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Nancy Grace
Police Search for Missing "People`s Court" Contestant
Aired November 23, 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, Orlando. A gorgeous mom of three, fighting on the "People`s Court" over a luxury diamond engagement ring. Her stormy relationship with her ex plays out in front of millions of people. But then just hours later, she`s gone, vanishing without a trace, her black Hummer found at a condo complex just down from her own home. A suspicious text message surfaces on Mommy`s cell phone.
Bombshell tonight. Police desperately tracking Mommy`s iPhone. And just released, a new photo. Cops begging for tips about a diamond cross necklace missing mom of three wearing the day she disappears. Her family says no way would she ever leave her three children, including a set of 3- year-old twins, boy and girl. Leave them behind? Never! Tonight, what happened to Michelle Parker?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m Michelle`s voice. She`s my baby. She`s a human being. She needs to come home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A beautiful young woman who vanished without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pattern of this case quite unusual.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had just made an appearance on "The People`s Court" with her former fiance the day she disappeared. He ex is not considered a suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Family members say she dropped off the children at his condo on Thursday, and that`s the last time anybody heard from Michelle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s amazing. She`s beautiful inside and out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only clue left behind, a cryptic text.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And organized searches near the location of the cellphone tower were Parker`s last phone transmission was received.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope we find her and bring her home!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trying to remain hopeful that the 33-year-old mother of three will be found safe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This isn`t a wallet. This isn`t just a purse. This is my baby girl!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight, live, Orlando. A gorgeous mom of three fights it out on "The People`s Court," arguing over a luxury diamond engagement ring. Her stormy relationship with her ex plays out in front of millions of people. And then just hours later, after "People`s Court," she`s gone, vanishing without a trace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been a tough two days for friends and family of Michelle Parker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my baby girl. We need to find her. And we need help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The group is also looking for anyone who saw Parker`s black Hummer near the Mall at Millennia (ph).
And it was found abandoned in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Walden Circle and Vineland (ph) Road.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pattern of this case, quite unusual, even for family members surprised to see Parker on "The People`s Court" with her ex-fiance a few days before she went missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had just made an appearance on "The People`s Court" with her former fiance the day she disappeared. The two were arguing over a $5,000 engagement ring. Sources say they had a troubled relationship, but her ex is not considered a suspect and is fully cooperated with Orlando police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been a hell of a roller-coaster ride. And it`s poison and we`re done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say there are no suspects right now in her disappearance. Their focus at this point is finding the missing mother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing video of Michelle Parker from YouTube and Warner Brothers. She was on "The People`s Court" just hours before she disappeared seemingly into thin air, duking it out over a luxury engagement ring.
When I investigated to find out whatever happened to that ring, after all that, she ends up throwing it off a balcony of some fancy hotel. The ex-fiance runs down and tries to find it. They never find it -- worth thousands and thousands of dollars. Just hours after she appears on "The People`s Court," she is gone. After millions of people see her, still she`s missing. No tips leading to the discovery of her or her body.
We are taking your calls, but straight out to Rory O`Neill with Metro Networks joining us from Orlando. Rory, tell me what happened.
RORY O`NEILL, METRO NETWORKS: Well, Nancy, it was just about one week ago when this episode of "The People`s Court" aired. Now, it had been taped over the summer, but it aired just last Thursday. And then Michelle Parker drops off the twins with their father, and that`s the last we`ve heard from her. And it`s frustrating because really not much has developed in the case in the past week, other than finding her car. They still haven`t found the phone and they just have no idea where she is.
GRACE: OK, to Alexis Tereszcuk, senior reporter, Radaronline.com. What happened? Let`s just take it from the beginning, all right? Obviously, they had a tumultuous relationship. It played out in front of millions of people on "The People`s Court," where she duked it out with the ex over a luxury engagement ring worth thousands and thousands of dollars.
OK, back it up, Alexis. What happened?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, RADARONLINE.COM: So this couple was engaged. He actually gave her a $5,000 engagement ring. But she says the relationship was very violent. She said in court documents -- she filed actually a restraining order against him. She said that he would put his hands on her, that she was afraid for her life with him.
