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Nancy Grace
Search Continues for Missing Mother Vilet Torrez
Aired June 01, 2012 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight out of Florida. A loving mother of three leaves her two sons and daughter, ages 13, 8 and 5, with Daddy for the weekend. She goes to dinner with a friend, then vanishes without a trace. As search and dive teams bring in cadaver dogs, has blood evidence been seized? And is it linked to the missing mom of three?
Now in a stunning development, the children`s father lawyers up, refuses to talk about the case, as a judge strips custody from the grandparents even though cops say Daddy is a person of interest in Mommy`s disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone out there has to know something. Someone out there must have seen something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing mother of three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have searched canals and lakes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At this time, the father is a person of interest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His estranged wife, Vilet, went missing. Relatives say Sid (ph) Torrez threatened suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to get a gun and end it all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since they got married (INAUDIBLE) it`s been a rocky relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family says they are outraged. The state of Florida is agreeing to let Sid have custody of the couple`s three children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think it`s appalling. IO think it`s horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators took away bricks with strange markings on them, and they faint stains or smears on the front door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police also searched Sid Torrez`s Jaguar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would never leave those children, believe me! Those children were her life!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Good evening. I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. Thank you for joining us tonight.
We go straight to Florida and the search for a mother of three vanishing without a trace. A stunning development related to custody of the three children left behind without their mommy. To Deborah Roberts, news anchor, Florida News Network.
Illustrate this case for us. When did it all begin? When did she first go missing? Who was she with? What were the last signs of her? Any evidence that we know from those three days before the husband called?
DEBORAH ROBERTS, FLORIDA NEWS NETWORK (via telephone): Well, Vilet was last seen on March 30th. She had dropped her children off to stay the weekend with her husband, her estranged husband, Sid, and had gone out to dinner that evening with a friend. And that friend and co-worker was the last person who had seen her.
And after that, she disappeared. Sid, her estranged husband, had listed her as missing three days after her disappearance, alleging that maybe she had even run off with another man, something her family vehemently denies. And since then, there`s been no sign of Vilet. Police did seize some items from both of their vehicles and their home, but have not been able to find enough to tie anyone conclusively to her disappearance or where she might be.
LALAMA: All right. So let me get this straight. So Sid was staying at her townhome at the time of this disappearance, but he doesn`t normally stay at the townhome.
ROBERTS: Yes. They had separated about three months before her disappearance, and he was staying with friends further south in Miami-Dade County. And at that time, though, at that weekend she had disappeared, he was staying overnight at the same home that he had once shared with Vilet, the same weekend that she ended up disappearing.
LALAMA: Detective Steve Toyota, Miramar Police Department, update us on the investigation. It`s been a long road for you -- the searches, the investigation, the seizure of items from the home. Can you advance that case for us any more today than yesterday?
DET. STEVE TOYOTA, MIRAMAR POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): We`re actively still looking for Vilet. As investigators, you know, we`re still hoping for the best. But we have to prepare for the worst. We`re still looking for her.
LALAMA: To Detective Steve Toyota from the Miramar Police Department -- evidence. I know you seized items from the townhome and the two cars. What can you tell us about what you have seized?
TOYOTA: You know, we seized anything that we thought could be relevant to the investigation and her disappearance. But I can`t get into details of what we seized.
LALAMA: Is there any kind of physical evidence that you can tell us about? If you can`t tell us about physical evidence, can you tell us if some exists?
TOYOTA: Some of that evidence may still be yet to be determined. We`re still trying to put the pieces together, and we seized things that we think will be pertinent to the investigation. And sometimes, you just have to see how it plays out.
LALAMA: Let me ask you, Detective Toyota -- is your attention to any other people -- whether you can name them or not -- this is still a mystery. Where else are you looking? Do you have any other clues, any tips from people who are concerned about this?
TOYOTA: Well, I can tell you that everybody`s still a suspect. We haven`t eliminated anybody as a suspect in this. And Sid Torrez remains a person of interest in this investigation, but no, we are looking at all possibilities.
LALAMA: A stunning development related to custody of the three children left behind without their mommy. Let`s go to John Depetro, host with WPRO radio. John, what happened with the custody matter?
JOHN DEPETRO, WPRO: Well, it`s a matter now that the father does have custody. Pat, he has not been charged with any crime. And so although the children have been with their missing mother`s parents, a judge ruling that the father will have now custody of these three children.
