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Nancy Grace
Search Continues for Missing West Virginia 3-Year-Old Aliayah
Aired December 01, 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, West Virginia. A 3- year-old little girl dressed in Dora the Explorer PJs snatched from her own crib, baby Aliayah snuggled in bed wearing purple Doras and a pink princess sweatshirt. 9:00 AM, Mommy goes in to take the baby`s temperature, she`s gone!
Bombshell tonight. In a stunning twist, we learn Mommy first discovers 3-year-old Aliayah, instead of calling 911, Mommy drives around for hours, quote, "looking for the baby," even running out of gas, according to Mommy, Mommy pregnant with twins at the time. Tonight, where is Dora PJ tot 3-year-old baby Aliayah?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just went back in to wake her up, and she was gone!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three-year-old Aliayah Lunsford missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her mom reportedly went to check on her before seeing her husband off to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No clue. She`s just disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she checked on her daughter again around 9:00 to take her temperature, she was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Combing ground and water areas near Aliayah`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She never talked to strangers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say K9s pick up Aliayah`s scent at a nearby river just 100 yards from the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And would never have wandered off alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But dive teams find no sign of the girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it is a race against time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to beautiful 3-year-old girl Aliayah Lunsford?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live, Orlando. A gorgeous mom of three fights it out on "The People`s Court" over a luxury diamond engagement ring. A stormy relationship with her ex plays out in front of millions. Just hours later, she`s gone, her black Hummer found at a complex just down from her home, decals carefully scraped off the windows. After Michelle`s ex say he`s, quote, "too busy" to look for her, he lawyers up.
Michelle`s 11-year-old son says Smith hit Mommy in front of all three children, but even with all this stunning testimony, the custody judge gives the 3-year-old twins back to Daddy, now named the prime suspect in Mommy`s death or disappearance.
Breaking now. Daddy goes berserk right there at the courthouse. And in the last hours, police, divers, cadaver dogs, day two searching Lake Ellenor, a stone`s throw from the ex`s home and where investigators traced the final ping from Mommy`s cell phone. In a gut-wrenching twist, the 3- year-old twins have no clue Mommy`s gone, her family forced to tell the twins Mommy`s at work. Tonight, where is missing mom Michelle?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD PARKER, MISSING WOMAN`S FATHER: It don`t surprise me one bit. From day one, I thought it was Dale. I mean, Michelle dropped the twins off, and Michelle disappears in broad daylight. I think he planned it, staged it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michelle Parker`s mom hugs and kisses the main suspect in her daughter`s disappearance, Michelle`s ex-fiance, Dale Smith, Jr.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hugged Dale to tell him that my grandbabies -- I want to be able to see them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that if he had nothing to hide, he would have taken a polygraph test because I would have.
GRACE: His timeline isn`t standing up to the police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michelle Parker went missing almost two weeks ago, and Dale Smith, the children`s father, was the last person to see her. The Orlando Police Department says Smith is the prime suspect in her disappearance. And the state argued the children could be in harm`s way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s so important to me and my family.
GRACE: Searching Lake Ellenor for Michelle`s body. This is just miles from the ex`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning, there were pontoon boats, jetskis, about 25 people searching on foot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was also linked to a murder case when he was just about 20 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was charged with battery because he kicked one of the victim`s friends in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Although we do have a suspect is that our main focus is to find my sister.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A 3-year-old little girl dressed in Dora the Explorer pajamas disappears from her own crib. Mommy goes in to check on her she says sometime between 6:30 AM and 9:00 AM, and the baby`s gone, last seen wearing Dora the Explorer PJs, purple, and a pink princess sweatshirt.
But the kicker is, when Mommy finds the crib empty, she goes out looking for the baby, driving around for hours, even running out of gas, before she calls 911.
We are live and taking your calls. Straight out to Leslie Rubin, reporter with WCHS. Leslie, what can you tell us about the search tonight?
LESLIE RUBIN, WCHS CORRESPONDENT: Nancy, really, there is nothing to tell you about the search tonight. We have no new leads. We have no new information. Like you said, the mom went to check on her at 6:30. She was there. She went back around 9:30...
GRACE: OK, you know what?
RUBIN: ... and she was missing.
