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Nancy Grace
Another Crack in Missing Washington 2-Year-Old`s Mother`s Story
Aired November 10, 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, Washington state. Mystery surrounding the disappearance of a 2-year-old little boy vanishing from Mommy`s silver Acura sports car after she says she runs out of gas. But when she leaves the Acura on the side of the road, Mommy takes the 4- year-old sister but not the 2-year-old baby boy, Baby Sky allegedly asleep still strapped in the carseat. Cops say no sign of forced entry, and the car starts right up, no problem. Cops confirm no relatives spot the baby for two full weeks.
Bombshell tonight. Did Mommy copy an episode of "Law and Order SVU"? We confirm Mommy`s car had plenty of gas to drive for miles, although Mommy claims it`s on empty when she leaves it on the side of the road. Another stunning twist, Mommy`s FaceBook page full of photos of her 4-year-old little girl but practically none of 2-year-old baby Sky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sky`s still missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But claims she ran out of gas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story doesn`t add up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 2.2 gallons of gas still in the tank.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother`s story is falling apart day to day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother is the last to have seen the child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That she would leave the child alone on a chilly morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to scratch your head and wonder why. If that`s really what happened, why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And mother`s version sounds a lot like an episode of "Law and Order SVU."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great similarity to this case. I heard that it aired Saturday, the day before the disappearance of Sky.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They took him!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They took the car! Nate was in the back seat! I was only gone for a minute!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What, are you kidding me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He needed diapers! I didn`t want to wake him!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you thinking!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They stole my car! My son was in the back seat! Someone stole my baby! Someone stole my son!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Mystery surrounding the disappearance of a 2- year-old little boy, allegedly vanishing from Mommy`s silver Acura sports car after she says she ran out of gas. But did Mommy copy an episode of "Law and Order SVU? We confirm Mommy`s car -- plenty of gas to drive for miles, although she claimed it was on empty when she leaves baby Sky on the side of the road.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing 2-year-old boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are looking for clues to the disappearance of Sky Metalwala.
SOLOMON METALWALA, MISSING BOY`S FATHER: Why would she leave him in the car?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Said she ran out of gas and walked more than a mile to this Bellevue gas station.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there was a sufficient amount of gas in that vehicle to run it for a considerable distance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they examined the car, they found 2.2 gallons of gas still in the tank.
GRACE: No gas can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a little bit of fuel in there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mom`s story has remained the same.
METALWALA: The whole story does not add up. There`s something missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The timeline is very troubling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In regard to the FaceBook page, it`s unusual, I guess, at first glance, that a mother of two children would only have a predominantly, you know, one-sided view of her family on FaceBook. That seems odd to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight out to Joe Gomez, KTRH. Joe, it`s beginning to look very disturbing. Have you looked on that FaceBook site? Practically no pictures of baby Sky. It`s all about the 4- year-old little girl.
And I don`t know about you, but I`ve combed over that "Law and Order SVU" episode, which I`ve also learned that that was Mommy`s favorite show. She never missed it, Joe Gomez. Weigh in.
JOE GOMEZ, KTRH RADIO: Well, that`s right, Nancy. This is very strange. Why would she leave her beautiful 2-year-old baby boy strapped in a carseat all alone by the side of the road, by the side of the road all alone while she went to the gas station with her 4-year-old daughter? I mean, why would she do that! And then they come back, and the car starts up, starts up just fine and it has gas in the tank? Nancy, something doesn`t sit right here!
GRACE: You know, there were over two-and-a-half gallons of gas left, which would have taken her well past 50 miles.
Also, joining me right, a special guest, Major Mike Johnson, joining us from Bellevue Police Department. Major, thank you for being with us.
MAJ. MIKE JOHNSON, BELLEVUE POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Hello, Nancy. Thanks for having me on.
GRACE: Major, the mother is not a formal suspect. Let me just put that out there right now. But I`m concerned that her story is falling apart. She had nearly three gallons of gas in the car when cops went to crank it up. It cranked up immediately. And you guys brought in bloodhounds, scent dogs. Obviously, they picked up baby Sky`s smell in the SUV, but then nothing around the car. How can that be?
