh`s husband, taking your calls live. Where is this gorgeous 30-year-old mom of five?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s considered a missing endangered person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After her husband said she left her young kids home alone to rent a video from Wal-Mart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s about 130 pounds, 5-foot-7, very beautiful. We want her home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But mom never returns home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The husband reports a final text message after his wife disappeared that said she was throwing the phone out the window.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t really comment on those right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked her husband if she would have ever left on her own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think so. No. If -- that would be totally out of character if she did any such thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Janet in Missouri. Hi, Janet. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`m glad you got to take my call. It`s -- finally, I got on. My question is, I know he said he was on a camping trip. And I`m just wondering if the police have checked his weapons that he had with him to see if they`ve recently have been fired, and maybe even taken a lie detector test?

GRACE: OK. Let`s go out to special ghost joining us tonight from Cartersville at the sheriff`s department, Sheriff Clark Millsap with the Bartow County sheriff. Sheriff Millsap, thank you so much for being with us. This is a real Rubik`s cube we`ve got going on right here because this woman apparently would never have left her five children alone at night, although a lot of people would think a 13-year-old child is old enough to leave him alone for 30 minutes. Did -- I assume that you guys have already checked his weapon. He had a rifle, I assume.

CLARK MILLSAP, SHERIFF OF BARTOW COUNTY: He would have had a shotgun if he was (INAUDIBLE) But we don`t have him as a suspect. We don`t have him as a person of interest at this time. We don`t really have a reason. We`ve interviewed his hunting buddy. He has corroborated what his statement was to us that they did go the Steak-n-Shake, they did go to the Wal-Mart there, they did go to the parts store. We do have receipts that they made purchases there. We don`t really have a person of interest...

GRACE: Can I ask you something, Sheriff?

MILLSAP: ... at this time or a suspect in this case. Yes, ma`am?

GRACE: Everybody, with me is Sheriff Clark Millsap from Cartersville. Sheriff I know that Abed Suleiman got the date wrong. But did the friend that was with him also have the date wrong?

MILLSAP: To my understanding, the third party that did make the phone call informed them that they had the date wrong.

GRACE: Well, did they both have it confused, or was it just the friend in the car? Who got the date confused?

MILLSAP: If I`m not mistaken, it was both of them. Both the hunting buddy and Mr. Suleiman had it mistaken. And then the phone call straightened them both out, and that`s why they turned around and came back home.

GRACE: Sheriff, may I ask you, did Mr. Suleiman give his friend the hunting date?

MILLSAP: No, ma`am. I don`t know that information.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A beautiful 30-year-old mom of five is missing. After her husband says she left her young kids home alone to rent video from Wal-Mart.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Abed Suleiman says his wife left their five children to rent a movie while he was on a hunting trip.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Turkey hunting with a friend in Kentucky, but realized en route he had the wrong weekend and headed back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of things that are just, you know, making us scratch our heads a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The husband reports a final text message after his wife disappeared that said she was throwing the phone out the window.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one of the text that he said that --

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: We are taking your calls. I want to go back to Wazineh`s husband who is joining us tonight. Taking your calls and subjecting himself to the harsh light of scrutiny and our questions.

Back to Abed.

Sir, you`re telling -- from what I understand, your friend gave you the date. And the reason I`m telling you this is you`ve got to know that whenever a woman goes missing the first place cops look is at the husband, the boyfriend, the ex-boyfriend. So naturally they are going to look at you and ask you questions.

So, it`s my understanding --

ABED SULEIMAN, HUSBAND OF MISSING MOM: Of course.

GRACE: -- that your friend gave you the incorrect date. Is that right?

SULEIMAN: Yes. He picked that date because when he looked at the manual for the Kentucky State Regulations, manual -- turkey hunting season starts, I believe it`s April 2nd. But that`s the youth hunt turkey that starts on that date and then it was not until this weekend when it`s general hunting all ages, adult, of course, starts this coming Saturday. He picked that weekend -- he picked that weekend.

GRACE: OK. I got it. Now let me ask you a few simple questions. Number one, I know that you guys were in very, very bad financial trouble. That you had, in fact, filed for bankruptcy August 11, 2010. Why -- how did you get so in debt?

SULEIMAN: Easy. I have a good income and I bought two very expensive properties in south Florida.

GRACE: What do you do for a living?

SULEIMAN: I`m a pharmacist.