GRACE: Let me -- let me rephrase that question. Reuben Perdue, WAJR, tell me what happened. Take it from the beginning.
REUBEN PERDUE, WAJR FM (via telephone): It started the night before Aliayah Lunsford`s disappearance when the child had gotten sick. They were out at a friend`s home. They brought the child home, put her in bed because she wasn`t feeling well. The next morning, then, Nancy, when they woke up to check on the child around 6:30, she was there. The mother went back around 9:30, the child was gone.
That set off a frantic search that involved hundreds of people from across the neighborhood and from across the country, as well. Professional search teams came in, trying to find this young girl.
And since we talked last about it, law enforcement continues to work around the clock. The FBI still has their truck and their staff in the Weston area in Lewis (ph) County here in West Virginia. They`ve searched other areas of property. They`ve sifted through hours of surveillance video trying to narrow down leads in this case.
Tips and evidence being processed through the West Virginia fusion center. It`s just a case at this point that has put authorities up against a brick wall.
GRACE: Back to Leslie Rubin with WCHS. I think we`ve got your satellite back up, Leslie. Leslie, explain to me Mommy`s movements that morning.
RUBIN: She said she went to check on her at 6:30. She went back at 9:30, and that`s when she was gone. She then says she got in a van and drove around for two hours before she even called 911. Now, in the 911 tape, she sounds very frantic. She says, My baby`s missing. My baby`s missing. But really, after that, we haven`t heard from Lena Lunsford.
GRACE: Now, isn`t it true, Clark Goldband, that she says she ran out of gas while she`s out looking for the baby?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy. That`s what law enforcement told us at the outset. They said that, in fact, it wasn`t one vehicle, but two vehicles. Her first vehicle ran out of gas. The Mommy then borrows another car and continued searching for this child wearing only Dora the Explorer pajamas.
GRACE: You know, I don`t understand this. Let me go to Vickie Bowen, a special guest joining us tonight. Everyone, we are live in West Virginia, bringing you the latest. With us, WCHS and WAJR, joining in the search tonight for a 3-year-old little girl last seen in purple Dora the Explorer pajamas.
Take a look at little Aliayah, just 3 years old. Mommy says the little girl was sick the night before. She wakes up, 6:30 AM, when her -- the stepfather leaves the home to go to work. I guess they all go back to sleep. You know, the last time my children slept until 9:00 AM, I kept going in to make sure they were breathing because they would never sleep until 9:00 AM.
But Mommy says she goes in to check on the 3-year-old at 9:00 AM. And between 6:30 AM and 9:00, the baby is gone out of her crib, wearing nothing but her purple Doras and a pink princess sweatshirt.
To Vickie Bowen. This is the aunt of Aliayah Lunsford, the Dora PJ tot gone missing. She`s joining us out of Webster County, West Virginia. Vickie, thank you for being with us. I don`t understand why instead of calling 911 did the mom go out in a car and start driving around, looking for the 3-year-old?
VICKIE BOWEN, MISSING CHILD`S GREAT-AUNT (via telephone): That`s a question I think we would all like to have answered, along with a million other questions. That`s not something...
GRACE: What are the other questions that you have, Vickie Bowen? With us is Aliayah`s aunt, Lunsford. Go ahead, explain to me. What are your questions tonight, Vickie Bowen?
BOWEN: Well, I would really like to know why Aliayah`s mother, her stepfather, or even her grandmother has not made a plea for Aliayah. They`ve remained completely silent. My sister, Joanne (ph), which is Aliayah`s grandmother, spoke to me in the beginning and then she got upset with me because I keep trying to get help for Aliayah. So now she don`t speak to me anymore.
GRACE: Well, Ms. Bowen, you`re getting it tonight. And I want to thank you for being with us. The tip line in the search for baby Aliayah, 304-558-4831. There is a $20,000 reward in connection with finding baby Aliayah.
I want to go back to you, Clark Goldband. The search has been ongoing for baby Aliayah. At the time -- she`s since had the twins, but exactly at that time when she was out looking for baby Aliayah, Mommy was pregnant with twins and that`s why she wouldn`t give the poly. She just gave birth to the twins. Has she taken a poly?
