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Nancy Grace

Police Convinced Missing South Carolina Cheerleader Alive

Aired September 13, 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. To South Carolina. A 15- year-old high school cheerleader, Ridge View High, asleep in her own bedroom when Mom happens to check on her 3:00 AM, 7:30 AM she`s gone, Gabbiee never seen again.

Stunning new leads emerge. And in the last hours, investigators now reaffirm they have evidence, rock solid, Gabbiee did not leave her home willingly.

Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, new details. Why do investigators believe Gabbiee is still alive? Tonight, we chase the leads. Where`s the cheerleader, 15-year-old Gabrielle?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s the worst situation that a parent could be in!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are still looking for Gabbiee. (INAUDIBLE) found her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifty-two-year-old Freddie Grant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s a monster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A monster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Been charged with kidnapping 15-year-old Gabbiee Swainson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Snuck into her bedroom, snatched her up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He holds the key to finding Gabbiee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blood in her bedroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found her blood on her bed.

GRACE: Blood, her DNA, and her hair found on duct tape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened after that is still a mystery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s really a nightmare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He holds the key.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: WIS reports Richland County sheriff Leon Lott would be willing to consider a plea deal for Freddie Grant in exchange for her location.

GRACE: Where is the cheerleader, 15-year-old Gabrielle?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, Locust (ph) Grove. Four months pregnant with her first baby, but before she ever gets to hold that baby girl, 27-year-old Meghann Pope run down by a Ford pickup as she walked through her exclusive golf community, mother and unborn baby both dead.

Behind the wheel, some madman? No, her longtime love, who claims he was looking forward to the new baby. In the last hours, a judge sets him free on bond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boyfriend (INAUDIBLE) chase her up the sidewalk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meghann Pope`s father didn`t want to believe someone could have run his daughter over on purpose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe it was an accident. We don`t believe Brian did this of malice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say her boyfriend, Brian Feltman, intentionally crashed into her as she walked down the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her boyfriend driving a Ford F-150 pickup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think Brian did it intentionally.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was trying to save her life!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It may seem strange to some, but not to us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But now he`s reportedly changing his tune, saying the Ford F-150 running over Meghann was no accident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t cry enough to bring her back! (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Bombshell tonight. Live, South Carolina. A 15-year-old girl, high school cheerleader, Ridge View High, asleep in her own bedroom. Mom checks on her 3:00 AM, 7:30 Gabbiee`s gone.

Stunning new leads emerge in the last hours. Where is 15-year-old Gabrielle? Cops are telling us tonight they are sure she was taken by force. And now many with inside (SIC) the police department say Gabbiee is somewhere alive.

We are taking your calls. Straight out to Dave Mack, morning talk show host, Clear Channel WAAX. Dave, where are they getting the theory that Gabbiee is still alive? That is contrary to overwhelming child kidnap statistics.

DAVE MACK, CLEAR CHANNEL WAAX: Well, they`re getting the evidence because even though they`re trying to negotiate some type of a statement or -- from the suspect right now in the kidnapping, he`s not talking. And the defense attorneys are standing firm that they want to talk with him, but they`re going to have to negotiate a deal first. That`s why they think that maybe she`s still alive.

GRACE: Now, I don`t quite get the thinking because for all I know, the defense lawyers, such that they are, are claiming, yes, we got to have a deal in place before we talk to you. For all I know, that could mean, Before I tell you where her body is, Dave Mack.

MACK: You know, the police have long held that they -- they don`t believe that Gabbiee is gone. They believe she`s still with us. And obviously, they haven`t shared every piece of evidence that they have with everyone. So they`re just trying to figure out the best way they can to find that girl.

GRACE: So you`re using euphemisms. Are you trying to say that they don`t believe Gabbiee is dead? They think she is alive? Is that what you`re saying?

MACK: The police have specifically stated they don`t believe Gabbiee`s dead. They have said they believe -- they`re trying to find Gabbiee, and they`re doing everything they can 24/7 to find that girl. They`re not talking about finding a body, they`re talking about finding a girl.

GRACE: With me, joining us exclusively tonight, Gabbiee`s father joining me from Portsmouth, Alvin Thompson. Mr. Thompson, thank you for being with us. As you must know, there are millions of people thinking of and praying for your daughter. What are police saying that leads you to believe they believe she is alive?

