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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Where is Jennifer Huston?; Update on Missing Oregon Woman

Aired July 28, 2014 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... pattern analysis, where working together, the two show who the blood came from and provide a scenario about which it possibly

got there.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Breaking news tonight in the mysterious disappearance of a stay-at-home mother of two young boys. We are just

moments away from a live police news conference in the desperate search for Jennifer Huston. Her devastated family is begging for answers. She

vanished Thursday while running errands in her SUV.

A key clue in her baffling disappearance, surveillance footage showing this woman filling up her car at a gas station just four miles from her family`s

home near Portland, Oregon. We just -- I mean, seconds ago -- got the screen grabs from that surveillance footage.

There you see her at the gas station. That is her in her car. She has not been seen since. This is the last image that anyone has of this woman

alive. Police have not been able to send the full video to us yet. But they`re working on it. And we could get it during this hour. It shows the

last time Jennifer was seen, and her SUV hasn`t been found either.

Now, when she didn`t return home after a few hours, her husband panicked and called cops. So was this woman kidnapped in broad daylight?

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KALLEN HUSTON, HUSBAND OF MISSING WOMAN: We`re over 48 hours at this point where she`s been missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Worst parent`s fear. Some sort of abduction or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hasn`t been seen since Thursday. Huston was last seen on surveillance video, filling up her SUV with gas.

HUSTON: She would never leave our boys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She swiped her debit card at the Circle K gas station on Portland Road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to keep things as normal as possible for his two young sons.

HUSTON: Right now, mommy is on vacation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my friend`s wife. She`s been missing since the 24th.

HUSTON: Jennifer, I love you very much. Our boys miss you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jennifer and her green SUV were last seen at about 6:10 in the evening at the Circle K gas station near her home.

Now, police have just confirmed to us that a gas station attendant, in fact, pumped the gas for Jennifer. By the way, that`s the law in Oregon.

One of just two states. The attendant has to pump the gas. So he eyeballed her.

She never made it home. When family members tried her cell phone, they found it had been turned off. Her credit cards have not been used.

Jennifer`s family describes her as a devoted wife and mother who was potty- training her 2-year-old son and would never abandon her family. Jennifer`s husband was filled with emotion, breaking down repeatedly as he says he

struggles over what to tell their sons, ages 6 and 2.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSTON: Right now, Mommy is on vacation. I`m sorry. Obviously, I`m an -- I`m an emotional wreck right now. But it warms my heart to see so many

people trying. She would never leave our boys. She`s been gone three days now. There`s no way, there`s no way that she would leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Take a look at what we`re going to show you in a second. And that is the presser live shot. Any moment now, authorities can come

up.

Meanwhile, I want to hear from you: 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297.

All right. Let`s take a look at that news conference shot, that live shot. And we`re going to see that any moment now, authorities will step up to

that podium and could have new information. I know that members of the family are there. I know that friends and neighbors are there. Everybody

in this tiny town, which is a suburb of Portland, Oregon, wants answers. They are terrified. They don`t know what on earth has happened to this

beloved member of their community.

Our Lion`s Den debate panel is fired up and wants to solve this case. And as we wait for that news conference to start, let us start with Lisa

Lockwood, investigator, author of "Undercover Angel." You`re one of the premier investigators in the United States. What do you make of this

disappearance? Her vehicle has not turned up.

LISA LOCKWOOD, INVESTIGATOR: Because she was last seen at 6 p.m. in her vehicle, around that time frame, the only thing that I can surmise right

now is if it was a vehicular hijacking. Where -- was there a ruse set up on the side of the road where she was going to help somebody? Usually, a

ruse is set up where there`s a female there, and she feels completely safe. And then somebody else gets out and goes ahead and takes her and takes the

vehicle.

