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Nancy Grace
Abducted 4-Year-Old and Kidnapper Not Found in Car Pulled From Canal; Baltimore Police Continue Search for Missing 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes
Aired January 28, 2011 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Vanished into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need to find her.
GRACE: So many cases.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still looking.
GRACE: So few leads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.
GRACE: Missing person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our duty to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The witness seen the suspect on "NANCY GRACE."
GRACE: There is a God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "NANCY GRACE" show was out there for us.
GRACE: Found alive, 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights. Let`s don`t give up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is so compassionate. She is so loving. Everybody takes to her. She`s just a wonderful person to know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a beautiful straight-A student making the honor roll at Union Academy in Monroe, North Carolina. Set to graduate early, she`d already been accepted to multiple colleges, but her family may never get the chance to see her walk across the stage in her cap and gown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep her in the palm of your hand right now. Keep her safe. We all have faith that you`re going to bring her home real soon, Lord.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixteen-year-old Phylicia Barnes spent the holiday with extended family in Baltimore, Maryland. December 28th, she tells a former roommate moving out of her sister`s apartment she plans to get a bite to eat after taking a nap on the couch. When Phylicia`s sister returns home that evening, Phylicia`s coat and purse are gone. Her cell phone goes straight to voicemail. With no contact from Phylicia, police are called and a search ensues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide is double crossing the T`s and dotting the I`s from the investigation. We`re going over every single shred of evidence that we already have. We`re re-interviewing everybody that`s already been interviewed just to make sure that we didn`t miss anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That search leads to other apartments, homes, vehicles, and even the draining of a well, but no sign of the honor roll student.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found out that there was a listing of 20 different guys going in and out. She wasn`t allowed to have a boyfriend. She didn`t have men -- we didn`t have men coming in and out of our environment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of the 20 people Phylicia last had contact with over the 24 to 48 hours before her disappearance, police narrow in on 12.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to ask everybody out there to treat Phylicia Simone (ph) Barnes as if she were your daughter or loved one.
GRACE: ... people go missing in America, disappear, vanish, their families left waiting, wondering, hoping, but never forgetting. And neither have we -- 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights. We go live, spotlighting America`s missing children, boys, girls, mothers, fathers, grandparents. They`re gone, but where?
Tonight, beautiful brown eyes, shoulder-length hair, gorgeous smile, the world in front of her, a 16-year-old beauty, straight-A honor student, visiting her sister over Christmas break, Maryland. She vanishes. Police say the last person to see her alive, her half sister`s ex-boyfriend. The search leads investigators to a local dumpster. As her 17th birthday comes and goes, tonight, where is missing girl Phylicia Barnes?
Let`s go straight out to Jean Casarez. What`s the latest, Jean?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: Nancy, there are developments with Phylicia Barnes. We have got information to tell you. We need to find her.
But we have got breaking news out of California right now. The car of Jose Rodriguez, last seen with Juliani Cardenas, has been retrieved out of that river. We can tell you bodies are not in that car. Jose Rodriguez, Juliani Cardenas -- they are not in that vehicle.
I want to go out to Ellie Jostad, "NANCY GRACE" producer. This breaking news, this car just came out of the canal. You have just gotten information. What can you tell us?
ELLIE JOSTAD, "NANCY GRACE" PRODUCER: Right. We`ve just learned from the scene, as you said, no people inside that car. However, police tell us they do believe it`s possible they could still be in that canal. They plan to come back out tomorrow and do a more thorough search. They told us that the car was very badly damaged. They have no information that it`s possible that Jose Rodriguez could have fled the scene. They say they don`t believe that he has the infrastructure or the money to pull off an abduction where he could flee the scene and stay underground this long. So they do plan to keep searching that canal. But as you said, the car is out. There is no one inside that car.
CASAREZ: And this was just moments ago, that car -- we watched as that car came out of that canal. Dusk has fallen in California, but it was obvious that was a silver car.
JOSTAD: Right.
CASAREZ: To Debra Mark, anchor, Talkradio 790 KABC news talk radio. What more can you tell us?