ALVIN THOMPSON, GABRIELLE`S FATHER (via telephone): Well, the way I`ve been seeing it is the amount of blood found at the scene and all that stuff, they say it really don`t -- is not consistent with death, or whatever. So it`s a possibility that she is alive, and I hope she is.

GRACE: Well, it seems to me, then, Mr. Thompson -- with me is Gabbiee`s father -- if this guy, Freddie Grant, age 52 years old -- let`s see his picture, please, Liz. Freddie Grant was the guy that did yard work for the mom. He helped remodel her home. They had a brief relationship. He apparently lied about still having the family key to the home.

He had just cut their grass that Friday when Gabbiee goes missing in the middle of the night, sometime between 3:00 and 7:00 AM. He had the family key.

Have you ever hired this guy? Do you know this guy? Take a look at Freddie Grant, age 52.

So Alvin Thompson, under this scenario that police are saying they still think your little girl`s alive, if he took her, then where is she? And is she being held somewhere? The longer they keep him, she could be starving to death, for all I know.

THOMPSON: (INAUDIBLE) you`ve got to think about it another way, too. If he has her somewhere, he may have someone helping him and they -- someone may be feeding her. And I hope that is the case.

But still, you know, it`s still (INAUDIBLE) how he know she was there by herself at that time in the morning still yet. But I hope they do find Gabbiee alive and bring her on back home to us. But you know, it`s a possibility she still is alive. I don`t feel like she`s dead (INAUDIBLE) from my senses, I don`t feel like she`s gone myself.

GRACE: Why do you say that? What do you mean, Mr. Thompson, your senses tell you she`s still alive?

THOMPSON: I keep dreaming about her (INAUDIBLE) don`t normally dream about Gabbiee, but I keep dreaming about her and I keep seeing her. And it`s like she`s just calling me or something. So I don`t see her dead or anything, as far as that kind of calling. Seems like she`s just calling me, you know, when I be sleeping. It`s kind of getting like way (ph) to be too much.

GRACE: When you dream of her, Mr. Thompson, when you dream of your daughter and she`s calling you, what does she say?

THOMPSON: It`s like she`s looking at me and reaching out. She`s not really talking, but she`s, like, she`s reaching out for -- you know, reaching her hands for me to grab. The only one time I dreamed that she was in the water, and I saw her face in the water. But you know, the other dreams are like she`s just reaching out for me or whatever.

GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls. And with us, Gabbiee`s father. Out to Alisha in Kentucky. Hi, Alisha. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. My question is -- they said that they traced her call back to his house, but do they have her cell phone in their possession?

GRACE: I do not believe so. Let`s go to our chief editorial producer, Ellie Jostad joining us. Ellie, what do we know?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, they don`t physically have that iPhone. That phone -- the caller`s right, they did trace the phone going from Gabbiee`s house early that morning to the suspect`s home. But from there, as far as we know, the trail is cold.

GRACE: And Greg Kading joining us, former LAPD detective, author of "Murder Rap." Greg, tell me about the iPhone. You know, on the iPhones, you have that special feature where you can look at it and it shows you where you are on a map and basically lead you -- it`s like a GPS locator. So what would that reveal?

GREG KADING, FORMER LAPD DETECTIVE: Well, it depends, Nancy, on whether or not the phone is active. The phone has to be on in order for that technology to take place. If the phone is not on or if the battery is dead, it`s not really going to be very helpful under those circumstances.

GRACE: And tell me again, Ellie, did they get pings? Is it just pings? And I don`t mean to minimize just pings because pings show you where the phone has been. If the phone is turned on, you can get a ping. Now, Ellie, what do we have exactly?

JOSTAD: Nancy, we don`t know that exactly. We just know there are cell phone records. Police haven`t said specifically whether that -- they`ve been able to triangulate where the phone was based on pings, or whether they were able to use that GPS feature on the iPhone.

GRACE: Everybody, we`re taking your calls. Dawn, South Carolina. Hi, Dawn. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`ve been following this since this baby`s gone missing, and my question is, why hasn`t the mom done a press conference and made a public plea for any information?

GRACE: Now, let me think about that just a moment. Ellie, I`ve seen the mom on camera, all right? And I believe we have talked to the mom. Did the mom make a public plea? Why am I seeing her on camera if that was not a public plea?

JOSTAD: Right, Nancy. She has gone on camera and asked for help. She`s been keeping a low profile. We understand from talking to people that know the family that she is, you know, obviously having a very hard time. She`s asked that interview requests go through the police department, and they`re sort of, you know, being the gatekeepers right now for Gabbiee`s mom.