But the whole thing is why? Why was she targeted for that? Was somebody so desperate that they needed a vehicle and they decided to take her along

and then, unfortunately, come to find out later on that she`s no longer missing, that she could be a victim of a homicide.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s pray. Let`s pray that she is somehow OK. But I know your point, Lisa Lockwood. I covered a case many years ago where a

woman was driving her boss`s car from an airport. They provoked a fender- bender on purpose. When she got out to check the damage, she was kidnapped. And they took her car, and she was raped in that case. And it

was a horrible, horrible case that I covered, actually out of the Los Angeles area. And it stuck with me forever.

Kent Zimmermann, attorney out of Chicago, you had a theory, because let`s look at the description of this woman. She`s a 38-year-old mother of two.

But she has been described as looking like a model, very beautiful. And so what are your thoughts?

KENT ZIMMERMANN, ATTORNEY: Listen, she`s at a gas station, a Phillips 66 gas station. She`s in yoga pants. She`s alone pumping gas. It`s entirely

possible she could have caught somebody`s eye, and there could have been an abduction.

The only other thing I`ll say is that public records indicate that this woman and her husband went through Chapter 7. They filed for bankruptcy.

There -- that puts great stress on a marriage typically. It kills your credit scores. That`s something that police need to look at. As

distraught as the husband looks, we need to look at what was going on at this house.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, they always start with the people who are the closest to the missing person, and that would be her husband.

ZIMMERMANN: Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`ve been looking at videos of him, and we`re bringing more in as they come in, because he`s -- he has talked to people at the

scene, sort of walking around the area. And he`s cooperating with police. And authorities want to stress that.

And what he said was -- let`s -- let`s talk about the time line here. Jennifer`s husband says he came home at about 5:30 Thursday. And his wife

mentioned she needed to run some errands. And then she left. And he remained home with their two young sons. Now Jennifer was last seen at the

Circle K gas station about four miles away from her house. Published reports say Jennifer bought gas.

And in Oregon, that means somebody had to pump it for her. So somebody had eye contact with her, that attendant. As far as we know, the gas station

attendant was the last person to see her alive. So his observations about her moves are absolutely crucial, Gabe Crenshaw, psychologist.

Absolutely. I agree. You know, and I agree with what you`re saying, too, Jane. Oftentimes you do -- unfortunately, you look to the husband. But

I`m curious as to what were those errands? Did he know?

I mean, everybody -- the one consistent thing throughout this story I`ve heard so far is the kind of woman that she was. She was very consistent.

She was very dependable. So does he know where was she going, who was she going to be with, what were the errands that she was running?

And you know, I mean, we do live in a day where, you know, we can see the tears in the press conferences with the spouses, but that doesn`t

necessarily mean in the end that it`s always what it appears to be. And I think we need to honestly look at that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, and I also want to point out that bankruptcy, you referred to, the Chapter 7, happened I believe back in 2011. So it didn`t

happen yesterday. And you know, many of the people declare bankruptcy in this country -- I don`t know that that indicates anything. If it had

happened last month, I think it would be far more indicative of a possible problem.

But Jennifer`s father says that they were very happily married. And Jennifer`s father says, "My son-in-law is solid." That`s the phrase he

used. And he also says there`s no way that she herself is choosing voluntarily to be away from her husband and her children. Let`s listen to

the dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not coming home because she can`t come home, the worst parent`s fear, some sort of an abduction or something. I hate to say that

word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jennifer is 38 years old. She`s 5`7." She has shoulder- length blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen driving an older model green Lexus SUV and wearing black yoga pants and black and pink Nike shoes.

Back to the Lion`s Den. Again, this family overall squeaky clean.

CRENSHAW: Let me say...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead.

CRENSHAW: Yes. You know what I`m thinking, Jane. You know, the kind of mother that she is, psychologically, none of this is really making a lot of

sense to me. She didn`t call. There`s about a five- or six-hour window. By the time the husband, what I read, he actually called around 11 p.m. to

some of her friends, thinking that maybe she was there. Well, this seems uncharacteristic to me.

What kind of a mother would be gone that long? She`s potty-training her 2- year-old. So she certainly wouldn`t have been gone for hours without at least checking in. So there was no check-in. That`s a concern for me. I

think it`s something that we should look at. Does this make sense to anyone else?