DEBRA MARK, TALKRADIO 790 KABC: Well, apparently, two windows in that car were open. They say at least two windows were open. So again, officials are telling us that the bodies could be somewhere in the canal, and they are going to be coming back tomorrow to see what they can find.
CASAREZ: To Bill Majeski, former NYPD detective, joining us out of New York. All right, what do divers do now? Because if this car was badly damaged, if bodies are not in that car, that gives a ray of hope right there.
BILL MAJESKI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: That`s correct.
CASAREZ: But how do you search an entire canal for two bodies?
MAJESKI: Systematically. I mean, they have done searches of that size before. It`s just a question of going down and doing a very -- probably something in the line of a grid search that would take place on land. And that is that they would graphically map out specific areas of the water and make sure that each section is investigated and viewed continuously.
They may do it with cameras. They`ll probably do it with divers going down there. And it`s something that has been done in the past. I`m sure they`ll be finding a lot of other debris down there. It`s probably murky waters, so it`s going to probably be...
CASAREZ: It is very murky, and it is very, very cold. I want to go out to, exclusively with us tonight, Tabitha Cardenas, the mother of little Juliani. I know you have heard the news. No one was found in that car. Your little boy was not in that car. How do you feel?
TABITHA CARDENAS, MOTHER: I`m so thankful. I just thank God, you know, that my son wasn`t in there.
CASAREZ: What message do you want to give to law enforcement now? What do you want law enforcement to do next?
CARDENAS: Well, of course, since the windows were down, they have to keep searching the canal to see if any -- they are going to find any bodies. But I mean, also, you know, they shouldn`t take their efforts off the land, you know, because he could be -- somebody could have helped him, you know? I mean, I know he didn`t have the money to pull this off, but if somebody was helping him, you know, you never know.
CASAREZ: Right. When police say that they don`t think he`d have the money to pull this off, you know, I guess I understand what they`re saying because his credit card, debit card hasn`t been used. He lost his job. But did he have friends that could help him out?
CARDENAS: Yes, probably. I don`t really know his friends, but I`m sure he could have found somebody because to me, all this seemed really premeditated.
CASAREZ: Yes, from the point of having the car doors open in your driveway to take Juliani from your mother, his grandma.
I want to go to Lakisha in Indiana. Hi, Lakisha.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How you doing, Jean, tonight?
CASAREZ: Thank you. I`m fine. Thank you for calling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Unfortunately, I can`t see nothing that`s going on. My daughter, she turned the remote on the TV, and I got a brand- new TV and I don`t know how to work it and...
CASAREZ: Well, Lakisha, we will tell you. We will be our eyes and ears. There has been a recovery operation. It just came down minutes ago. We saw and watched a silver car -- you`re looking at it right there -- come out of the water. And as you see, investigators are around that car. They have determined the body of Juliani and Jose Rodriguez is not in that vehicle. It is not. They pulled that vehicle, that silver Toyota Corolla, out of 50 feet of water.
I want to go to Pat Brown, criminal profiler. What does law enforcement do next? Do they just keep searching that canal, or do they not forget the land, as Tabitha has said?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, I think Tabitha is correct. You always want to keep your options open because if the child is out there someplace, you want to go found him. But they`re going to do that grid search very, very hard. And there is one other possibility which could have happened is that when he went into the canal, he could have the child strapped into the seat, but not himself. It`s possible he could have escaped the vehicle. Or the child -- if he would be in the vehicle, actually, if the child were strapped down, but it`s much more likely that he could escape the vehicle and swim away but not the child. So theoretically, he could be out there some place. But we don`t know yet until they search and see if they find any bodies at all in there.
CASAREZ: That`s a really good point, Pat Brown. I want to go back to Tabitha, joining us tonight exclusively, the mother of Juliani. Did that vehicle have seatbelts?
CARDENAS: Yes, but from what I heard, because Jose took off so fast, so he didn`t have time to buckle him in. And I don`t think -- that was probably the last thing on his mind, to buckle him in.