A judge actually dropped that restraining order after a hearing. So she said that she had nothing to do with him. She wanted to end the relationship. They got in a huge fight, and instead of giving the ring back, she chucked it over the balcony of the hotel. He went and looked for it, couldn`t find it. He sued her for it. It was a $5,000 ring. And at the "People`s Court," the judge said that she owed him half the money for the ring, so found her at fault.
A few hours later, she goes missing. She apparently said that -- the boyfriend actually said she dropped off the twins with him, she left -- her current boyfriend -- they`ve only been dating a month -- said that she texted him a really cute text message, I`ve heard a song about you on the radio, it made me think of you. And he sent back a cute text, you know, smiley face and a heart.
And that`s it. Radio silence. Nothing from her at all. There was perhaps a ping of her cell phone in the area where her car was found, but that`s it. No one has heard from her for almost a week.
GRACE: OK, Ellie Jostad, a lot of questions. The ex not a suspect. There he is, pictured. Not a suspect. Whose idea was it to go on "People`s Court," Ellie?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right, well, the family says that it was Dale Smith`s idea to go on the show, that he wanted his money back for that engagement ring.
GRACE: OK, what happened? Give me the gist. It was a nasty, a brutal argument on "People`s Court." She later said she was absolutely humiliated by what happened on "People`s Court." It aired in front of millions of people. Give me the gist of what happened.
JOSTAD: Right. Well, on "People`s Court," she claims that he had been violent towards her in the past, that he`d grabbed her, thrown her around. She says they kind of swept it under the rug. They both said they were sorry. They both cried. She says they stayed together after that, but she said that he cheated on her repeatedly, that he put his hands on her.
So she said -- you know, she -- he doesn`t deserve this ring. He doesn`t deserve the money for the ring after what he`s put me through. But the judge said, You guys are both acting like idiots, and she ordered Michelle Parker to pay for half of the cost of that ring.
GRACE: OK, we are taking your calls. Joining me right now exclusively, Lauren Erickson. This is Michelle`s sister. Lauren, thank you for being with us.
LAUREN ERICKSON, MISSING WOMAN`S SISTER (via telephone): Thank you for covering this, Nancy.
GRACE: You know, it`s just so odd, such a coincidence that she appears in front of millions of people on "People`s Court," they really duke it out over the engagement ring, but now that she`s gone missing just hours later. Nobody has seen her. None of those millions of people have seen her.
Let`s take a listen to what happened on "People`s Court."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE PARKER, "PEOPLE`S COURT": I simply walked away, went down the stairs, got 10, 15 feet away from the front door and I felt somebody grab me and yank me around. As he grabbed and turned around, he was holding onto me, screaming at me, pointing back up to the stage (ph), going, Get on that -- back up on the stage. You know, and I`m, like, sitting there, looking at him, like, Really? You`re really doing this in front of all these people?
He gets pretty malicious and vindictive, and he`s a mean person, especially when he`s been drinking. Any of the problems that we`ve ever had has always been alcohol-related and...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you drinking by his side while this is going on?
PARKER: I`m sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you drinking at...
PARKER: Yes, I`m drinking with him, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You`re seeing video of Michelle from YouTube and Warner Brothers. That`s her appearing on "People`s Court."
All right, Lauren Erickson, you`re her sister. Tell me about their relationship. What happened?
ERICKSON: They met about five years ago, four or five years ago. And I mean, you`re -- when you`re describing it as a roller-coaster romance, I mean, I guess that`s a good way of describing him because they definitely were. I mean, you know, I don`t doubt that they did, you know, care for each other at some point, but the point being, they just -- it didn`t work.
They were just two people who -- I don`t think -- I think that he -- she -- something got brought out in the worst in the both of them when they were together. I mean, it was definitely more on one side than another, and you know, not my sister`s by any means.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Eleanor Odom from our nation`s capital, senior attorney, National District Attorneys Association, death penalty-qualified, Bradford Cohen, defense attorney, Miami, Randy Kessler, defense attorney, Atlanta.
Eleanor Odom, we keep saying the ex is not a suspect. But the reality is, detectives, cops, always start with lover, boyfriend, husband, ex in every investigation. Why? And especially after this public meltdown.
