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Nancy Grace
Giordano Quits Cooperating with Aruban Police
Aired August 11, 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: Another American girl goes missing, Aruba. After Aruba police refuse to make a case against judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot in the disappearance of Alabama girl Natalee Holloway, a Maryland girl, Robyn Gardner, disappears without a trace from the very same resort town as Holloway.
Tonight, reports American girl Robyn Gardner snorkeling just off Baby Beach, a beach known for warm water and no waves, then, quote, "drifts out to sea." Not a single witness places Gardner at Baby Beach in the water or snorkeling, or even with snorkeling gear. In fact, this girl hated to even put her head under water in the pool.
Gardner`s mom travels to Aruba to find her daughter and says her so- called traveling companion, Gary Giordano, tries to hop a plane out of the country.
Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, we learn Gardner`s companion, Giordano, changes his story, no longer cooperating with police, cops now disseminating Giordano`s name and photo, begging for help.
And the FBI called in on the case, heading to Giordano`s house, described as a stone fortress, a stone fortress with a vast security system, complete with multiple cameras in every area of the house, including bedrooms. Tonight, where is American girl Robyn Gardner?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An American woman missing in Aruba.
GRACE: Without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six years after Natalee Holloway goes missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snorkeling story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Giordano`s story is that they were snorkeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m 100 percent sure that she wouldn`t have gone snorkeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) he couldn`t stand anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s somebody that`s concerned about getting her hair messed up, getting her make-up messed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not typical for her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Different take on this coming from the man who they have in custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No eyewitnesses to place them there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve got serious reservations about Mr. Giordano`s stories.
GRACE: Baby Beach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The water is so routinely calm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wasn`t swept out to sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have confiscated computers and smartphones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seizing the car, going to the hotel room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They think they`ve got their man that has the information as to what might have happened to Robyn Gardner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gary Giordano. Now, police have their doubts about Giordano`s story because it keeps changing. Here are a few of the versions of what says happened to Robyn. He says, number one, the couple went snorkeling together and Robyn never came back. Another version, the couple walked into the ocean until the water was over their head, and then Robyn disappeared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live to Missouri, a 3-year-old little girl on a pink bike, training wheels still attached, gone, vanished without a trace, she and the bike snatched directly in front of her parents` own home. In a disturbing development, in the last hours, police find what appears to be the training wheels, the training wheels from 3-year-old Breeann`s little bike unscrewed and thrown, hidden in a remote corn field. Tonight, where is 3-year-old Breeann?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time is of the essence in the search for little Breeann.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This girl vanishes playing outside with her brother.
GRACE: Riding her pink bike with training wheels.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breeann`s brother went inside for a drink.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breeann is gone. There`s no sign of her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This just in. Cops locate two training wheels found in a wooded lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard to believe no one saw anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They looked at surveillance video from stores.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a truck that didn`t belong (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A white, older model panel van, with a ladder on the back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) look for a white van.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Massive search effort. The dogs are out. The planes are out. The helicopters are out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The toddler`s disappearance is a mystery. There`s virtually no trail to follow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This as Breeann`s father claims he and Breeann`s mother both failed polygraph exams.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) my princess (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are looking and scouring for any clues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know somebody`s involved, but I haven`t proved it yet.
GRACE: This girl is gone! We have to find her!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, we learn Gardner`s companion, Giordano, now changing his story, Giordano no longer cooperating with Aruba police, cops now disseminating Giordano`s name and photo, begging for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another American, blond American, beautiful girl goes missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing in the paradise island nation of Aruba.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six years since the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.
GRACE: Apparently, last seen snorkeling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man she was with.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifty-year-old man named Gary Giordano.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When he reach shore, she was nowhere to be seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The idea of some sort of riptide or current that pulls her out to sea -- they don`t buy it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They think she got drowned in the sea water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) The current outside (ph) there (ph) is very harsh. It will take you away in minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The currents aren`t like that on the western side. You`re not going to get swept out to sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think she would go anywhere without her phone, without her iPad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last message I got from her was, I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are live in Aruba and taking your calls. Stunning developments in last hours in the search for American girl Robyn Gardner, Robyn Gardner, according to reports, last seen snorkeling off Baby Beach. Now we learn not a single witness can place her there on the beach or even with snorkel gear.