JOHNSON: Well, the theory that Julia would have us believe is that someone came along and took Sky from the car and took him away from the scene, and that would explain why there would be no scent leading away from the car, as well.
GRACE: But Major! Major -- with me, Major Mike Johnson, also taking your calls -- let me hearken back to the Laci Peterson case. Remember that, Major? Remember that in Modesto, California? Scott Peterson killed -- murdered his pregnant wife, nine months pregnant, wrapped her in a tarp, put her and her unborn baby at the bottom of the San Francisco Bay with cement blocks. She got loose of the cement blocks in death.
The bloodhounds picked up her scent all the way to San Francisco Bay. They went from her house all the way to San Francisco Bay. She was wrapped in a tarp in the back of a car, all right? So needless to say, she wasn`t walking. Neither was baby Sky. So the theory that someone picked the baby up and carried it out of the car -- that doesn`t matter, does it, Major?
JOHNSON: It`s something that has been reported to us and something that we have to consider. It`s not a strong theory in our eyes, either.
GRACE: Everyone, with us tonight is a special guest, joining us exclusively in primetime, Solomon Metalwala. This is baby Sky`s father. And I think that it speaks volumes that he is here with me and with you taking your calls and questions. He is not afraid of the glare of the lights and the cameras. And with him is his attorney, very well known in that area, attorney for baby Sky`s father Clay Terry, both of them joining us exclusively tonight out of Seattle.
Mr. Metalwala, I have two children myself, both ages 4. And I can only imagine what you`re going through right now, wondering where is your baby. When did you first learn baby Sky was missing, Solomon?
SOLOMON METALWALA, FATHER: I found that out at 10:38 AM when three police officers came to my house.
GRACE: Now, are you living separately from the mother, Julia?
METALWALA: Yes, I`m living separately from her.
GRACE: And I know you guys are in the midst of a break-up, which just adds on to everything. So the mom didn`t call you? Julia didn`t call you and tell you? The police came and told you?
METALWALA: Yes, the police came and told me.
GRACE: Clay Terry, you`re the lawyer here. Why didn`t the mom call? That would be the first thing that I would do is call the father, call my parents, call the whole family. Everybody get mobilized. We`ve got to find the baby. Why did police have to come tell him?
LESLIE CLAY TERRY III, SOLOMON`S ATTORNEY: Good evening, Nancy. We`re all mystified by it. It would seem like the first thing that she would do is set aside any of the bad feelings or the contentious feelings, because the most important thing here is the child. And she didn`t do it, and she has not been in touch with the family, and neither has anyone else surrounding her.
GRACE: I want to go back from Clay Terry, the lawyer out of Seattle, to Solomon Metalwala. Everyone, this is baby Sky`s father, and he is unafraid to answer my questions or yours, here with his lawyer.
Solomon, you guys are in the middle of a divorce. I understand that.
METALWALA: Yes.
GRACE: Could you explain to me -- one thing off the top is, is it true that "Law and Order" is one of Julia`s favorite shows?
METALWALA: Yes, it is. She loves that show. She will always watch it.
GRACE: Now, another thing, Solomon, I don`t understand this whole obsessive-compulsive disorder. I know that Julia was involuntarily committed in the past. It`s my understanding -- and I`ve got a shrink here to explain it to us. But how would it manifest, the OCD?
I know that she wouldn`t want anybody to sleep on the beds because they were made perfectly, a lot of times wouldn`t have food in the house because it made a mess, didn`t want people using the commode because she thought that was dirty. Explain to me, what -- how did it manifest in your daily life, this obsession she had?
METALWALA: Well, our daily lives were like hell. And we -- we just tried to -- she`s a person that I did care for and I wanted to be as supportive as I could be to my wife. You know, she was my wife. And when her disorder was showing onto the children, and then that`s when I say, you know, We`ve got to do something more than we have already done.
GRACE: Well, how was the disorder showing on the children? What do you mean by that?