LOCKWOOD: Because he`s cooperating right now, you have to look at -- Dr. Gabe, I appreciate that, but he is cooperating. The police have access to

his phone records. So they are going to be able to see who he spoke to in those hours she was missing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s what he said. Because we`ve been getting information in -- and by the way, I want to show you the podium. There is

the surveillance video of her filling up at the gas station, the Circle K. and it`s also been described as a 76 station.

There is the police podium. They`re going to be holding a news conference any second now. They were supposed to start at 7. But I`ve learned over

the years they never start on time. Very rarely.

So law enforcement, if you`re there watching, come on out and talk to us, because the nation is waiting to hear what you have to say.

And there is the Circle K, and it says 76, as well. The gas station.

Now here`s the thing, Brianne Desellier, also an attorney out of Miami, the husband said on camera -- and I saw this seconds ago -- he came home at

5:30, 5:45. She said she had to run errands. He said, "Before I knew it - - I was watching the kids -- it was 9:30. Then I started to wonder where is she? I called her. Couldn`t get to her. I called her friends." And I

don`t even know if he mentioned calling her, but he said he called her friends. Nobody had seen her. And then he said he started to panic around

9:30-ish and call the cops in relatively short order.

What`s interesting is they didn`t start looking for her until the next morning, according to reports.

BRIANNE DESELLIER, ATTORNEY: You know, that is interesting. I saw that, and it was very puzzling. And I think that four hours in the scheme of

things, you don`t go into immediate panic mode. So I think that that`s probably pretty normal in terms of the husband.

And kind of one thing I think might be worth going back on, this bankruptcy that was in 2011, you know, I don`t think that it`s irrelevant. I don`t

think that it`s something that we should totally disregard. But, you know, when you considered the fact that several years have elapsed since then, I

think it would be a little attenuated for us to kind of assume that, you know, the bankruptcies in any way are necessarily related to the

disappearance, at least not with...

ZIMMERMANN: Chapter 7, when you file Chapter 7, that stays on your record for ten years when you file Chapter 7 as an individual. That could be

great stress on the family, in addition to the credit scores.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And she`s a stay-at-home mom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... don`t suggest anything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But Chapter -- Chapter 7 is different from Chapter 13. My understanding is Chapter 7 is when you have less money and it`s an entire

liquidation of everything. It`s not like where you make an agreement to pay things off like Chapter 13, right?

ZIMMERMANN: Yes, you liquidate...

DESELLIER: Exactly. It`s like a financial reset button.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. A financial reset button.

Now, on the other side of the break, we hope to go to the news conference. I`m also going to tell you something that just came in about what was

happening with this woman in the three days leading up to her disappearance and is it a factor?

Stay right there. We`ll be right back. And we`re taking your calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s not coming home because she can`t come home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both men say they didn`t notice anything out of the ordinary leading up to her disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re hoping for the best but fearing the worst.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family finding comfort in the dozens volunteering to search.

HUSTON: It`s helping me to stay positive, which I think I need to do right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Desperate for information, hoping for the best.

HUSTON: She`s an excellent mom, a stay-at-home mother, is totally devoted to her kids. This is very uncharacter-like of her. She would never do

this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. This beautiful mother of two young boys vanished into thin air. Her SUV has vanished into thin air. Her family is

absolutely a wreck, an emotional wreck, is how they`re describing themselves. You just heard seconds ago from her husband who says, "I don`t

even know what to tell my two little boys." And he`s decided to tell them, Mommy is on vacation. Let`s hope that Mommy comes back OK.

Straight out to the phone lines. Margie, Pennsylvania, we`re waiting for a news conference to begin any moment. What do you have to say? Margie,

Pennsylvania.

CALLER: Hi, Jane. When he was on the camera, I was just watching his expressions. And it seems like he looked in the camera, and he was going

on about Jennifer. And he said, "Jennifer, we need you home. The boys miss you."