GRACE: To Mr. Thompson, Alvin Thompson. This is Gabbiee`s father. I was told by relatives and close confidantes of Gabbiee`s mom that she hasn`t been able to eat a bite. She can`t bring herself to eat, she can`t sleep ever since Gabbiee went missing.

THOMPSON: Yes, I spoke to her a couple of times. She -- you know, she said she hasn`t really been able to eat or sleep. She`s been getting a little sleep and she`s been eating a little bit of (INAUDIBLE) because your body will not sustain if you don`t eat anything, but they`ve been getting her to eat a few things, or whatever. And I know she`s going through a hard time because this is her only child.

At the same time, you know, it`s going to be tough on her. Even if she knew where Gabbiee was (INAUDIBLE) it`s still tough on her because Gabbiee`s not there with her. So I don`t know what (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: Well, what do you think, Alvin Thompson, of this Freddie Grant guy? He cut the grass. He did remodeling. He had a key to the home at one time. She must have gotten concerned about him having that key. She asked for it back. He wouldn`t give it to her. In fact, he lied about it, Alvin Thompson.

THOMPSON: I don`t know much about that key except what -- about what you know about it and stuff. (INAUDIBLE) hanging on (INAUDIBLE) he had it for six months and all of that stuff but -- because he was doing work in the house. I seen the work that he was doing in the house, but (INAUDIBLE) like it just got started to me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies and other law enforcement tracked around with dogs throughout various locations, still searching for anything that could bring Gabbiee home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God knows I pray that baby`s OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grant`s a career criminal, very, very, very lengthy record.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re finding her DNA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Duct tape with Gabbiee`s blood found in the junkyard across the railroad tracks from his house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A monster and that he holds the key to finding Gabbiee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I didn`t see her in her bed, and I -- I panicked. I froze.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The community searches, the vigils, the fliers, the visitors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freddie Grant, seen here in this video assisting in the search just days after she was reported missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not found her. We are actively looking for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That is a nerve! Let me see that video again, Liz. Here he is, 52-year-old Freddie Grant, family acquaintance, he`s helping in the search. He`s there at the very front of the search, when back at his home, there is duct tape with her hair and blood on it.

He lied about having the family key. He had done remodeling in the home. Mom asked for the key back, he wouldn`t give it back. He lied about that he had lost it. He cut the grass for the family that Friday she goes missing.

He had a brief relationship with the mother. That was over, by all accounts. Had he been spying on the little girl all this time? Had he been in the home without Mom`s knowledge?

We are taking your calls. Stunning new details emerging tonight. Number one, cops are now saying they believe Gabbiee is still alive. Where`s she being held captive? And how is she being held? Behind bars, that 52-year-old handyman who refuses to tell cops anything.

Also at this hour, Sheriff Lott, who has tried relentlessly to find Gabbiee, putting his men and women out on the street, beating the bushes to find this girl, literally working day and night -- now the defense is demanding a gag order, not letting the sheriff speak. How is he supposed to find the girl if he can`t speak?

Not only that, is there some sort of a plea deal in the works? All right, I got a problem with that! Ellie Jostad, what are we talking about a plea deal?

JOSTAD: Right, Nancy. One of our affiliates did a sit-down interview with Sheriff Leon Lott, and they asked him, after the interview was over off camera, Would you consider a plea offer for Freddie Grant if it meant that it would lead you to Gabbiee? And he said, at this point, they are willing to consider anything that could help them find her.

GRACE: Now, wait a minute, Ellie. Did they say, Help you find Gabbiee, or, Help you find Gabbiee`s body?

JOSTAD: Yes, it wasn`t specific to the body. And as you know, they still think he`s (SIC) alive. Right now, he`s facing kidnapping and federal weapons charges. So it`s not clear whether there`s enough incentive for him to speak at this point.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Burke Strunsky, senior deputy district attorney, author of "Humanity of Justice," joining me out of LA -- he`s no slouch -- Kirby Clements, former prosecutor, now defense attorney, Greg McKeithen, defense attorney, Atlanta.

Burke Strunsky, here`s the problem. If she`s alive and she`s being held captive, she could be starving right now, number one. That would be incentive for me to cut a deal to try to find the girl. If I think she`s dead, I`m not cutting a deal. I`ll try that case without a body. Forget that.