Straight out to Rupa Mikkilineni. Rupa, very disturbing developments in the last hours.
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Nancy. We`ve actually learned just today, within the last hour, prosecutors are saying that they are now calling Gary Giordano not only a person of interest and suspect in this investigation, but he is not being cooperative.
So they are now changing their strategy, Nancy. They`re going to be releasing his name -- of course, we`ve already had his name for the last couple of days, but now they are officially releasing his name, releasing photographs, releasing the rental car photos, to obtain tips from the public. They need the public`s help, Nancy.
GRACE: And another thing I`m finding out is about this guy, a little more about him, Giordano, her so-called traveling companion. He offered her a free trip to go with him to Aruba, no strings attached, apparently saying they were going as friends.
Now we find out police are going to search here in the States, his Maryland home. We find out that it`s compared to a stone fortress, complete with so-called security cameras, multiple cameras, in every area of the home, including bedrooms.
Straight out to Martin Savidge, CNN correspondent joining us in Aruba. Martin Savidge, the cops now disseminating his photo, his name, begging the public in Aruba for any information about seeing him or his car. What can you tell us, Martin?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it`s quite clear, Nancy, that the gloves are off now in this investigation, that the tactics have changed and that the Aruban authorities are going to take what they consider to be a much tougher stance when it comes to Gary Giordano.
He has been held, he`s been detained, and up until this point, they have only been naming him as a person of interest. Now it appears it`s getting much more serious, especially since they`re going to release his name to the public here. Keep in mind, he has not been known on the island down here. They didn`t put his name out specifically. They didn`t put his picture out. That`s all changing. They want tips. They want information. They want people who`ve seen anything to report it and tell them anything about the couple, where they were and how they might have been acting with one another.
Also, too, this is an island that very much follows the sort of European sense of security, many, many of these closed-circuit television cameras all over the place, in hotels and in public gathering spots. They`re being carefully scrutinized tonight.
And as you point out, the FBI now being asked to aid this investigation. This is very big because it will allow Aruban authorities to reach over to the United States to get phone records, to get access to the home, to get access to people who might give them a better understanding of the man that they`re currently holding in this particular case, Nancy.
GRACE: Well, you know, Martin Savidge, I`ve come up with a few tidbits of information about, as he describes himself, her traveling companion, Gary Giordano. We`ve learned quite a bit, have we not, Ellie Jostad.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, you`re right, Nancy. Our affiliate, WUSA, uncovered some very disturbing documents about Gary Giordano. There was a search warrant served on his house last year, according to these documents, after a woman claimed that he beat her, choked her during sex, and secretly taped the encounter. They actually served that warrant on his house, seized some videotapes. His attorney says the charges were never filed because they didn`t find anything incriminating.
GRACE: Well, wait a minute, Ellie. Isn`t it true that other sources say the women dropped the charges -- and there`s not just one. -- that women dropped charges against Giordano because they were deathly afraid of retaliation? You left that part out, Ellie!
JOSTAD: Yes, exactly, Nancy. WUSA sources do say that that is exactly why the women wouldn`t go forward. One of the women, who do know, is the woman who got a protective order against him. The state attorney`s office would only tell us that she did not want to cooperate, she did not want to go forward with the charges she was making against him. So there were no charges fired against Gary Giordano.
GRACE: Ellie! Ellie! Ellie! What about the woman that backs out of -- he offers her a free trip to Aruba.
JOSTAD: Right.
GRACE: She doesn`t go, and then allegedly sees him standing out in her back yard in some kind of freaky mask, holding a light up under his face?
