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Nancy Grace
Missing Florida Teacher`s Ex-Husband Sought by Police
Aired August 31, 2011 - 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. Live, Florida, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a gorgeous middle school science teacher. Just before the new school year begins, Amy Patterson disappears, gone for weeks before she`s even reported missing.
Bombshell tonight. The case takes a bizarre twist when it`s reported Amy dies in a horrible car crash. But then, Amy`s Saturn SUV turns up nearly 800 miles away without a scratch. Where did cops get the bogus car crash story? Tonight, what happened to missing science teacher Amy Patterson?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 41-year-old Amy Patterson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A science teacher at Mariner Middle reported missing when she didn`t show up for work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her disappearance is very suspicious. This is very unlike her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say they want to talk to her ex-husband, Daniel Proctor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Proctor`s mother says her son drove from Florida to Alabama in Amy`s car without her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she didn`t show up with him, and he was in her car that she had, I think anybody would have been concerned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ex allegedly said Amy was in Texas, visiting her son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Told me this wonderful story, and he cried to me, how she went to go visit her son and was killed head-on in a car accident.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies say they`re very interested in talking to Proctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live, Fairfield. A beautiful young bride, a 22- year-old art student set to marry, disappears from her own condo midnight. Only clue, a mysterious text. Just in tonight, search teams uncover a shoe, a gold earring and a cell phone. But are they linked to missing bride-to-be Katelyn Markham?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katelyn, I miss you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw her at, like, 12:00 o`clock last night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No forced entry, no obvious foul play.
GRACE: Where`s 22-year-old bride?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing missing, her red cell phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fiancee is missing. I can`t find her anywhere.
GRACE: Katelyn Markham.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a pretty deserted road at night. I wouldn`t dare go on it myself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is just a bizarre case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All hoping that Katelyn is safe and comes home soon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want her to be OK, but at the same time, you want to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why the 22-year-old art student disappeared from her house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not part of who Katelyn is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t want to work for the worst. We want to look for the best.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, really want to see you again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Before we go live to Florida, I want to thank you for all the love, the phone calls, the e-mails, the kind words after the announcement I`m one of the lucky contestants on season 13, "Dancing With the Stars." I`ve been in the dance studio five hours already today. The twins came to cheer me on, then straight here. My feet are killing me. Proof! This is a Latin heel. This is a ballroom. Observe. There`s a lot of stiff competition, but I got a lot of heart.
I set up Nancygrace.com for you with behind-the-scenes videos and photos I took for you during all of this, and there you can give me all of your dancing tips because I need them desperately. Also, any and all money I make on "Dancing With the Stars" goes straight to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. So as we head to Florida tonight, from my heart, thank you, and fingers crossed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is Amy Patterson?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is nowhere that we know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A beloved Mariner Middle School teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was extremely unusual. She was seen a few days prior to school starting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not like her. What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 41-year-old middle school teacher seemingly vanishes into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She didn`t show up for the first day of work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then she disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neighbors reportedly say Proctor tearfully told them Amy died in a car accident.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lied to me about how she left to go to Alabama to see her son and was involved in a head-on collision.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the couple`s Ophelia (ph) home, the doors and windows are sealed off with evidence tape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kept asking, What happened, where, when, what?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." Jean, what`s the latest?
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Well, the latest is that Daniel Proctor, that is the ex-husband and boyfriend of school teacher Amy Patterson, is now considered a suspect. He is armed and dangerous. Police want to know where he is.
And Nancy, the reason we`re talking about this tonight instead of the middle of July, when she went missing, is because he told everybody she died in a head-on collision on her way to Alabama.
GRACE: Well, what I don`t understand is what about her family? And who did he tell this to, Jean?
CASAREZ: He told it to anybody who would listen in the state of Florida, to her school, to the landlord who wanted rent money. But to his own mother, he said she was alive and she was in Texas visiting her son, and that`s when authorities realized there`s something wrong here.
GRACE: Just released is this notice, looking for Daniel Ray Proctor, whereabouts unknown. It`s called a "bolo." He is cited as armed and dangerous and is of tonight, being formally called a suspect in the disappearance of Amy Patterson. She is a school teacher, a science teacher in middle school.
Just before school set to kick off for the new year, she doesn`t show up for the school year. Where is she? According to her husband, she died in a head-on collision, but then her car turns up mysteriously 800 miles away without a scratch on it.
To Robin Wolf, news anchor with Fox News radio out of Fort Myers. Robin, what more can you tell us?
ROBIN WOLF, 92.5 FOX NEWS RADIO (via telephone): Well, basically, you guys have covered quite a bit of it there. But they just have no idea where Amy Patterson is. That vehicle ended up in Alabama because he drove that vehicle to Alabama.
And his mom got quite suspicious. She notified authorities there in Huntsville. And then also, she called the school. The school called the authorities here in Lee County. And no one has any idea where Amy is. And police really, really want to find Daniel Proctor. He is...
GRACE: You know, Robin, I noticed that you mentioned his mother became very suspicious. His mother was calling around, trying to find out about her?