BURKE STRUNSKY, SR. DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I think that`s exactly right, Nancy. And the reality is, it`s hard to think of a scenario in which this young girl is still alive, given the fact that she`s been missing for the better part of a month and the main suspect has been in custody for weeks.

With that being said, Sheriff Lott is doing exactly the right thing, keeping the focus on this investigation, saying what he needs to say to the media so that Gabbiee`s name stays out there and people continue to look.

GRACE: But you know, Burke, let me narrow you down a little bit. Get back to the middle of the road, friend. Why cut a deal if you think she`s alive? And especially why cut a deal if you think Gabbiee`s dead? We don`t need a body to try a case. Why let this guy off free if they believe Gabbiee could be dead?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re operating under the belief that she`s alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anybody does see her, or know her whereabouts, I am pleading to come forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The duct tape was found at Mr. Grant`s house, and it has Gabbiee`s blood. Her DNA has been matched.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t see her in her bed, and I panicked. I froze.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every minute Gabbiee is missing matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Let`s go to the lines in search for Gabbiee. Jill, California. Hi, Jill. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy, I want to know if the parents have any say in whether a plea is offered because if it was my child, and God forbid she were found deceased, I would want maximum punishment.

GRACE: And Jill, just bear with me. Would you agree to a lesser amount of time in exchange to find the body of your child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would probably consider a lesser amount of time just for the closure, but we would definitely have to agree on the terms. I would not...

GRACE: All right...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: I`m going to weigh in on that. If I was convinced my child was dead, I would know my child was with God in heaven, and there would be no mercy on whoever touched my child, all right? The needle would be too good.

Alvin Thompson, have police approached you in any way regarding a plea deal for Freddie Grant in exchange for telling where is Gabbiee?

THOMPSON: No, they haven`t. And about what you were talking about, the no body -- no body trial or whatever, that doesn`t really bring closure to me, Elvia, or the rest of our family without a body. I mean, I need more closure than that and stuff. And Freddie Grant would get his anyway. I mean, that doesn`t bring closure to me.

GRACE: Good point. Ellie Jostad, where are we getting this information? We have Sheriff Lott mentioning it offhandedly that he would consider a plea. But is it really happening, Ellie, or is it just talk?

JOSTAD: It sounds like it`s just talk at this point, Nancy, no indication that the prosecutors in that jurisdiction are even considering any sort of plea deal at this point.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boyfriend (INAUDIBLE) chase her up the sidewalk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meghann Pope`s father didn`t want to believe someone could have run his daughter over on purpose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believed it was an accident. We don`t believe Brian did this of malice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say her boyfriend, Brian Feltman, intentionally crashed into her as she walked down the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: How do you accidentally run down a pregnant mom at a golf course?

Out to Kathy Jefcoats, the senior crime and courts reporter with "The Henry Daily Herald." Kathy, explain to me what happened.

KATHY JEFCOATS, "HENRY DAILY HERALD" (via telephone): Well, apparently, the couple had been out socializing at (INAUDIBLE) bar and came home, argued. He left out (ph) in the Ford pickup, went to a friend`s house (INAUDIBLE) texted him -- texted (INAUDIBLE) and asked if when he got cooled down to please have him come home safe. (INAUDIBLE) he said he entered the subdivision.

He gave a couple of conflicting stories about what happened. First he said he thought he hit someone but continued on to his home because he thought it was a stranger, went home, discovered she wasn`t there, got back in his truck and went back to find her and found her in the middle of the road.

He said that he passed her by in the road, didn`t know it was her and came back and discovered that it was her. So he gave a couple of conflicting accounts of exactly what happened.

GRACE: OK. I`ve got a problem right there, Kathy Jefcoats. You`ve been around the block a couple of times when it comes to crime and justice. You`re telling me he told conflicting stories? That they had had an argument that night? That they had been out at a bar? I assumed him drinking alcohol? When you are drinking, it`s nighttime. What time of the night did this happen?

JEFCOATS: It was 6:30 in the morning.

GRACE: You know what, as I told many a jury, Kathy, and you were there, nothing good happens after midnight, all right?

JEFCOATS: Exactly.

GRACE: What in the hey was he doing driving around at 6:30 in the morning, boozed up from drinking the night before?

JEFCOATS: Apparently he was just on his way back after they had fussed at their house and had gone back to the friend`s house. And he was just on his way back home.