JOSTAD: Yes. This is actually a story that is a little bit reminiscent about what some of Robyn Gardner`s friends say. This woman claims she was also offered a cruise tip with Gary Giordano, as we`re told Robyn Gardner was at one point. Like Robyn Giordano (SIC), this woman told Gary she didn`t want to go on the cruise with him. She says that later, he showed up outside her window, wearing a mask, a deer mask, is how she described it, and she said he illuminated his face with a cigarette lighter he was holding. And she said it scared the bejesus out of her.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, international criminal defense lawyer Michael Griffith, who`s very, very learned in Aruban law, Eleanor Odom, senior attorney with the National DAs Association -- she is death penalty-qualified -- Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta, and returning tonight, Renee Rockwell, defense attorney, Atlanta.
OK, Renee, let`s start with you. So here`s a guy that`s her traveling companion, whatever that means. He`s throwing out free trips to Aruba to young women, like they`re, you know, playing cards out of a deck of cards. When they turn him down, he shows up in a deer mask outside her window, shining a light under his face. And they say there are no single men left in America.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: And certainly, Nancy, there`s no free trip, is there. There`s a price tag on everything. This is the freaky stuff that you don`t want any kind of...
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Wait!
ROCKWELL: ... jury or tribunal...
GRACE: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Look at your monitor, Rockwell. How`d you like to see that outside your kitchen window one night?
ROCKWELL: No. And you don`t want any tribunal looking at this kind of stuff, Nancy, because...
GRACE: I do!
ROCKWELL: ... that`s who tries cases in Aruba. It`s not a jury system. So you definitely, as a defense attorney, want to keep that out. And that`s not relevant.
GRACE: So Eleanor Odom, put it together. This guy says she`s snorkeling with him, but not one witness can even place her on the beach. This is a girl who wouldn`t even put her head under water in the pool!
ELEANOR ODOM, NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOC.: I know. It`s clearly suspicious. We can`t show them there at all. This is a guy who`s all about power and control, and control over women, Nancy, and that is very dangerous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 50-year-old, Gary Giordano.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mister (ph) who has been detained, saying that they were snorkeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Swept out into deeper water in a circumstance like that, apart from a storm or anything, it`s virtually impossible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mystery in Aruba, as police try and figure out what happened to a beautiful young American tourist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Frantic search is on for Robyn Gardner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beautiful young woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The woman has just completely disappeared without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was with a traveling companion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 50-year-old man named Gary Giordano.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He states to the police they went to snorkel. He gave her a sign to come back to shore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And has not been seen ever since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s just so unlikely.
GRACE: It`s incredible how American girls just drift out to sea in Aruba!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are no witnesses saying they saw them in the actual water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just don`t see her going into the ocean. She`s just not that comfortable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have not found evidence of her renting snorkeling gear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not looking good at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t want to convict anybody here, but it`s certainly red flag city.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it`s very, very troubling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shades of Natalee Holloway here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. We are live in Aruba. Yet another American beauty goes missing off the shores of Aruba. And tonight, police in Aruba asking for help, asking has anyone seen Robyn Gardner, so-called traveling companion, a guy that was giving out free trips to Aruba to any young woman that would take him up on it. A lot of young women turned him down, apparently. Robyn Gardner not so lucky.
With us tonight, a special guest, Richard Forester. This is Robyn`s boyfriend. He has known her for years. They`ve been romantically involved now for some time. He met with the FBI today.
We`re showing shots of that so-called stone fortress. There you see one of the many, many security cameras he had -- translation according to one woman, secret sex surveillance cameras placed in the bedrooms, bathrooms, around the home.
Richard Forester, now that you learn he was offering other young women trips, free trips to Aruba -- I`m just sick that Robyn, for whatever reason -- I know she had lost her job. She was running dental assistants in a dental office, very responsible, had worked all her life, beautiful young girl, just wanted to get away, goes with him thinking no strings attached on a trip to Aruba as friends. I know you`re sick. I know you`re sick, Richard.
RICHARD FORESTER, ROBYN`S BOYFRIEND: I am. I am. Yes, it`s very hard not knowing. You know, I would ask anybody who knows anything about him to come forward and say anything and everything, anybody out there. Do it anonymously. Contact your local authorities. Contact the FBI. This man isn`t right.