CASAREZ: OK. So he was not someone that would go the extra mile and put the seatbelt on, even if he`s kidnapping the child.
CARDENAS: No.
CASAREZ: All right. I want to go to Regina...
CARDENAS: Yes. That`s correct.
CASAREZ: ... with us tonight. Regina, you`re in Indiana? Is that right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CASAREZ: Hi, Regina. Thanks for calling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello?
CASAREZ: Yes, Regina? Your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I first want to say that my prayers go out to this mother and the family, and it just breaks my heart to see this precious little boy and think that something could happen to him. And my question is, were the mother and this guy on the outs? And could he have taken this boy with him as a part of revenge? I mean, I`m trying to figure out, you know, why -- if he wanted to kill himself, why he didn`t just kill himself. Why did he include this little boy in whatever he was doing?
CASAREZ: You know, Regina, we have heard Tabitha say that -- Tabitha Cardenas joining us tonight, the mother of Juliani. You had broken up with Jose. When did you break up with him?
CARDENAS: It was over six months ago.
CASAREZ: But you still spoke with each other. You`re nine months pregnant with his child, so you still had a type of relationship, right?
CARDENAS: We were -- I mean, I was just there for Jose, you know, if he needed money, if he needed a ride. You know, I was just there to help him. But that`s all that our relationship was.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixteen-year-old Phylicia Barnes was just getting to know her father`s side of the family, and on Christmas break, she set out for Maryland to bunk with her new relatives.
JANICE SALLIS, PHYLICIA`S MOTHER: It took a lot for me to let her come here in the first place because I`m strict and I need to know where she`s at at all times. And to send her here and she comes up missing -- oh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On December 28th, Phylicia`s older half-sister, says the teen left her apartment to go shopping, get something to eat and a haircut. This was at 2:30 PM, but then Phylicia never came back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been no contact from Ms. Barnes thus far, no phone calls, no contact to her family. It is very unlike her to not update her FaceBook page.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators suspect foul play. A south Baltimore well and the dumpster as the sister`s complex have been searched, but investigators did not find any sign of Phylicia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez. Phylicia Barnes was a high school senior, honor student, 4.0 graduate. And just this Christmas, she goes to her half-sister`s house to get to know her even better, to spend the holidays, to talk about girl things, to think about college because she was applying to go for next year. And all of a sudden, she`s gone. Absolutely gone.
I want to go to Natisha Lance, "NANCY GRACE" producer. Natisha, start from the beginning because it was right after Christmas when this happened.
NATISHA LANCE, "NANCY GRACE" PRODUCER: Right after Christmas, December 28th, Jean. Phylicia is at her half-sister`s home. The half- sister leaves for work, and Phylicia is there at the home. Apparently, there was an ex-boyfriend who was moving some things out of the home at the time. He was at the house washing clothes, according to the half-sister.
Now, at about 1:30 PM is when -- is the last time the ex-boyfriend says that he sees Phylicia. She`s on the couch. She`s falling asleep. He asked her, What are you planning to do for the day? She says, I`m going to go down to the store, get something to eat and then come back. Now, according to the half-sister, though, there was another sister who was supposed to be picking up Phylicia to go run around and do some things and spend some time together. But after that 1:30 PM point, Jean, is the last time anyone saw Phylicia and the last time anybody heard from her.
CASAREZ: To David Lohr, crime reporter, AOLNews.com. Here`s where I`m totally confused. It makes no sense to me. She was talking about getting something to eat. She was talking about getting her hair done and many different things. And she just takes a nap on the couch?
DAVID LOHR, AOLNEWS.COM: Well, that`s what the ex-boyfriend said. She was going to sleep around 1:30. She was going to get something to eat after that. Whatever happened to her, you know, after she woke up remains a mystery. We don`t know at this point. Now, he did say supposedly she was seen again around 5:10 by him, according to what the half-sister has said, but law enforcement hasn`t been able to verify that yet.
CASAREZ: All right, joining us tonight is Major Terrence McLarney. He is the commander of the homicide division of Baltimore police. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.
MAJ. TERRENCE MCLARNEY, BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Thank you.