METALWALA: Well, Julia, before March 10th, she kept on saying that she wanted to kill herself. And she said it so much that Miley (ph) started to repeat, I want to kill myself. And that`s why I go, You know what? Whatever we`re doing right now is not enough. We`re going to have to do more.
GRACE: You know, I know that she was an obsessive and compulsive cleaner at the house and would, like, only vacuum in straight lines. Is that true?
METALWALA: Yes, that`s absolutely true.
GRACE: What else would she do as far as keeping the house clean and keeping the children clean?
METALWALA: She had a routine. It would go for six to seven hours. So she would clean the whole house every day. It didn`t matter if we used that area or not, but it just -- it had to be cleaned all the way through. So starting from the kitchen to all the cupboards, all the plates that were outside display. If we had one or two picture frames, she had to wipe that, the mantle, the TV. Everything had to be wiped out clean with just water and soap.
GRACE: OK. Now, hold on. You mean plates that were on display? You`d have to -- she`d have to clean them?
METALWALA: Yes.
GRACE: OK. I can only imagine what happened in the bathroom. How did she clean the bathroom?
METALWALA: The exact same way. Every inch, every corner. She would Windex the mirror before and after she used the bathroom. Every corner would get cleaned with water and soap.
GRACE: OK, this is something -- I think I didn`t understand it. You mean after she would go in and tee-tee, or urinate, she would Windex the bathroom window before and after she`d use the bathroom?
METALWALA: Yes. So after she -- before and after, she would clean the toilet, and then she would window (ph) the mirror because she has been inside that room. So for her to be at peace again, that room needs to get re-cleaned.
GRACE: OK. Solomon Metalwala, let me ask you this. I have 4-year- old children. They just turned 4 last weekend. They poop all the time. They vomit all the time. Their noses are running all the time. Their hands are -- their face, everything`s dirty. I carry wet wipes with me everywhere, and Purell. How did she deal with a 2-year-old boy being dirty?
METALWALA: All I can say is, Julia did not take care of Miley. Soon as Miley woke up, I had to rush home from work and take care of Miley throughout the day until it was nighttime for us to come back home.
GRACE: What about baby Sky? What about baby Sky`s poopy pants and his vomit? Did that just drive her crazy?
METALWALA: Yes, I would believe so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detectives will tell me that we`d like to set up another interview with Julia. I don`t know when that`ll come or if it will come, but I expect that that would be the path we`ll take.
It wouldn`t be an issue of forcing -- forcing an interview. We would extend the invitation just as we did before, through her attorney, and ask her to cooperate.
All of that is dependent on whether or not she`s a person of interest or a suspect, and at this point, she`s not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we have here is a genuine mystery of a missing child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Julia Byrukova claims she ran out of gas, says she left her sleeping son in his carseat, only to discover him missing when she returned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you hear this story that mom has told, you have to scratch your head and wonder why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our priority is to find Sky and find out what happened to him, whether he`s OK or not. We believe Julia holds the key to that, and we would really like the help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sky is anywhere else other than either, you know, near the apartment where he lived, or in the area where he was left in the car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. And with me tonight, a special guest, not afraid of your calls, which we certainly don`t know what you`re going to ask, not afraid of the glaring camera lights. The father of baby Sky, Solomon is with us. Also with us, Clay Terry, his attorney. Also joining us, Major Mike Johnson from the Bellevue Police Department.
OK, Clay Terry, some in Mom`s camp have argued that your client, the father, hasn`t seen his son in nine months. What say you, counsel?
TERRY: Actually, it`s been since December 10th, 2010. And the reason why is because the mother used facilities that were available for her to alienate and isolate the father by filing false charges against him. She started with a number of different charges, all of them disproven, all of them rubbish. But under our court system, when they make the allegation, they end up putting restraining orders on.
And they want to make the investigations or they want to determine what happened. And no matter what we said or what we did, she continued to make allegations...
GRACE: You know what?
TERRY: ... of abuse against the children.
GRACE: Whatever is happening between the parents, you know, I`m sorry about that. But all I care about, Clay Terry, is where is baby Sky? The mother is not an official suspect.
