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Nancy Grace
Remains Confirmed to Be Jessica Ridgeway
Aired October 15, 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, Westminster, Colorado. 8:30 AM, this little girl, 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, walks three blocks en route to school. Mommy watches as she walks away from home. Jessica never seen again.
FBI, search dogs descend onto Jessica`s home and the back yard. This as a mystery man tries to lure children into his car with candy nearby. That incident never publicized. And then a terrible find in the search for the missing girl.
Bombshell tonight. The awful discovery, 10-year-old Jessica`s dismembered body found just seven miles from home. In the last hours, reports a man, a local photographer, arrested in the kidnap and sex assault of another young girl just one state over. Is that kidnap linked to Jessica`s murder? Investigators warning neighbors tonight that a child predator is at large, insisting the killer is right there, still in the community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hoping and praying that she comes home safely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want her back home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We now know Jessica Ridgeway isn`t coming home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body that was found in Arvada has been positively identified as Jessica Ridgeway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have footage of the body which would show the public that it`s not intact.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sources say parts of the body were missing.
SARAH RIDGEWAY, MOTHER OF MISSING 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL: Why would somebody do that? Why?
LEE BRIK, WESTMINSTER POLICE CHIEF, INVESTIGATING CASE: We recognize that there is a predator at large in our community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could be your boss, could be your friend, and ultimately it could be your family member.
RIDGEWAY: It`s scary. It`s very scary. This sicko is out here still. Who knows where he`s at, but we need to find him.
BRIK: All our efforts now are in search of her abductor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Live to Westminster, Colorado. 8:30 AM, this 10-year- old girl walks three blocks en route to school, never seen again. Then the awful discovery, Jessica`s dismembered body is found just seven miles from home.
In the last hours, reports a local photographer arrested in the kidnap and assault of another little girl just one state over. Is that linked to Jessica`s murder? This as investigators warning the neighborhood tonight that a child predator, a killer, is at large still right there in the community, they believe.
We are taking your calls. I want to go straight out to Nia Bender with TNN Denver. Nia, what`s the latest?
NIA BENDER, OPERATIONS MANAGER, TNN DENVER (via telephone): Well, the latest at this point is that crews are out -- authorities, actually, are out again today and they`re checking open spaces. They`re still canvassing neighborhoods and going through things again, searching through tall grass and some of the open spaces.
And they`ve also added something new here. They`ve taken Denver`s radar vans -- Denver not very far away from Westminster, may I add. They`ve used their vans now and set them up in the neighborhoods around Jessica`s home, around the park, around the open space where she was found. And they are literally taking pictures of every car that goes down the street.
GRACE: Nia, when did they begin with the photo radar vans?
BENDER: On Friday.
GRACE: OK. Very important. Very important from a mini-standpoint. Sue Moss, before I unleash all the lawyers, we know very well that often -- often, if not a majority of the time -- a criminal goes back to the scene of the crime just to look at it, just to -- I don`t know what instinctively makes them do it. But I guarantee you her kidnapper and killer has gone back to the scene, Sue Moss.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely! And this perp has a car because the remains were scattered too far! That is going to be the key. You have three separate areas to look. One, those three blocks where she was absolutely taken, where they found the body, and then they found some of her other personal items. Each of those places there might be a tire track. There might be some paint that`s scratched off on a tree, something. That`s how they`re going to link it, through the car.
GRACE: I want to go back to Nia Bender joining us, TNN Denver. I know that they identified the 10-year-old girl`s body through DNA. I also know that her body had been hacked to pieces. Does that mean that the killer dismembered her fingers so they could not use the fingerprint identification?
BENDER: Right now, the FBI and the Westminster police haven`t disclosed any of the details like that. They`re keeping everything pretty quiet on exactly how this girl was dismembered.
GRACE: Joining me right now is a very special guest, kidnapping survivor. Joining me from Coeur D`Alene, Shasta Groene. I know you all remember when Shasta and her brother, Dylan, were kidnapped from their own home. We covered the case every single night that Shasta and Dylan were missing from day one. And praise the Lord when Shasta was found alive. She was found - - she was spotted in a local, as I call them, 7-Eleven convenience store. Her brother Dylan did not survive.
Shasta, thank you for being with us.
SHASTA GROENE, KIDNAPPING SURVIVOR (via telephone): You`re welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shasta, how old are you now?
GROENE: I`m 15.
GRACE: I hear that you`re doing so well in school that you skipped a grade?
GROENE: Yes, I did. I`m a junior now in high school.
