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Nancy Grace
Search for Missing Maine Toddler Now Homicide Investigation?
Aired February 01, 2012 - 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, Maine. 8:00 PM, Daddy puts his 20-month-old baby girl to bed. 9:00 AM, she`s gone, snatched from her own home. Just hours before she disappears, Mommy secretly goes to court, fighting for full custody.
It is confirmed blood found in the basement of Daddy`s home is that of toddler girl Ayla, that blood found in the Daddy`s basement bedroom. The forensics proves somebody tried to wipe the girl`s blood away. As Mommy and Daddy now appear to be friendly again, investigators say they have grave doubts Ayla was ever kidnapped.
Bombshell tonight. Did baby Ayla actually go missing long before cops ever called? We confirm Daddy`s elaborate plan to keep Mommy away from baby Ayla. Every time Mommy tried to see or contact the toddler girl, there was a new and different excuse to turn Mommy down.
And just in tonight, Daddy`s sleepover girlfriend`s car, a 2002 Hyundai Sonata, searched for blood evidence. Just who is this girlfriend? And another bombshell tonight. We learn a neighbor`s home searched by police pursuant to warrant, police looking for any clues as to baby Ayla`s whereabouts. Does that include a body?
Tonight, cops loud and clear at this hour, other people outside the family know what happened to baby Ayla. Who are these people? And why, as Grandma slams a "no trespassing" sign down in the front yard and Daddy nowhere to be found, tonight, where is baby Ayla?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police (INAUDIBLE) new evidence from the home where Ayla Reynolds disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have Justin, who lives in the basement.
GRACE: We learn baby Ayla`s blood found in the basement of the home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than from a small cut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can confirm some of the blood was Ayla`s.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her blood was part of a clean-up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t comment on the blood that was in the house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I`m not -- I`m not here to answer any questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you really want to know what my reaction is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, indeed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blood was found, of my daughter!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not about me. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Justin knew that there was amounts of baby Ayla`s blood in the basement, did he share that information with law enforcement?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police flat out saying they don`t believe baby Ayla was abducted, as her father is claiming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not found one piece of evidence to back that up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something solid that I knew, I mean, I would be saying that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m calling him out, face to face, man to man. Tell me where my little girl is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Did baby Ayla actually go missing long before cops ever called? And tonight, we learn a neighbor`s home searched by police looking for any clues as to baby Ayla`s whereabouts. Does that include searching for a body?
We are taking your calls, and go now to Maine, straight out to Bonnie Druker, joining us there at the scene. Bonnie, what can you tell me? What`s all this business, A, a neighbor`s home was searched? Why would a neighbor`s home be searched for baby Ayla? And why was the sleepover girlfriend -- I know she`s a 24-year-old that apparently lives somewhere else but is a frequent sleepover at the home -- why would her car, her 2002 Hyundai Sonata, be searched for blood evidence? Fill me in. Now I`m hearing about the girlfriend and neighbors?
BONNIE DRUKER, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, the girlfriend`s car was searched, and so was Justin`s searched. It was for the blood evidence. Also, Nancy, we want to take you across the street right here. We understand that one of the neighbors` homes was also searched for Ayla`s body, Nancy.
GRACE: OK, what can you tell me about the neighbor? Now, are you sure it`s across the street and it`s not a next-door neighbor?
DRUKER: No, we understand that it is someone from across the street, one of the homes across the street, Nancy.
GRACE: Let`s see them. Pan away from Bonnie, if possible. Bonnie Druker, our producer, standing there in front of the home. One of these homes that you`re looking at, we believe was the subject of a search.
Back to Bonnie Druker, standing there, Waterville, Maine. Bonnie, we know one of these homes were searched. Do you know what they were searching for? And was the girlfriend`s car impounded?
DRUKER: Yes, the girlfriend`s car was impounded. And they were looking for Ayla at one of these homes, Nancy.
GRACE: OK, to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." Everyone, we are taking your calls. Jean, stunning developments, in my book. Number one, we learn of Daddy`s elaborate plan to keep Mommy away from baby Ayla. And two, a neighbor`s home searched for blood evidence, the girlfriend`s car searched for blood evidence? What do you know, Jean?