I`ve got Major Mike Johnson in my ear. Major, before I go to Alexis, let me ask you something. Isn`t it true that there`s over two gallons of gas in the car and the car started up immediately?
JOHNSON: I can`t confirm the exact amount of gas, but I can tell you that there is a sufficient amount of gas to travel an ample distance to several gas stations.
GRACE: And another thing, Major Johnson, you and others -- well, others have told me Mommy did not carry a cell phone. You know what? When I`m with my children and I`m on the road alone with them, I carry two cell phones, AT&T and Verizon, so I can always call somebody if I need them.
And I told you this, Major, I practice carrying both of my twins at the same time. I don`t understand her story. Why did she leave the baby in the car, Major?
JOHNSON: We don`t know, and we`d like the answer to that question as much as you would.
GRACE: Has she taken a polygraph, Major Johnson?
JOHNSON: Has she taken one? No, she has not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Solomon Metalwala says nothing prepared him for the news that Sky has disappeared. He and his wife, Julia, have been going through a bitter divorce.
METALWALA: My scariest part (ph) is, is that she -- she gave Sky to somebody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The father is claiming that she had such severe OCD that she would vacuum in straight lines, that she would not keep food in the cupboards, not keep food in her refrigerator, leaving the kids with no food in the home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This woman was diagnosed as severe OCD. It`s highly unusual for people to have dreams of killing and strangling their children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you have two kids, you need to abandon your vehicle, you make it work and you take the kids with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard yesterday from police just what you were saying, that the only person who has seen 2-year-old Sky in the last two weeks was a neighbor. The neighbor couldn`t pin down exactly what day he was last seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. We are taking your calls. Where is baby Sky?
Straight out to Lori in Canada. Hi, dear, what`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have one question. I have two kids, and they`re a little bit older, but...
GRACE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... at 4 years old, when asked a question, they could answer. Has anybody asked the other child that was with the mom?
GRACE: Good question. Did you have another?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I think that`s about it.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m interested to know that because I think that would lead to a lot of answers here.
GRACE: Major Mike Johnson, you guys initially spoke to the 4-year-old little girl, but then you talked to her again. Let me understand something, Major. Baby Sky`s carseat was in the back seat, correct?
JOHNSON: Yes.
GRACE: And where was the 4-year-old girl sitting in the car?
JOHNSON: In a carseat next to him.
GRACE: So would she have been able to see his face?
JOHNSON: Difficult to say, but presumably, yes.
GRACE: When you saw the car, was a baby blanket still in the car?
JOHNSON: I can`t talk about exactly what was in the car.
GRACE: OK. Let me go to -- understood, Major -- Casey McNerthney, reporter joining us from Seattlepi.com. Casey, what are your sources telling you? Were there any of baby Sky`s playthings, a sippy cup, a bottle, a blanket, anything in that car?
CASEY MCNERTHNEY, SEATTLEPI.COM (via telephone): We haven`t heard anything like that. And although we have heard that at the mother`s nearby apartment in a nearby city, the police have taken some items for DNA analysis. Because of the investigation, the police haven`t said exactly what those are, but we haven`t heard that any kind of sippy cups or things like that have been taken from the car.
GRACE: We also learned tonight police digging through trash dumps and landfills. Major Johnson, have you guys started looking through trash to determine, for instance, were there dirty dipes and wet wipes in their trash from the two weeks before the baby goes missing, Major Johnson?
JOHNSON: Julia provided consent for us to search her apartment. We did so. And trash is one of the things that we examined there, and we`ll continue to look at that in the coming days and weeks.
GRACE: Any dirty dipes, Major?
JOHNSON: Again, I`m sorry, Nancy, I just can`t talk about exactly what we`re recovering.
GRACE: I`m going to take that as a no.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police are finally saying, yes, they suspect foul play in this disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The case of a missing 2-year-old boy in suburban Seattle.