GRACE: Wow. Shasta, what do you want to be when you grow up?
GROENE: I want to be a cosmetologist or a forensic scientist.
GRACE: You know, that`s so interesting that you mention forensic scientist because other than being a victims` rights advocate and a prosecutor, I always thought about being a forensic scientist or a forensic diver. And I find it interesting that you said that.
Shasta, I know that you are familiar with the disappearance, the kidnap, of little 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, right?
GROENE: Yes.
GRACE: She was about the age you were when you were kidnapped. What went through your mind when you heard about Jessica`s kidnap?
GROENE: I just know that it was heart-breaking hearing about it, you know, just not knowing if that little girl was going to be found or was going to be found alive, like I was, or you know, was going to, you know, just end up in a bad situation. And that just made me really upset. And you know...
GRACE: Shasta, when you were first taken away from your home, away from your family, I imagine that as a child, that -- do you understand what`s happening? Do you remember understanding what was going on?
GROENE: No. I was really confused.
GRACE: At this point in life, do you have clear memories of everything, or is a lot of it blacked out and fuzzy so you really can`t remember it?
GROENE: No, I actually remember all of it. It`s too detailed to forget. It`s not something that anybody could forget.
GRACE: Can you give us, Shasta Groene, any insight as to what 10-year-old Jessica went through in those first moments when she was kidnapped?
GROENE: I mean, going through what she did, she probably felt scared, wanted her parents at that time, and probably didn`t know what to do, probably felt lost and confused, and like, probably just didn`t really know how to feel.
GRACE: Shasta, you have overcome so much, and you, whether you know it or not, are a hero to a lot of people. Could you give me a few words about how you have managed to overcome to the point that you have and you`re doing so well, or at least it looks like you`re doing really well?
GROENE: I just know that I surround myself with my friends and keep positive people around me. And you know, I stick around my family a lot because my family, in the end, is what`s going to still be there when I need them the most.
GRACE: You know, you`re helping others every single day and you`re so brave to speak out after what you and your brother went through. It`s a real honor for me to be able to speak to you. What are your memories of your brother, Dylan? I know you must think about him every day.
GROENE: I just know that in school, whenever I had trouble with boys or something, my brother Dylan was always the one to stick up for me. And you know, whenever he got mad or something, he would always have a very -- like, a very -- what do you call it, distinct look to him. And he -- just his voice -- I remember his voice a lot. And I just know that he looked like me.
GRACE: With me, everyone, Shasta Groene. As you will recall, Shasta and her brother kidnapped there in Coeur D`Alene. Shasta, as far as other children that think they are invincible, that think they can outrun or get away from a predator, what are your words of advice?
GROENE: That it`s not true. A lot of people that say, you know, it`s never going to happen to you, you know, don`t think that because for the longest time, I thought that, too. And you know, it happened to my family.
And you know, I just say always take the safe route because you never know what could happen. There`s always bad people out there, no matter where you are. You know, you can`t even be safe in your own home anymore.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: We are bringing you the latest. For those of you just joining us, the body of 10-year-old Jessica has been positively identified through DNA, not through fingerprints. We know that parts of her body were missing from the scene you`re seeing right now.
And now many crime sleuths are wondering if the killer kept her fingertips and mouth and jawbone, possibly head, in order to keep her from being identified, since dental records and fingerprints were not used in the identification process.
We are going straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." Jean, so much has been happening. What are you hearing on your end?
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, authorities really believe that somebody in this community knows the killer, and so they are asking everybody in the local area to look at those they know and work with, their demeanor. What are they interested in about this case? What are they not interested? How interested are they?
One thing they`re forgetting to say, though, which is a focal point here, is somebody needs to look for blood because this intact body had to produce so much blood during the dismemberment -- someone that would have blood on them or clothes that had blood or a room that has blood, Nancy.
GRACE: And you know, Jean Casarez, I don`t need some so-called expert to tell me a man did it. In fact, I can tell you this right now. It is a white male somewhere between 25 and 55, probably a local, somebody that either lives in that area or travels through that area routinely that would see Jessica.
Now, there`s always a chance, Jean Casarez, this is somebody that saw her for the first time that day and snatched her, but I don`t think so.
Now, out to you, Alexis Weed, also on the story. What can you tell me about the arrest of a so-called photographer for a sex assault and kidnap of a lookalike girl one state over?
ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, this is an 11-year-old girl in Cody, Wyoming. That`s about an eight-hour drive north from where Westminster, Colorado, is located. This attack was on this 11-year-old girl. She was abducted. She was held by a man, who they are suspected, they`re saying, who`s now arrested in Montana. His name is Jesse Spear (ph). He`s a 40-year-old male. He`s being held in Montana. This girl was abducted...
GRACE: Let me guess, 40-year-old white male loner, introspective. This is the photographer, right?
WEED: Yes. He`s said to be a professional photographer.
GRACE: Yes, he says he`s a professional photographer.
WEED: Right.
GRACE: He says that he looks for adventure and the solace of rural areas?
WEED: That`s what "The Denver Post" is reporting. They`re saying -- trying to connect this Spear, finding out who he is. Nancy, there`s a Web site that we`ve been looking at. If this is, in fact, the right suspect, by this Jesse Spear, where he lists his interests as taking landscape photography in western America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As police literally beat the bushes, the FBI presents a profile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could be your boss, could be your friend, and ultimately, it could be your family member.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How safe is our neighborhood?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sicko is out here still. Who knows where he`s at, but we need to find him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. The developments in the search for a killer. Ten-year-old little Jessica had about three blocks to walk en route to school. And within that three-block walk, she was snatched. Her body has been found hacked in an open field about seven miles away. Body parts are missing. We know she was identified through DNA, not fingerprint or dental records.
Out to Heather Walsh-Haney, forensic anthropologist joining me from Florida Gulf Coast University. Heather, what`s your take?
HEATHER WALSH-HANEY, FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST: Nancy, I`m not a forensic psychologist or psychiatrist, but I can tell you, as a forensic anthropologist, that the process of hacking off the head, removing the hands by the wrist, that there will be tall-tell marks of those tools on the bones and on the soft tissue that`s going to allow authorities to have even more insight on the horrible character of this individual and to, hopefully, match those weapons to the perpetrator and help solve this case.
GRACE: You know, when you describe it in that manner, Heather Walsh-Haney, what do you mean that by the heinous nature of the crime itself, it will help them solve the case?
WALSH-HANEY: Well, in my mind, it shows me that this person is shrewd enough to realize that he`s going to get caught. And he needs to do whatever he can to slow down the progress of the identification of the individual. We know it took days to get the ID because the head was missing. The dental couldn`t be done and the fingerprints couldn`t be done.
And so the process of slowing it down, trying to impede authorities` progress, really speaks again to the horrible nature of the crime.
GRACE: You know, you`re right. And to C.W. Jensen, police captain joining me out of Cave Creek. C.W., you know, anybody that`s been involved in the court system can tell you right now the mother didn`t have anything to do with this and this is not the work of a woman. This is a white male child sex predator. And police are telling the community that he`s still right there in the community, they believe. Why, C.W.?
C.W. JENSEN, RETIRED POLICE CAPTAIN: You know, Nancy, I think you kind of nailed it earlier, you know, with your demographic of what a sex offender is. And you know, you would have to think it`s someone in the community because this little girl was grabbed in this area, just three blocks from her home.
She was taken to a place that, obviously, you or I, if we went to this community, wouldn`t really know. And what I found -- and I mean, I know that sometimes, you get a guy just driving through an area and he grabs somebody. But oftentimes, they will then take the body to somewhere they`re very comfortable with. And when I`ve worked serial killers, that`s what I`ve found.
So I would say that it`s somebody that`s in the area that looked at not just this little girl but other little girls. And Nancy, as you pointed out, you know, these sex offenders are sex and often age-specific. So that`s why they`re looking at people that have abused young girls before and have problems.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hoping and praying that she comes home safely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want her back home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We now know Jessica Ridgeway isn`t coming home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body that was found in Arvada has been positively identified as Jessica Ridgeway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have footage of the body which would show the public that it`s not intact.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sources say parts of the body were missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would somebody do that? Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We recognize that there`s a predator at large in our community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- footage of the body which would show the public that it`s not intact.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sources say parts of the body were missing.
RIDGEWAY: Why would somebody do that? Why?
BRIK: We recognize that there is a predator at large in our community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could be your boss, could be your friend, and ultimately it could be your family member.
RIDGEWAY: It`s scary. It`s very scary. This sicko is out here still. Who knows where he`s at, but we need to find him.
BRIK: All our efforts now are in search of her abductor. Our focus has changed from a search for Jessica to a mission of justice for Jessica. We recognize that there is a predator at large in our community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are live and taking your calls. An awful turn in the search for 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway. And the three blocks she had to walk en route to school, she was snatched. Her body positively identified through DNA in the late evening hours.