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Let`s look at the facts, Nancy. They discovered blood in the basement, or i.e. bedroom, of the father, mother`s home, right at the very beginning. So what they saw blood evidence, they need to look to see if a body was transported, Nancy. That`s the reality in all of this.
Of course the car was searched for blood, because Nancy, although this is a missing person investigation, from the discovery of that blood, the very beginning, this was a homicide investigation.
GRACE: You know, Jean, the way you phrase it, you`re right. It`s a homicide investigation. And you know, I noticed yesterday and this morning, reading all the local reports, a lot of local reporters coming down on Maine State Police spokesperson John McCauseland. I think he`s doing everything right. True, he wouldn`t give me a lot of answers yesterday, but in my book, they`re doing everything they can, including these search warrants on the girlfriend`s car and the neighbor`s home.
To Bonnie Druker. What can you tell me about this 24-year-old sleepover girlfriend?
DRUKER: Nancy, we know that she was sleeping over. We know that she had a little child. We know they were in the house, sleeping with the little child in the basement, Nancy.
GRACE: OK, let me go to Jean Casarez. Jean, do we know her name? Do we know where she lives? What do we know about her?
CASAREZ: Now, you`re talking about the girlfriend...
GRACE: Yes.
CASAREZ: ... in the apartment? Her name`s Courtney Roberts, 24 years old, on again, off again girlfriend. But here`s the thing, Nancy. If you`ve got three adults in that home -- and investigators are now publicly saying they believe more people know vital facts -- three people, if they have knowledge, they`re going to talk. And then it multiplies. And that`s why people in the community, they believe, know what happened.
GRACE: You know, when you say community, Jean Casarez, I`m thinking, in that home and across the street. To John DePetro, WPRO host joining us today. John, what more can you tell me? And what do we know about this girlfriend? Apparently, she`s the only non-blood-related person in the home that night. And what have cops been doing to get the truth out of her?
JOHN DEPETRO, WPRO AM RADIO (via telephone): That`s true, Nancy. Courtney Robertson (SIC), her son supposedly stayed in the basement that night. They slept down there with Justin. She was photographed with him the first weekend.
Aside from that, we don`t know what communication she had with police. There was a report that she took a polygraph. Police will not confirm that. The only one they will confirm is they say that Justin took the polygraph and that he knows what the results were. But right now, she knows a lot. She was one of the adults in the house that night, Nancy.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. To C.W. Jensen, retired Portland police captain. You know, C.W., this is what we have learned about the dad`s polygraph. He came out and said he, quote, "smoked it." But police tell us -- when we asked them, Did he pass the polygraph, they say, He knows how he did, just the way I delivered it to you. That`s what they say. Weigh in, Jensen.
C.W. JENSEN, RETIRED PORTLAND POLICE CAPTAIN: Well, It would be very routine to give everyone polygraph tests. I don`t know why they don`t say what the result is, but they`re almost saying it by saying it how they`re doing it. So it doesn`t sound -- if they`re still very suspicious of him, I doubt he passed the polygraph test.
GRACE: Tonight, we are learning police convinced that someone outside the family has information about where is baby Ayla.
Back to you, Bonnie Druker. What about that big "no trespassing" sign that`s been plunked down in front of the home?
DRUKER: Nancy, basically, Justin`s mother put that sign up yesterday. She literally took a hammer, took the nails as I was asking her questions, and hammered it to that tree. These folks do not want to speak to anyone about this investigation, Nancy.
GRACE: Bonnie, let`s take it from the beginning. What happened?
DRUKER: All right, so I drove up here. Of course, as a producer, I was trying to get some more answers. Phoebe came outside. I was taking some pictures. She came outside and she said, Get off my property. And I said, Well, there is no sign on your property, Phoebe. She came out with a sign, took the hammer, took the nail and nailed it to the tree. She said, I don`t want to have anything to do with any of you.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Holly Hughes, defense attorney, Atlanta, Peter Elikann, defense attorney and author of "Super Predators" joining us out of the Boston area.