And I`m optimistic, as much as I can, that she`s still out there. Maybe she -- when he came to shore, she tried to get away and swam away and went to hide. I don`t know. Maybe he did something awful. I don`t know. I`m up late at night wondering and not sleeping and -- I just want her back.
GRACE: Richard Forester, you of all people may know the answer to this. Was her FaceBook or her computer seemingly still on after she`s reported missing?
FORESTER: Yes. Yes. I`m the one who figured that out. She has a GMail account. And on GMail, there`s a GChat feature. And when it`s on and you`re active on GMail, there`s a green indicator light. And when it`s orange, it means that you`ve been on there but it`s gone idle. When it goes gray, it means that you`re off. Hers throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday, the day after she was reporting missing, was green and orange and gray both days. And I was trying to instant message her but no return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what they call Baby Beach down here in Aruba. It`s at the southwestern tip of the island. It`s a public beach. And as you can no doubt tell, it is an absolutely gorgeous beach. But it was on this very spot August 2nd that Gary Giordano -- he is the American that`s now in custody -- says that he and Robyn Gardner were snorkeling late in the afternoon, and that at one point, they became separated. He came ashore and she apparently did not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One person doesn`t get swept out and another doesn`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They launched a pretty extensive search, but no sign of Robyn Gardner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Jason in Canada. Hi, Jason. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have two questions, Nancy.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first one, didn`t this woman do a background check on this man? And what does her friends and co-workers think happened?
GRACE: Good question, Jason. You know, I want to go to someone that is in a perfect position of knowing. Christina Jones is joining us tonight. This is Robyn`s best friend. You know, Christina, very often when you start hanging out with somebody, whether it`s a friend or a boyfriend, you don`t do a background check.
CHRISTINA JONES, FRIEND OF ROBYN GARDNER: I`ve never done a background check on anyone I`ve dated. I mean, you want to best -- you want to hope for the best in everyone. And Robyn was that kind of girl.
GRACE: Dana what was the caller`s second question? Did she do a background check, and what was the other question Jason had? Oh. What do her friends think happened? And what did you think of this guy, Christina?
JONES: God, this is so overwhelming! Robyn knew about Gary`s past and his record before she got on the plane to go to Aruba with him. And I only know -- I only know that they had been friends for over a year and that he has made some alarming comments to her by text message, and that he had offered to take her on a cruise two months ago, and she was going to go.
And then at the last minute, she declined and decided that, you know, she wasn`t feeling right about it. She didn`t tell me why she wasn`t going to go. And he responded back with, like, very aggressive text messages. I don`t feel comfortable saying what they said. But so when she said she was going to Aruba with Gary, who I`ve never met but have seen photos of, I wasn`t excited because I was concerned for her. But she calmed me and said that it was OK, that the trip to Aruba was what she needed.
GRACE: What do you mean by, what she needed? She just needed a break, to go somewhere nice for a few days?
JONES: I think it`s more that she`d lost her job and that, you know, her relationship wasn`t exactly all that it seems to be, and she had to get out of town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t even explain it. It`s been six days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gardner`s travel companion, reportedly an American named Gary Giordano, allegedly claims the two were snorkeling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Another American girl goes missing off Aruban shores, known for warm water and no waves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Authorities continue to question the prime suspect in this case who is Gary Giordano.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: They are questioning him, and they are interrogating him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities wonder if he is telling them everything he knows.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This story is probably a lie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s somebody that`s concerned about getting her hair messed up, getting her make-up messed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No witnesses that actually saw the couple snorkeling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The dive team or the dive store people say the area they went is not an area where people would typically good snorkeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t see her go snorkeling. I can`t see her going into the water much more above her waist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That probably the sea got her off shore. He couldn`t stand anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Currents aren`t like that on the western side. You`re not going to get swept out to sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two women that came to this island -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In a stunning turn of events, we learned that Robyn Gardner`s so-called traveling companion is now not cooperating with Aruban police.
Police begging the public for tips, not only about seeing him, Gary Giordano, but his car as well.
Diana, Lets see a shot of his car. Unleash the lawyers. Michael Griffith, Eleanor Odom, Peter Odom, Renee Rockwell.