LALAMA: Deborah Roberts, news anchor, Florida News Network, it`s been a battle between grandparents and Dad. How did it begin and now how has it all ended?
ROBERTS: Well, apparently, it began because of an anonymous phone call that casts a cloud of suspicion over Sid Torrez, that he would harm himself and/or the children, that led the Department of Children and Families to place the children in the maternal grandparents` care while the mother continues to be missing.
LALAMA: He is still a person of interest and only a person of interest.
Nayiva (ph) Blanco, sister of Vilet Torrez, we`re privileged to have you with us during this incredibly horrific time for you. Thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about the children? What is their understanding of what`s happened to Mommy?
NAYIVA BLANCO, SISTER: I don`t think they`re aware that she`s -- that something bad could have happened to her. They know she`s missing. And they think she`ll be back. They think she`s OK and she`ll be back with them.
LALAMA: Javier Blanco, brother of the missing mom, Vilet -- Javier, I know you`re probably distraught over the custody issue. But the courts ruled and children`s services ruled fair and square, apparently, but you must be outraged.
JAVIER BLANCO, BROTHER (via telephone): Absolutely, Pat. Thanks for having me. I think this is an absolute travesty. Unfortunately, that`s actually the law here in Florida. Apparently, even if somebody`s charged and actually arrested, if they bond out, they still have some sort of rights with the kids. And that to me is just appalling.
There should be some sort of safety system in the law, whereas if you`re still considered a person of interest in a homicide investigation of your wife, you should not have access to your kids. They should give an incentive to that person to clear their name. Instead, he refuses to say anything, to talk to anybody, to the media, to detectives. And it`s appalling.
LALAMA: Richard Della Fera, you are the attorney for Sid Torrez. Are these children in any danger in his hands?
RICHARD DELLA FERA, ATTORNEY FOR MISSING WOMAN`S HUSBAND (via telephone): Good evening, Pat. Absolutely not. I can tell you that the Department of Children and Family Services observed supervised visitation with Sid during the two-month period that he was in the custody -- or the kids were in the custody of their grandmother. And the Department of Children and Family Services observed a very loving, affectionate, positive relationship.
LALAMA: I want to ask Kirby Clements, defense attorney -- you know, this is a really, really prickly issue because we`re talking about a man who is only a person of interest, yet there are all kinds of allegations swirling about this character and behavior. And Javier brings up the point that, hey, as long as you are a person of interest, then you shouldn`t be able to have children. Is that just blatantly unfair and a violation of someone`s rights, in your mind?
KIRBY CLEMENTS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it`s absolutely unfair and it`s a complete violation of the individual`s rights and the rights of the children. I mean, if you think about it, the last person that this woman had dinner with is also a suspect. I mean, would we take that person`s children away?
I mean, you have to really look at it. If you have committed a crime against that child, then it`s appropriate to say that you can`t have custody of that child. But if you`re just merely a suspect in a disappearance that`s unsolved, absolutely no way they should take your children away. None at all.
LALAMA: But Alex Sanchez, also a defense attorney, you know, if there is a history of mental instability, if threats and allegations that have been rumored to have happened are true, then doesn`t the government end up with blood on its hands? I mean, I know the elephant in the room is everyone`s thinking about the Susan and Josh Powell case. You know, what if something happens? Then what?
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, look, if the government was notified in advance that this guys was a dangerous character and they still allowed him to have custody of the children, they got hurt, you know, they could be held liable.
But right now, if the police have information that somehow, he`s involved in the disappearance of his wife, let them go to family court. Let them join forces with the family to make an application to have those children removed.
But you would have to come in and make statements and affirmations in court that you have certain information, provide that to the court and then let -- make the court make a decision in this matter.
LALAMA: Ramani Durvasula, clinical psychologist, thanks for joining us. I can`t stop thinking about what`s going through these little ones` minds. Just try to paint a picture for us of children torn by their mother missing -- and she is missing at this point. Their father is only a person of interest. Yet they`re being carted back and forth between grandparents and parents. My heavens, what must be happening to them psychologically?
RAMANI DURVASULA, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: It`s terror and it`s chaos. For any child to not have a mom is frightening. It`s been months. They don`t know where she is. And it`s been an unstable situation for them.
Kids go to a really dark fantasy place. They often blame themselves. They wonder what they`ve had to do with it. They wonder if she`s coming back. And these kids are at a wide age range, so they -- they need to be sort of talked with in a different way.