To Holly Hughes. Typically, Holly, when I deal with a missing child, an unsolved homicide, the victim`s family is overjoyed. They are thrilled that we are covering the case. They want to cooperate in any way they can. They answer the hard questions because, of course, cops look at the family first and then move outward. Statistically, you find the perp within the family. They are willing to answer hard questions in order to put the child`s name out there and keep focus on the missing child.
Not so in this case. Not so at all. You just heard the story about the grandma herself slamming down the "no trespassing" sign. What gives, Holly?
HOLLY HUGHES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, everybody deals with tragedy in a different way. And let`s face it, he`s been named a suspect by the police, so of course he doesn`t want negative publicity about him. He does want his daughter`s missing reported, the fact that she`s gone. But he doesn`t want to be attacked. So you know what? They`ve had it.
GRACE: OK, Peter Elikann, number one, he has not been named a suspect. He has not been named a suspect at all. So what`s with not cooperating? In fact, going so far as to -- the moment they see a producer near their home, they stomp out of the house and plunk down a "no trespassing" sign. They ought to be rolling out the red carpet, Elikann!
PETER ELIKANN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY (via telephone): Well, the grandmother is just a small town, Maine, person. She may know no information herself, and she may be tired of endlessly having reporters all day long come there and ask her questions when she doesn`t have any answers. So everybody deals with it differently. And like I said, this grandmother may know nothing and not want to be bothered.
GRACE: OK, to you, Marc Klaas. When your daughter, Polly, went missing, you bent over backwards to cooperate with police and court the media trying to find Polly. Thoughts?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: That`s absolutely true, and the truth shall set you free. If you talk the truth and stick with the truth, everything will work out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is home video shot last fall of the toddler.
I interviewed Phoebe, the grandmother.
And that`s when she revealed to me on her own, I have to tell you, I wasn`t there. I was somewhere else, and I want you to know that I told police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is baby Ayla?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know what happened to my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve confirmed there was blood in the basement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: DiPietro refused to comment about the blood that was found in his home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I`m not -- I`m not here to answer any questions.
GRACE: He is not a person of interest. He is not a suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to pick her up and I want to hold her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the blood was visible, some of it was detected by luminol.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know where she is and who took her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blood was found in the basement of Ayla`s father`s home on 29 Violet Avenue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can confirm the blood was Ayla`s.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did not invite me down to the basement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The frustrating part is that we have three adults inside that home that night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: DiPietro, his sister and his girlfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody in that family knows something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I`m not -- I`m not here to answer any questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we don`t think we`re getting the full story as to what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Ayla`s neighborhood. And you can see right behind me, friends of the family are clearing off the snow from Ayla`s memorial. And this is the house where Ayla`s father says she vanished from, abducted. And that far window, that was her bedroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight back out to John DePetro, WPRO host. John, thank you for being with us. John, they are convinced that somebody in that home -- there were only three adults there -- knows where baby Ayla is tonight. We also are learning of an elaborate plan of Daddy`s to keep Mommy away.
Of the three people in the home, only one is a non-blood-relative. That`s the girlfriend. Wouldn`t it make sense to focus on her for the truth?
DEPETRO: It might, Nancy. But what is problematic here is outside of those three, we don`t know anyone else that can confirm the last time that they saw baby Ayla. Trista Reynolds says when she called and would want to talk to baby Ayla, Justin would make up an excuse that she couldn`t come to the phone, that she was either sleeping or playing. A key figure here is Phoebe, the grandmother. It was her house. When was the last time she saw baby Ayla?
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Cindy in Ohio. Hi, Cindy. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just wonder if you are familiar with the case of Jolynn Ritchie in Dayton, Ohio, back 12 years ago, probably, but very similar. A little girl went missing. Later, Mom confessed to killing her, blood in the basement, and they tried to cover up with paint. But the mom killed her because the little girl walked in on her and her boyfriend having sex in the basement. Then they just dumped her body somewhere.