GOLDBAND: You`re right, Nancy. She was eight months pregnant. And in fact, we spoke with Mom`s attorney this afternoon who told us that she would like to give a polygraph and she has an appointment next week and first needs to get medically cleared before doing so.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Baby Aliayah, wearing nothing but purple Dora the Explorer PJs and a pink princess sweatshirt, goes to sleep that night, according to Mommy. The next morning, 9:00 AM, Aliayah is gone. Where is 3-year-old baby Aliayah?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She never leaves the house unless an adult is with her. She wouldn`t have came out in the yard or the road, for that matter, without her mother. We love her and we miss her!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A family devastated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want her home!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love her and we miss her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 3-year-old (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This child disappears without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: K9s were brought in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Traced a direct scent from the home to the residence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s where the trail goes cold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no sign of any type of a break-in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s a shy girl. She doesn`t talk to strangers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And would never have wandered off alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s adorable. She`s sweet. And she`s missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s obviously desperate times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, there`s no clues leading us anywhere. No clues. It`s just like she`s just disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is here or there. She`s somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s very bizarre! Why would this little 3-year- old angel just go missing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Tonight, where is 3-year-old baby Aliayah? Mommy says baby Aliayah last seen 6:30 AM when she goes to check on her. She`s wearing purple Dora the Explorer pajamas and a pink princess sweatshirt. 9:00 AM, she goes back in to check on her. I don`t know what child sleeps until 9:00 AM. Not mine, I can tell you that much. She`s gone out of her crib. Instead of calling 911, Mommy takes it upon herself to drive around for hours until she runs out of gas, looking for the baby.
We are taking your calls. Out to Elaine in Illinois. Hi, Elaine. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Good to talk to you again.
GRACE: Likewise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, and I hope you got my letter finally with the (INAUDIBLE) in it. But I guess I`ll find that out later. Anyway, my question is, do they have any idea if there was a break-in or anything like that?
GRACE: Good question, Elaine in Illinois. Out to Leslie Rubin with WCHS. I haven`t heard a word about forced entry of any type, Leslie.
RUBIN: No, neither have we. She said -- Lena said in the 911 call that she believed that the doors were locked. So we`ve never heard anything about a forced entry.
GRACE: OK, everybody. This baby girl is gone, Mommy says, apparently snatched out of her own crib.
You know, Leslie Rubin, WCHS, she says she thought the door was locked? Was that was she said?
RUBIN: Yes. She said, quote, she "believed" the doors were locked because the 911 operator -- that was one of the first questions that they asked, were the doors locked, could Aliayah reach the door handle, and she said no, she couldn`t reach the door handle, and no, she believed that the doors were locked.
GRACE: At 3 years old, she can`t reach a door handle? You know what, Leslie? At 2, mine could open the door and turn a little lock. I had to put latches about five-and-a-half feet up because at 2, they could already reach the doorknob and they already knew how to get in and out of the house with locks. So she`s saying the 3-year-old could not reach the doorknob? She said that, huh?
RUBIN: Yes, Nancy.
GRACE: OK. How many people, Reuben Perdue, WAJR, were in the home when baby Aliayah goes missing?
PERDUE: That morning, there were the mother, Lena Lunsford, Aliayah Lunsford, of course, was there until her disappearance. And then there were, I believe, five other children in the home. The stepfather, Ralph Lunsford, was awake in the morning and that`s the reason that Lena Lunsford, the mother, woke up early at 6:30 was to see him off to work. She saw him off to work after he (ph) left the home. So at that point, you`re looking at the mother and the five other children.
GRACE: OK, whoa, whoa. Wait. Five other children. This mom has given birth to, at that time, five children, plus Aliayah is 6, and she was pregnant with twins. She`s just given birth to them. She has eight children that she gave birth to?
PERDUE: Yes.
GRACE: All right. OK. So Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, you have six children, the mom and the dad in the home, and nobody saw or heard anything?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, the dad was gone. She saw the dad off. She went in. She checked, and the little girl was still there. The little girl is unable to reach the doorknob. The doors were all locked. So that tells you that somebody took that little girl out of the house. She didn`t just wander off on her own.
And unfortunately, in the vast majority of these kinds of cases, parents or other family members are involved. Now, given the fact that the mom was the last person to see the little girl...