CASAREZ: We want to help you in any way we can to find this beautiful high school senior. And may we say, everybody, the reward is now $35,000 to find her. Her own high school, Union Academy in North Carolina, donated today $25,000.
Major, would you say that the timeline in this case has provided the most challenge for you?
MCLARNEY: Yes. The timeline has been a challenge. We are using 1:30 PM on December 28th as the last time that we reliably -- can reliably believe that Phylicia was seen.
CASAREZ: And why do you say 1:30?
MCLARNEY: We are -- the timeframe is probably 12:30 to 1:30. We`re using 1:30 to err on the side of caution. And we don`t want to -- I don`t want to go into great detail, but we are using 1:30 PM.
CASAREZ: How many persons of interest would you say you have right now?
MCLARNEY: We -- first we have to define person of interest. And in this case, it`s anyone who was associated with Phylicia, with the apartment or with persons who were associated with Phylicia. And it is approximately a dozen people.
CASAREZ: The ex-boyfriend of Phylicia`s half-sister is the last person we believe to have seen her. Do you agree with that?
MCLARNEY: Yes.
CASAREZ: Has he gotten a lawyer?
MCLARNEY: He has reached out to the legal community, yes.
CASAREZ: Have you taken any polygraphs in this case at all, to this point?
MCLARNEY: We don`t want to get into our use of the polygraph at this time.
CASAREZ: All right. Where would you say you`re at in the investigation right now? Have you tested or are you testing anything forensically? Because I know you`ve executed a number of searches on vehicles and homes of people that were in that apartment during that time.
MCLARNEY: We`ve completed our forensic work in the apartment, and we basically have no physical evidence from that location. As you said, we`ve done search and seizure warrants in other locations and in the handful of vehicles. And that is sort of yet to be completely worked out, what we may or may not have there. We`re working the investigation in two directions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as foul play, we can`t rule that out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baltimore police and the FBI continue to search for missing 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes. Phylicia was last seen December 28th in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was visiting her half-sister for the holidays.
CASAREZ: What do we know about her as a person?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s a country girl that I protected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every hour that passes, we get more and more concerned. We want Phylicia`s picture on every television screen across the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: You know, there are just some people that you meet in life or you see the picture of and you say, That person`s special. Phylicia Barnes is one of those people -- 16 years old -- she actually just turned 17, honor student, 4.0, applying for college right now. You know what she wanted to be? A psychiatrist, a doctor, an M.D. She went to go visit her half-sister over Christmas, and she was gone, absolutely vanished from the face of the earth.
Joining us tonight is her father, coming to us from Baltimore, Maryland, Russell Barnes. Thank you so much for joining us. I know you live in Atlanta. I know you are in Baltimore to help aid in this search for your daughter as ever you can. What do you think happened?
RUSSELL BARNES, PHYLICIA`S FATHER (via telephone): It`s just a mystery to us because we know that Phylicia didn`t know anyone in Baltimore but the family. Pretty much, they consisted of her siblings and the ex- boyfriend and his family. She only just communicated with them. It`s just ironic that -- just a twist that she would not go anywhere or do anything without letting her sister, Dina (ph), know.
CASAREZ: When you went to Baltimore, did you, have you spoken with this ex-boyfriend of your daughter`s that is the last person to have seen Phylicia?
BARNES: Yes. When I arrived in Baltimore, my family was hysterical. I had a lot of family members that came out of nowhere to just aid and assist with finding Phylicia. Pretty much, Dina didn`t know how much family that she had, the Barnes family that she had up in Baltimore. So people came to assist.
And that morning, when I woke up and Dina was there and the ex- boyfriend was there, I confronted all of them and I said to them, Look, I need to know who has in this home, who has any ties with Phylicia. I said to Dina, You`re a suspect. Mike (ph), you`re a suspect. Everyone`s a suspect. So the cousin had lived there. He says that -- I told him that he was a suspect, as well. So I made them write down a list of people that came through the house, those family members, cousins, with my daughter...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Vanished into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just need to find her.