GRACE: What were they arguing about, Kathy?

JEFCOATS: I`m not sure. I`m not sure that that particular -- that the particular issue was brought up.

GRACE: Well, you know what, Kathy, let`s find out. Because with me right now is the attorney for the suspect, Brian Mac Feltman.

Ricky Morris. Ricky, what was your client arguing about with this young lady, Meghann Pope, pregnant with her first baby?

RICKY MORRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR MAN ACCUSED OF RUNNING OVER PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND: Well, it`s our contention, Nancy, that they weren`t arguing at all. That that was brought up in the preliminary hearing this week for the first time. But no one was able to tell us the actual substance of any argument.

GRACE: Well, why don`t you have your client tell you, Ricky?

MORRIS: Well, I`m sure I will do all that. And I`ll get all the information from him. But the information we got from the detectives was a text message from Meghann that was sent to a friend where Brian was actually at their house, that did say, tell Brian to come home safe. So it doesn`t appear that it was an actual argument.

GRACE: Did they take his blood alcohol at the time?

MORRIS: It`s my understanding that they got a search warrant the next -- or that morning, and there`s a lab result pending with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

GRACE: To Clark Goldband, what more do we know?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, we`ve heard from family and friends, and law enforcement has also stated in court, that this had been a little bit of a tumultuous relationship in the weeks leading up to this incident. In fact, law enforcement says that --

GRACE: Clark. You don`t have -- just look up on Dictionary.com tumultuous. Tumultuous means rocky, tumult, full of turmoil. There`s no such thing as a little bit tumultuous. Now was it a rocky relationship or not?

GOLDBAND: It was rocky based on reports we`re seeing. And I`ll tell you why. Law enforcement has testified in court that in fact just a week or so prior to this incident, the victim was allegedly hit in the head multiple times with the handle of a gun. And that occurred on the way home from a Braves game, according to family.

GRACE: Ricky Morris, you`re the lawyer for the fiance. What about that? Has your client explained pistol whipping his girlfriend?

MORRIS: He hasn`t explained any pistol whipping of anybody at this point, Nancy. But as to your tumultuous relationship, we did get copies of Facebook messages and some text messages between Meghann and Brian about how much she loved him, and how glad she was to have him in her life. So some of the information that`s been testified to doesn`t appear to be factually backed up by any evidence other than what people say she may have told them.

GRACE: All right. Let`s go to someone that may be able to clear it up, Ricky Morris. With me is Meghann`s father, Lawrence Pope.

Mr. Pope, number one, I`ve got a daughter. She`s only 4. I pray to God every night that she grows up to be a fine young lady. And that I can be here to help her. And I cannot imagine giving her all my love, along with my little boy, only to have something like this happen to her. You`ve got to know that so many people have been praying for your daughter.

Mr. Pope, what can you tell us about the incident where she was run down by her fiance`s Ford?

LAWRENCE POPE, DAD OF MEGHANN POPE, PREGNANT WOMAN RUN OVER BY HER BOYFRIEND: At first, Nancy, we didn`t want to believe it, that he could run down my daughter and kill her. But after all the evidence, and after talking to him personally on the phone, and after what he told me, it only seems that out of -- out of malice he did this.

GRACE: What did he tell you?

POPE: Without a shadow of a doubt. He told me that -- his first statement was that he didn`t know he hit Meghann. He knew he hit somebody and he stopped and he turned around. And I told him that could be the truth, because my daughter wouldn`t let her dogs run loose in the neighborhood. And I told him that he had had to go to that house. And he admitted he did go to that house.

And he admitted that he`d hit somebody. And I asked him, I said, it`s OK to run over somebody, just as long as it wasn`t Meghann. And he said he just didn`t know it was Meghann. He said he went to the house and screamed three times Meghann`s name and she didn`t respond, and he knew that he`d hit Meghann and he ran -- and he jumped in the truck, he drove back to the scene and then he called 911.

But when you see -- I asked him if -- what was his hurry, why was he speeding through the neighborhood, he said he wasn`t in a hurry. He said he wasn`t drunk. That all that will come back is he`s going to be clean. And that makes it even worse. If he comes back and he wasn`t drinking, and he wasn`t in a hurry, then why would you run over my daughter. And it`s just -- when you come and -- I`ve drove the neighborhood 30 times, I`ve got up at 6:00 in the morning to see how dark it is.