To me, you`re just going to say -- you know, it just goes with it. And I miss you and I love you. And I think we`re going to find out in the end

that he`s going to be involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you know, it`s so easy, Captain Bolek, to take a look at a devastated husband and say, "I don`t like how he looked down here

and I don`t like" -- tell us, sir, as we get ready for this news conference to start. You`re with the same Newburg-Dundee Police Department, is my

understanding, as is going to hold the news conference. I understand that this husband is cooperating fully and is helping you. Have you checked,

for example, all of his cell phone, e-mail communication and checked his alibi, et cetera, et cetera?

CAPTAIN CHRIS BOLEK, NEWBURG-DUNDEE POLICE DEPARTMENT (via phone): Hi, yes, he is cooperating fully. And we are actively checking all leads and

all potential leads and any tips that we`re receiving, as well. So that`s probably my best answer for that, yes. But every option at this point is

being considered.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Have you searched in the nearest big city -- you`re essentially -- and we`re going to actually -- the news conference is just

about to start, Captain. So we`re going to jump off and go right to this news conference. Let`s listen in. You can see the gentleman in the hat, I

believe, is the husband. Let`s listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... in terms of the special investigations unit. The family and I would like to give a briefing on what we know so far.

On July 25, 2014, about 5 a.m., Jennifer was reported as missing. She left the residence about 5:45 in Dundee. The home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was spotted at a local bank with very good video. That was at -- just before 6 p.m., withdrawing money, very good -- very

good video. We have not released that yet. We just got that this morning.

Then she was seen on video, which most of you have, at 5:40 -- excuse me, about 6:10, 6:09, somewhere in there, getting fuel in the family vehicle.

That is a 1999 Lexus SUV, license plate WXH-011. And as many of you know, about 6:20 or 6:25, her cell phone was turned off. Special investigations

unit picked this up Friday. Obviously, you know the things that we`ve talked about, banking institutions, cell phones, things like that,

companies not working. However, detectives were on it from the very beginning.

Detectives worked all day Saturday and Sunday to establish time lines, talk to family and just get to know Jennifer and her habits.

Many tips have come in, and we`ve been able to follow up on quite a few of them. And I think the family`s getting inundated also with good

intentions. However, starting to get overwhelming. So we`d like to divert all of those to the police department. You can contact myself or e-mail my

phone, 503-537-1246. And we`ll try to alleviate some of the pressure. They`d like to just be a family and work on caring for each other.

Ms. Huston`s husband, Kallen, has been on the news, forthcoming with information, has done everything we`ve asked, been in contact with

detectives, been interviewed. One of his kids have been interviewed. The oldest, the 6-year-old.

And again, any tips or leads should probably be funneled to the police department. I think a few of the family members would like to say a few

things. With that, I`ll step back and let them -- let them talk.

HUSTON: I`d like to say first of all -- first of all, thank you for all the support that we`ve received from the community. We have amazing

neighbors and friends and people that I don`t even know helping.

We`ve exercised every option that we can think of as of right now. We`ve had tons of volunteers spreading the flier -- could I get a flier from

somebody, pleas? You`ve probably all seen this flier. It`s "Have You Seen Me?" We`ve posted it everywhere. It`s got a picture, clear picture of my

wife, Jennifer, a picture of the car. We`ve put this information up on a Facebook page titled "Find Jennifer Huston." We`ve recently -- we`re

putting together a fund for a reward upon her safe return.

I ask that anybody helping us, regardless of what area that they`re in, that they look off to the left and off to the side of the highways. Her

car is very large, and it would -- it would wipe out any shrubs or potential small trees. I have the feeling maybe she`s in a ditch

somewhere.

Also, I would ask that people maybe just look behind buildings, look in somebody`s backyard for her car. That is the last known car she was

driving.

And I`d like to also stress that this is totally unlike her. This -- she`s a devoted mother. She`s -- she`s just a very good person. And for her to

do something like this is completely out of the norm. All of her friends would agree. And I appreciate the support. Any lead that we can get,

whether big or small, we ask that they call the police department, specifically Newberg. But any police department, I guess, for that matter.