GRACE: So many cases.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still looking.
GRACE: So few leads.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.
GRACE: Missing person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s our duty to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The witness seen the suspect on Nancy Grace.
GRACE: There is a God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nancy Grace show was out there for us.
GRACE: Found. Alive. 50 people, 50 days, 50 nights. Let`s don`t give up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is so compassionate. She is so loving. Everybody takes to her. She`s just a wonderful person to know.
GRACE (voice-over): She was a beautiful straight-A student making the honor roll at Union Academy in Monroe, North Carolina. Set to graduate early, she`d already been accepted to multiple colleges, but her family may never get the chance to see her walk across the stage in her cap and gown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep her in the palm of your hand right now. Keep her safe. We all have faith that you`re going to bring her home real soon, Lord.
GRACE: Sixteen-year-old Phylicia Barnes spent the holiday with extended family in Baltimore, Maryland. December 28th, she tells a former roommate moving out of her sister`s apartment, she plans to get a bite to eat after taking a nap on the couch. When Phylicia`s sister returns home that evening, Phylicia`s coat and purse are gone. Her cell phone goes straight to voicemail. With no contact from Phylicia, police are called and a search ensues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide is double crossing the T`s and dotting the I`s from the investigation. We`re going over every single shred of evidence that we already have or re-interviewing everybody that`s already been interviewed just to make sure that we didn`t miss anything.
GRACE: That search leads to other apartments, homes, vehicles, and even the draining of a well, but no sign of the honor roll student.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found out that there was a listing of 20 different guys going in and out. She wasn`t allowed to have a boyfriend. She didn`t have men -- we didn`t have men coming in and out of our environment.
GRACE: Of the 20 people, Phylicia last had contact with over the 24 to 48 hours before her disappearance, police narrow in on 12.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to ask everybody out there to treat Phylicia Samone Barnes as if she were your daughter or loved one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE (on-camera): Every day, 2,300 people go missing in America, disappear, vanish. Their families left waiting, wondering, hoping, but never forgetting. And neither have we. Fifty people, 50 days, 50 nights, we go live spotlighting America`s missing children, boys, girls, mothers, fathers, grandparents. They`re gone, but where?
Tonight, beautiful brown eyes, shoulder length hair, gorgeous smile, the world in front of her. A 16-year-old beauty, straight-A honor student visiting her sister over Christmas break, Maryland. She vanishes. Police say the last person to see her alive, her half sister`s ex-boyfriend. The search leads investigators to a local dumpster. As her 17th birthday comes and goes, tonight, where is missing girl Phylicia Barnes? Let`s go straight out to Jean Casarez. What`s the latest, Jean?
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Nancy, the latest is that it has been just about a month that Phylicia Barnes has been missing. And this investigation is in high gear with local authorities, state authorities along with the FBI. But the latest information we have is that ex-boyfriend, the last person to see Phylicia alive, he has now retained an attorney.
I want to go out to Natisha Lance, producer for Nancy Grace. We`re getting more information of what have may happened that morning that Phylicia went missing. I always like to look at state of mind, and you have gotten some information that the sister, half sister of Phylicia may have gotten a correspondence from this ex-boyfriend that morning, right?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Jean. Actually, we received a timeline from the half sister. Let`s take a look at that timeline. She says between 10 o`clock 11 o`clock, she received a text from the ex-boyfriend. They have been broken up for some time, asking about getting back together. Now, at 11:09, she speaks to Phylicia over the phone. She asks Phylicia what`s going on. Phylicia informs her that the ex-boyfriend is at the apartment washing clothes, but she also asks Phylicia to look on Facebook to see if she sees a photo of the ex-boyfriend with another woman.
Phylicia says that she looks on the Facebook page, and she does acknowledge by seeing this photo of the other woman. Now, important here, Jean, the last text message that is received or any communication from Phylicia is at 12:23 p.m. and that is with her half sister. After that time, the half sister tries to get in contact with the ex-boyfriend at 1:04. He texts her and says that his phone has died and that he is trying to find a charger for the phone, but Phylicia has fallen asleep on the couch.