GRACE: Mommy says that she apparently ran out of gas, walked over a mile to the closest gas station?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A sufficient amount of gas to run it for a considerable distance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that`s a hugely --
SOLOMON METALWALA, FATHER OF MISSING 2-YEAR-OLD SKY: The whole story does not add up. There`s something missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess if you`re name is Houdini, it`s possible. No, absolutely not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The father is claiming that she had such severe OCD.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: To put it in people`s terms, a lunatic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The "Law & Order SVU" episode that has great similarities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. We are live taking your calls trying to find 2-year-old baby Sky.
What a scenario. Mommy says that she`s rushing him to the hospital, that he`s sick. She takes the 2-year-old boy, the 4-year-old sister with her. Daddy separated. Daddy not there. She says she has car problems, leaves the 2-year-old in the car, the sick 2-year-old that`s going to the hospital, in the car, strapped to the seat, the car seat, and takes the 4- year-old girl with her.
Walks to a gas station, comes back hour -- over an hour later, baby Sky is gone. Bloodhounds can find no scent of baby Sky around the car.
What`s happening?
We`re taking your calls. But I want to quickly go back to Solomon Metalwala, this is baby Sky`s father, joining us exclusively tonight, taking your calls. That`s pretty bold.
Also, his attorney, Clay Terry, both of them joining us out of Seattle.
Let me just nail this down right now.
Solomon, you took a polygraph. You got an inconclusive result. Did you take another or are you willing to take another polygraph?
METALWALA: I am, of course, willing to take another one and as soon as they tell me, I will take it.
GRACE: Did you hear that, Major?
LESLIE CLAY TERRY III, ATTORNEY FOR FATHER OF MISSING 2-YEAR-OLD: Nancy, may I jump in for a minute?
GRACE: Yes, go, Clay.
TERRY: OK. The Bellevue Police Department was very considerate. Monday night, after he had been up all that time since -- you know, sine early Sunday morning, and we had gone though all of this emotion and press conferences and news reports, trying to get the news out, to try to find baby Sky, he was exhausted and he -- it came back inconclusive. And they mentioned that they thought that was the reason. So we agreed to take it again.
GRACE: OK. So you`re agreeing to take another one.
TERRY: Yes.
GRACE: With me is Woody Tripp, former commander, APD, also polygraph expert.
Woody, the mom is refusing to take a polygraph. All right? Forget it. It`s a big (INAUDIBLE). The father did get an inconclusive and he`s willing to take another.
Woody, what does it mean?
WOODY TRIPP, FORMER POLICE COMMANDER, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Well, absolutely, Nancy. And to say what Joe Gomez said about it doesn`t sit right, there`s something that doesn`t smell right.
Yes. And that was one of the things that needs to be brought out. This is a gentleman who`s is dealing with raw emotions right now and that`s one of the things that you have to be very concerned with as an examiner.
You want to do it quickly but at the same time you`ve got to get enough distance between what has occurred and then doing that test and emotions play a big part in this and, yes, people think that a possible comeback deception indicated, no, that`s inconclusive because that emotion is still going on.
So absolutely. And based on what the major just said, well, yes, that certainly played a part. Don`t want to criticize anyone but it certainly sounds like it was done too soon to the occurrence of the missing child.
GRACE: But on the other hand, Woody Tripp, and you know I`m in your court. I`m in your foxhole, all right? You know you`ve been a cop all these years. Sometimes you`ve got to strike while the iron is hot, all right? If somebody says, yes, I`ll take a poly, hey, let`s hook them up right now, because you don`t want to give them time to lawyer up then have second thoughts.
Would you at least agree with that, Woody Tripp?
TRIPP: Well, we would, Nancy, normally. But this is a gentleman who sounds like he`s more than willing. Yes, you do have to strike when the iron is hot but also as a professional, as you are and as I, you also have to weigh out your results and in this case, the professionals, I --
GRACE: Got it.
TRIPP: The polygraph exam, says no, you`ve got to wait, you`ve got to give it a little bit of distance. You`ve got to get past that emotion and certainly as the father, he`s very emotional right now.
GRACE: Back to Major Mike Johnson joining us outside of Bellevue, Major Johnson, I know you`re actually heading out to work on the case. But why can`t we get mommy to take a poly? Is it the lawyer telling her no? And where is the 4-year-old little girl, the sister, tonight?