GRACE: Whoa! Wait! Marc! Marc!
KLAAS: Yes?
GRACE: Look at your monitor! Is that a bruise on her face? Look at that!
KLAAS: You know, she -- every picture I see of her, she seems incredibly unhappy. She could easily be a beaten girl. This is a very dysfunctional family, as may come out later in the show. I don`t know.
But the point is, is that, you know, this mom wasn`t able to do her polygraph exam. Now she is able to do it. She`s looking forward to doing it. And hopefully, that will provide some long-needed answers.
GRACE: I`m getting very, very upset, Marc.
KLAAS: Sure.
GRACE: She looks so sad and...
KLAAS: Yes.
GRACE: I remember, for what it was worth, I had the twins so dressed up on their birthday. Of course, they ruined the outfits with icing and all that, as I predicted. But there she is sitting in a pair (ph) of diapers, having a birthday cake. That`s it. And now I see a black-and- blue. And look at the little expressions on her face.
Guys, where`s baby Aliayah? Her mother says she was last seen wearing purple Dora pajamas and a pink sweatshirt, princess shirt. And now she`s gone. Disturbing questions tonight about what`s going on inside that home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 3-year-old girl is missing from her West Virginia home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say they`ve dealt with missing persons cases in the past, but Aliayah`s is unlike any other.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say it`s like 3-year-old Aliayah Lunsford just disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Around 9:00, 9:30, I went back in to wake her up, and she was gone!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aliayah Lunsford went missing from her Bendale (ph) home. And ever since, search teams have turned this typically quiet neighborhood upside down in the hopes of bringing her home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoever has her, please, please bring her home. Take her anywhere, to a public place, anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Around 9:00, 9:30, I went back in to wake her up, and she was gone.
They are doing everything that they possibly can, but the more people we can...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are live in West Virginia and taking your calls. Her Mommy says she disappeared from her own crib wearing nothing but purple Dora the Explorer PJs and a pink princess sweatshirt.
I want to go back to Vickie Bowen. This is Aliayah`s aunt, the 3- year-old tot who has gone missing. Ms. Bowen, so many facts are jumping out at me right now. Do you know why, in every photo that I`ve got, Aliayah looks unhappy? She`s even got a bruise on her face in one of them.
BOWEN: No, I don`t. But I wanted to correct something. You counted eight children, and there was actually seven.
GRACE: OK. So there`s...
BOWEN: She`s had -- yes, she had four other children besides Aliayah, and then she had the twins for a total of seven.
GRACE: OK. Good to know.
BOWEN: And as far as the bruises, I do not know.
GRACE: Have you been in the home and observed the mother with the children?
BOWEN: No, I have not. I moved away from here a good while ago and just moved back into the area. No, I personally have not got to meet Aliayah. However, since the parents wasn`t speaking out for her, or the grandmother, I decided that I should do that. Well, I didn`t decide. My brothers and my older sister and I decided -- because it just don`t look good. Since Aliayah has been missing, Lena has been arrested for Welfare fraud. Ralph was caught with the bath salts ecstasy -- or sextasy (ph) in his possession. It`s not looking good. It`s really not looking good at all.
GRACE: You have concerns about what may have happened to Aliayah. What are the concerns?
BOWEN: Well, I`m very much concerned that she was abused before she came up missing. The bath salts (INAUDIBLE) I have done a little research on, and it`s like Viagra and cocaine (INAUDIBLE) get on it. Why would that father be taking that and Lena was eight months pregnant?
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls. 304-558-4831. Where is 3-year-old Aliayah?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Take a look at this beautiful girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to find this little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The more people we can get to help.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Three-year-old Aliyah Lunsford vanishes out of her own home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where Aliyah was last seen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has to happen now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mom canvasses the neighborhood for about two hours before calling police. Were crucial minutes lost?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Only a faint trail picked up by search dogs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love her and we miss her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re feared, we`re hurt, we`re angry, we`re grieving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want her home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The little girl was sick the night before. She`s last seen wearing Dora the Explorer pajamas and a pink sweatshirt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a 3-year-old baby that needs a voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are live and taking your calls. Where is baby Aliyah?
Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Atlanta defense attorney Peter Odom, renowned defense attorney out of Washington, D.C. tonight, John Burris, typically out of the California jurisdiction.