However, we are now learning from police that the last confirmation that they have of anybody seeing Phylicia is at 1:30 p.m. Now, again, he contacted the sister at 1:04 p.m. saying that Phylicia was already asleep on the couch. 1:30 p.m., last time that she has seen, according to police.
CASAREZ: All right. To David Lohr, crime reporter, AOL.com joining us from Erie, Pennsylvania tonight. Take this timeline. Here`s what I want to know. When did the ex-boyfriend leave the apartment? Because he didn`t live there. He was there washing clothes or moving his stuff out. When did he leave?
DAVID LOHR, CRIME REPORTER: Well, that`s a good question, Jean. He seems to have gone back and forth out of that apartment several times. He was supposedly moving some of his belongings in and out. We have some people who have came to the apartment around 3:00, 3:30. They said they didn`t see anybody there. So you know, when exactly he was last there we don`t know at this point. He claims to be there around 5:00. The sister got home from work around 6:00. So, you know, the timeline`s still sketchy at this point.
CASAREZ: Russell Barnes, father of Phylicia Barnes joining us tonight from Baltimore, Maryland. Very quickly, when did that ex-boyfriend come back to the apartment? When did he leave?
VOICE OF RUSSELL BARNES, DAD OF MISSING TEEN STUDENT, PHYLICIA BARNES: Well, when I arrived in Baltimore, everyone was still there. My family was tired and exhausted, and a young gentleman told me that he left around 1:30, and he locked the door behind him. And then he told me personally, because my family was under (ph) investigation. And he told us all that he left Phylicia asleep on the couch, and he was also saying that he asked Phylicia what she was going to do, and Phylicia mumbled something like, well, I`m going to get up and get something to eat.
We know Phylicia is the person that would communicate with Dina if she would go anywhere. If she was getting anything to eat, she would have called and told Dina I`m getting something to eat or she would have said I`m on my way back. So, that timeline to us as a family, the Barnes family, just was not, it was just shaky with us.
CASAREZ: So, your gut is telling you that that is not the Phylicia that you know that would operate and behave in that way?
To tonight`s case alert, the search for a 12-year-old Texas girl. Alantria Jones has been missing since Monday from the Houston Area. Her mother believes the 12-year-old could be in danger. Her disappearance may be linked to a phone chat line. Now, take a look at this missing girl. Alantria, she`s 5`4", 178 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. If you have any information, please call the Houston police at 713-731-5223.
And also tonight, please help us find Norman Lewis. He is 64 years old, and he vanished on January 4th, 2011 from Horn Lake, Mississippi. He is 5`8", between 155 and 195 pounds with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes. If you have any information, please call, look at this man, look at this picture, call 662-429-1470.
If your loved one`s missing and you need help, go to CNN.com/nancygrace and send us your story. We want to help you find your loved ones.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Beautiful brown eyes, shoulder length hair, gorgeous smile, the world in front of her. A 16-year-old beauty, straight-A honor student, visiting her sister over Christmas break, Maryland. She vanishes. Police say the last person to see her alive, her half sister`s ex-boyfriend. The search leads investigators to a local dumpster. As her 17th birthday comes and goes, tonight, where is missing girl Phylicia Barnes?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE (voice-over): Just weeks ago on December 28th, Phylicia`s half sister says the teen vanished after leaving her apartment to do some shopping. And since then, there`s been no trace of the beautiful straight- A student.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are enormously concerned. This is unlike any missing person case that we`ve had. And we`ve shown every law enforcement resource, every tool, trinket, widget that we have in an effort to bring Phylicia home alive.
GRACE: Shocking details emerge right here on our show from Phylicia`s mother who says 20 different guys were in and out of the apartment during Phylicia`s visit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found out that there was a listing of 20 different guys going in and out. I found out through her sister when I approached her that since she`s been here, you`ve allowed her to drink alcohol, you`ve allowed her to smoke marijuana.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide is double crossing the T`s and dotting the I`s from the investigation, going over every single shred of evidence just to make sure that we didn`t miss anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez. This 16-year-old honor student vanished without a trace. And listen to this. They brought scent dogs to the apartment right after she this appeared. The scent dog did not find that she walked to the nearby food court or walked to a store. The scent dog showed that she left the property probably in a vehicle.