MAJOR MIKE JOHNSON, BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: The sister is in state custody with Child Protective Services and doing just fine, I`m told. And the answer to the other question is that I don`t know. The answer we received through the attorney when we extended the invitation for the initial polygraph was that Julia was devastated and in no condition to cooperate in such a manner. We have not asked again.
GRACE: Back to -- Major Johnson, I know you`re headed out to work. And I want to thank you so much for being with us.
To Solomon Metalwala and Clay Terry -- all right, Solomon, let me see him. I`ve got a tough little question for you. I understand not long ago you and your wife left the baby in the car while you went into Target? What were you thinking?
METALWALA: That`s the worst mistake I`ve ever made in my life and I`m very, very sorry. There`s no excuse.
GRACE: Well, at least you manned up and said you did it and didn`t try to blame it on anybody else or anything like that. Did you think the baby would be OK? I mean was the baby asleep? Why would you do that? I`m afraid to leave mine in the car to just run back in and get their coat or something.
METALWALA: Again, you know, there`s just no excuse. Nothing can justify what happened that evening. And that`s what I -- what I`m saying.
GRACE: Solomon, I`ve got another question for you.
METALWALA: OK.
GRACE: Was baby Sky a surprise? Did Julia want to have a baby? Did she -- when she found out she was pregnant does she want another baby girl? I mean I notice that baby Sky looks so much like you.
I`ve got a couple of shots of the two of you together and at first I said, hey, quick, I want to make sure that this is the boy`s biological father. I don`t need DNA now when I look at the two of you, of you holding him. He looks like you spit him straight out of your mouth. That is your child. Did she want another baby?
METALWALA: Sky was -- he wasn`t planned. He just came forward. So if you`re asking me, did we plan to have a second child, I would say no. And Sky was a blessing. I love Sky. I could not imagine not having him in my life. He`s such a dude. I like -- I love him. And I hope -- I don`t know if that answers your question.
GRACE: You answered it and you actually reminded me of when I -- you know I desperately wanted to have a family and I found out I was pregnant, and then a couple of months later I found out I was having two, and that was a big surprise because I had so many plans about giving all of my attention to one, I thought, how could I give so much love to two? How was I going to do it?
So I`m just imaging Julia realizing she`s pregnant and then having a boy, which is a whole other can of worms than raising a girl.
You know, Solomon, I`ve looked on your wife`s Facebook and it`s full of photos of your daughter. She calls her her organic baby, her organic baby girl. Well, there`s practically nothing of Sky. I think I`ve got more pictures of him than she does. Why?
METALWALA: You know, what Julia does is a question mark. I don`t know why she would do that. I love both my kids equally. And I`m just --
GRACE: Have you asked her -- have you asked her, Solomon, what happened to the baby? Have you asked her?
TERRY: He`s not allowed to talk to her.
METALWALA: Yes, I`m not allowed to talk to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Take a look at missing 2-year-old, this is Sky Metalwala. He`s been missing now for three days.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mom said that she left the little boy in the car for a little while, she came back, she says he was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can only go off with what the mother told us but we`re going to search beyond that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Two-year-old Sky Metalwala was reported missing by his mother Julia Biryakova.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody already knows the story, she ran out of gas.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mother told police her car ran out of gas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got out of the car and left Sky.
METALWALA: The whole story does not add up. There`s something missing.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She walked to a gas station with her 4-year- old, leaving Sky, who was buckled in his car seat.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Knowing that the mother was on her way to the hospital because Sky wasn`t feeling well.
METALWALA: Why? I don`t get it.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Makes it much more difficult to accept that she would leave a child alone on a chilly morning.
METALWALA: She has done something. I don`t know what she has done.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Officials are scrutinizing the mother`s story. They say when they arrived to find the vehicle in question --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They found 2.2 gallons of gas still in the tank.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They were able to start the car.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police are finally saying, yes, they suspect foul play in this disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we have is the mother --
JOHNSON: Mom isn`t willing to come in and provide a polygraph.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last to have seen that child.
JOHNSON: It looks suspicious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, we are taking your calls.