OK, John Burris, you know what, bath salts are a right type of drug that is sold under the name bath salts, but it`s actually kind of like methamphetamine. Since baby Aliyah goes missing, there has been arrest, there`s been a charge on bath salts and welfare fraud. Changing in the EBT card for money.
JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, obviously these are people with bad character and character evidence that suggests that they have some morality-type problems. You know at the end of the day, when you have a kid missing out of this house, it`s hard for me to believe that a third person would have come in.
Notwithstanding, you know, other cases have happened, but given what we know here, it just looks like that someone in that house has hurt that child or taken that child away. And you only have to look at -- you only have to look at the stepdad or the dad or the mom.
I don`t believe there`s any evidence to suggest that any forced entry or anything of that nature. So from the police point of view, you have to focus in on the adults in that household.
GRACE: Odom?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I disagree completely with my colleague John. These people, there is no evidence to suggest that they in fact did anything to this child. It looks like this child went missing --
GRACE: Well, where did the baby go, Peter Odom?
ODOM: Many thousands of children go -- many thousands of children go missing every day, Nancy. Tragically. What you`re doing, I`m afraid, and what John is tragically doing, is using these people`s character to suggest that because they somehow committed --
GRACE: Please Odom up.
ODOM: Because they somehow committed fraud.
GRACE: Tell the whole truth, Peter Odom.
ODOM: I always do.
GRACE: Thousands of children don`t go missing from their own crib. All right? And no one is here to crucify them on morality issues.
ODOM: Good.
GRACE: I don`t care about their morality. All I care about is where this baby girl is.
ODOM: Right.
GRACE: And I think that when one parent has a charge on welfare fraud and another parent has a charge regarding drugs, that tells me their frame of mind. They`ve got all these children they`ve got to support in the home.
ODOM: Not a --
GRACE: The mom is pregnant with twins and suddenly the baby girl goes missing?
ODOM: Not a single allegation of any child abuse against any of these seven children. And I believe that you`re suggesting that because somehow she committed welfare fraud, that she abused children. There`s just no evidence of it, and I recent the suggestion.
GRACE: No. What I`m saying is, when you`ve got that many children and you are committing welfare fraud and your husband is charged with drugs, obviously there is a problem. All right?
Hold on. Joining me right now is Donna. This is mommy`s stepsister.
Donna, thank you for being with us. What`s going on in that home, Donna?
DONNA, STEP-AUNT OF 3-YEAR-OLD MISSING GIRL: Well, you know, I have known these people since I was born. And this goes way, way back for years whenever Lina was little. Lina`s behavior is -- I mean when she was growing up, she would do stuff that she would get in trouble for and Joanne was like there to help back her up. So Lina learned to be evasive and to hide things and to do things and get away with it.
GRACE: Tell me what you know about how this child, baby Aliyah, was treated.
DONNA: Well, I`ll tell you, I haven`t had much to do with them. I saw Aliyah one time when she was about four weeks old and I had offered to take her because Lina was in jail. Whenever Aliyah was born. Actually the judge put her -- he put her in jail when she was pregnant because she supposedly violated her probation by failing drug tests and she was pregnant and he intentionally kept her in there.
GRACE: Whoa. Why was she on probation? Probation for what?
DONNA: She`s got a rap sheet longer than my house. Forgery, uttering, stealing, you name it. Bad checks. She`s been in more trouble than I could ever imagine. Her and Ralph both.
GRACE: OK, now the stepfather was not actually charged with the bath salts. Apparently in West Virginia that`s not illegal.
You know, Bethany Marshall, I`ve noticed -- psychoanalyst and author of "Dealbreakers." I`ve noticed that neither mommy nor daddy are making a public plea for the return of their 3-year-old girl or for tips.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Well, Nancy, they may know where the little girl is.
Lina, mommy, sold $114 worth of food stamps for $50 cash. She did that multiple times while she had five children in the house. And what that tells me is perhaps -- I mean how is she going to feed the children if she sold the food stamps, right? Maybe drugs were more important than the children.
Maybe she was having multiple children to get welfare benefits to get food stamps, to get cash to buy drugs, and if so that means this little girl was just a commodity. We know why she didn`t call 911. She didn`t call 911 because she was already in trouble with the law.