But it`s just so similar and it`s just so sad. And I just wondered if you were familiar with that case at all.
GRACE: Yes, I am familiar with the case out of that jurisdiction. And the scenario you`re playing out has striking similarities here because the cops are all but saying the three people in this home, the three adults, know where she is and are not telling the truth. Now, why would they not be telling the truth? That is what they`re indicating, although no one has been named a suspect or a person of interest.
Back to Bonnie Druker. For days and days and days, Mommy kept trying to see or contact baby Ayla, her toddler girl. But every time, Daddy would have a different excuse so she couldn`t see the child. Plus, he canceled a longstanding doctor`s appointment. The child was in a cast. What were some of the excuses he would give Mommy to keep her away from baby Ayla?
DRUKER: Well, Nancy, Justin told Trista that inside this house, Ayla was sleeping or she was playing and couldn`t make to it the phone.
CASAREZ: Well, you know, Jean Casarez, when I call the children, even if they`re playing, they can hold the cell phone up to their ear. What about it, Jean?
CASAREZ: Well, he definitely -- it`s a red herring. It`s called consciousness of guilt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mysterious disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Locate baby Ayla.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know where she is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone came in that back door, snuck in her bedroom, took her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that`s what Ayla`s father, Justin DiPietro, told police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened that night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our concern grows, but our hope is still there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is baby Ayla? Tonight, we learn of an elaborate plan on Daddy`s part to keep Mommy from seeing or talking to the little girl long - - long -- before she`s reported missing. Every time Mommy would try to reach her baby girl, Daddy would say she`s asleep, she`s playing, she`s playing, she`s asleep, she`s playing, Mommy never getting to see or talk to her baby girl. And then she`s gone for good.
Tonight, has this turned into a homicide investigation? This as we learn the girlfriend`s car, a 2002 Hyundai Sonata, has been searched for blood evidence. And a neighbor there in the neighborhood has their home searched pursuant to police search warrant. Why is a neighbor`s home being searched?
We are taking your calls. I want to go back out to Bonnie Druker, standing by there in front of the home. Do we have any idea what cops were looking for in the neighbor`s home?
DRUKER: Well, all cops will say, Nancy, is that they took over 100 pieces of evidence from this home, Justin`s home. And we understood that they were looking for more evidence in one of these homes. So in short, no, we don`t know exactly what they were looking for, Nancy. I wish I had a better answer for you.
GRACE: Well, the truth is the truth, and police are playing it very close to the vest.
To Jean Casarez. Jean, another issue is that the search warrants have not been made public. And typically, once you get the return on the warrants -- in other words, you go to the home where the car or wherever you`re searching, storage unit, whatever you take out, or if you take nothing out -- a report is made. That`s called a return. It`s attached to the search warrant, and it`s filed in the clerk`s office. It becomes part of the file. This is all being kept under wraps.
CASAREZ: That`s right. It`s sealed, and it should be public, as you`re saying. So this shows they went before a judge and said, Your Honor, what`s contained in this could compromise our investigation. They know so much more than what is being made public.
GRACE: And that is why tonight, Jean Casarez, we don`t know exactly what they were looking for in the neighbor`s home. But we know this much. We know the girlfriend`s car and the neighbor`s home searched for evidence to find Ayla`s whereabouts. Why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: This is home video shot last fall of the toddler.
I interviewed Phoebe, the grandmother. That`s when she revealed to me on her own, I have to tell you, I wasn`t there. I was somewhere else, and I want you to know that I told police where I was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want Ayla home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m ready to go knocking at people`s doors myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not one piece of evidence at this point that leads us to believe that abduction took place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, that`s what Ayla`s father Justin DiPietro told police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know what happened to my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blood found in the basement of dad city`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This broke, Maine state police found blood at the house where they where the little girl toddler was last seen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t comment on what they found in the house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not here to answer any questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than the amount that could come from a cut.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Questions about the blood evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pleading for the truth about what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still don`t think we are getting the complete story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A plead for information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be man enough to come and say something to the state police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The police are any closer to finding a little girl who loves to dance, they haven`t yet said so. Police suspect foul play but it revealed virtually nothing about what they do know. From the start of the investigation, police have refused to say who was home the night Ayla vanished. CNN has learned who wasn`t there. The child`s paternal grandmother, Phoebie DiPietro. Contrary to what she first told CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You did not hear any noise?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did not hear anything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Tonight, we learned even more bombshells in the search for baby Ayla. We learned that the girlfriend`s car, the girlfriend that slept over that night, 24-year-old Courtney Roberts from a nearby town. Her car searched for blood evidence. We learn a neighbor`s home searched for blood evidence. We learned daddy`s ford explorer impounded and searched for blood evidence.