But this is a time of terror, and it makes the world seem like a really scary place, especially when they don`t have a stable place to live. So all of this is combining to -- somebody really needs to talk with these kids.
LALAMA: Pat Brown, criminal profiler and author of "Only the Truth," I know you`ve probably dealt with many children in the course of your career. You know, what do you do in this situation from a law enforcement standpoint? I mean, maybe you could glean information from them. But it`s a delicate balance, is it not?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Yes, it is, because -- and this is the problem with where the children are at because if they`re with the father, he can influence them. If they`re with the parents of the mother, they can influence those children.
And I agree with the lawyer that says you just can`t take away somebody`s rights because they`re a person of interest. What if you were totally innocent? You`d want to be with your children. And maybe your in- laws don`t like you for whatever reasons. Do you want your children over there with them and having them poison them?
So you know, on the other hand, he is a person of interest. And I -- I -- you know, most of these cases, we`ve found that there`s usually a good reason for that. It`s scary for the parents of the -- the grandparents of the children because the Josh Powell thing. They don`t want those children to go into a dangerous situation.
So I think everybody is kind of caught up in a really bad place. And it`s very hard legally to do much about it, except for...
LALAMA: Right.
BROWN: ... I want to point this out -- the behaviors. The fact that the social worker saw him talking nice to the kids in supervised visits is ludicrous. Psychopaths can do that all the time. What we need to see is what is his history. If his history has violence in it, there`s a reason to take the children away. If there isn`t any violence that can be proven, that`s a problem then. You can`t say there`s a dangerous situation necessarily.
LALAMA: Nayiva Blanco, again, back to you, the sister of Vilet. Are you nervous for the children being in Sid`s custody?
NAYIVA BLANCO: Yes. Yes, I am because I know this person. I know this person for 20 years. I know what my sister lived married to him. I know how controlling he can get. I know how he can go from being very nice and sweet in front of people like his lawyer`s talking about to changing in front of others to being different when he`s behind his closed doors.
I don`t know what he can do to them. I know what he used to do to my sister. What he can do to them, I don`t know. And my sister`s not there anymore to protect them. And we lost my sister. We want to protect them now. We can`t do anything for my sister. We want to protect them. I am worried of what he can do.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miramar police say Sid Torrez is being investigated in connection with his wife Vilet`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since they got married, please, OK, it`s been a rocky relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police also searched Sid Torrez`s Jaguar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vilet Torrez`s family asks anyone in their path (ph) if they`ve seen their missing mother of three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have searched canals and lakes but have not found her body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Supposedly toxic marriage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police believe foul play was involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m praying to God that she`s alive!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing mother of three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police believe foul play was involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vilet would never leave her children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sid Torrez is a person of interest in his wife, Vilet`s, disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vilet and her husband, Sid, were estranged.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators took away bricks with strange markings on them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard exactly that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The state investigated and agreed the children should be with their dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m going to get a gunpoint and end it all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe even possibly hurt the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do feel that it was a viable threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: I`m Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. John Depetro, back to you. Give us a timeline. Let`s set the stage for what happened two months ago so that our viewers understand everything before we go back to some of these pressing issues.
DEPETRO: Well, apparently, on March 30th was when she was reported missing, her husband saying that, essentially, been gone for three days. And since then, it is just a total mystery, with her friends and family saying she was a devoted mother. She wouldn`t just leave on her own. And it is just a complete mystery, Pat, as to how she disappeared and where is she two months later.
LALAMA: Detective Steve Toyota, Miramar Police Department, you know, I`m wondering about what she may have left behind, her phone, her purse. What was left behind? Have you been able to notice any kind of credit card activity, phone call activity, text activity?
TOYOTA: That I really can`t get into, Pat. But those things have been -- have been observed, or are being investigated.
LALAMA: Javier Blanco, brother of Vilet, you know, I`m just -- I`m trying to figure out, you know, where this is all leading. Did she have a single enemy? Was there maybe a jealous other person in her life? Anyone you can think of, a co-worker, anyone who might be part of this equation?
JAVIER BLANCO: Absolutely not, Pat. My sister was a loving person. Everybody that knew her always saw her smiling. She was always very caring towards everybody. Everybody at work misses her. They actually feel, you know, that she was one of the best people they`ve ever met.