ELEANOR ODOM, NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOC.: Well, exactly, Nancy. You`ve got that. But remember, they always start with the person closest to the missing person, the woman in this case. Also, they were together. They were fiances. So there might be something within that relationship. And thirdly, he was really the last person who saw her when she dropped the twins off at his house. So of course, they`re going to look at him. It just makes sense.
GRACE: OK, Bradford Cohen, defense attorney, he has not been named a suspect. There you see "People`s Court." We got this from YouTube and Warner Brothers. Just hours before she disappears into thin air, she`s on "People`s Court," and it turns nasty, Bradford.
BRADFORD COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. I mean, obviously, you know, that`s why the police are looking at him. But the same token, she dropped the kids off at his house. I`m sure he`s got some sort of verification that he was at home or he was with the kids. Don`t forget Hummers have -- they`re equipped with Onstar. They can find out where that car went prior to its stopping wherever it stopped. I`m sure the police have more information than just what they`re revealing because, obviously, in any investigation, you`re not going to put everything out there.
GRACE: Right.
COHEN: You`re going to hold some in.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Brad in Wisconsin. Hi, Brad. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. Just first of all wanted to say that you are great on "Dancing With the Stars."
GRACE: You know what? Thank you very much. I can`t wait to give that paycheck to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Thanks, Brad. What do you think about this case? What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my question is, has anyone taken a polygraph thus far?
GRACE: Oh, good question. To Alexis Tereszcuk, Radaronline.com. Yes, no, poly?
TERESZCUK No, nobody has taken a poly yet, from what we`ve heard. They haven`t had any evidence that would require them to do that, is what we`ve heard so far.
GRACE: And to Randy Kessler, defense attorney. Talking about Onstar in the Hummer that`s been found -- her Hummer was found abandoned at a local condo complex near her home. What about pings off that iPhone? You know, her iPhone`s still missing, Kessler.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Sure. You`ve got to look at everything. That`s why they`re starting with the ex. But don`t forget, he won that court case. He didn`t have any motivation. He had no MO to go after her. He was vindicated on "People`s Court." So they`ve got to look everywhere, not just to him.
GRACE: But it shows their stormy relationship. Take a look at this young missing mom, Michelle Parker. She appears in front of millions on "People`s Court," fighting over a luxury engagement ring. Just hours later, she`s gone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michelle Parker didn`t show up at her house to meet her son when he got out of school. The mother of three, including a set of twins, didn`t show up at work at the Barn (ph) in Sanford (ph), where she`s a bartender.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No sign of 33-year-old Michelle Parker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn`t deserve this. Let her go. I am begging you to let her go!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only clue left behind, a cryptic text after her family sent urgent messages asking Michelle where she was.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Parker and her ex-fiance, Dale Smith, the father of the twins, were on "The People`s Court."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Parker has a violent history with her ex-boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her family is asking people to look for Parker`s iPhone 4. The phone was last detected near the former site of the Jesse Black (ph) saloon on Oak Ridge (ph) Road.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoever did this to her, God help them when we find them if they don`t do the right thing and turn her loose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Mom appears on "People`s Court," fighting it out with her ex over a luxury engagement ring. But just hours later, she`s gone. Where is Michelle Parker? Leaving behind three children, including a set of 3-year-old twins, boy and girl.
I want to go out to sister of missing mom, Lauren Erickson. Lauren, I know that their relationship was steamy and tumultuous, a lot of problems going on. I mean, whenever you end up on "People`s Court," OK, that`s never pretty, OK? Whenever you land in court with someone, you know there`s a problem.
I don`t know that it rises to the level of kidnap. But tell me now, Lauren, about her relationship with her children. From what I understand, those were the loves of her life. She would never have left her three children, including 3-year-old twins, behind.
ERICKSON: She would never do anything to leave them. They are her world. They`re the reason that she was working two jobs and going to school full-time, I mean, so that she could give them a better life and a safe place. And she was so excited because she was just talking to realtors and starting to look at houses so that she could go do that. So I mean, she`s -- her kids are her absolute world. I mean, there`s -- there`s -- I cannot disagree at all to that. I mean, they completely are.
GRACE: So you`re telling me she was working two jobs?
ERICKSON: She started her airbrush (ph) tanning company, as well as bartending, as well as going to school full-time for cosmetology to work in our family salon, yes.
GRACE: So your family owns a salon. And these two have been together for five years. Let me repeat, he`s not a suspect.