Why through DNA? Were her fingertips missing? We know her body hacked -- body parts missing. Is her head or jawbone missing? Disallowing an I.D. through dental records?
We are taking your calls this as police are telling the neighborhood that a child killer is at large in the community.
Back out to Nia Bender joining us from TNN Denver.
Nia, I -- I know that she was walking the opposite way, but that office building has me intrigued, because whoever took her saw her. Whoever saw her, was right there in the neighborhood in those three blocks. Is that -- is her street, Jessica`s street, used as a cut-through to get to this office building?
BENDER: I don`t think it`s used as a cut-through. I mean the The buildings that are there, there`s a King Supers in the area, along with some office buildings and other businesses, and they are just a few -- you know, few blocks away. But there`s nothing that I think, you know, Jessica`s street would be used as a main thoroughfare for. Even -- there`s a golf course that`s not far from there either and northwest of it. I don`t think that that street is used for that either.
GRACE: If there were any drivers that use this as a cut-through to get to that office building, to get through to a school, they would have seen her.
Also, to you, Jean Casarez, have police -- I`m sure they have -- gone door to door in that three block route?
CASAREZ: You better believe they have. They have gone to 500 homes interviewing people, asking anyone. And as we started the show with the radar facilities that they`re using to cast -- get pictures of people as they drive by the home or even in the open area where her body was found.
GRACE: Joining me right now Catherine Torres, private investigator, Stilettos Spy Investigations, former police chief.
Catherine, thank you for being with us. What`s your take?
CATHERINE TORREZ, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR, FORMER POLICE CHIEF, SURVIVOR OF CHILDHOOD SEX ABUSE: My take is that I absolutely believe that it`s likely that she is in the -- that the actual perpetrator is from that area. And one of the questions that those who are scouring the neighborhoods need to ask those homeowners, did they have any visitors. Did they have, like, a long-term visitor that stayed there for a while?
Because it`s highly likely that someone saw this child walking on a regular basis and planned this out. I don`t believe it was just a momentary impulse whenever you have that kind of brutality, it`s someone who has obviously done this type of thing before and they do it specifically for the exhilaration of the kill.
And, I do disagree, though, that this person could fit into the neighborhood quite well and never put off those signals. Some people, some of these type of psychopaths are even -- appear to be I would say charming.
GRACE: You`re right. Look at Ted Bundy.
TORREZ: Yes.
GRACE: And looked at Gacy, for -- I mean he performed as a clown at birthday parties and get-togethers, all the while literally hiding little boy`s dead bodies in the crawl space of his own home.
Now I understand, let`s go back to what we know. Let`s look at the evidence.
Let`s see the video, Liz, of the scene marked by the red evidence marker photos.
We know that the scene was painstakingly reviewed and marked. This is extremely important.
Unleash the lawyers. Sue Moss, New York, Greg McKeithen, defense attorney -- defense attorney, former prosecutor, Atlanta. Bryan Claypool, defense attorney L.A.
I recall one of the last cases that I prosecuted was a guy that we could get on one murder, although he -- there`s no doubt in my mind -- was a serial killer of females. And I recall distinctly, out to you, Greg McKeithen, when we found one shoe of the victim on the crime scene and we found one earring of the victim on the crime scene, we -- I immediately knew that it was at least a secondary if not tertiary crime scene because she hadn`t been killed there or her other shoe would be here, her other earring would be there.
When you look at all these red evidence flags -- let`s see that again, Liz. What are they looking for, McKeithen?
GREG MCKEITHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They`re looking for any forensic evidence if they can that would link a suspect to any crime scene involved in this case. Then in this case, we go to where the evidence takes us. At this point, it appears to be no evidence that links any suspect to any crime scene, Nancy.
GRACE: Well, hold on, to Heather Walsh-Haney. How difficult is it going to be to perform the autopsy, much less get any DNA from the body?
WALSH-HANEY: Well, presumably the pathologist has gone -- through the time intensive process of swabbing the body and trying to lift prints from the body. Trying to --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: It`s hacked up, Heather. Heather, it`s hacked up.
WALSH-HANEY: Pardon me?
GRACE: It`s hacked to pieces. There are body parts missing.
WALSH-HANEY: But still, even the pieces that they have, Nancy, they`re going to be able to -- God willing, try to tease out, tease off that trace evidence, not to mention the plant evidence and the insect evidence that perpetrators for the most part don`t know how to hide. And will be matched to their home, to their yard, to their tires, to their clothing.