There`s been plenty of comments on Facebook that speak to that. Nobody that I know as far as a lover because, actually, Sid was her only boyfriend in high school, the only boyfriend I ever knew, and actually ended up marrying him. You know, it`s unfortunate that she was committed to this guy all the way until the very end, even though he`s made several threats, had already choked her before, had had several affairs. You know, it`s unfortunate.
LALAMA: Dr. Bill Lloyd, board-certified surgeon and pathologist, you know, after two months, the well runs dry, the road dries up. It gets harder and harder to solve these cases, does it not?
DR. BILL LLOYD, SURGEON AND PATHOLOGIST: It sure does. Let`s break it down. From the moment she disappeared, something else was happening to her. Did she run away by herself? It seems like that`s not a typical pattern for her.
Something that we haven`t talked about is a murder for hire or abduction for hire scenario. This is why it`s important to consider this. When the police do their investigation, they`re just going to find friendly DNA around all the cars and all the residences.
Also, a murder for hire allows the spouse to distance themselves from the event, making them seem innocent. Pat, this is all about control, 20 years of control.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing mother of three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are investigating this case as a murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m counting the hours, I`m counting the minutes, and I`m hoping, I`m hoping she comes back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators gathered evidence outside the home he once shared with his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a person of interest in a homicide investigation involving your wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have searched canals and lakes but haven not found her body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Pat Lalama, in for Nancy Grace. Back to Richard Della Fera, attorney for Sid Torrez. You know, I`m just wondering, did Sid have an enemy. Did have Sid have someone who might have ever threatened to go after his wife for any reason?
DELLA FERA: Well, not that I`m aware of, Pat.
But I do want to comment on some of the things that are being said about the relationship, about control and violence. I don`t know if my earlier comments made it on the air, but I did request all reports from the Department of Children and Family Services and the attorney general`s office that might relate to the petition to remove the children.
And I received no reports. Repeated requests resulted in no reports of any kind of violence or control, or any of the kinds of things that are being said. So I think the record needs to be clear on that.
LALAMA: Nayiva Blanco, sister of Vilet, you said something earlier that was quite haunting. You speak about your sister as if you think she has passed. Do you believe that to be the truth?
NAYIVA BLANCO: Honestly, I don`t want to believe that, but it`s been two months. And I know my sister. If she was alive, she would contact us in any way. She wouldn`t just ignore her children. She wouldn`t just disappear just like that.
My sister is a very, very responsible person. In fact, she`s -- I think she was the most responsible of all of us. You know, I believe that something really bad must have happened to her for her not to communicate at all with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police and confirming that Cid Torrez is a person of interest. She has been absent in her search.
CID TORREZ, HUSBAND OF MISSING MOM: I have nothing to do with her disappearance. Nothing at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators gathered evidence --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have search in canals and lake, but they have not found her body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone out there has to know something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, Torrez gave a DNA sample, hair sample and finger prints to Miramar police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m hoping, I`m hoping she comes back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LALAMA: A devastating mystery out of south Florida. Two months. A woman vanishes without a trace. Not just a woman, a mother of three beautiful children. Her name is Vilet Torrez. And we still don`t have answers. And the only left to do is to keep searching.
Detective Steve Toyota, again, Miramar police department, what are you doing now?
You know, the thing about Florida a lot of people may not know it, there are just little pockets of waterways everywhere in south Florida. That`s a daunting task. How are you handling that in your search for Vilet?
STEVE TOYOTA, DETECTIVE, MIRAMAR POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Methodically. We are utilizing any assistance we can obtain. We have used cadaver dogs and other agencies to help us out. But, you are right. There are a lot of waterways in south Florida. There are many locations to search.
LALAMA: Something I wasn`t aware of is the ability of cadaver dogs to deal with bodies that may be submerged in water. How does that work?
TOYOTA: A body submerged in water will still give off a scent that the dog can detect. They will alert to that.
LALAMA: And how massive does the search remain? I mean, at some point you have got to be really careful about the use of your resources. Other people need help. Other cases need to be solved. So, how extensive is it right now?
TOYOTA: It is still pretty extensive. We still have a lot of detectives working on this. And, you know, the investigation kind a flows. It all depends on what information we are working off at the time. But, we still have devoted detectives working toward finding Vilet Torrez.
LALAMA: And one of the things you said earlier, you said no one has been ruled out. You mentioned, and maybe I misunderstood, you mentioned other people. Are you definitively looking at other people in this case that you find of interest as well?
TOYOTA: Maybe it wasn`t clear. We haven`t ruled anybody out. We are not being close monitor to any possibility. I could tell you that Cid Torrez remains a person of interest. And nobody has been eliminated as a possible suspect.