Why call 911 if you are high, you`ve been passed out, and your little girl some harm has befallen her or she`s wandered out the door under your watch and you`re already on probation. And the final thing is she said about this little girl, Aliyah would never leave the house. She knows not to leave. She is a shy little girl.
When a parent attributes adult qualities to a child, that`s a classic sign of child abuse when the parent confuses what it means to be an adult with what it means to be a child, they place adult responsibilities on a child.
You know because you`re a mom, Nancy, that 3-year-olds wander. The mother needed time to cover up, sober up, so she can get her story together.
GRACE: With me is Dr. Michael Arnall, board certified forensic psychologist. Explain to me what are bath salts? Aliyah`s mom reportedly broke conditions of pretrial release by using them. What happens to a person physically when they use bath salts?
DR. MICHAEL ARNALL, BOARD CERTIFIED FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Bath salts are synthetic chemicals manufactured by street chemists. They are a stimulant and the things you have to worry about are agitations, paranoia, hallucinations, frank psychosis, and even suicidal behavior.
And there`s possibilities that anyone in the household may have exhibited these bizarre behaviors and from time to time some idiots believe that it`s a good idea to give their children these drugs.
GRACE: Joining me also, Paul Penzone, former sergeant, Phoenix PD, child advocate.
Paul, what do you make of this?
PAUL PENZONE, DIRECT OF PREVENTION PROGRAMS, CHILDHELP.ORG, FMR. SERGEANT, PHOENIX PD: The biggest concern now is obviously she`s living in a home that`s very unhealthy. We`ve talked before about the influence and impact of drugs in the home.
And as your previous guest stated, I`ve done a lot of research on bath salts (INAUDIBLE) and it`s probably the most dangerous drug on the street right now when it comes to violent effects. But it`s not illegal because the government can`t catch up to all these new designer drugs. So in the home with those parents puts that child and all the other children in extreme jeopardy every day.
GRACE: We are taking your calls.
Out to Donna in Canada. Hi, Donna. What`s your question, dear?
DONNA, CALLER FROM CANADA: Hi, Nancy. How are you? You are a very nice lady.
GRACE: I`m good. Thank you.
DONNA: You guys kind of jumped ahead of me there. I was calling -- being concerned about the little girl`s pictures. She looked very, very sad in them, and behind one there is a Christmas tree. And most children`s eyes stand right out at Christmas. And she`s the saddest little 3-year-old I have ever seen. And the father looks to me like he has a mean streak in him. If you look directly in --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You know I -- you know, Dr. Bethany Marshall, take a look at these photos. Now that I`m really looking at them, not a single photo do you see her smiling.
MARSHALL: Nancy, do you know the worst form of abuse is neglect? If you hit a child, you smack a child, at least you treat the child as if the child exist. But when you starve a child, you turn a blind eye, you`re passed out and you don`t give the child any attention, then you treat the child like the child doesn`t exist.
Neglect is cataclysmic.
GRACE: Everyone, this 3-year-old girl, baby Aliyah, goes to sleep reportedly in nothing but her purple Dora the Explorer peejays and a pink princess sweatshirt. 6:30 a.m. mommy checks on the baby. 9:00 she says the baby is gone. Gone. Snatched from her own crib.
Tip line 304-558-4831. There is a $20,000 reward to help find 3-year- old Dora the Explorer tot, baby Aliyah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: More than 1,000 volunteers have searched these areas. Most without ever having met Aliyah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a 2-year-old granddaughter and several grandkids and I just could not imagine living without those kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This child is lonely, cold, I`m hoping and praying that she`s still alive.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In a stunning moment after court, the children`s grandmother hugged Smith when leaving the courtroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I hope that, you know, we can work something out. Because they`re so important to me and my family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From day one, I thought it was Dale.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dale and I have had issues in the past. That`s no secret. But it was never because of abuse or violence towards me.
MICHELLE PARKER, MISSING MOM OF THREE: It`s pretty malicious and vindictive and he`s a mean person especially when he`s been drinking. (INAUDIBLE) grabbed me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s just very abusive to her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never really cared for the guy.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Judge Thomas Turner ruled the children should not be taken from their father.