We`ll follow up on every lead. And I`ve got a lot of confidence in the detectives and the police force here. That`s all I have to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You mentioned that she withdrew money from the ATM on Thursday evening, an unusually high amount of money...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all. It was a small amount.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything that would lead you guys to believe there is foul play involved?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not right now. Right now it`s a missing person`s investigation. With obviously with her leaving and not contacting anybody

is suspicious in that regard. But we`re keeping all of our options open certainly. But we don`t have anything to suggest foul play.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she contact anybody at the gas station...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, the gas attendant was brand-new, first day. So didn`t really recall a whole lot.

I can tell you, detectives have viewed the video, which is much better quality from the bank, the credit union. And it`s very clear. There is

nobody else in the car but her. That`s ten minutes before she went to the gas station.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In regard to the cell phone being turned off, have you been able to find the last ping?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still working on that. Unfortunately, Monday, we have to deal with subpoenas and things like that to get that information.

It`s not as easy as just calling them up and having them give it to you. We`ve got to obtain subpoenas. And we`re working on that process right

now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t know if this is a question for your or Kallen, but would there be any reason that she doesn`t want to get away to clear

her head? Were there any, you know, tough times between a husband and wife that happen quite often? Any reason she`d want to get away for a while?

HUSTON: I don`t think any more or any less than any other mom that`s got a full schedule. I truly believe we`ve got a good, solid relationship.

And once again, this is completely out of character for her. Maybe to go have coffee with a girlfriend for an hour. But to be gone like this is

just nothing she`s ever done. And we`re about to celebrate our ten-year wedding anniversary. And we`ve been together for 17 years. So this is

like nothing she`s ever done before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she have any health issues at any time?

HUSTON: No, none whatsoever. Quite honestly. Except that she had complained about headaches for three straight days, which were not

debilitating or they didn`t keep her in bed. But she and I both thought it was a little odd that you would have a headache for three days. By the

fourth day, we just got sidetracked, you know, kids, life, and now she`s missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was she on any sort of medication because of these headaches?

HUSTON: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, you have two sons. I mean, how are they doing, how are you explaining this, that their mom is now missing for

several days?

HUSTON: It`s been difficult. It`s been difficult.

I think that`s all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any other question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you able to tell at the gas station if she was by herself...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you ten minutes before that -- you can`t see in the vehicle. But you can see through the windows. I have nothing that

says there was anybody else in the car. We talked to the gas attendant. There wasn`t anybody else that he can remember.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talk about the alert system. Is this nationwide or police stations all across the country are looking...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we put out a flier regionally. And then also -- as you guys know, she`s entered as a missing person, missing and

endangered. So anybody that runs the plate, or anybody that runs a plate, anybody that comes across her, there will be an automatic pop-up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she left the house, can you describe her demeanor, her conversation with you, what she said if anything and her plans?

HUSTON: She was just running errands. It was nothing that was really out of the norm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the headache intermittent or consistent (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

HUSTON: It was kind of more of a consistent -- something that she complained about. But it wasn`t -- it wasn`t so alarming that it was

something that we would have gone to the doctor for. But now I think about it and for anybody to have a headache for three days is probably -- it`s

not normal. Certainly, it wasn`t normal for her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was she still experiencing that the last time you saw her?

HUSTON: No, Thursday morning -- or Thursday when I got home, there was no discussion of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she`s from the Washington area. Did she have contacts in any other states where you`re reaching out to, thinking she may

have gone to other areas, outside of Oregon?

HUSTON: Yes, she`s got friends -- we have friends in Japan. We have friends in Malaysia. We have friends in Texas. We have friends

everywhere. And we`ve reached out to everybody that we know that knows her to see if there`s some avenue there. But it`s led to nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At what point did you start to worry and realize that she wasn`t coming home?