I want to go out to Major Terrance McLarney who`s joining us tonight from the Baltimore Police Department. He is the commander of homicide division. Forensically, and tell me if I`m correct here, you have not found anything that shows she was the victim of a violent crime?
MAJOR TERRENCE MCLARNEY, COMMANDER OF HOMICIDE DIVISION, BALTIMORE, PD: we have not.
CASAREZ: So, where does that take your investigation now?
MCLARNEY: We continue to work this as an abduction, but we are cognizant that in the worst-case scenario, we have foul play. So, we`re moving cautiously, making sure we don`t miss anything along those lines. But what we`d like to ask is for people to focus on the date of December 28th. It was a Tuesday. It`s the Tuesday following Christmas. And please focus on that afternoon and evening. Everyone, of course, is trying to help with spottings of Phylicia, but we would like people to look back to that Tuesday afternoon and evening.
CASAREZ: What can you say to someone that does know something? Because somebody knows something, and they`re too scared to come forward.
MCLARNEY: It`s time to come and tell us what you know. It`s time.
CASAREZ: All right. And they can just make that call.
MCLARNEY: Yes.
CASAREZ: All right. We got live calls tonight. We are taking your calls. Coco in Virginia. Hi, Coco.
COCO, VIRGINIA: Hey, how are you?
CASAREZ: I`m fine. Thank you for calling.
COCO: I`m just so miserable. I just want to say that to the family, I`m so, so disgusted with what happened here. I just -- my question is, I`m in Virginia, but I`m from New Jersey, from the city. I`m wondering, where are the cameras at? I know they had to have cameras around to see her leave somewhere if she walked off, past the stores. The stores have cameras.
CASAREZ: To Major Terrance McLarney, commander of the homicide division of Baltimore Police Department, I don`t believe there were any surveillance cameras at that apartment complex or at least operational, right?
MCLARNEY: What the apartment complex had were very specific to different work areas and not the parking lot area. We, of course, have looked at lots and lots of camera footage from nearby businesses, the cameras that the city of Baltimore does have on the major thoroughfares. We have looked at a lot of camera footage, and we do not see Phylicia.
CASAREZ: If someone wants to call in an anonymous tip and not give their name, you accept that, correct?
MCLARNEY: Certainly. Yes.
CASAREZ: All right. To Russell Barnes, father of Phylicia Barnes, who has gone to Baltimore, Maryland, to aid in this search. You know, Mr. Barnes, we do want to tell everybody, I know you helped put together $10,000 for reward and Union Academy, which is the high school of Phylicia. She is a senior this year. Today, they announced that their scholarship fund for this year is going to go to help find Phylicia. $25,000. So, that`s a total of $35,000 in reward money for the people that can help give the information of where your daughter is. Do you think she is alive?
BARNES: Yes, Jean. We are faith based. We believe in Christ, and we believe that she is still alive.
CASAREZ: Why? Why do you think she`s still alive?
BARNES: Because we are a strong individual. My family is strong. And we just do not want to give up on anything like this. And people are just outpouring. We want to thank everyone for their concerns and their care and thoughts and prayers. The Union Academy. And everyone who has donated to this reward fund. We just know that Phylicia`s still alive. Someone just has her, and we shook them up pretty much in the city.
Even when before the Baltimore City Police probably came onboard strong as they`ve been, and I commend them. But as a family, 400-base strong in the Baltimore and the East Coast area, we had to let people know that you took the wrong crystal child. A Barnes child. And our focus is finding Phylicia. And we believe we`re going to find her alive.
CASAREZ: To Kim in Ohio. Good evening, Kim.
KIM, OHIO: Good evening.
CASAREZ: Thank you for calling.
KIM: Thank you. I was wondering about the lie detector test. Is it possible he lawyered up because he failed that test?