JUDGE THOMAS TURNER, CIRCUIT JUDGE: I don`t see the imminent risk of potential abuse.
GRACE: Judge do not know that daddy is suspect number one?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a sad day, really.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother is not here, but the fact that she`s not here is something -- it`s like an 800 pound gorilla that you can`t ignore.
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GRACE: You`re seeing video from YouTube and Warner Brothers. That`s Michelle Parker on the "People`s Court." She appears branding her ex as physically, emotional and mentally abusive. Within two hours she`s gone.
In the last hours, daddy, the ex, the prime suspect at her disappearance or death, goes berserk at the courthouse in front of everybody.
To Alexis Tereszcuk, Radaronline.com, what happened, Alexis?
ALEXIS TERESZCUK, REPORTER, RADAROLINE.COM: You know what, as Dale Smith was going into a court for the hearing, a custody hearing for his kids, he body-checked a cameraman. As you can see, he`d knocked it then he in fact opens the door of the courthouse and slams the door into another reporter.
This guy has a violent history. He`s been in jail multiple times. He was dishonorably discharged from the military because of domestic abuse and drug use and then right there, right before he goes into court, he hits two people.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, what more do we know?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: OK, the photographer is reportedly considering pressing charges against him. He had cuts on his arm and his leg. There also unconfirmed reports that Smith Jr.`s father also shoved the photographer when he was asked about Smith Jr.`s alibi the day Michelle went missing.
GRACE: With me right now a special guest, this is Michelle`s father, Brad Parker, joining us and taking your calls.
Mr. Parker, I`m stunned at his behavior right there at the courthouse. If he will behave that way at the courthouse, literally on the courthouse steps with media cameras on him, what will he do when he is alone with an unarmed woman with her two twins?
BRAD PARKER, FATHER OF MISSING MOM, MICHELLE PARKER: It`s uncalled for and who know what he`s going to do? I mean the cameraman was not even in front of him. He did like a football player deliberately stepped to the left and knocked him over. Uncalled for.
GRACE: Please play that back in full, Liz.
Brad, police back at Lake Eleanor which happens to be like a triangle between the last ping on your daughter`s cell phone which was at 8:00 p.m. that evening and the ex`s family`s home. What do you know about the search at Lake Eleanor?
B. PARKER: As far as I know, they are trying to figure out where Dale left his house to his parents` house, maybe the nearest spot where he can maybe dump the body. That was the nearest lake and they had a hunch and the Orange County said they did it on a random, and they`re going to check other lakes around the area, too, after they finish this one.
GRACE: Brad, you`ve been out looking for your daughter, haven`t you?
B. PARKER: Yes.
GRACE: I can tell because your face has gotten tanner and tanner.
B. PARKER: Yes.
GRACE: You`re practically sunburned from being out in the elements looking for her.
B. PARKER: Yes, I -- yes, I have. That`s why my face is red and I`m not going to stop until we find her.
GRACE: What are the 3-year-old twins being told about where is mommy?
B. PARKER: They are told mommy is still at work. I think that`s good for them because they are young. The oldest son knows what`s happening. He is coping very, very good.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. With me also is Matt Morgan, the attorney for the missing mom, Michelle Parker`s family.
Matt, I still don`t understand. You were there in the custody hearing. Why the judge would hand over these 3-year-old twins to the biodad who is the prime suspect in her disappearance or even death. Why would he do that?
MATT MORGAN, ATTORNEY FOR FAMILY OF MISSING MOM MICHELLE PARKER: You know, Nancy, it was an emotional hearing. And ultimately the family wanted desperately the children to come back home and be where they were most comfortable. They`ve lived with Michelle in the home with Yvonne (ph) and her family for the past three years. So ultimately that`s what the family wanted.
The judge ruled that the children were not in any kind of imminent danger and so he shot the DCF`s pleadings or --
GRACE: Yes, well, they probably would have thought the same thing about Michelle a couple of weeks ago, too, Matt Morgan.
David Badali, police diving instructor joining us out of Sarasota. Very quickly, David, this is day two, cops, divers, cadaver dogs at Lake Eleanor. What does that say to you?