HUSTON: I was taking care of the boys. So I got sidetracked. You know, bath time, reading time, et cetera. It was probably about 9, 9:30 before I

kind of started to become alarmed. It was after I was starting to put the boys down to bed. I think that`s all I`d like to say for today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The phone was turned off...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. It`s no longer sending signals. That would have been a more accurate statement. It`s no longer active.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Captain, what are your teams doing? Are they searching any rural areas -- what are you doing locally?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re following up on leads as far as -- obviously trying to get subpoenas for cell phone records, bank records, any kind of

video that could give us a direction, anything like that. We feel like the family is blanketed. You guys have helped with press and blanketed her

fliers and photos. I`m not sure that anybody doesn`t know about her missing. So we`re really relying on the public. We`re following up all

the leads that we can. Anything that comes in, I`ve been offered help from other agencies. Right now, we`re doing fine. But we won`t hesitate if we

get -- if we get swamped or too busy, we`ll definitely call on our other law enforcement partners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any area where you`re focusing on? What are you expecting (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at this time. We don`t have anything to suggest that we need to be concentrating overseas or necessarily in an extended,

you know, part. We don`t have anything that says we shouldn`t either. We`re investigating the leads that we -- that are coming in and that we can

possibly answer or prove or disprove.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, as I said earlier, we`re -- our focus right now is getting through the financial institutions, cell phone, video, that sort

of stuff. As you know, Portland Road in Newberg is quite large. So we`ve contacted several of the businesses not to mention some other camera that

is we know of based on our routine days for patrol, we have a pretty good idea of who has good cameras, who doesn`t have very good cameras and things

like that. So we`re reaching out to those businesses to hopefully gain as much information as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you remind folks what again she was wearing when she was last seen and what belongings she had with her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know about the belongings she had with her. She was wearing black and pink Nikes with yoga pants and I believe it was a

black tank top and then a lighter-colored -- like a sweatshirt --

KALLEN HUSTON, HUSBAND OF JENNIFER HUSTON: I actually believe that to be a black -- lightweight black-colored jogging sweatshirt --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black yoga pants and then, of course, the black and pink Nikes

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it a zip-up or --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A zip-up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Captain, they have more than 18,000 likes on the Facebook page they started. You think that grassroots campaign -- so many

people helping your search --

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: All right. A news conference under way right now; right now in Oregon authorities along with the missing woman`s

husband, as well as other family members saying essentially she went to the bank before going to the gas station where she was last seen. Also saying

she had headaches for three straight days leading up to her disappearance but they were not debilitating.

We`re going to take a short break and when we come back, we`re going to analyze what you just heard, what does it mean? Stay right there.

Our expert panel just absolutely itching to weigh in right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSTON: This is completely out of character for her, maybe to go have coffee with a girlfriend for an hour. But to be gone like this is just

nothing she`s ever done. And we`re about to celebrate our ten-year wedding anniversary and we`ve been together -- we`ve been together for 17 years.

So this is like nothing she`s ever done before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: News conference that just ended moments ago in Dundee, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. This woman missing, the man you just heard

from, her husband. And seconds ago during the commercial break this woman`s parents, mother and father, came up and hugged the husband and

essentially a very symbolic show of support.

The main things we learned in that news conference before she was last spotted at the gas station she had gone to the bank and withdrawn a very

small amount of money. Is that significant? There she is -- the last image of her in her SUV at this gas station.

And also that the gas station attendant who pumped her gas -- it was his first day at the job. He didn`t remember everything that he might have

remembered had he been on the job for a while. For example, we don`t know or I didn`t hear which direction did she leave. Did she head toward home

when she left or did she head toward some other direction? I was itching to ask that question.

Let`s go out to Lisa Lockwood, investigator. What did you find significant in this news conference?

LOCKWOOD: The ambiguity of her running errands and him not knowing where she went, I find that very concerning. Also the fact that he said that,

yes, we`ve got our problems, no more or less than anybody else. So where did she go?

I mean granted, I was married, get upset, you leave the house, you`re not going to say where you`re going. He said there were some issues, no more

or less than anybody else. They`d been together for 17 years. The three days of headaches leading up to that means that, in my opinion, that she

was under some kind of stress.