LALAMA: Pat Brown, where do you go after two months, you have a person of interest, a missing mother. What next?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR, ONLY THE TRUTH: You know, this is where it gets so difficult. Finding -- if we assume she`s dead at this point, if that`s what has happened to her, finding her body is going to be very, very difficult. If this is a person known to her, he is going to work overtime to make sure the body isn`t found unlike a serial killer who might just not care and just toss her in the woods and she pops up one day. So, it is very difficult. And we have seen cases go on for years like this.
All we can hope is somehow, someway, some real physical evidence, her body or some or she shows up or some physical evidence at home would leads to the closure of the case.
LALAMA: Ramani Durvasula, excuse me Doctor, clinical psychologist, you know, are there any psychological clues we can look for here? You know, signs she may have delivered before disappearing? She just seemed to vanish. What can we look for from a psychological level to help us solve this?
RAMANI DURVASULA, PH.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I mean, I think that one of the big concerns is there was a lot of distress in her relationship. And what that -- where that was taking her to.
Now, no one in her circle assuming say that she was super distressed. Like if a person is really becoming agitated, if a person using drugs or alcohol they may sometimes get to the place where they will sort of run away and escape. There were none of the signs there. And while there was distress in the relationship, it didn`t seem so much that she would flee and leave her children.
So, one of the signs I would look at is how that relationship problem with her partner could have led to the disappearance, whether due to foul play or something else because that seems to be the core of the main problems in this woman`s life now.
Otherwise, you would look to see if they were having conversations with people saying, I want to get out, I don`t want to do this anymore. Really looking at conversations she was having with friends, and family, to see if that would give them clues and look at her past record of behavior. Has she done it before? That would tell us vial. It doesn`t sound like she has ever done this before.
LALAMA: John Depetro, WPRO radio, is the community involved in trying to solve this mystery? Well, I have been looking at flyers right now. So, yes, would be the answer, correct?
JOHN DEPETRO, WPRO RADIO HOST: Absolutely. I mean, there is no question. Tremendous support in the community to try to locate her. And again, I think one of the big things here is this is a devoted mother who wouldn`t leave her children. And that`s puzzling about her disappearance and why I think the community has come forward and worked so hard to try to find some clues to her disappearance.
LALAMA: And Javier Blanco, brother of Vilet, she was an interesting, bright, accomplished woman, was she not?
JAVIER BLANCO, VILET TORREZ` BROTHER (via telephone): Yes, of course.
LALAMA: Or is, I should say.
JAVIER BLANCO: You know, unfortunately I think it is "was." Because based on all the different testimony and all the different people coming forward, it seems that the only person to point a finger at here and who I think is guilty of this is Cid. So, I think unfortunately it`s was. But she was very accomplished. She graduated cum laude from the University of Miami. She learned to speak English at 15, spoke it perfectly. She was getting ready to build a corporation. She was actually getting ready to move on with her life.
She changed life insurance policies last year. You know, in fact, I just heard, you know, that Cid tried to take out a life insurance policy on her two weeks before. I mean, if all these things don`t really ring a bell and sort of start setting off alarms, I don`t know what will.
And really, I think Mr. Della Fera should really, you know, look to the mirror and look really hard because I`m sure he won`t let his daughter date Cid. I`m sure he won`t feel comfortable having Cid looking after his grandkids. It is really unfortunate.
LALAMA: Richard Della Fera, response to that?
RICHARD DELLA FERA, CID TORREZ`S ATTORNEY (via telephone): -- offense to the personal attack, first of all. And second of all, we have heard detective Toyota say they haven`t ruled anybody out and they are looking at other persons. So, what Mr. Blanco is doing and he is a lawyer that he should know better, is he is not honoring the presumption of innocent. He`s not honoring the rule of hearsay or any other rule of law. He didn`t honor the attorney general`s dismissal of the petition when he refused to return the children by operation of law.
So, what I`m confident of is that the detectives are going to do their jobs and they are going to continue that investigation and we should see where that investigation leads instead of jumping to conclusions and pointing fingers, we should let law enforcement do its job.
LALAMA: Javier Blanco, responds to Mr. Della Fera?
BLANCO: Well, we all know the family court system here in Florida is a mess. We have three different hearings and we have three different attorneys on the case. So, the fact that the system is perfect, you know, that assumption, I think, should be thrown out the window right now.