CASAREZ: Well, let`s go to the lawyers. Christopher Amolsch, defense attorney joining us tonight out of Washington, D.C. and Meg Strickler, international law attorney joining us out of Atlanta. First, Christopher Amolsch, that`s interesting. You know, I asked Maj. Terrance McLarney with us tonight, head of the homicide division, if any polygraphs had been taken, and he did not want to compromise the investigation, would not tell us. What do you think? Do you think some were taken and deception was indicated or now that someone has lawyered up, they`re not going to do it?
CHRISTOPHER AMOLSCH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think anybody who`s lawyered up is smart. I think the Jonbenet Ramsey case has showed us that the best thing you can do is get a lawyer instead of talking to the police in these kinds of cases. As for the lie detector test, the reason they`re not valuable is because you can be telling the truth and fail them, not because you can lie and pass them. So, I wouldn`t put much talk either walk in a polygraph --
CASAREZ: But Meg Strickler, why do you have to get a lawyer? Why don`t you go out and pass the fliers to try to find her?
MEG STRICKLER, INTERNATIONAL LAW ATTORNEY: Oh, that`s a bad question to ask me. I`ve been in the criminal defense field way too long. I can get on my soapbox. Never talk to law enforcement without some help. And with respect to the polygraph, a lot of times here in Georgia, for example, GBI is very strained. They don`t have the funds. Their product is not as good as a private polygraph. And if he lawyered up, he should have taken a private polygraph.
CASAREZ: All right. Tonight, "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGE)
YUVAL ROTH, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: In Palestine, health care is very expensive. It`s not accessible. It`s a big difference between the life here and one minute away. My name is Yuval Roth. We transport sick Palestinian from their occupied territories into the Israeli hospitals.
If they should take a taxi, it will cost them a lot of money. They can`t afford it. My brother, Udi, he was murdered by Hamas leaders. That caused me to do something. Not in terms of revenge, but to look for a way for a reconciliation and peace. Right now, we are about 200 volunteers, and we transport from Israeli side of the checkpoint at least five days a week. It`s a very exciting moment when you see improvement.
It fills me with a lot of happiness. The price of the conflict is a lot more than the price of making peace. Regardless of political or religious, I think that we are all human beings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: These are the faces of America`s missing. Every 30 seconds, another child, a sister, a brother, a father, a mother disappears. Their families left behind wondering, waiting, hoping. We have not forgotten.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Helt was with friends when their car got stuck in the snow in the middle of the night in January of 1987. Joe went for help at a village five miles down the road. He was never seen again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All year long, there`s a lot of hikers up there and never anything found. Not one piece of one article of clothing, not a shoe, not anything. Joe was 17 years old at the time that he disappeared. A funny, outgoing, pretty happy, you know, normal teenage boy. He loved music. He was a really good artist. He loved to draw. He was, you know, he was a pretty good kid, too. He was more like a little brother to me than a nephew. I don`t believe that he just disappeared. I believe somebody knows what happened. We just want closure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CELINA MAYS was 12 years old and 9 months pregnant when she was last seen in 1996 as she went to bed at her aunt`s home. Her purse, prenatal vitamins, and other belongings were left behind. If you have any information, call 1-800-the-lost.
Eleven-year-old Mark Himebaugh vanished from his home in 1991 after he went to look at a fire in a nearby marsh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He saw smoke, so he went to look at it because he was a curious George like any 11-year-old would be. There were sightings. He was seen walking down to the park. It`s on the main street where the fire was. After the search, his sneaker was found on the Delaware Bay. He loved nature. He loved bugs. He would catch a bumblebee in the house, in a cup, and take it outside and let it go. He brought a possum home that he found on the side of the road one day and wanted us to bury it in the backyard.
Because Elizabeth Smart was found and because Jaycee Dugard was found, I have hope. I have a little tattoo of him on my heart, and it`s got his name. It`s a heart with his name over it. And that way, I can keep him forever in my heart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: I`m Nancy Grace. See you tomorrow night, 9 o`clock sharp eastern, and until then, we will be looking. Keep the faith, friend.
END