GRACE: And so when the real estate market went bust that`s when you got into money troubles.

Next question, standard operating procedure, is there a life insurance policy on your wife?

SULEIMAN: No, there`s not.

GRACE: OK. Next question, the sheriff -- Sheriff Clark Millsap says you are not a suspect and that you have cooperated with them totally. Would you give them your weapon to let them do a test on it?

SULEIMAN: Of course I would. Why would I --

GRACE: OK.

SULEIMAN: Why would I not cooperate? That would be -- I would not be cooperating. I`ll give anything they want because I have nothing hide.

GRACE: Great.

SULEIMAN: I`m not worried.

GRACE: Great. And are you willing -- are you willing to perform even a lie detector test?

SULEIMAN: Yes.

GRACE: All right. I think that goes a long way to help look for your wife because, you know, when police can`t rule out the husband then they get stuck on looking at him instead of looking beyond him. So you doing that would greatly help.

SULEIMAN: That was my biggest concern with the media today.

GRACE: Yes.

SULEIMAN: I mean you can imagine how I`ve been harassed and again all the numerous phone calls and e-mails from all these different stations and radios and newspapers. And they`re all -- I`m telling everybody, said listen, I`ll be more than glad to tell anybody whatever because I need them to understand, I am -- it`s not me. I`m not the suspect.

And the more we harp on me as being the suspect the longer it`s going to take us to get to Wazineh. So -- and I`m glad that, you know, you`re asking some of these very good questions because it has been -- others have not asked these questions that you`ve asked.

People like this doesn`t make sense. Well, there`s a bunch of idiots out there who don`t know all the facts. But of course like everybody else it`s human nature to start assuming the worse. And that`s fine.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Well, I`m telling you, it`s just statistical -- it`s just statistical. And did cops give you a hand wipe test to determine if you had any gunshot residue on your hands?

SULEIMAN: No, they did not. But, no. And my guns have never -- they weren`t fired because we never needed to.

GRACE: OK. Good to know. Stay with me.

Abed Suleiman is taking your calls. He is taking your calls. His wife is missing. That is the focus tonight. Take a look at Wazineh.

Out to Eric Jens, news director, WRGA Radio.

Eric, what can you tell me. You`re joining me there at the sheriff`s department in Cartersville. What do you know?

ERIC JENS, NEWS DIRECTOR, WRGA RADIO: Well, the one thing we do know, Nancy, is that -- what the same thing that everybody in this case wants us to hear from Wazineh Suleiman. To hear that she`s OK. Where she is. What`s going on. All the other facts can be sorted out later. Right now everybody just wants to hear from her.

GRACE: And now to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session," standing by also there in Cartersville Sheriff`s Department.

Jean, Eric and Abed are both right. At this time every hour counts and if anyone is focusing on the wrong suspect this early in the game, they are losing critical time in finding Wazineh.

Out to Jean Casarez. Jean, tell me what have you learned?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, Nancy, Nancy law enforcement is saying that they are not any closer to finding this mother of five than they were this morning but I can confirm with you the sheriff`s department behind my shoulder, the husband, the man you have been talking with is inside that sheriff`s department right now, Abed Suleiman.

He is talking with law enforcement and they are making sure that he is on the same page that they are, that law enforcement is doing everything they can to find his wife.

And I also can confirm to you that by the close of business today, law enforcement was not able to get the bank records of this mother of five. There was some red tape involved so they do not know if any of her accounts, credit cards, debit cards have actually been used since she went missing.

GRACE: Well, hold on. Hold on. To -- back to Sheriff Clark Millsap, can`t the husband access all the accounts online or by phone to find out like the very latest charge on her credit card or ATM use? Why do you have to get that from the bank, Sheriff?

CLARK MILLSAP, SHERIFF, BARTOW COUNTY: We want as many records as we can get, Nancy. Not saying that Mr. Suleiman hasn`t cooperated with us, he has. We just wanted to double check and triple check, and make sure if we get them straight from the bank there`s no -- there`s no reason to --

GRACE: Well --

MILLSAP: To say that he is a suspect or withheld any information from us.

GRACE: Well, it seems to me if you want to find out if she has just used an ATM in the last five hours you wouldn`t wait however long the bank is asking, you would get him to access it on computer or by phone and find out as she used the ATM, that she used a credit card in the last day.