Where is baby Sky?
Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta. John Manuelian, defense attorney joining us out of L.A.
OK, Peter, weigh in.
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, there are a couple of things that are interesting about this case. First of all, I was very gratified to hear Woody Tripp finally admit that being overwrought with emotions can skew the results of a polygraph and that it`s wise to wait until one has calm down before administering a polygraph.
You and many of the prosecutors on your show are always quick to jump on someone who won`t take a polygraph when, you know, my advice to client is they`re unreliable. Don`t take it unless you really have to.
GRACE: Let`s see. What`s today, Matt? Quickly. The 10th. OK. The baby is now been missing for five days. I think there`s been plenty of time if mommy wanted to cooperate for her to take a polygraph, but thank you, Peter.
ODOM: You`re welcome.
GRACE: To you, John Manuelian, got anything to say that`s not a carbon copy of what Peter Odom just spouted?
JOHN MANUELIAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She`s got mental problems, Nancy. And we don`t know what if any effect that mental problem is going to have on this investigation at this point. And we don`t know what, if any --
GRACE: I can`t see Manuelian.
MANUELIAN: -- problems over her mental --
GRACE: Go ahead.
MANUELIAN: Yes, I was going to say, the mental problems, we don`t know what that played, if it played a part at all, Nancy. So at this point in time that`s a wild card in this case and it might throw the investigation a curve ball.
GRACE: To Alexis Weed, our producer on the story, you have combed over the "Law & Order SVU" episode. Did it actually air the night before the baby goes missing?
ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy. It aired the night before the baby and previously on October 19th.
GRACE: OK, number one, Liz, let`s hear a -- let`s hear some sound from that "Law & Order" episode. Go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They took him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They took the car. Nate was in the backseat. I was only gone for a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you kidding me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He needed diapers. I didn`t want to wake him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you thinking?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They stole my car. My son was in the backseat. Someone stole my baby. Someone stole my son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is the episode "Law & Order." It aired the night before baby Sky disappears. In it, a mom tries to cover up her baby`s death claiming he was taken from her car, that she had just left the car for a very brief time.
Within 24 hours, baby Sky, gone.
What else happened in the episode, Alexis Weed?
WEED: Nancy, the similarities are kind of striking here. The mom tells the police that she left her baby in the back seat, in a car seat, just like Sky had been left supposedly. She pops into a convenience store to buy diapers for the boy, she comes out, tells police her car is missing along with the boy. Turns out the whole time baby is dead, the parents end up admitting at the end that, yes, they buried this baby on a beach.
GRACE: Where is mommy? Where is mommy, Casey McNerthney?
CASEY MCNERTHNEY, REPORTER, SEATTLEPI.COM, COVERING STORY: We heard from police that they haven`t talked to her since that initial interview --
GRACE: Is she back in the house, Casey? Is she still living in the home -- in the apartment?
MCNERTHNEY: Yes. Yes, in the apartment. And she somewhat has been cooperating with police, at least allowing them to search that. But, again --
GRACE: Well, surprise, Casey McNerthney, they can do that with a warrant. They don`t need --
MCNERTHNEY: Right, but they would have to call a judge and they -- it`s easier if someone gives consent. You know.
GRACE: Yes.
MCNERTHNEY: But, you`re right, as you pointed out, police have asked her to take a polygraph and she hasn`t, and police said yesterday that her story now sounds very suspicious.
GRACE: With us, Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler." What about it, Pat?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "THE PROFILER": Well, Nancy, I think this mother was following the "Law & Order" episode, she kind of screwed it up because she could have left that child in the car outside a store. It had already happened in her life before. That would have been more believable than what she gives us a story where the car has gotten out of gas.
She wasn`t on a cliff. So she didn`t have to make a Sophie`s choice picking one child to save. She was on the side of a road, as far as I can see, in the city with lots of city blocks on a Sunday morning at 8:30. She could have simply sat on the curve and waved a churchgoer down and say, can you make a phone call for me?
GRACE: And Solomon Metalwala, the father is with us tonight, along with his attorney, Clay Terry.