Joining me right now out of LA is a special guest, Stuart Brazell, TV casting agent, multi-media host and producer. Stuart, thanks for being with us. What do you know about this case? What are the criteria for reality shows, including judge shows, when you pick litigants?
STUART BRAZELL, TELEVISION CASTING AGENT: Hi, Nancy. Thanks for having me. So the court shows work a little bit differently than a traditional reality show. You don`t post a casting call and say, I`m looking for singles or looking for people that want to travel around the world. You actually have stringers that go to the major cities and look for these small claims court cases.
They look for people that are related, people that are suing each other with the same last name. They`re going to look at someone who`s a neighbor. They really want them to have a preexisting relationship so that the conflict...
GRACE: Well, let me ask you something...
BRAZELL: ... when it is filmed on television is that much bigger.
GRACE: ... Stuart Brazell. How come all of the contestants, most of them, on "People`s Court," are always attractive? You want me to believe - - look, don`t try to pull the wool over my eyes because I did "Swift Justice" for a year, OK, before I moved to LA.
Now, you can`t tell me, Stuart, that everybody that has a litigation going on is beautiful, all right?
BRAZELL: Nancy, I will not...
GRACE: Look at this girl. She`s gorgeous.
BRAZELL: ... tell you that. She`s absolutely beautiful. I`ve been sitting here, thinking the whole how tragic this is that this has happened to a beautiful young woman. In the case of television, I do have to say if you`re putting someone on TV, you might lean towards someone who`s more telegenic. But I don`t think everyone on these court shows is a beauty queen. I think if you were to watch today, you would see that they are not.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The question remains, where could Michelle be?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just doing our best to comb the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One step at a time will lead them closer to Michelle Parker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The more media attention we can get to this (INAUDIBLE) know information about the case, that could assist us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A mother`s desperate plea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am pounding on doors. I`m going through crack houses. I`m going through dumpsters, praying that when I lift that lid, she`s not in there!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please bring her home. Any tips...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still no sign of 33-year-old Michelle Parker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The longer we wait, the, you know, less time I`m running out of time.
PARKER: (INAUDIBLE) plastic bags. I remember walking into the bathroom. The officer is leaning up against the door, holding the door open. He`s standing, like, right in the middle, and then there`s another officer to his right.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... inside or outside (INAUDIBLE)
PARKER: He`s just outside the door, maybe about a foot. And then he said that he wanted his ring. I took it off and I threw it at him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You`re seeing video of the missing mom, Michelle Parker. It`s off YouTube and Warner Brothers. She was on "People`s Court" fighting it out with an ex over a very expensive luxury engagement ring. Just hours after the appearance in front of millions of Americans, she is gone, leaving behind three little children, including a set of 3-year-old twins, boy, girl.
Today, her sister is begging for help. We`re taking your calls, but quickly to Lauren Erickson. The whole reason they ended up in court, they couldn`t resolve a dispute themselves. And PS, he`s not a suspect, but I know the ex has had domestic abuse issues in the past. As a matter of fact, yes, no, Alexis Tereszcuk -- was he court-martialed over domestic abuse?
TERESZCUK: Yes, he was. And in fact, he was dishonorably discharged from the military because of the domestic abuse and a drug issue. He was also -- his rank was lowered while he was in the military. This is somebody whose domestic violence past is extensive.
GRACE: You know what? Even with that in mind, I have to reiterate he has not been named a suspect in this case.
To the sister of Michelle Parker, Lauren Erickson. What got into your sister? Why did she throw the ring off the balcony? I`ve got a feeling I don`t know that whole story. That`s what landed them on "People`s Court" to start with.
ERICKSON: I mean, I haven`t watched the show, but I mean, I just heard, you know, the replay of it and how she said that he asked for the ring...
GRACE: What happened about the balcony?
ERICKSON: The balcony? He was -- when he asked for the ring back, he was standing in front of the balcony and the door was open. They were in Georgia at an event called Dragon Con. And she did. She -- I mean, she was angry with him because he was violently screaming at her.