WOLF: Her ex-daughter-in-law, yes. Yes. And they had reconciled so they were back together, but his own mother, yes.
GRACE: You know, interesting. Hold on. Joining me right now is Lieutenant Ryan Bell with the Lee County sheriff`s office. Lieutenant, thank you for being with us. How do we know that Daniel Ray Proctor is the one that drove her car 800 miles?
LT. RYAN BELL, LEE COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE (via telephone): Well, Daniel showed up with his mom in the car and gave her this bogus story about how Amy had left him and gone to see her son in Texas, culminated with the mom realizing that that obviously wasn`t true because the only vehicle they had was her car. And when she asked, Well, how did Amy drive to Texas if you had her car, he didn`t have any answers to that. And it just kind of snowballed from there.
GRACE: And let me remind everybody there is no mother/son privilege in a court of law or at a grand jury, like an attorney/client privilege or priest/parishioner privilege. No. If you blab to your mother or your father, that can come into evidence. It`s not exempted from evidence. So his own mother may turn up being a crucial witness in this case.
But tonight, we`re putting the cart before the horse. We don`t know where she is.
We are taking your calls. Out to Jason in Canada. Hi, Jason. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. I just want you to know I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I have one question. I just wanted to know where is her car at the moment?
GRACE: Good question. Straight back to Robin Wolf with 92.5 Fox News radio. Robin, where is the car?
WOLF: I believe that the sheriff`s office there in Alabama has custody of that vehicle. He has stolen another vehicle. They believe he`s driving a `97 Ford Explorer. And we do have a tag number on that vehicle, as well.
GRACE: Hold on, hold on, hold on! A `97 Ford Explorer. Go ahead, give me the tag, Robin.
WOLF: OK. It`s 47N82T2.
GRACE: OK, 47N -- Nancy -- 82T2, `97 Ford Explorer. Do we know the color, robin wolf, of the Ford Explorer?
WOLF: We don`t have the color of the Ford Explorer...
GRACE: OH, I`m getting it`s white. I`m getting that it`s white. Let`s double-check that with Lieutenant Ryan Bell with the Lee County sheriff`s office. So where does another stolen car fit into this scenario, Lieutenant?
BELL: Well, he drove that white Ford Explorer away from his friend`s home when his friend left for the day, and left his friend a note apologizing that he had to steal his vehicle. But he left their Saturn at his friend`s house and took off in the white Explorer, never to be seen again.
GRACE: With us is Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, tell me about their relationship.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right, Nancy. Well, they were married back in 1991. They divorced about three years later. But what`s really disturbing is that in her petition for the divorce, she claimed that she was so emotionally and physically abused by Daniel Proctor that she had to go to a women`s shelter.
She also said that he threatened to take away their child and leave the state if she tried to divorce him. However, they got back together. We think it was about three years ago. And they`ve been living together since then.
GRACE: You know, I don`t get it. Dr. Wendy Wolf (ph), psychologist, expert on Momlogic.com, why go back? If a guy hits you one time, you think that`s going to get any better?
WENDY WOLF, PSYCHOLOGIST: That`s the million-dollar question, Nancy. And we all ask it from outside these relationships. But these relationships are very, very complicated. There are issues of control. There are -- sometimes the woman actually feels safer being threatened by him. It`s really bizarre how they may work. I don`t know why she would go back to him.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Paul Batista, defense attorney, author of "Death`s Witness" out of New York, Pilar Prinz, out of Atlanta, defense attorney, family law attorney.
First to you, Pilar Prinz. You`re the defense attorney in this case. What do you do when your client blurts out, Oh, she`s dead in a head-on collision, and then her car turns up 800 miles away, him behind the wheel, without a scratch on it?
PILAR PRINZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, it`s problematic. The first thing -- this guy does need a defense attorney, you`re right about that. I would speak to him. I would find out the whole story. He needs to not be talking to anybody else until he talks to an attorney.
GRACE: Yes. Well, you know what? It`s a day late and a dollar short to tell him not to talk. He`s already talked, Batista. What now?
PAUL BATISTA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Slow down! Where`s the crime, Nancy? No one knows what happened to Amy Patterson.
GRACE: Well, we`ve got the car.
BATISTA: We`re way ahead of where we should be.
GRACE: You said, Where`s the car? The police have the car.
BATISTA: So arrest him for stealing a car. Where`s the crime regarding Amy Patterson?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the looks of it, they seemed happy, a beloved Mariner Middle School teacher and her ex-husband. But now she`s missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seemingly vanishes into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he`s a person of interest in the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forty-one-year-old Amy Patterson, a science teacher at Mariner Middle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She didn`t show up for the first day of work on July 25th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She hasn`t been seen since.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened? What -- you know, where, when, what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies are looking for Amy`s ex-husband, Daniel Proctor. Her son drove from Florida to Alabama in Amy`s car without her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said asked him where Amy was. He said she had gone to Texas to see her son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was extremely unusual.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Little hope as she pleads for her daughter`s safety.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want her home. We want her home and safe. That`s all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s no stranger to law enforcement, having a violent past against Amy, charged with assault against her in `94. Very interested in talking to Proctor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is Amy Patterson?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, he can provide us with information on Ms. Patterson`s whereabouts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, it`s hard to say what really -- that`s not like her, you know? What happened, you know? That was the first thing I did, I just kept asking, What happened, what -- you know, where, when, what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want her home. We want her home and safe. That`s all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, where is middle school science teacher Amy Patterson? Tonight, we`re just getting in as we go to air this bolo. The suspect now, the husband, is considered armed and dangerous in the search for him.