Has anybody done that?

MILLSAP: We`ve done -- we`ve done extensive work, Nancy. We`re in the middle of several things now. We`ve interviewed the children. We`ve done everything known to man. We`re still working as hard as we can to get as much information as we can.

Mr. Suleiman is not a suspect, he`s not a person of interest. We didn`t follow that path to start with. We are trying to locate her. We`re hoping that this message will get out there to her with your help to let her either -- if she wants to call you that`s fine. Just call you and let us verify that it`s her and find out where she is.

GRACE: Well, Sheriff, let me ask you this.

MILLSAP: So we can put a stop to this.

GRACE: You said that you had interviewed the children. I know some of them are as young as 6 and 7 years old.

MILLSAP: Yes, ma`am.

GRACE: But the one that`s almost 13. What did he say happened that night?

MILLSAP: We`re not going to release that right now, Nancy. We`re going to hold that close and we`re going to filter through it and just to see exactly how it all matches up.

GRACE: Well, OK. That`s interesting. And I`m not going to push you any further because I don`t want to hurt the integrity of the case. But it seems to me -- unleash the lawyers. John Burris, San Francisco, John Manuelian, defense attorney, L.A.

John Burris, it seems to me if it were the same story -- the kids were echoing the same story the cop would tell me that story.

JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I acted a little surprise at that comment because given what we heard there should not be any separation between what the children have said and what the dad has said and that would -- you know, obviously it could be something that`s minor.

But I`m really troubled by that particular comment. I`m also very much troubled by the messages that have came out later and how that came about. Either someone else is involved with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Wazineh Suleiman disappears after allegedly telling her kids she was running to the local Wal-Mart just a few miles way.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The only thing investigators found in the car were her fingerprints and her husband`s prints which was to be expected.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Abed Suleiman say s his wife left their five children to rent a movie while he was on a hunting trip. And when his trip was cancelled he came home early. She was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of things that are just -- making us scratch our heads a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The only promising is what Abed Suleiman told investigators.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls.

I want to go to Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert joining us out of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ben, I`m not going to ask you about the husband`s cell phone because he actually has somebody with him the whole time that he`s going on this hunting trip even when they find out they`ve got the wrong date and turn around and come back.

What I`m concerned about is the mom`s cell phone.

Let me make sure, Abed -- with me is Wazineh`s husband, Abed Suleiman.

She took her cell phone with her, didn`t she, Abed?

SULEIMAN: I guess so. I mean honestly I don`t know for certain. But I was getting messages from her cell phone.

GRACE: OK. And what about her pocketbook, her credit cards, her driver`s license? Did she take all that?

SULEIMAN: Yes . She took a small purse with a -- with one single debit card and that was it. In her purse.

GRACE: OK. Has her -- has her debit card been used since she went missing?

SULEIMAN: I verified with bank employees that no. They said it has not been used at all. Not a single time.

GRACE: And I know you guys were in bankruptcy. Did she -- was she using a credit card? Did she have a credit card with her?

SULEIMAN: No. No, no. Only -- she only uses --

GRACE: So debit card and cell phone. Got you.

SULEIMAN: It`s a credit card/debit card, but that`s it.

GRACE: OK. Hold on, Abed.

Back to Levitan. Mr. Levitan, allegedly some text messages came in. Now reports we had said they were before she went missing. The husband is clarifying that those heated text messages came after she went missing and that they didn`t really sound like her at all. And she said she`s going to throw the phone out the window.

If that phone were still on, Ben Levitan, even though she`s not making phone calls, can we ping it and find the location?

BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Nancy, this is probably the most important thing. The most important thing we need to do is those text messages, each one will identify the cell tower that it`s used. So if the first message came close to the Wal-Mart and then the next text message is identified as coming from several miles away and further away we know that she was in a car driving away while she was typing those text messages. Or somebody had her phone.

And this is extremely important because if we can estimate when she made those text messages and from what cell towers we can guess if she`s on a freeway, if she made them all from generally the same area, then we know she`s still in the same area. And the question I want to know is when you call her, does the phone directly go to voicemail, or does it ring for a while?

GRACE: Good question.

LEVITAN: Because if it does directly to voicemail the phone is off.

GRACE: OK. Hold on. And last question before I come back to you, Mr. Levitan. If the phone is still on, can we get a ping off of it?