So she said, Here you go, and she threw the ring back at him. Unfortunately, it just happened to fall off. I don`t know that he went down looking for it. All I know is that he packed up his bags and left her by herself in a hotel to find her own ride home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Michelle Lee Parker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want her back. (INAUDIBLE) heart (ph) and we`re looking for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixteen detectives on the case following hundreds of leads. In fact, 20,000 flyers have been passed out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just because that vehicle has been found, we still want people to try to remember, remember that Hummer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know she`s hanging in there for those kids.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Parker`s mother says she`s trying to remain hopeful that the 33-year-old mother of three will be found safe in time for Thanksgiving.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Michelle Parker didn`t show up at her house to meet her son when he got out of school. The mother of three including a set of twins didn`t show up for work at the Barn in Sanford where she`s a bartender.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: An eyewitness also told us she saw what she later found out was Parker`s SUV Thursday night when she was walking her dog. That`s just hours after Parker`s cell phone went dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My sister and I know where her truck was found and that`s not her side of town.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The pattern of this case quite unusual, even for family members, surprised to see Parker on the "People`s Court" with her ex-fiance a few days before she went missing.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A rollercoaster romance.
MICHELLE PARKER, MISSING MOTHER OF THREE: He said that he wanted his ring. I threw it at him.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Derails.
PARKER: I felt somebody grab me and yank me around.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The family just held an emergency press conference to update the media basically telling us that they have gone from sorrow and weeping to just flat-out being mad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: She appears on the "People`s Court," fighting it out over a luxury engagement ring with her ex. And just hours later, she`s gone. Vanishing, seemingly into thin air. Her black Hummer is found at a condo complex just down from her home.
The theory is, this was a carjacking and that the ex is not involved.
Everybody, you are seeing video of Michelle from YouTube and Warner Brothers when she appeared on "People`s Court." This is the last known sighting of her. Millions saw her, and then she disappears.
We are taking your calls.
I want to go quickly through this theory that she was carjacked. With me is WW Tripp, Woodrow Tripp, former police commander, polygraph expert.
You know, Woody, one of my first murder prosecutions was a carjacking and the car was left on the side of the road. The doors were wide open. There was evidence of a struggle and the victim died. That I prosecuted anyway.
The victim in that case died in somebody`s front yard, you know, very near the car, so I got a lot of standout issues as to why this was not a carjacking, Woody.
Where is Woody? I can`t see him.
Number one, the car is found with the doors shut parked perfectly in a condo complex just down from her home. No sign of a struggle. And why would anybody in their right mind, unless they`re going to do a sex assault, take the victim. In a carjacking, you take the car. You don`t want the victim. The victim`s a problem. The victim is baggage to you.
So how can this be a carjacking?
WOODY TRIPP, FORMER POLICE COMMANDER, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Well, Nancy, you and I know both know, you know, coincidences in our line of work, in my line of work, are normally not coincidences. And in this case, the whole - - if it doesn`t sound like a carjacking -- you know it`s like a duck. If it quacks like one, well, in this case, it`s not quacking like one. It`s not walking like one.
So the carjacking possibilities are just really not plausible. Is it possible? It is, but the probabilities of it are very remote as you said based upon the history of carjackings. The similarities in what you look for. In this case, I`m not seeing those similarities. I have to absolutely agree with you on the carjacking theory.
GRACE: You know, another thing. Listen to this, Woody. I want to go back to the sister. I`m just hearing in my ear from Emily.
Lauren, I understand that you want us to hear about the, quote, "rest of the balcony incident." What do you mean by that?
LAUREN ERICKSON, SISTER OF MISSING MOM, MICHELLE PARKER: What I mean by that is the people who are talking right now were not there. I talked to my sister about it and she is a great person. He did ask for that ring back and it was in a violent tone from what I understand like she talked about. They had both been drinking at an event in Georgia called Dragon Pawn.
The same thing that happened at that event after the ring was thrown, I mean, he asked for it back, so she tossed it to him. He was standing in front of the balcony, they were outside, it just -- it went off. She didn`t mean to actually throw it off. She was trying to throw it back at him. Of course, you know, they were fighting. So, you know, we`ve all had those kinds of fights, I`m sure, before in relationships.
The thing is that people aren`t understanding is that after that happened, and she was -- you know, had security escort her out and everything, so she just needed a moment. She wanted to go outside and get away from him, you know, for the time being because they were in a fight.