DAVID BADALI, POLICE DIVING INSTRUCTOR: That says they`re getting close to wrapping up, Nancy. You know you`re a certified diver. You know what it`s like when you have zero visibility. Lake Eleanor has zero visibility. Today they had some divers from the sheriff`s department getting them there in dive suits not making much progress. I think the good thing here is, as I understand, Tim Miller is in town and he`s probably --
GRACE: Of Texas EquuSearch.
(CROSSTALK)
BADALI: -- the leading expert with sight sonar in the country. And I got a feeling after a couple of passes inside Lake Eleanor, with the sight sonar, they`ll be able to either find something or eliminate that particular lake.
GRACE: Paul Penzone, former sergeant, Phoenix PD, what do you make of it?
PENZONE: I have to say right now it`s going to be really difficult, if you`re not going to get cooperation (INAUDIBLE) some new information whenever you see a body that goes missing especially around a body of water. It`s a difficult search and you know you`re dealing with somewhere where there was history there. So I think it`s just going to be complicated. They`ll have to wait for some new clues to present themselves.
GRACE: Yes. And Marc Klaas, the foliage around there is so thick, you`ve got to cut it with a machete, Marc Klaas.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Yes, you certainly do. But I want to say I am so happy to finally see a parent of a missing person standing up for that missing person, and not hiding behind the excuses and justifications.
This is going to be a tough one to track. But hopefully they`ll be able to do it.
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GRACE: Dale Smith Junior`s lawyers, cooking up a brand new timeline.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damn, that`s him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s damned if he does, damned if he doesn`t.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The attorney it`s a joke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is still missing.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The 33-year-old mother of three.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her family needs to have Michelle home.
GRACE: Their twins are going back to daddy. What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s just inconceivable to me.
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GRACE: Lawyers John Burris, Peter Odom. What do you make of the prime suspect going berserk at the courthouse, John Burris, on camera?
BURRIS: Well, certainly not a nice thing to do, I mean, I can say that. You know --
GRACE: That`s all you`ve got to say, it`s not nice?
BURRIS: No, no. No, he`s under a lot of pressure right now.
GRACE: What?
BURRIS: His button is getting pushed by a lot of people around him and so he`s responding to it. But that does mean he shouldn`t have his kids.
GRACE: Really?
BURRIS: And that`s the thing that I would say. There`s nothing -- no reason why he should not have his kids.
GRACE: So Burris --
BURRIS: He`s the father of the children --
GRACE: Don`t you have children?
BURRIS: I absolutely -- grown children now.
GRACE: All right.
BURRIS: And -- but I understand --
GRACE: Do you recall when they were about 3 years old, you never got frustrated? So if he`ll do this at the courthouse with cameras on him, what`s he going to do with two defenseless 3-year-olds when they get on his nerves?
BURRIS: I don`t -- I don`t -- that has nothing to do with it. That`s not the same kind of activity.
GRACE: Right.
BURRIS: Being a parent is one thing --
GRACE: OK. Odom, try to -- try to dig Burris out of this one.
(LAUGHTER)
ODOM: Well, you know, I agree with John, this is a guy that`s had cameras shoved in his face for, you know, a long time. And he just --
GRACE: They didn`t shove a camera in his face.
ODOM: It`s the last straw. Yes, it was in his face right before he shoved the guy, he just moved out of the way right before he shoved it --
GRACE: He shoved a guy that was just standing there. He had to step out of his way and do it.
ODOM: He lost his cool. That doesn`t make him a killer. So I`m with John on this one.
GRACE: You know, you two -- you never cease to amaze me.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: That there are 3-year-old children involved here, you can yuck it up all you want to, but I don`t think there`s anything funny about it.
Let`s stop --
BURRIS: No, I don`t -- but I don`t believe, Nancy -- I don`t believe --
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GRACE: Second verse same as the first. Save it.
Army 1st Lieutenant Forest Ewens, 25, Chewelah, Washington, killed Afghanistan. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Track Star. Grew up on farm country. Loved chopping wood. Feeding animals, guitar, writing music. Remembered for beautiful blue eyes. Leaves behind parents Michael and Carol. Brothers Steven and Okin, his identical twin. All three brothers serving Afghanistan at the same time. Sister Alicia, widow Megan. Also served Army.
Forrest Ewens, 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.
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