The state police remaining tight lipped so as not to compromise the integrity of the investigation, but they have clearly stated this. They don`t believe she wandered out of the home on her own. That was the first scenario. They don`t believe that she was kidnapped from the home. That`s the second scenario. And they don`t believe the three adults in that home are telling everything they know about baby Ayla`s disappearance.
I have also carefully read over the little bit the police are stating and they state very clearly in a quote. "That it looks as if the blood of baby Ayla found in daddy`s basement bedroom was the result of someone trying to clean it up."
Tonight, where is baby Ayla? We are there on the scene. Bonnie Drucker in front of the home taking your calls. She`s been rebuffed by grandma.
Out to the lines, Josh in California. Hi Josh, what`s your question?
JOSH, CALLER, CALIFORNIA: Hi Nancy. I heard you mentioned that they searched the neighbor`s home, what is it exactly that caused them to do that? Why?
GRACE: You know, Josh in California. That got my attention immediately. What Jean Cacasarez and I were just discussing is that apparently those search warrants, if it was pursuant to a search warrant, it may have been a permission search, which means they let you come in.
We know this. The return has been kept under sealed. We don`t know what if anything they got out of the neighbor`s home. But, more interesting to me that what they may not or may have gotten out in the home, it`s why they went to the home? What information do they have that a neighbor could somehow be involved or have information in Ayla`s whereabouts. Now the circle is getting bigger, police indicating someone outside the home knows where baby Ayla is.
Back o the lines. Beverly in D.C. Hi Beverly, what is your question?
BEVERLY, CALLER, WASHINGTON D.C.: Yes, ma`am, I was wondering why the police waited so long if they had that blood evidence. And also how many steps are going down to the basement and could the baby have possibly fallen?
GRACE: Now that is a good question, Bev. When you say the police waited so long, waited so long to do what?
BEVERLY: To say that they had the blood evidence, they held it to their chest and I think that why wouldn`t they use pressure to the father because all of us that watch your show basically know that when a baby disappears, it`s usually the last person to see them.
GRACE: You know, Bev, that`s a very good observation. I want to go to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Why do you believe the state police held this fact back that they have found baby Ayla`s blood in daddy`s bedroom? Why?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT, FOUNDER, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION (via telephone): Well, I don`t believe that they really want to make that information public. As I understand it, they told Trista about this information regarding the blood and that it was more blood that would be produced by a cut and she went out and made that information public via a web page. And I think they were caught short on that, quite frankly, and I`m surprised that they would be given the fact that Trista seems to love sharing absolutely every piece of information that she has.
GRACE: To the Dr. Zhongxue Hua, with the union county medical examiner, she`s the chief medical examiner and a DNA expert. Dr. Hua, thank you for being with us. The theory that baby Ayla may have fallen down the steps and created that amount of blood. What`s concerning as that police sources has stated and looked to be part of the clean up. In other words, somebody tried to wipe her blood away. But, how likely is it that you fall down the step and you die?
DR. ZONGXUE HUA, M.D., UNION COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER, DNA EXPERT: It depends how many steps we`re talking about and how many bleeding. And on this scene, there`s forensic. We have to look at once in how much blood and second what`s the distribution blood. Is it near the stairway consistent or simply inconsistent. Lots are have to look at more carefully. My understanding that some of the evidence was collected to fail later on. There also is an indication that the blood being cleaned up, being wiped to sort of cleaned up by someone. Certainly makes the situation more complicated than usual.