GRACE: You know, Brian Claypool, for instance, if you`ll recall the Wayne Williams child murder, serial child murder case, that was the first case ever where fiber evidence was used to prove murder. Fiber from Wayne Williams` trunk of his car, from the front of his car, from his home. It turned out to be a limited carpet -- limited edition carpet that was used in his home.
That`s the kind of evidence that Heather Walsh-Haney is talking about. And if that turns up on the body it links back to his living room, he`s screwed.
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, you`re exactly right, and what`s really important in this investigation is we have found a body. That now is a platform. It is physical evidence. And from that body, we will be able to determine, for example, possibly the mechanism of death. Was she strangled before she was dismembered? That`s important. Maybe there`s some marks on her wrist. If there`s marks on her wrist, possibly she was tied with rope or tape possibly. And then you can -- you know, go back and maybe find some of that tape or rope in somebody`s garage or maybe go look at surveillance.
GRACE: You`re right, Claypool. You know what I`m concerned about.
CLAYPOOL: Are you serious, I`m right?
GRACE: Yes, you`re absolutely right. One thing I`m concerned about the fact that I know that there are body parts missing, I`m just -- I mean, at first blush you would think that would be the head so a positive I.D. could not be made from dental records, fingertips. But I wonder if areas on the child`s body were taken that would have semen or other DNA from the perpetrator.
Out to the lines, Natalie, Colorado. Hi, Natalie. What`s your question?
NATALIE, CALLER FROM COLORADO: Hi, Nancy. My question is with the body being found the way that it was, will it be possible to find out how she was killed?
GRACE: What about it, Heather?
WALSH-HANEY: Oh, I think if she has an intact chest, if her organs are intact, if her neck is intact, just like the other guest did mention that medical examiner will be able to identify points of injury and the fact that the body was dumped is going to give them manner of death, which is homicide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Kick back with us on Friday nights, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, cold-blooded murder, gambling, jealousy, inside the most baffling and heinous crimes ever committed. Cutting-edge technique combines with science, crime sleuthing. We uncover what makes the average man or woman cross the line to commit murder. Sometimes the answer is simple. Other times the answer is never found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIK: With a great deal of sorrow in my heart I regret to inform you that the body that was found in our data has been positively identified as Jessica Ridgeway, the missing girl from Westminster. The family has been notified. We can`t begin to comprehend the grief that they`re going through.
I want the family to know from me and every single person involved in this case --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are live and taking your calls. Police warning the community that little Jessica`s killer still walks amongst them.
Out to the lines. Katherine, Alabama. Hi, Katherine. What`s your question?
KATHERINE, CALLER FROM ALABAMA: Well, hi, Nancy. First of all I want to tell you how much I love watching you and your twins growing up together. And my next question is, I feel like this neighborhood really needs to be investigated. I watched the children in our neighborhood. And if I were to see somebody talking to them and they disappeared, I would -- I mean if they talked to them on a regular basis, why would you be concerned?
Somebody in that neighborhood has to have known who this abductor is. You just can`t take a 10-year-old off for her to disappear in a block and a half and nobody see anything about it.
GRACE: To Dr. Leslie Seppinni, clinical psychologist and author. Leslie, weigh in.
LESLIE SEPPINNI, PSY.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: You know, Nancy, I agree with the scientists, the anthropological scientist who said that the tools that this person used will tell you a great deal about them. It will tell you about whether they were a surgeon or professional, a dentist.
It will also tell you if they kept some of the body parts as a trophy, which many serial killers do. We`re dealing with somebody who is very sophisticate, who`s really thought this out. And so we can`t underestimate who they could be.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Selena, New York. Hi, Selena. What`s your question, dear?
SELENA, CALLER FROM NEW YORK: Hi, Nancy. First, I just want to say I have two small children. And situations like this make me afraid for them every single day. But I have two quick questions. One is, if the backpack was thrown, wouldn`t there be fingerprints on it. And the second is, would it be -- maybe it would be possible if the abductor was watching a news coverage and he freaked out and that`s why he disassembled the body like that?
GRACE: You know what, I think that is entirely possible scenario that you have just described.
To Nia Bender, joining me from TNN Denver, what do we know about the processing and you`re seeing it right there of little Jessica`s backpack and her water bottle. I`m especially interested in her water bottle because it`s mostly likely made of plastic and would be an excellent surface from which to get fingerprints.