Solomon, I want a yes-no answer. Could the baby, baby Sky, walk?
METALWALA: Yes.
GRACE: OK.
METALWALA: He --
GRACE: No, go ahead.
METALWALA: No, I was going to say that he`s a big guy. You know? He`s not a skinny little baby. He`s a big dude. He`s going to play football. So he`s a big dude. He can totally walk.
GRACE: OK. Caryn Stark, psychologist joining us out of New York. We`ve got so many questions, I don`t even know where to start. But you`re the shrink. I`m the lawyer, go ahead.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, first of all, my heart goes out to that father. Doesn`t he sound terrible, Nancy, talking about his dude, his big dude?
OCD, Severe OCD, that means that this woman had thoughts that would not leave her mind, obsessive thoughts. And the cleaning, for instance, if she was afraid that they were going to get sick, she would clean every single spot and then re-clean it and re-clean it because that`s the way to stop the thoughts, to just keep getting involved in a ritual activity.
It is possible -- I can`t say that she definitely did it, but she would watch a "Law & Order" story like that, get the thought into her head and then keep repeating the thought and keep -- just like she kept saying she wanted to kill herself or she felt like she wanted to kill him.
GRACE: With us, Dr. Caryn Stark.
Dr. Ann Contrucci, also joining us, pediatrician, Dr. Ann, I`m having a problem assimilating this. The baby`s so sick she`s taking him to the hospital without her cell phone or her pocketbook. Why would you leave the sick baby in the car? I don`t understand it.
DR. ANN CONTRUCCI, PEDIATRICIAN: Nancy, my thoughts exactly. First of all, as you said earlier, what mom doesn`t carry her cell phone with her? I mean that goes along with carrying your sippy cup and your diaper bag, OK? I have no idea why you would have a sick child that you`re taking to the hospital and you leave them in the car? Absolutely not. You --
GRACE: And everybody -- Contrucci knows -- let me tell you how I know this expert. When my children were rushed to the hospital by me, she`s the one that was there. And after they were OK, I went, ding, this is an expert.
So what do you think about it, Dr. Ann?
CONTRUCCI: I mean I just think the whole thing doesn`t added up. I mean just over and over, there are so many inconsistencies. What mother does this? I don`t know, Nancy. I can`t -- I can`t fathom it.
GRACE: Doctor Ann Contrucci, another question to you. Regarding the cleaning, you`re familiar with children, you`re the expert. You`re the pediatrician. If you`re OCD, cleaning, obsessive compulsive disorder, and you`ve got a 2-year-old boy, what do you expect with a 2-year-old boy?
CONTRUCCI: You expect dirt. A lot of dirt.
(LAUGHTER)
CONTRUCCI: A lot of dirt and a lot of nasty. You know --
GRACE: And the other thing, Dr. Ann, is they don`t only get dirty themselves, they spread it everywhere. Everywhere.
CONTRUCCI: Right. It`s all over the place. Exactly. That`s exactly right.
GRACE: What about it, Caryn Stark?
STARK: Well, a person like that wouldn`t be able to handle it, Nancy. So instead of taking care of the kids, she`d be busy cleaning the whole time. And if he was so dirty, you`d have an image of him -- of her over- cleaning him. Who knows what she did when she couldn`t handle any of that dirt. And believe me, she could not handle the dirt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: All he wants is his son. Solomon Metalwala says nothing prepared him for the news that Sky has disappeared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your support on "Dancing with the Stars." Because of you, we made it to the top five. And we will have a big, fat paycheck to give to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
This morning, we stopped by ABC`s "Good Morning America" for another tango. Tristan and I will be back for the dancing finale November 22. But again, on my behalf and for those missing children, thank you.
Let`s stop and remember Marine Lance Corporal Richard James, 20, (INAUDIBLE), Delaware, killed Iraq. Second tour. Purple Heart. Rifle sharp shooter. Combat Action. Loved guitar, his Chevy truck, fishing, friends. Leaves behind parents Jake and Carol, sister Tina, brothers Jeffrey and Jonathan.
Richard James. American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern and until then, good night, friend.
END