You know, Mr. Della Fera is not a family law attorney. So there were other reports that said he was hired just to be the family attorney for Cid. And that I think is bogus. You know, why all these like charades, all these different smoke and mirrors. I don`t really understand. Not only coming from him, but also from Cid. The fact he is not talking to anybody. The fact he had an interview and didn`t say a word.
I mean, if you`re hiding something then, you probably did something wrong. If you are a person of interest there is a reason for it. If everybody is still being looked at, why isn`t everybody a person of interest?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miramar police say Cid Torrez is being investigated in connection with his wife`s alleged disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since they got married, he is OK. It`s been a rocky relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police also searched Cid Torrez`s jaguar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vilet Torrez`s family asks anyone in their path if they have seen their missing mother of three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police searched canals and lakes but haven`t found her body. Police believe foul play was involved.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LALAMA: Defense attorneys Kirby Clements, Alex Sanchez.
You know, we don`t want to rake a person of interest with the calls. Do you feel that`s what is being happening? Do you feel that there is enough being done to look at other potential suspects in the case? Alex, you first.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It doesn`t appear they are looking at other people. It looks like they are looking at the husband in this case. By the way, I just want to refer to one thing. The family, I know, desperately wants the children taken out wrong would to be with the grandparents. But, you know, the police probably want those kids the parents to remain in the house of the father. They are eyes and ears. They may come across some information. They may receive a telephone call, or a letter in the mail. They may overhear the father say something. The best place for those kids to be from a police point of view is inside the house.
LALAMA: Kirby?
KIRBY CLEMENTS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think they are raking the father over the coals. I would point this out. I mean, if he was staying in the house and ordinarily he wasn`t there, was she dating someone else that may have become jealous as a result of that? What about the co-worker? Was it a male co-worker? Female co-worker? When did he last see her? I mean, there are so many questions about that person and those scenarios that had not been answered that it seems that it`s being a bit unfair to target the father at this point.
LALAMA: And you know what, back to Nayiva Blanco, the sister of Vilet. I`m just wondering, I mean, if she was making a new life for herself and you know, getting rid of what was seemingly a toxic relationship, did she date someone new? Did she tell you about a new friend, not necessarily something romantic but someone she found interesting? Because you never know what kind of creeps are out there and what they are capable of.
NAYIVA BLANCO, VILET TORREZ`S SISTER: No. Actually my sister always wanted to keep her marriage. We come from a broken family. Our parents are divorced, separated. And she told me how her biggest dream was to stay married forever until death do us part, you know. And she did everything possible to try to keep her marriage.
She went through a lot. And like I said, abused from Cid Torrez. And she looked for help in her church. She looked for help through her friends and through us, too, to say there wasn`t abuse just because he was a supervisor and the visitation of his children is just completely absurd to me.
I know this person for 20 years. I know my sister. She came to us. She told us everything she was going through. Christmas she was alone at home with us and her children. He wasn`t anywhere to be seen. And he was here in Florida and Miami. New year`s alone with us again. He wasn`t anywhere to be found either.
All those months after that, also alone she started telling my mom how she was tired of it. How she had given everything all these years and still, nothing. He didn`t change. She thought he was bipolar. She told us. Maybe he can get some type of treatment and things will work because I want to save my marriage. But, at the end she decided this is over. I`m tired. I`m going to move on. I`m looking for advice in divorce and I already told Cid that I`m going to divorce him. In this two weeks or a week before she disappeared.
LALAMA: And Richard Della Fera, very quickly though. You have claimed that they were trying to repair the marriage. Do you believe that?
DELLA FERA: I do. I do. About a weak or more before the disappearance, Cid had gone to a divorce lawyer to get papers drawn up for divorce and Vilet told him, no, let`s hold off. Let`s try to work it out. So, I this -- the characterization that Vilet wanted out of the marriage and Cid didn`t want her out of the marriage, I think is that belied by the fact that Cid went to a divorce attorney himself.
LALAMA: To tonight`s CNN heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Marie de Silva was a nanny in the U.S. when she started a school for aids orphans in her native, Malawi. Honored as a top 10 CNN Hero in 2008, she is now joined forces with two other honorees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m so good.
COOPER: Magnus McFarlin Barrow (ph) was recognized in 2010 for his work feeding school children around the globe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He started the organization in Malawi. So, I just asked him to consider us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very shocked by her. I felt we could work together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the stove.