BENDER: Correct. And unfortunately still, Nancy, we are really not aware of what -- all of the contents of the backpack were or what they`ve listed for prints or what kind of processing they`ve done because they`ve been real quiet about all of this.
GRACE: Jean Casarez, what more do we know?
CASAREZ: This water bottle and backpack were found -- logistics is important here, too -- six miles from her home. And let`s remind everybody that that was 11 miles from where her body was found. And when her body was found was, I think, seven miles from her home.
GRACE: Back to you, Alexis, this guy in Wyoming, one state over. What`s so -- one thing that`s very intriguing to me is when you put the two girls side by side, I`m not showing her face or giving her name, because she is a survivor and she is a victim of a sex assault allegedly.
Let`s see the side-by-side blurring the Wyoming girl`s face. Take a look. They`re basically the same age, the same size, the same build, the same color right down to the eyeglasses.
So, Alexis Weed, I find that extremely overwhelming. I know that that little girl was grabbed off the street, too, Alexis. Why are cops disregarding this and saying they`re not connected?
WEED: Nancy, I don`t know that they`re so much disregarding it and affirmatively saying that they`re not connected. You have to ask that question because this incident with the girl in Wyoming, this took place just a few days after Jessica went missing. And as you said, look at the glasses, look at the similarities between these girls. Their ages.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to the lines. Ashley in Florida. Hi, Ashley, what`s your question?
ASHLEY, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. I was wondering, is there anyway to determine or have they determined whether or not the little girl was sexually molested or assaulted?
GRACE: That will be determined in autopsy if that portion of her body is still intact. But I guarantee you she was molested.
I want to go to a special guest joining me right now. I`m sure you all recall the kidnap of little Shasta and her little brother. Her brother Dylan. She was taken out of her own home. She survived, her brother did not.
Shasta, when -- first of all, thank you again for being with us. When you hear about another girl that has gone missing, to this day does it make you relive what happened to you and your brother Dylan? Or are you successful in just putting that out of your mind?
GROENE: It`s definitely not something that I could just put out of my mind, but it`s definitely something that makes me want to be safer and makes me want to just move forward every day.
GRACE: Do you still have nightmares? Think about what you and your brother went through, like when you don`t expect for it to come up in your mind? As a crime victim, that happens to me. It just pops back up when I least expect it. Does that happen to you?
GROENE: There are some times where I`ll have dreams about it, but just sometimes during the day I`ll just think about it or, you know, like flashbacks will happen. And, you know, it is least expected, too.
GRACE: Do you ever feel that since that you feel your brother`s presence with you?
GROENE: I`m sorry, what was the question?
GRACE: Do you ever believe that you feel Dylan`s presence with you?
GROENE: There are times. And I feel that with my whole family, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: American hero Army Private First Class Christopher Walz, 25, Vancouver, Washington. Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Loved Dallas Cowboys, snow boarding. Mother Victoria.
Christopher Walz, American hero.
Kelsey Harrison running cross-country in New York to San Francisco in memory of friend Jill Costello for the Bonnie Addario Foundation fighting number one cancer killer, lung cancer. Go to lungcancerfoundation.org.
Back in 60 seconds.
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GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Ray in Ohio. Hi, Ray. What`s your question?
RAY, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hey, Nancy. Just wanted to say we love you here in Ohio. Watch your show all the time.
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you to my friends in Ohio. What`s your question, dear?
RAY: Well, I know you said they ruled out the parents as suspects, but if cops are saying she may have known her killer, do you think it could have been another family member?
GRACE: You know, Ray in Ohio, I think that an extended family member is always a possibility. I don`t believe anybody else lived in the home, so they would have to position themselves there in that three-block area, but to that point, Ray in Ohio, she`d probably get into the car willingly with an extended family member, a distant relative that she knows, say cousins or neighbors.
Evan in Kentucky, what`s your question, Evan? Jennifer in Kentucky, what`s your question Jennifer?
JENNIFER, CALLER FROM KENTUCKY: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. Admired your for a long time. Has Jessica`s family been evaluated by psychologists? Is it possible maybe they could help them recollect some memories like maybe a suspect or an individual that`s recently in their life and prior to Jessica`s disappearance maybe they moved or they disappeared?
GRACE: Good question. To Jean Casarez, what do we know?
CASAREZ: You know, I think all that public has come out at this point is that the mother and father were not together. Father lives in Missouri. Mother in Colorado. The mother worked overnights so she was asleep during the day when the school called the house to say that she had not come to school.
GRACE: Everyone, the tipline in effect, 303-658-4336. "DR. DREW" up next.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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