And then when the police officers let me go look at the truck and I saw that her head hit the hood of that truck, I told him, he had to see my daughter`s face when he hit her. And there`s no doubt, there`s no doubt, no doubt that he did not know that was my daughter. And he knew it was.

GRACE: Well, Mr. Pope, that story doesn`t even make sense.

POPE: No. And then he broke -- she had broke up with him three days earlier. It was three days before that when he hit her with that pistol. Coming back from a Braves game, he was intoxicated. And he hit my daughter with a pistol. In the head. And he doesn`t deny it, he just says he don`t remember it. And she kicked him out of the truck.

And she didn`t talk to him that Thursday or Friday. And somehow he got back in her good graces that Saturday, or that late Friday night. And my daughter was a loving and caring person. She wanted him to change. We begged her not to see him anymore. She just wanted him to change. She was pregnant, she was happy, excited. And this happened.

Brian`s got three other kids that he didn`t take care of. And it`s sad that this is the way my daughter`s life ended up. And we did give him the benefit of the doubt the very first time. We didn`t know all this evidence. But once seeing all the evidence and coming out here driving it and looking at my daughter`s brand new house, he kicked the doors in. He was --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Mr. Pope, can I ask you something? I am hearing that in the last hours, some judge, and I`m using that term very loosely, just gave him bond after he runs down your daughter and her unborn baby girl, killing them both. The judge has given him bond.

POPE: I don`t understand that, Nancy, myself. I`m not sure about the justice system, exactly how it works. But he`ll get his due justice eventually here in Henry County, I know that for a -- I pray for that. And he`ll eventually get his justice and -- with god. And that`s our only satisfaction that we have here at all.

My daughter laid here on this road dying, and he left her here by herself. And I don`t know what you call murder, but that`s what I would call murder. He left her here. We don`t know how long. We don`t know really how long she`s laid here by herself. But -- and then he lied about it. So I don`t -- I don`t really know what -- I mean, I feel sorry for his family, though, we want to say that. We definitely feel sorry for his family.

GRACE: The family album showcasing photos from iReporter. Tonight Kentucky friends, Rihanna, Madeline, Bravey (ph) Taylor. Love going to movies together.

Share photos at hlnTV.com/Nancy Grace. Then click on "Nancy`s Family Album."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Back in 90 seconds, let`s remember Marine Captain Matthew Freeman, 29, Richmond Hills, Georgia, Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Loved reading, scuba diving. Parents Gary and Lisa, two sisters, widow and high school sweetheart, Theresa.

Matthew Freeman, American hero.

And tonight, happy birthday to our superstar Riki. We`ll be back in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Accident or murder. We are there live at the scene where this young pregnant mom was run down by a Ford F-150. Madman behind the wheel? No. The baby`s father. With me right now, Brent Brooks, first on the scene.

Brent, what happened when you arrived there?

BRENT BROOKS, WITNESS, FIRST AT CRIME SCENE, HELD VICTIM`S HAND AFTER RUN OVER: Well, I`m a homeowner here in (INAUDIBLE) Crossing. And my 9- year-old daughter, whose window overlooks the scene, came down and woke me up approximately 6:20 a.m. she said, daddy, there`s a man in the road, and he`s screaming for help. And he`s leaning over a body.

And I said, baby, you`ve got to be having a bad dream. Go back to bed. But she awoke me enough that I was able to hear the screams for help myself. So I threw on my shoes, and immediately came out here. And as I approached the scene, I could tell that Brian was on the phone with 911 saying, please get here as fast as you can, tell me what to do.

And I saw Meghann, who I did not know at the time. And I just -- I knelt down beside her, and grabbed her hand and told her just to lie still. And although she was not responsive, vocally I know she was able to hear me, because when I would say lie still, she would then become still. And I told her the paramedics will be here soon. You`ll be OK.

And I asked Brian what had happened. And he told me that he was just riding by, and witnessed her lying in the street. And stopped --

GRACE: Whoa, so he said that somebody else ran her down?

BROOKS: He did not say that. But he led us -- me to believe that.

GRACE: So he`s driving by and he sees her laying there?

BROOKS: Yes, that`s exactly his words. I drove by, and I saw -- my girlfriend and I had an argument, at which time he told me that she`s four months pregnant, due in January. That they had had an argument, that he had gone to look for her. And to try to make things right. And as he rode by, he saw her lying in the street.