He left. He left her in Georgia to find a ride home, so -- but I just want everybody to focus on her right now. I want everybody to focus on finding her and care about that right now.
GRACE: You know what? That`s exactly why we are publicizing this, Lauren Erickson.
And she`s right. Let`s give the tip line, 1-800-423-8477. Take a look at Michelle Parker. We are taking your calls.
To Paul in Canada. Hi, Paul. What`s your question, dear?
PAUL, CALLER FROM CANADA: Hi, Nancy, how are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear.
PAUL: All right. First of all, I loved you on "Dancing with the Stars." You know I know on your show it`s hard to smile. I was glad to see your smile on "Dancing with the Stars." You did great.
GRACE: Thank you, my love. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
PAUL: And honestly, Canada needs somebody like you.
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you very much. And hello to my friends in Canada and thank you for watching. And caring about Michelle. Take a look at her. What`s your thought on this case, Paul in Canada?
PAUL: Well, the case, like you said, a carjacking and the car was found down the street? Like, if somebody carjacks a car, like, don`t they take it with them?
GRACE: You`re absolutely right, and I`m wondering if that theory has been confused with a kidnapping. But with a kidnapping, you`d see evidence of a struggle. Nothing -- as a matter of fact, to Rory O`Neill, Metro Networks, let`s follow up on Paul in Canada`s question.
Was the car locked? Was there signs of a struggle? Where`s her pocketbook, her cell phone, her driver`s license? What do we know, O`Neill?
RORY O`NEILL, REPORTER, METRO NETWORKS, COVERING STORY: Well, that`s -- the inventory list from the car has not been released. But one interesting detail, there was an advertising slogan on the back window of that big Hummer. And that had been scraped away and her current boyfriend said it almost looked like it had been removed professionally in some ways.
So that`s an odd twist and the family thinks that they can find what`s left of the sticker, it might actually help them find her, so the sticker removal is an odd angle that`s being looked into. Forensics teams are going through the car trying to gather evidence, they have asked for DNA samples from family and friends to compare it to what was found inside the SUV.
So all of that work is still being done. That`s information they`re keeping pretty close to the vest.
GRACE: With me right now, Dr. Tamara Kuittinen, emergency room physician joining us out of New York.
Doctor, you`ve seen it all as an ER doc. In this case, I`m thinking about her 3-year-old twins. I`m also thinking about evidence that could be found in the car. You have twins. You`re a mother of twins. At 3 years old, how much do you believe they`ll remember about this particular day?
DR. TAMARA KUITTINEN, M.D., EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: You know it`s - - hi, Nancy. This is just a devastating story. Especially around Thanksgiving. So 3-year-olds at this age don`t really have a concept of time. They know their mom is gone. They don`t know if it`s been five minutes or a few days. I do believe, even though developmental psychologists say that -- child developmental say that children don`t know the difference between five minutes or five days, they do miss you at bath time. They do miss you during the things that you normally do with them.
And being a mom of twins like you, I mean, this is just heart wrenching and what those children must be feeling. It`s hard the say, though. They really miss their mother.
GRACE: You know, to Caryn Stark, psychologist, weigh in on that, Caryn.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: There`s no doubt that they`re missing their mother, Nancy. They don`t have a concept of time, but the longer the time passes that they don`t get to see their mother, the more they begin to have separation anxiety and studies have shown that they wind up getting depressed after a while because they do have an awareness that this important person in their life is not there.
GRACE: Hey, Caryn, let me ask you a question about them appearing on "People`s Court."
STARK: Sure, Nancy.
GRACE: What do you make of that? Duke it out -- and you know, I did "Swift Justice" for a year and I saw people end up -- come on with everything. From he date-raped me to she threw bleach on my clothes. And a lot of disputes arise out off relationships.
STARK: Well, especially relationships where there`s this kind of anger involved and aggressiveness. And although we do want to focus on the fact that she`s missing, you know, this is -- this is a relationship that wasn`t your every day relationship, and I think you have to worry about that kind of anger.
I`m also wondering, Nancy, you know, it happened right afterwards. So did somebody see her on that show and get in touch with her?
GRACE: Excellent question. The show appeared in front of millions of people.
Everybody, we are taking your calls. A missing mom appears on "People`s Court." She dukes it out with her ex over a luxury engagement ring and then just hours later, she`s gone. Vanishing, seemingly into thin air.