Peter Odom, the more I find out about this guy, the worse it seems to get. But reputation and background aside, let`s take a look at his story as to what happened that day. He says they go snorkeling, which you know is shallow water. If you`re not in shallow water you can`t see the bottom, you can`t see anything. You have to go deep sea diving to something down at the bottom. This should be in shallow water, and he says she drifts out to sea? Wait until 6:30 to report her missing? Some reports that he was in dry clothes when he reports her missing. And then according to her boyfriend, Richard Forrester, her I pad is still on into the next day?
PERTER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORYNEY: There are a couple questions that no one has answered yet, Nancy. Has anyone figured out whether all of her stuff was back in her room or not? Did they search her room? Did they know whether she went missing, and took anything with her? Was everything left in tack back in her? I mean, she`s an adult woman, she can do what she wants, she doesn`t have to stay with him. She could have hopped a plane back. But, we don`t have any evidence that she did any of that.
GRACE: You`re suggesting?
PETER ODOM: At this point it`s a missing person`s case only. There`s no body. So, I want to know if the police have delved into that.
GRACE: So, you think she caught a plane and is hiding out? She has no income, her credit cards haven`t been used, her ATM hasn`t been used, her cell phone hasn`t been used. So?
PETER ODOM: So, those are the questions that have to be asked.
GRACE: Well, I`m giving you the answer right now.
PETER ODOM: What if anything did she take with her from her room?
GRACE: OK. I just -
PETER ODOM: Right now, it`s a missing person`s case, Nancy.
GRACE: Are you heading toward - you said, did she hop a plane? She`s a grown woman, what did you mean by that? Obviously she`s a grown woman.
PETER ODOM: What I`m suggesting, Nancy is right now this is a missing person`s case.
GRACE: OK. Yes.
Richard Forrester, you`re the boyfriend. Respond to that. Respond to Odom`s suggestion that she`s the one at fault here, that she`s faking all of us, that she`s alive and well kicking back some where on a beach, maybe having one of those little drink with an umbrella in it. That`s where he`s going with this, Richard.
RICHARD FORRESTER, ROBYN GARDNER`S BOYFRIEND: OK. Well, she would have contacted my cell or Christina if that were the case. She, from what I understand, the authorities have her I pad, her phone, and I`m assuming her purse with her wallet, because they did ask me about the car keys that were in her purse. So she didn`t go anywhere. She did not leave on her own without anything else.
GRACE: To Michael Griffith, the International Criminal Defense Lawyer, what`s wrong with Aruba? I mean why now after all these days after she`s gone missing are they just now going, yes, maybe we should let his picture and car, his rental car be made public? So maybe somebody saw it. All those people that were there for that week of tourism, they`re gone, Michael. What is wrong with them?
MICHAEL GRIFFITH, LAWYER, INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE: Good evening, Nancy, we`ve been down this road before with Van Der Sloot. They let him out of jail twice. There was no real investigation. As you probably know, the U.S. has jurisdiction over this case, because if a crime is committed against a U.S. citizen overseas we retain jurisdiction such in the mass Alabama case.
And in this particular case, the FBI should be down there assisting the Arubans and possibly leading the investigation. Nancy, you know, I`m not a big fan of what goes on in the Caribbean, you have a pet name for me, and that`s barbecue. The reason you call me barbecue, when four Americans were accused of murdering a girl down there, the police for seven months kept his shirt which was bloodied and barbecue sauce, people eventually got off. The Arubans have proofs that they`re not competent to do this. Let the U.S take over the investigation.
GRACE: Well, don`t you think it`s a day late and a dollar short to say, bring in the feds now? I mean any evidence that was there is gone. Any tourists that were there that could have seen him or spotted him, they are gone back home.
And to you, Dr. Bethany Marshall, Psychoanalyst, Author of Deal Breakers. Weigh-in on this, a lot of people are finding fault with Robyn Gardner. She is the missing girl. Claimed she had a boyfriend why`d she go away.