GRACE: But, how often is it that you not only fall, but the fall produces that much bleeding? It`s my understanding that when you fall, very typically, if there is a death, it`s internal bleeding.
HUA: You don`t have to, depends only if it is concrete steps, you can hit on the head there and you can cause additional bleeding, can be fairly tremendous amount. But again, you have to be very careful is, it`s very hard to give a precise estimation terms of how much blood is considerably more than a cut. I mean, every person should be slightly different. It`s very hard knowing the fact of blood being cleared, could be smeared around and it`s very hard to ask me to give a good estimation in to how much blood we`re actually talking about here.
GRACE: We also learned, let`s see those shots of mommy and daddy, apparently now friends once again. Around the vigil for baby Ayla, we now learn what mommy and daddy were discussing. We learned that mommy says they were sharing memories about Ayla, talking about baby Ayla and you got to put yourself in her position.
The baby was with him the night she goes missing. Is she trying to placate him? Is she trying her best to get along with him in the hopes that he might say something that could help find the baby? What about it? To Cheryl Arutt, clinical and forensic psychiatrist, joining us from L.A. What do you think, Cheryl?
CHERYL ARUTT, PSY.D., CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHIATRIST: I think you`re making an excellent point. She is so desperate to find out what happened with her daughter and one of the best ways to do that is to get Justin on her side, to have his confidence and see if she can get him to cooperate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN DIPIETRO, AYLA REYNOLDS` FATHER: She`s amazing. I mean, she`s very funny, very outgoing. I mean she dances around the room. She`s just -- I mean she`s just -- she loves dancing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he was going out he said to put posters around town.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRISTA REYNOLDS, AYLA REYNOLDS` MOTHER: : I want to know what happened to my daughter and I want to know where she is and who took her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: DiPietro refused to comment about the blood that was found in his home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vanished in the middle of the night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want Ayla home.
REYNOLDS: I`m ready to go knocking at people`s doors myself.
STEPHEN MCCAUSLAND, SPOKESMAN, MAINE TATE POLICE (via telephone): Not one piece of evidence at this point that leads us to believe that abduction took place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that`s what Ayla`s father, Justin DiPietro, told police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just broke, Maine state police found blood at the house where the baby toddler was last seen.
REYNOLDS: I can`t comment on the (inaudible)
DIPIETRO: Again, I`m not here to answer any questions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: We are taking your calls tonight. A disturbing twist in the search for toddler girl baby Ayla. Ayla`s dad still, apparently in hiding, very rarely seen. He is not out putting posters the way he said he was or that would have been caught on camera. Grandma plunks down a no trespass sign in the front yard when asked questions about baby Ayla.
Tonight, we learned that the girlfriend`s that sleepover the night Ayla goes missing, car searched for blood evidence. Along with that of a neighbor. Also daddy`s elaborate plan to keep mommy away from the baby when she tried to stay in contact baby Ayla. How long was Ayla actually missing before cops were ever called.
To Mark Smith, polygraph expert, president on New Jersey polygraph. Marc, thanks for being with us.
Mark, the dad keeps saying, I smoked the exam. Cops aren`t willing to confirm that. What does it mean, Mark?
MARK SMITH, POLYGRAPH EXPERT, PRESIDENT, NEW JERSEY POLYGRAPHS: I wouldn`t confirm that either. I`m not sure what smoked the exam means. Clearly if he had passed, the police would have passed the police would have likely eliminated him as a suspect, so there`s your answer.
GRACE: You know, Mark Smith, you say it so clearly, how difficult is it to get people in for a polygraph, how long does the process take for one polygraph?
SMITH: It`s a couple of hours. Most people do generally agree to be tested because they fear that if they say no, people are going to suspect that they`re involved. So even people that are involved feel that psychological pressure to cooperate.
GRACE: So long story short, they could be in and out in a couple of hours?
SMITH: Yes.