Tonight, where is Michelle Parker?
As we go to break, I want you to share your favorite photos with us at the Nancy Grace Family Album. You go to "iReport Family Album." The photos can be featured op a special segment right here. Go to hlnTV.com/Nancygrace and you click on "Nancy`s Family Album."
I`m showing my pictures. Now I want to see yours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It`s been a tough two days for friends and family of Michelle Parker, desperately trying to find the missing mom. They`re focusing their search here because this is where the last ping from her cell phone was recorded.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have pounded on doors, I`ve gone to crack houses, I`m going through dumpsters.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mother of Michelle Parker hasn`t slept in days. All she can think about is her daughter, a beautiful young woman who vanished without a trace after dropping off her 11-year-old son and her 3- year-old twins to their father`s house.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The sister of missing Orlando mother has everyone passing out flyers and searching in the Bell Isle area of Orange County.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My gut is telling me to stay focused and stay strong for my family and my mother. This is her daughter. These are her grandkids. That need their mother.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The group is also looking for anyone who saw Parker`s black Hummer near the mall at Millennia when it was found abandoned in the parking lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just because that vehicle had been found, we still want people to try to remember, remember that Hummer. It had those glow stickers on there.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With no evidence of a homicide found in the SUV, investigators still believe Michelle is alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. This young mom of three including 3-year-old twins, 3 years old, twins. Boy and girl. Disappears without a trace after she appears in front of millions of people fighting it out with her ex over a luxury engagement ring.
Unleash the lawyers. We are taking your calls. With us, Eleanor Odom, Bradford Cohen, Randy Kessler.
Eleanor Odom, it`s my understanding that this ex that was fighting it out over the engagement ring is the father of the twins. Now if she dropped them off with him just before she goes missing, he`s one of the last people to see her alive.
ELEANOR ODOM, FELONY PROSECUTOR, DEATH PENALTY QUALIFIED: Exactly, Nancy, and that`s why the police are naturally going to look at him. And I disagree with something Randy Kessler said earlier. He said, oh, the case was settled in "People`s Court" and he won.
Well, Nancy, he didn`t win. It sounded like the judge split the difference and divided the cost of the ring, so he didn`t really win the case. So he might still have an ax to grind if you know what I mean.
GRACE: Well, another issue, of course, Eleanor, he`s not been named a suspect.
Bradford Cohen and Randy Kessler. To you, Kessler. Winning doesn`t really matter. So the judge ordered her to give him some money. But all of that anger and resentment still there. And -- hold on.
Let me get a yes-no from Ellie Jostad before I ask you the next question, Kessler.
Ellie, the parking lot where her Hummer was found abandoned.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Right.
GRACE: Is it his condo community parking lot?
JOSTAD: No, Nancy. Her family said she has no connection that they know of to this condo complex. It was by the mall of Millennia, you know, a popular mall there in Orlando, but her family says she rarely went there. This was not an area she frequented.
GRACE: OK. Kessler, the fact that he may win the court dispute, that doesn`t really matter in my mind. Because simmering resentments and angers, they still had the twins between them. You know, and again, he`s not a suspect, but that wasn`t the end of the story at the end of "People`s Court" ruling.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s true. And you know, there`s always the jilted lover theory that someone wants to get revenge. But they`ve got a lot of loose ends to tie up. Number one, if it wasn`t him, who was it? Did he have a phone record or a phone -- in his records, did he get somebody to take her to do something?
You know and where is the body? There`s no evidence of harm. There`s a lot to put together. I see why the police are being quiet. One thing that`s interesting is that she apparently texted, you know, her one-word text about her location. So, you know, that goes against her doing it herself and her leaving, you know, voluntarily.
GRACE: OK.
KESSLER: But there`s a long way between here and a conviction.
GRACE: Bradford Cohen?
BRADFORD COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I mean, the argument that happened on "People`s Court" was four or five months ago. It was taped during the summertime. That`s number one. Number two is, I argue with you all the time. Doesn`t mean that I have resentment towards you. It just -- it happens on air.
You know that and I know that, when you`re on TV, things get lit up. The judge is probably kind of provoking that. That`s what makes good TV. The fact that they argued on air does not lead to the fact that he did something to her.