Can`t she go away on vacation no strings attached with a guy that claims he`s just a friend? She didn`t know he was a perv.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, She can go and do anything she wants to do. But this is the kind of attitude this guy preyed on with these women. He dangled gifts in front of them like cruises. Then he would get them into some isolated remote area or he would have sex with them in his house, he would tape it. He would release the tapes on the internet with one woman, he actually put tapes in five of the neighbor`s mailboxes in order to threaten, intimidate, harassed her and manipulate her into some kind of submission. He`s a sadist and a stalker.
GRACE: T.J., private investigator, you worked extensively on the Natalee Holloway case. Explain what the Aruban police are thinking?
T.J. WARD, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Hopefully they`re going to take some incentive after being embarrassed in the last investigation they did, and hopefully they`re going to take the incentive to be aggressive in this case. Obviously now that he`s changed his story, is the time to get aggressive and go forward and see if they get new information out of him.
GRACE: To Martin Savidge, CNN correspondent joining us live in Aruba, also taking your calls. I know that there are helicopters, helicopter activity looking out in the water wouldn`t her body have washed ashore by now? And what do you make of Peter Odom`s unusual assertion that she`s probably still alive and hopped a plane to somewhere else?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Clearly if that`s the case, many people would love to believe that she is alive and well, but her family would probably have heard from her, so it seems unlikely, and authorities would have been notified in some way shape or form. The tragic part here is that she is missing, and more and more as time goes by, it appears she`s suffered a very unfortunate fate perhaps at the hands of the traveling companion.
We`re trying to find out exactly where he`s being held at this particular time. And it`s difficult, because authorities are not revealing which prison he`s being held out. It`s actually a jail, and there are a number of them on the eye land. It`s probably San Nicholas because it`s near the beach where we are now. Or could be at Santa Cruz, which is very near the airport where he was detained when he was trying to leave the country. So the focus right now is of course hoping she would be alive some place. The realistic attitude is that is not very likely.
GRACE: Let`s talk to Christina Jones, her best friend and Richard Forrester, the boyfriend. Let`s see both of them. Christina, Richard, thank you for being with us.
Christina, did you tell me, that I heard it correctly that she knew about his background when she went on the trip?
CHRISTINA JONES, ROBYN GARDNER`S BEST FRIEND: I wish I could tell you that is not the case right now, but she did tell me he had a criminal record for violence toward women. I have known that for I`d say over you know over -
GRACE: Did she know about the alleged stalking and the allegations in the documents?
JONES: No.
GRACE: Documents, the court documents that he was surveying women in his bedroom?
JONES: No, I just know that she said he had some type of abuse toward a female and that he had some type of legitimate story where he just kind a sugar coated it and made her feel OK about it. And basically put the blame on the other female.
GRACE: You know, Richard Forrester many people say she decided to go out of town because of her relationship with you. Were you all in an argument?
FORRESTER: Nothing, I don`t think out of the ordinary that most couples have. I mean, we had our ups and downs. But at that particular time, no, we had just been to Annapolis and had a nice time and had lunch and had a nice day Saturday day and then she had to leave. So, I wasn`t real happy that she had to leave right away. I was hoping she would stay.
GRACE: Everyone, this girl believes she`s getting a no strings attached free trip to Aruba, with a man who claimed to be just a friend. She`s not been seen since August 2.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Another beautiful missing woman in Aruba.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robyn Gardner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What has happened to her? Where is she?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The biggest clue, Gary Giordano.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was on the beach apparently on the beach snorkeling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got one option. When couldn`t stand anymore and when he reached shore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, we are taking your calls, straight out to Eleanor Odom, Senior Attorney with the National D.A.`s Association. Eleanor your take?
ELEANOR ODOM, SENIOR ATTORNEY, THE NATIONAL D.A.`S ASSOCIATION: Well Nancy, if someone who is surveilling these women and taping it, what he`s doing is using that later and looking at it and kind a getting off on all of that. As I said before this is a very dangerous predator and you really have to look at him. A leopard doesn`t change his spots. He`s abusing one woman after another.
GRACE: He`s not just surveilling women, he`s videoing them during sex.