GRACE: With me, Mark Smith, polygraph expert, president of New Jersey polygraphs and back to John Depetro, WPRO. John, do we know if every adult in that home as taken a poly?
JOHN DEPETRO, HOST, WPRO AM RADIO (via telephone): Nancy, the police have not confirm that. There was a report that four or three took them but it`s the police will not confirm that aspect of the case.
GRACE: You know what`s interesting, we have seen hide nor hair of the girlfriend, Courtney Roberts, age 24 from a neighboring town. Why is that, John?
DEPETRO: Nancy, where was she for the vigil? Why did Justin show up alone? This night he sleeps with her in the basement with her child, Ayla sleeps upstairs in a room she`s never slept in before. If they have this loving relationship and she cares about him, why wasn`t she at that vigil and how come we`re not seeing her next to him?
GRACE: Good point, John Depetro, joining us from WPRO.
Out to the lines, Frank from Virginia. Hi, Frank, what`s your question?
FRANK, CALLER, VIRGINIA: Yes, hi. My question is why is everybody really telling what they know in that house?
GRACE: You mean - did you say why aren`t they telling everything that they know?
FRANK: NO. What if they are telling everything that they know.
GRACE: Well, unleash the lawyers, Holly Hughes, Atlanta. Peter Elikann, Boston.
Apparently, well, not even apparently, clearly the three adults in the home are not telling all they know because police keep issuing statements they know more than they`re telling. We don`t believe she ever left the home by wandering out and we don`t think there was a kidnap. Peter?
PETER ELIKANN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR, SUPERPREDATORS (via telephone) Nancy, it`s without knowing more of the investigation, we just sort of guessing in the dark now, we`re talking about neighbors maybe being involved, et cetera. I don`t know who they`re looking at right now.
They`re still looking at everybody. Not everybody is articulate in these interviews. People can even fail polygraph tests because they`re so nervous. They`re not accurate, that even recognized by the court. It`s still too early for us to declare anybody guilty at this point.
GRACE: Well, you know. I don`t know what you`re talking about, Peter Elikann. Because that`s not even close to what I asked you. But, I guess that`s a handy tool for defense attorney to have. Because you sounded great, I don`t know what you said, but you sounded great doing it.
Holly , let`s go back to the original question. Frank in Virginia wants to know what if they said all there is to say, that that is the truth. But clearly, Holly, the cops are saying the three adults in the home are not telling all they know. They are saying point blank. There was no kidnap. There`s no evidence of a kidnap. Nobody came in the home and took the baby. And number two, she didn`t just wander off on her own. Now where does that leave you, Holly?
HOLLY HUGHES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that leaves the police with the one conclusion that one of those three adults did something to that baby or witnessed another one do something to it. But at this point, Nancy, you can`t go to court without evidence and the police don`t have it. That`s why they`re pressing these three. They suspect there`s more than is being said, but they don`t have proof right now. It does happen.
GRACE: You`re right, Holly. Again, none of these three named a person of interest or a suspect. Or it may be a scenario where they know what happened to baby Ayla. May be at their own hands but then they know what happened.
Out to the lines, Becky, Missouri. What`s your question, Becky?
BECKY, CALLER, MISSOURI: Well, if I understand it correctly, the mom was trying to go for custody of little baby Ayla, that right there, anyone who`s been involved in any kind of custody dispute, if you are trying to get a hold of your child and you can, and daddy has a mystery of abuse, you`re going to call your lawyer, you`re going to call DFS, you`re going to get somebody over there to check on that child. And I have never heard that he`s done that. You shouldn`t victimized the victim but something is not right with that mother.
GRACE: Everyone. Tip line 2076247076, a 30,000 reward to help find baby Ayla, but I`m hearing in my ear, we have a development in the case of missing people`s court mom Michelle Parker. Let`s see the video of Michelle Parker on People`s court.
Very quickly, to Alexis, wait I understand a body of water is being searched for Michelle Parker right now?
ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Right, Nancy. It`s a lake at the small lake with a connecting canal, it`s called Lake Tyler. This is about a mile away from Smith senior`s home. This is the father of the ex-fiance`s suspect in the case, to Michelle.