LEVITAN: Yes. Absolutely. If the phone is on and you send a text message we`ll know what cell power she is -- that`s about a three-square- mile area.

GRACE: No. I don`t mean -- no, no, no. I don`t mean if you send a text message. I mean if the phone is turned on and that`s it, can you get a ping off of it?

LEVITAN: Absolutely. The best way to get a ping is to ring it.

GRACE: OK. Got it. Got it.

LEVITAN: And that`ll give you all sorts of information.

GRACE: OK. To Abed Suleiman, I know that you are hearing his comments. What`s your response? What do you know?

SULEIMAN: He`s right. I mean I looked at things when I was calling - - every time I tried to call her and I was never able to verbally speak to her, I was trying to track -- you know because it went to a voicemail.

GRACE: OK.

SULEIMAN: And it went to it very quickly.

GRACE: So it goes straight to voicemail.

SULEIMAN: Like, wait, what I`m going to do --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Abed, Abed, Abed, Abed. Abed. Did it ring a couple of times and go to voicemail or did it go directly to voicemail?

SULEIMAN: It may have rung like once but it went fairly instantly. Like once or twice.

GRACE: OK. Got it.

SULEIMAN: And it went to voicemail.

GRACE: What does that say to you, Mr. Levitan?

SULEIMAN: It certainly rings like seven or eight times and then it goes to voicemail.

GRACE: All right. Hold on. Let me go to the expert. What does it say to you, Levitan?

LEVITAN: If it was seven or eight times that means she`s ignoring the call. If it went straight to voicemail maybe after one ring that means the phone is powered off.

GRACE: OK. Got it.

LEVITAN: And --

GRACE: Hold on.

To Shaka Lias, cops and court reporter with "The Daily Tribune," joining us.

What do you know, Shaka? What can you tell us?

SHAKA LIAS, COPS AND COURT REPORTER, THE DAILY TRIBUNE NEWS: Well, basically what everyone else has been saying, Sheriff Millsap and Mr. Suleiman. He has been very cooperative. I talked to him yesterday. And I flat out asked him, I said, is there a possibility that another man can be involved? Is there a possibility that you are a suspect?

And he said to the fact that no one else could be involved, that they are very religious and, you know, they`ve been married for 14 years. And like any couple they had their ups and downs but they`re very happy. He said he wasn`t a suspect. He`s been very cooperative with the sheriff and everything and basically he just wants his wife home.

He did say that they went out and made it as far as Dalton which is about 50 miles north of Cartersville and takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there depending on traffic and that`s when they realized that they had the wrong trip. And he came home and got home about 9:00 and his son said that, you know, mom left about 10 minutes before you got here so.

GRACE: We are taking your calls, out to Margaret.

Hi, Margaret. What`s your question, dear?

MARGARET, CALLER: Hi. My question is, the children have been interviewed.

GRACE: Yes.

MARGARET: But, the children, maybe the authorities need to look back on the last couple of weeks or even the months back and just get some background as to the family situation.

GRACE: Good question. Good point.

To Sheriff Clark Millsap, I noticed earlier that you alluded to the fact that do you not believe she left on her own, number one. Can you address that?

MILLSAP: Nancy, that was -- that was initially based on what Mr. Suleiman had said that she would never leave her children for more than 30 minutes at a time. That was our initial report, initial thoughts based on his initial reports to us.

GRACE: OK. I got it. So you`ve changed that thought.

MILLSAP: That it was just strange behavior. Yes. But basically right now we have changed that spot. That she could have gone and we`re hoping that she has taken a step back.

GRACE: Right. Let me ask you the next question.

MILLSAP: And we`ll make contact with her so that we can close this. OK.

GRACE: I`m trying to get as much information as I can out there tonight. That`s why I`m trying to go as quickly as I can.

Sheriff, who was the last person to have seen her alive outside her family?

MILLSAP: Her 12-year-old son. Outside the family? That`s his --

GRACE: Outside the family. Nobody saw her the day before?

MILLSAP: Yes, ma`am. That`s it.

GRACE: Nobody saw her the day before she went missing?

MILLSAP: Not to my knowledge, no, ma`am. Mr. Suleiman.

GRACE: Repeat.

MILLSAP: Mr. Suleiman and her children so --

GRACE: The day before? Nobody saw her the day before?

MILLSAP: Yes, ma`am. To my knowledge only the family saw her.