ELEANOR ODOM: So he can use it later and watch it.
GRACE: In one of the episode, think about it Elle. In one of the episodes he was taping, he started beating the woman, beating the woman during all of this. And he wanted to tape that?
ELEANOR ODOM: I knowing Nancy, that`s because he wants to use it later and sort to re-live that crime. And we see that so often with these abusers. And then a lot of domestic violence cases, this is not unusual.
GRACE: You`re kidding?
ELEANOR ODOM: No. I mean, it`s sad -
GRACE: I find having your stone fortress completely tricked out with video cameras in every room, I find that highly unusual.
ELEANOR ODOM: Well, that is unusual, but you`d be surprised Nancy, how many perverts are taping their crimes and taping what they`re doing, often without the females knowing it. Getting one victim after another into their home and videotaping it.
GRACE: OK, Dr. Bethany, I have to go to you on that. Help me out here. I`m just a trial lawyer.
BETANY MARSHALL, AUTHOR, DEAL BREAKERS: Eleanor used a great word, pervert. This guy has a perversion. What`s a perversion? He tapes the women unknowingly so he can watch it later, that`s like a peeping tom, someone who looks through someone`s window, gets great satisfaction that the other person does not know what`s happening. Also, he digitally and manually strangled, tried to strangle a woman while taping. What is that? The perversion is that he`s a sadist. Sadists love -
GRACE: Peter Odom, you want me to think she just hopped a plane?
PETER ODOM: Nancy, is there any evidence that these women that were videotaped that it was without their consent?
GRACE: Put him up, please.
PETER ODOM: I mean, there are plenty of women that allow them selves to be videotaped and unfortunately there are men that misused it.
GRACE: She was choked and beaten about the face and legs.
PETER ODOM: Parable if that what happened. But what I`m saying is why all the name calling. You`re convicting this man of murder before there`s a body found.
GRACE: you`re talking about me? Try to talk about the facts if you can.
PETER ODOM: The facts are you have him missing person.
GRACE: Rupa, this is not name calling as Peter Odom calls it. All of this is in court documents.
RUPA: That`s right, Nancy. All of it is in court documents, and he`s had an extensive record here. Now, granted the convictions are just with larceny, but he`s been investigated.
GRACE: To Dr. Robert Kaufmann, Doctor of Internal Medicine. I know that investigators went into the hotel room where Robyn stayed. What could they have possibly had been getting out of that room, doctor.
DR. ROBERT KAUFMANN, DOCTOR, INTERNAL MEDICINE: There could be signs of a them fighting or struggling. They could be evidence of where they had sex or forcibly had sex, which we don`t know.
I mean, do we really know they went snorkeling? No, it could have been something that happened in the room and she was taken somewhere else.
GRACE: Right.
KAUFMANN: So, all we know is that they did spend time in the room, and there may be evidence of foul play from the room.
GRACE: Another thing, Dr. Robert Kaufmann, if she did die in the ocean and her body is found, do you believe the body could reveal any usable forensics?
KAUFMANN: Well, it depends a lot on the temperature of the water. It depends how many fish or things like that could help destroy the body. There`s all sorts of things that could happen. But it certainly if you do find a body, I do believe you could find some good evidence.
GRACE: Everyone, the tip line 407-237-2295. And now to a 3-year-old girl missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: She`s just 3 years old, vanished without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was out by herself with her bicycle.
GRACE: Snatched directly in front of her own home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would think that a 3-year-old would stick in front of her yard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within five minutes of Breeann being reported missing, police on the scene -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Search in full gear.
GRACE: Door-to-door searches.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By land, by air, by water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This 3-year-old little girl taken from in front of her own home. Her parents inside. Along with her, her pink bicycle, training wheels still attached.
To Todd Bonacki, KZIM. I understand that the training wheels had been found, thrown into a corn field?