COOPER: Today Magnus` organization, Mary`s meals provides free porridge daily to all 400 of Marie`s students.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Am I giving them too much?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His support means the children always have something to eat. He`s a saint to me.
COOPER: 2010 honoree Evans (INAUDIBLE) make silver land turns for rural African communities. Evans visited Marie`s school and recently his team taught students to build their own lamps.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the family it cut it is costs and for the children it`s helping them to study.
Evans really motivated our kids to be inventors. They have come up with their own little models.
COOPER: Now, Marie`s students plan to supply lamps to their community with creativity and compassion these CNN heroes are helping each other to change more lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN Heroes coming together to work together. It`s a family. How sweet is that?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Outraged. State of Florida is agreeing to let Cid have custody of the couple`s three children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a person of interest in a homicide investigation involving your life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cid Torrez is being investigated in his wife`s alleged disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vilet would never leave her children. Ever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The children were her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LALAMA: Pat LaLama in for Nancy Grace. And right back out to Dr. Bill Lloyd, board certified surgeon and pathologist.
There is -- it just seems like unless some amazing physical evidence shows up this could remain a mystery for the longest, most painful time. Particularly for this family.
DOCTOR BILL LLOYD, BOARD CERTIFIED SURGEON, PATHOLOGIST: It will be difficult for them. But Pat, if they eventually find body remains they will be able to answer some of these questions. Even if she were burned beyond recognition, they`d be able to recover DNA from inside her teeth.
LALAMA: Javier Blanco, you know, one of the things I always here especially during my time at "America`s most wanted" is that, you know victims, the families suffer when they don`t know. There is almost a relief just to get an answer, no matter how horrific it might be.
Are you in that sort of mental state at this point? Just give us an answer.
JAVIER BLANCO: Yes, absolutely. We actually just want closure. We want to make sure, you know, we are able to move on, to give her a proper burial. You know, proper good-bye. A good-bye that she deserves.
And at this moment, really finding a body would serve a lot of purposes because, you know, the investigation will move forward. Hopefully there will be an arrest and, you know, hopefully we will get the kids back in our custody.
But, you know, we got to keep in mind also, I want to touch back on a couple things. You know, he was a truck driver before. And so he knows desolate roads. He knows the roads less traveled per se. And he also does work now for a dry ice cleaning company that cleans everything including what I believe is blood from supermarket meats.
So, the fact that he took three days to report her missing and the fact that he refuses to talk and all he is doing is hiding behind his attorney, you know, it sucks that this is the system here in Florida.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The state investigated and agreed the children should be with their dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it`s appalling. I think it`s horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything to do with her disappearance?
TORREZ: Nothing at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have searched canals and lakes but have not found her body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would anybody try to do that to her, try to do something bad to her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police believe foul play was involved.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LALAMA: What a horrible mystery. This wonderful mother of three children Vilet Torrez just vanished into thin air seemingly. Still no clues. Still no answers.
Depetro, what`s next? What`s next? What are you hearing from police and investigators in your area?
DEPETRO: Right now, it`s really just a matter of trying to get a break in the case. And also trying to see if maybe the more attention on the case, maybe someone has some piece of information that they don`t realize it could be valuable. Everyone is obviously concerned about now the three children, going to be in the custody with their father. But this is one of those things where someone just almost mysteriously completely vanishes but we all know there has to be some reasonable explanation on what happened to her.
LALAMA: I want to take a phone call very quickly if I can. Diane in Florida. Your question?
DIANE, CALLER, FLORIDA: Hi, Pat. First I want to say my heart and prayers go out to the family. And why did the husband wait three days to report his wife missing?
LALAMA: Deborah Roberts, would you like to answer that quickly?
DEBORAH ROBERTS (via telephone): I have -- there is no reason why, he had said, allegedly, she may have run off with another man, something her family has vehemently denied and that didn`t see any reason to contact authorities because maybe she was just moving on with her life.
LALAMA: Tonight, let`s stop to remember Army Staff Sergeant Marc Small, 29-years-old from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Killed in Afghanistan. He was awarded the bronze star and purple heart. An Afghanistan clinic named in his honor.
He loved soccer, the Phillies and the eagles. He leaves behind parents Murray and Mary, stepparents, Peter and Karen. Siblings Matt, Megan, Heather, and Jennifer. Fiance, Amanda.
Marc Small, a true American hero.
Thank you to all of our guest and to you at home. And Happy Birthday to Evelyn.
END