So what was going on in their marriage when she left at that moment?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Gabe Crenshaw, psychologist, the three days of headaches I find significant, even though they weren`t debilitating, either it`s a wild

coincidence or perhaps she was under some kind of, as Lisa Lockwood stressed, depression, anxiety. What could it indicate?

GABE CRENSHAW, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I can tell you this, that struck me, too, Jane, and Lisa. Headaches are almost always biochemical as we call

them. However, there are psychological factors that can often contribute to headaches. And Lisa hit it on the head.

And what that usually is, is anger and emotional distress or psychosocial factors. Given what the husband had to say, I`m concerned, you know. The

stress level of whatever was happening that maybe led to these headaches could be an issue for her. Maybe, you know, she just couldn`t take it.

I do know that migraines -- usually women suffer with them. It`s more of female phenomena, as far as psychological medical factors are concerned.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me go to some of our Facebook comments because they`re interesting. Leila says, "The husband just said he has a feeling

she`s in a ditch." What? My understanding of that Kent Zimmermann is not like that. My understanding is he said, look off to the side of the road,

maybe her car -- maybe she had a debilitating headache and her car ended up in a ditch. What did you think was significant?

ZIMMERMANN: Yes, I had that theory myself. And I think that that`s plausible. It`s plausible that maybe she`s in a ditch somewhere. But I

don`t know if you all saw this. But in the press conference, he answered a lot of questions. He spoke very calmly. But the minute he was asked,

where were you and how long was it until you called -- and it wasn`t until 9:30 after bath time. I thought it was odd that she wasn`t home until

9:30. And I thought it was very odd that he didn`t want to answer any more questions. He said "That`s all I have to say today," after they were

asking him when he noticed she was gone.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, I don`t know --

CRENSHAW: You know, that`s very telling.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean Brianne Desellier, we can read in a whole lot to these things. I honestly think that the fact that he`s there front and

center is a good sign for him. I mean yes, it`s been done before. But I think he`s talking left and right -- and I don`t know. He comes across

pretty credible to me. But that`s just me.

(CROSSTALK)

DESELLIER: Yes, I agree with you. The ditch comment did -- I have to say that did ring a bell. I thought that was a little odd, almost like a

subliminal type of thing. But then I kind of had to take a step back because I think sometimes you can say things meaning one thing under

pressure but it comes out another way.

So I think we need to be cautious in terms of how we interpret what he`s saying because we have to remember he`s under a lot of stress right now.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And remember, she was last seen here at the gas station, not at the home. I think the key question is, what are the surveillance

videos -- they`re getting subpoenas and collecting from around town -- will show? Will they show that she did head back home? Will they show she

arrived back home or will they show she headed somewhere else and was perhaps abducted, God forbid? But that`s obviously a very real

possibility.

Stay right there. Your calls and Facebook comments exploding -- we`ll take them on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUSTON: Trying to keep things as normal as possible for his two young sons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, mommy is on vacation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my friend`s wife. She`s been missing since the 24th.

HUSTON: Jennifer, I love you very much. Our boys miss you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the husband of the missing woman who spoke moments ago at a news conference in Oregon, a suburb of Portland, a little town

called Dundee. Terrified -- they don`t know what`s happened to this very popular, this beloved wife, stay-at-home mother of two young boys. She was

potty-training the two-year-old.

And authorities say they talked to the oldest one -- the six-year-old. And they`ve also interviewed the dad who was at the news conference. And at

this point, we really are trying to just put together these clues.

The attendant who pumped her gas at that gas station, the last time she was seen before she vanished, it was his first day on the job. So

unfortunately he didn`t pick up as much as he might have had he been doing this for a while.

We have a member of law enforcement back on the line with us. I believe it`s Captain Bolek. Thank you for joining us again, sir. One question I

wanted to ask, which I didn`t get a chance to because I couldn`t communicate with the news conference, is which way did she head when she

left the gas station? Is there an indication that she headed back toward her home four miles away where her husband and their two children were

waiting? Or did she veer off in another direction as to continue her errands?