TODD BONACKI, REPORTER, KZIM NEWS RADIO: That`s exactly right, Nancy. I tell you what, here in the heartland of America, the worst nightmare of parents could possibly experience is continuing, chilling evidence found in the last 48 hours just breaking now late today. They are confirming two training wheels have been found and Nancy, we understand Breeann`s father says he`s absolutely sure that these were the ones attached to his little girl`s bike when it disappeared with her Saturday morning at 11:30 in the morning. He says he knows for sure that he manipulated these two training wheels to fit and form her bike to fit her height. And he knows these are an absolute perfect match.
GRACE: With us, Todd Bonacki, KZIM. And speaking of Breeann`s father he is with us tonight, Edgar Rodriguez, father of Brianne.
Edgar, Thank you for being with us. Explain to me how you know for sure that these training wheels are the ones attached, that were attached to her body?
EDGAR RODRIGEZ, BREEANN`S FATHER: Well, we bought her the bike and I put the training wheels on. When she would ride it outside, any type of indentation on the ground the middle wheel would spin because it was supported by the training wheels. And I keep telling myself that I was going to take a wrench and loosen one up. But I never did and one time, I was outside with my daughter and I got upset because she kept having trouble with it. So I told her to get off, and I bent one of the wheel and that way the bike wouldn`t be so wobbly. It`d be supported more on the middle wheel.
And when they told me about it, I told them that they told me how I could identify this training wheel and they showed me one. It had no bend in it. No bend whatsoever. And I told the FBI at that time if that had a bend on the top part of it, the other one should. I didn`t see the other training wheel for about 20 minutes later. And that`s when the FBI pretty much realized and they didn`t have to show it to me. But they did. And that`s when they showed it to me. I 100 percent know. (Inaudible)
GRACE: Right. Mr. Rodriguez, let me ask you. Why do you believe that you and the child`s mother failed your polygraphs?
RODRIGUEZ: I don`t know. Honestly. Honestly, when my wife went in there first to do the polygraph and she failed it. I mean, of course as a father when somebody tells you somebody fails a polygraph, it automatically raises a doubt. You know?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: The training wheels apparently removed from this little girl`s bike found discarded in a corn field. With me, her father who struggled to get those training wheels on to the bike is convinced these are the training wheels.
To Mr. Edgar Rodriguez, you were explaining your theory as to why you and your wife failed the poly.
RODRIGUEZ: Yes. I mean, I don`t know. I mean to be completely honest with you; I mean I really don`t believe that we did fail it. When they told me, I thought it might have been like some kind of tool the FBI uses to squeeze every drop of information relevant or not you can give them. They just say we failed it. I don`t know why.
GRACE: Mr. Rodriguez, it speaks to volumes to me that you are coming on with us tonight and answering your questions as well as the viewers` question. I want to get out the tip line. 866-371-tips.
Alexis, what about the white van?
ALEXIS WEED, PRODUCER, THE NANCY GRACE SHOW: Police are looking for a white van that is believed to have been seen around Breeann`s home a couple of days before she went missing on Saturday. This van is said to be a cargo style white van. They don`t know the make, the model, the year of this van. But it said to have no windows on the side but perhaps a ladder leading up the back that would access the roof of that van.
GRACE: Everyone, I want to confirm that the parents in this case have been totally cooperative with police. Even going out and searching for the little girl themselves.
The tip line 866-371-tips. There`s a nearly $50,000 reward to find Breeann.
Let`s stop and remember Airman First Class Leebernard Chavis, 21, Hampton Virginia, killed in Iraq. Awarded a purple heart. Played percussion in a school marching band. Loved cars and fancy clothes. Wanted to be a cop. He left behind parents, Michael and Jacqueline, brother Michael. Leebernard Chavis American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us.
And tonight a very special congratulations to Georgia friend Captain Allan Farmer. After 38 years he retires from law enforcement from Henry County Sheriffs. Plans to ride his Harley and travel with wife Jackie and puppy daisy. Congratulations Captain!
And happy 99 to Pennsylvania friend Mamie. She lives on her own in her apartment, cook, clean her own shopping. Happy Birthday Mamie.
And good night from Georgia, Florida, and Ohio friends Greg, Myra, Nathaniel, and Caleb. Aren`t they a handsome bunch?
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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