And also, it`s located in an area where it`s close, within three miles of where Michelle`s cell phone was found, about 2 1/2 miles from where her abandoned car was found. So Nancy, this search is going underway right now and we`re learning too that there was a crime scene van at that location, pulled up right alongside the banks of this water area.
GRACE: Everyone. You`re seeing video from today, from right now, divers searching right now a body of water for missing people`s court mom, Michelle Parker, the mother of three. And with me, Brad Parker. This is Michelle`s dad joining us. Brad, what`s happening?
BRAD PARKER, MICHELLE PARKER`S FATHER (via telephone): They`re looking for Michelle. I hope they don`t find her there, I want to find her alive.
GRACE: Brad, what has led them to this location?
PARKER: They told us they had a good lead and they went on it. They got sonar out there, whatever they pick up on the sonar, they`re going to send the divers out there to look.
GRACE: At what point are they now, are they still doing this side scan sonar?
PARKER: Yes, right now they`re still doing it. I just heard they pulled something out of the water and put it in the crime lab or the truck. And I don`t know what it is. I don`t know if they`ll tell us, but eventually we`ll find out.
GRACE: Are any of Michelle`s family there at the scene?
PARKER: I believe Yvonne is there and Lauren`s there.
GRACE: Everyone, we are hearing breaking news now in the search for "people`s court" mom, Michelle Parker. With us, her father, Brad Parker. We understand a body of water is being searched by divers and side scan sonar based on a quote "credible tip."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michelle dropped the twins off and Michelle disappears in broad daylight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So important to me and my family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother of three vanished after she appeared on an episode of "the people`s court" with her ex-fiance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are bringing you breaking news right now from the Orlando, Florida, area. With me, Brad Parker on the phone.
A body of water being searched right now for, as she is called, missing "people`s court" mom, Michelle Parker, the mother of three young children. Based on a credible tip. There`s Michelle as she appeared the day she goes missing in the Orlando area on "people`s court" where she fought it out with her ex over a luxury diamond engagement ring.
Taking your calls, Brad Parker, Alexis Weed, Jane Casarez and now David Badali, police diving instructor. David, what does scan sonar mean, what are police divers doing now?
DAVID BADALI, POLICE DIVING INSTRUCTOR: Well, right now, Nancy, employing that side sonar, they are actually looking on the bottom topography to see if there are any objects on the bottom of this small lake. They`ll mark those areas, then have Orange County has a six-man dive team there today, and they`ll deploy divers in to take a look at what they are seeing on the side sonar. They`ll probably put a buoy down and go ahead and retrieve that item that they see.
GRACE: Brad Parker, Michelle`s dad, you say you don`t want her to be found today. Explain.
PARKER: No, I don`t. I want to find Michelle alive.
GRACE: Everyone, if you could help us, the tip line, 800-423-8477 or crimeline.org. There is a reward in the search for missing "people`s court" mom, Michelle Parker.
Tonight, our prayers with Brad Parker and the children waiting for mommy to come home, waiting for Michelle Parker.
Let`s stop and remember army sergeant Zachary Tellier, 31, Charlotte, North Carolina, killed Afghanistan. Two bronze stars, two purple hearts, army commendation medal, loved teaching summers on Cape Cod, camping, hiking, playing drums. Favorite movie, "star wars."
Leaves behind parents, Pamela and David, step mother Lauren, brothers James, Samuel, Daniel, sister Hannah. Zachary Tellier, American hero.
Thanks to our guests and a special thank you to you for being with us. And special goodnight tonight from friends Jen and Hope. Now, aren`t they a beautiful pair, Jen and Hope, thanks for joining us tonight.
Everybody, this may I`ll be popping up on the season finale of FOX`s "Raising Hope." TV guide has the story. You can read about it in this week`s TV guide on newsstands Thursday, thank you, TV guide.
And for all the cast and crew at "Raising Hope." Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern.
Our prayers with the Parker family and with baby Ayla tonight. Until tomorrow night. Good night, friend.
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