The carjacking thing I absolutely agree with --
GRACE: OK, hold on just a moment.
COHEN: Sure.
GRACE: Hold on just a moment. I want to clarify something with you, Tripp. It was within hours, within hours after this episode appears in front of millions of people. She goes missing. She had just dropped her twins off with the ex, the one she was fighting with on "People`s Court."
Now I`m not saying he`s a suspect, but you`ve got to look at the timeline.
TRIPP: You do, Nancy. And yes, it was within hours of it being aired, but you know, Bradford brought up a good point earlier on, that, you know, with the on star and the different systems that are on these vehicles, that`s one way. You know we need to look at other things. And I`m hoping that the police --
GRACE: Well, what good is that doing me? I already know where the vehicle is. The vehicle was parked in that condo parking lot.
TRIPP: But, Nancy, where was it before it got to that parking lost? It`s a very good question. And also, her phone was powered off. You know one of my questions as an investigator is, is she normally reachable at all times by phone, or does she normally power it off? So there`s a lot of questions there that are out there that need to be answered and I`m hoping that they will be.
GRACE: Right. OK, I want to go out to Stuart Brazell, TV casting agent, multi-media host and producer.
Stuart, I want to go back to the time of the taping of the segment. She goes missing just hours after the segment airs.
STUART BRAZELL, TELEVISION CASTING AGENT, MULTIMEDIA HOST AND PRODUCER: Yes, you know --
GRACE: Do contestants litigants normally duke it out? Are they exposed to each other in the green room or they`re kept separate?
BRAZELL: No, what happens is -- let`s say that your case is taped in California, but you`re from Florida. So the Florida law is going to apply. They`re going to fly you into opposite airports. You`re going to be kept at hotels as far away from each other --
GRACE: Exactly.
BRAZELL: -- as possible, so that when you`re on, you know, television at court together, it`s as explosive as possible.
GRACE: Well, another reason on my judge show that I had, we wouldn`t fly people on the same airline because we didn`t want them to have a dispute on the plane. No, it wasn`t about saving the explosion for on air. We didn`t want them to blow up on the plane.
Hey, let`s take a listen at what happened on "People`s Court."
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MARILYN MILIAN, "PEOPLE`S COURT": This is because you`re like drugs to each other. You`re addicted to each other, but this is a very, very bad idea. Because it is not good for children to grow up in this kind of --
PARKER: Absolutely not.
MILIAN: It is very, very bad.
PARKER: And I`ve always tried to keep it together for the kids and forgive and forgive. And this is the final straw. And when you`re ready to hear obviously my side and let me finished, I`ll tell what you happened.
MILIAN: Yes, but what happened that -- is this how it`s always been between you two?
PARKER: No. He`s pretty violent --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Everybody, you`re seeing Michelle Parker from YouTube at Warner Brothers and a fight-out on the "People`s Court."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Thank you again for all of your support, your e-mails, letters, votes. Season 13, "Dancing with the Stars." My check, when I get it, from "Dancing with the Stars" is going to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Last night our final dance and curtain call. My friends, war hero superstar JR Martinez and first-time Mirrorball winner Karina Smirnoff proudly take home the Mirrorball Trophy Season 13.
Congratulations, friends, JR and Karina. And to you, thank you.
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TOM BERGERON, HOST, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": Ricki and Derek.
BROOKE BURKE, CO-HOST, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": One, two, three. All right. This is the order in which you`re going to dance your instant samba.
BERGERON: JR and Karina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: They were both so wonderful. Both contestants.
Let`s stop and remember Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Falkel, 22, Littleton, Colorado, killed Afghanistan. Second Tour awarded Silver Star, military`s third highest medal for combat. Purple Heart, Special Forces Tab. Buried Arlington.
Loved snowboarding, golf, his brother. Favorite sports team, the Avalanche and Broncos. Leaves behind parents Diane and Jeff, brother Tim.
Christopher Falkel, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. And thank you to dentist Dr. Diane Ola and her team, Beverly Hills. They saved me right before I went on "Dancing with the Stars." I cracked my tooth just hours ahead.
And happy birthday to Atlanta lawyer Randy Kessler.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then happy Thanksgiving. So much to be thankful for. Good night, friend.
END