GRACE: You have been attending court when Feltman would show up. Why?

BROOKS: I felt that I was the -- one of the last people to see and speak to Meghann. I did not know her before. But as -- I initially believed Brian`s story. I believed that this was an accident.

GRACE: Well, do you believe it now?

BROOKS: But -- no, not after listening to the evidence that`s come forth. That`s why I continue to go to the courthouse.

GRACE: Brent Brooks. Brent, you held her hand as she and her unborn baby were dying in the road, out in the street. Do you believe it was an accident or murder?

BROOKS: At the time, I believed it was an accident. After hearing that he left the scene, and that he had been -- that she had been drugged, I believed that it was murder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Accident or murder? A pregnant mom run down by a Ford F-150. Behind the wheel, her lover.

We are taking your calls, and we are live on the scene.

Donna, Kansas. What`s your question?

DONNA, CALLER FROM KANSAS: Hi, Nancy. So glad to get to talk to you.

GRACE: Likewise.

DONNA: I had called to ask about the couple, if they were fighting, but I was listening and heard that a witness that was at the scene said that they -- the husband or boyfriend had said they had been arguing. Can`t they get evidence off of the vehicle to show that he was the one that actually hit her?

GRACE: Good question. To Michael Board, WOAI.

Michael, what do we know about that?

MICHAEL BOARD, REPORTER, WOAI NEWSRADIO: It was a grizzly scene there on this middle of the street. From what we know, this is hard evidence. We can say this is actually what happened. There was a dent in the front of this two-ton pickup truck and on the hood.

Nancy, what that means is that when whoever was behind the wheel hit this woman, she went up on the hood, the driver of course had to know who that was.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: He runs down his pregnant lover. His longtime love. Accident or murder?

Rebecca, Georgia, what`s your question dear?

REBECCA, CALLER FROM GEORGIA: That is murder. He had no reason to do that. He should have just walked away if he did not want the responsibility of the child or her.

GRACE: To Michael Board, you heard Rebecca. Why has some judge -- what was the judge`s name, Mike Gaffey (ph)? What was the judge`s name? Why did he just get bond? That`s what I want to know. And have you seen his rap sheet, Liz? Show me his rap sheet.

Robert Godwin is the judge. Thank you, Mike. Thanks, Liz.

Li, I want to see his rap sheet. Good Lord in heaven.

Board, why is he getting bond?

BOARD: Because right now the prosecutors, the evidence they`ve presented during trial, they were only to show -- there was only enough to show that this was a vehicular homicide. And in Georgia, that`s a 30-year max. What`s going to happen in this case is it is going to go to a grand jury. The grand jury has the chance to upgrade those charges to murder in this case. Now, if that happens, he`ll quickly go back behind bars, Nancy.

GRACE: I want to go back to the scene where 27-year-old Meghann Pope and her unborn baby girl were run down by a two-ton truck.

With me her father, Lawrence Pope.

Lawrence, we`ve talked all about what happened. I want to hear about her. I want to hear what she was planning for her baby, the colors she`d picked out, the names she`d picked out. What was Meghann like as a little girl? Tell me.

POPE: Nancy, my daughter was a special young lady. She`d not picked out a name that we knew of as of yet. We were going to -- the following weekend we were going to find out the sex of the baby and find out the name. We were going to meet first time with his parents at her house and she was going to release balloons whether it was a little girl or a boy. And we know now it was a little girl. We were not told the names yet.

As a little girl, she was a great little girl. She was the love of my life. She -- she was just a very special person. She loved to snow ski, loved to go to the beach. She loved her brothers. She loved to go watch them play baseball. She was just a very special person. She thought she could help everybody. That was her downfall. She thought she could make Brian a better person. That`s all she ever told me. We asked her not to see this guy.

GRACE: Mr. Pope --

POPE: And all she would say was dad, he`s getting better. Yes, ma`am?

GRACE: You just said something that really touched my heart. You know, I thought I knew it all, Mr. Pope, until I had children. And I got to tell you. When you said your daughter was the love of your life, I tell you, there is nothing like the loves of your life in your children. They are truly the loves of your life.

No offense to husbands and wives and girlfriends and boyfriends, but I got to tell you something, Mr. Pope. We are hurting for you tonight. And the one thing we are praying for now is justice.

Thank you, Lawrence.

Everyone, as you know, "DR. DREW" is up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night friend.

END