CAPT. CHRIS BOLEK, NEWBERG-DUNDEE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We were hoping to learn that as well. But from the positioning of the video, we just cannot

tell. Once she gets past one point in the video there`s no more available video in that area.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And let me ask you this question. And again, there are no suspects in this case. It`s being treated as a missing and endangered

person`s case. So you`re not officially calling it an abduction. But of course in these cases, one always begins with the people closest to them.

So let me ask this question, sir and it`s not to in any way shape or form imply anything. But it`s simply standard procedure. Have you given the

husband a polygraph?

BOLEK: You know, that`s an investigative thing I don`t think I want to give up just yet. But again, like I said a few moments ago, before you

went to the news conference, we are looking at everything.

And you`re right. We`re not calling it a criminal investigation right now. It`s still a missing person`s case. But our minds are open as to the

possibilities to the direction this case may go.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, I thought one of the interesting things is that this husband who we`re looking at right now had told us that she was suffering

headaches for the three days leading up to her disappearance. So apparently they weren`t debilitating but could they have become

debilitating?

My question is, that`s either a coincidence that is completely irrelevant or is it possible that it got too much for her and she bought something to

medicate and maybe that was something that knocked her out -- I don`t know. But are you going to like the local drugstores to find out whether she

picked something up?

BOLEK: I don`t know that we`ve gone to any local drugstores or not. No, I can`t say that we`ve done that. No. That`s the answer I have --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Let me ask you this, how about Portland? This is a suburb of Portland. You know, if she were, God forbid, abducted, she could

be in Portland or beyond. Are the Portland authorities looking around their neighborhood, their city?

BOLEK: Oh, yes. Like Capt. Kosmicki said a bulletin has been put out to our local area that goes throughout the state. Additionally, she, Miss

Huston, as well as her vehicle, has been entered into the state and national database as missing and endangered.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We will be back in just a second. Thank you Captain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are back with you life and this is the only place you could see on national TV right now. This surveillance footage just in from

the authorities -- these are the last images of the missing mom, Jennifer Huston, who vanished from a Portland, Oregon suburb after getting her gas

pumped in Oregon. The attendant must pump the gas. The attendant was new on the job and he didn`t notice much.

And they don`t know we just heard from the captain which direction she turned. Did she go back toward her home where she was expected or did she

go somewhere else?

Let`s go back to the phone lines. The very patient Tommy, Kentucky -- Tommy, Kentucky what are your thoughts?

TOMMY, KENTUCKY (via telephone): My thoughts are that he is veering off into a completely different direction. He`s the one who`s painting the

timeline now where he says ok, look off the side of the road. She has a headache. She`s had a headache for three days. She might have drugs in

her system. But he`s like defending himself already as if he`s standing in the courtroom.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this, Tommy, it`s so easy because there`s nobody else. If indeed, God forbid, she was abducted, that abductor isn`t

standing there and saying things so the mind just naturally focuses on the person there. But again he`s standing there with law enforcement. He`s

standing there with the parents of this missing woman, and they all hugged at the end of it.

Take a short break. We`re going to bring Lisa Lockwood in, one of America`s top investigators, on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And surveillance video just in of the last images of missing Jennifer Huston. Lisa Lockwood, investigator, you know, people say

what about the husband. Look, I don`t think it makes sense. He`s at home with the two kids, she`s in a car. She`s going to drive home and he`s

going to do whatever and dispose of the car and then come back and be with the kids? And remember cops interviewed the six-year-old so to me it

doesn`t add up.

LOCKWOOD: Right, very credible. How feasible is all of that. You`re exactly right. But in light of new information of her stopping at the

bank, now we`re looking at turning this into a completely different direction. Was she a victim of opportunity? Was somebody out at that bank

waiting for her, somebody to come out? I mean even though she took out a small amount nobody knows how much she took out at the ATM and did they

follow her to the gas station and wait for the opportunity for her to get on the road in a rural area to go ahead and go forward with an abduction?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think you make a lot of sense and I hope -- I hope it`s not true. I hope she just turns up. Our thoughts are with this family.

Nancy next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END