GRACE: What about at her job? What about her job?

MILLSAP: At her job? We`ve spoken to the people at her job, Nancy, and I`m not going release what they said to us.

GRACE: To Mr. Suleiman.

MILLSAP: It`s part of an open investigation.

GRACE: Abed Suleiman, did your wife go to work the day before she went missing?

SULEIMAN: No. They were on spring break, I told you. They were on break all week.

GRACE: That`s right.

SULEIMAN: Somebody did see her. People have to have because she went to Lowe`s that morning and made a purchase for the -- all the landscaping work that we`re doing.

GRACE: Good to know. OK, so now we`ve got her placed the day before at Lowe`s before all of this happens.

Out to Joe Navarro, former FBI profiler, author of "What Every Body is Saying."

Weigh in, Joe. I think I`ve got Joe.

JOE NAVARRO, FORMER FBI PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "WHAT EVERY BODY IS SAYING": We haven`t talked about this. Yes. The one thing we haven`t talked about is where is the car? Where is the car parked? What`s the situation with the evidence?

GRACE: I can tell you that. The car was found 12 miles away from the Wal-Mart, south of the Wal-Mart. It was abandoned. It was locked. No forced entry. Only fingerprints, hers and his. Next?

NAVARRO: Well, there`s more to it than that. What was inside the car? Was there any signs of struggle? I want to look at the brake pedal because depending on the weather and the type of shoe, you`re going to know who was the last person to touch that brake pedal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The husband claims he was away from the home hours earlier to go turkey hunting.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When his trip was cancelled, he came home early. She was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are hoping for the best, that she is well, wherever she is.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: A mom of five is missing.

Out to Vito Colucci, former Stamford detective, private investigator.

Weigh in, Vito.

VITO COLUCCI, FORMER STAMFORD DETECTIVE, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, Nancy, all this show we`ve been hearing he`s not a suspect, not a person of interest. I agree with that. But if I`m the lead detective, I`ve got a whole load of questions that this guy has to answer for me.

Here`s the problem now. First thing I want to have done is a polygraph on this guy. And you mentioned before about the gun residue. The gun residue should have been taken by this time, Nancy, on him.

GRACE: Well, at this point, it`s too late for that. But I`m heartened to know that he is willing.

To Dr. Keri Peterson. Dr. Peterson, the police have found the mom`s car. No signs of trauma. What would you expect to find in the car if there had been foul play in the car, Dr. Peterson?

DR. KERI PETERSON, M.D., INTERNAL MEDICINE, LENOX HILL HOSPITAL: Well, they are going to be looking for body fluids like blood and semen and urine, obviously, fingerprints which they already identified. Footprint impressions on the brake pedal and in the car. Bullet casings, gunshot residue. Things of that nature.

GRACE: With me, Keri Peterson from New York.

To John Manuelian, defense attorney, L.A.

John, the husband is now speaking freely, joining us live tonight. To me, that speaks to his innocence.

JOHN MANUELIAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I absolutely agree. I think by him coming forward, it`s going to help focus the investigation on who really took Miss Suleiman and not on Mr. Suleiman at this point.

GRACE: And to Paula Bloom, clinical psychologist, psychologically speaking, what does it say to you that when the car was found, the door was locked?

PAULA BLOOM, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, BLOGGER, PAULABLOOM.COM: What it says to me is that it`s likely that somebody had the key.

One of the things I want to address here is the possibility that she left out of her own volition. I think it`s really important to know it`s stressful to have five kids.

GRACE: Everyone, the tip line, 770-382-5050. Five children want their mother.

Let`s stop and remember Army Staff Sergeant Edward Karolasz, Carney, New Jersey, killed, Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Soldier`s Medal. Loved traveling, photography, sky diving, bungee jumping, his mother`s home cooking. Dreamed of being a cop. Motto, life is a journey, enjoy the ride.

Leaves behind parent Edward and Christina, sister Christine and Donna. Brother John.

Edward Karolasz, American hero.

Thank you to our guests but especially to you. And thank you to Indiana friend Michelle for this homemade blanket and a Tinkerbell DVD, which was a big hit for the twins.

And happy anniversary to our show`s executive producer Dean Sicoli and beautiful wife Karin. Nine years and three little boys later, Luke, Will, and Matthew. They are still going strong.

Happy anniversary Dean and Karin.

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

END