And straight back to the lawyers. Unleash Paul Batista, Pilar Prinz. Batista, why do you keep saying, Where`s the car, where`s the car? I`ve already told you where the car is. He tells people, lots of people, that she dies in a car crash. And he embellishes. Let me see, Batista -- he goes on to say it was a head-on collision, Batista, a head-on collision in her car. Then he turns up in her car, 800 miles away, the car totally unscratched. Police have the car. I`ve already told you that.
So what`s your next question, Paul?
BATISTA: We are dealing here with a guy who may be a liar. He has a rap sheet that is very, very long. But again, where is the crime? He should be a suspect for stealing cars. So he`s a liar. So he`s a liar.
GRACE: So now instead of -- you`ve changed one word. First, it is, Where`s the car? Now you`re saying, Where`s the crime? OK, fine, whatever.
Out to the lines. Ashley in Texas. Hi, Ashley. What`s your question, dear? Listening for Ashley. Where`s Ashley?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The question I have is (INAUDIBLE) he`s saying to the cops that the car was -- that there was a head-on collision, but the car -- the car is not (INAUDIBLE) found that way. Then the question I have is, why is he sitting there, lying and saying that he is -- that there was a head-on collision?
GRACE: OK, your question is, Why is he lying? You know what? If I knew the answer to that, I would be a millionaire because that`s the question in every missing person case, when the husband jumps up with a lie like, she died and a head-on collision.
We are taking your calls. Out to Marc Klaas, president and founder, Klaas Kids Foundation. What about it, Marc?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, you know, here`s where the crime is. This guy has a history of abuse against this woman. His own mother turned him in to the authorities. He`s lied to numerous people about where this girl is. And now he`s completely disappeared with another stolen car.
There`s something incredibly suspicious about that, I would say. I believe that he most likely has caused great bodily harm, if not murdered this woman, and that he is basically just trying to get away. This case will only be solved once they get their hands on this man.
GRACE: Back to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." Let`s go through the timeline. That`s what you always do when you hit a brick wall, you start at the beginning. Take me back, Jean. Where was she last seen and with whom?
CASAREZ: And this is what is so concerning, Nancy. She was last seen on the Friday before school started on July 25th. So that was about July 22nd. Do you know when she didn`t show up for school on July 25th -- and she`s a middle school teacher -- the school called police. Lee County sheriff`s department is actually who they called. And they must have believed that she was killed in a head-on collision and never substantiated that she was not. So now here we are, a month later, with no answers.
GRACE: So the school actually called the police?
CASAREZ: Saying she didn`t report to school, first day of school, she`s our middle school teacher, she`s not here.
GRACE: And so the case languishes for how long, Jean, before we finally figure out -- left hand talks to right hand, we figure out she`s missing?
CASAREZ: A month, until he goes to visit his own mother in Texas in her car and says that Amy is visiting her son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocked at the news of a teacher`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She left to go to Alabama to see her son and was involved in a head-on collision, died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police reportedly confirm there was no car accident.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies are looking to talk to Proctor, who appears to have left town.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gloria Sebella (ph) lives across the street from Amy Patterson`s house in Boquillia (ph). Sebella last saw her neighbor in July, and then several weeks later saw Daniel Proctor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who the sheriff`s office is calling a person of interest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He sat right there on the porch and cried to me and told me this big story about how she left to go to Alabama to see her son and was involved in a head-on collision, died.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sebella says Lee County deputies told her the story about Patterson dying in an accident wasn`t true. He told his mother in Alabama something completely different.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just asked him where Amy was. He said she had gone to Texas to see her son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. This man now termed armed and dangerous by local police. Where is Daniel Ray Proctor? He`s last been seen in a white 97 Ford Explorer. Let me give you the tag -- 47N -- Nancy -- 82T -- Tijuana -- 2, a white `97 Ford Explorer.
Back to Ellie Jostad. Ellie, I want to go back over the timeline again. Getting ready for the new school year to begin, she`s a middle school science teacher, she doesn`t show up. What happens?
JOSTAD: Right. Well, this is before school starts for students. So the teachers are doing, like, an in-service. When she doesn`t show up, the school calls the husband. He tells them this car accident story. So they apparently believe that for some time, are asking him where`s the -- when`s the memorial going to be, where can we send flowers, where and when exactly was she killed? He`s not giving them a straight answer. He apparently said in one version she was killed in Tennessee, another version she was killed along with her son in Texas. So it took some time for everybody to really start thinking that this didn`t add up. And then the school called police.
GRACE: Whoa, wait a minute, wait, wait, wait! Ellie, you`re telling me he also said -- to make his two stories fit that, A, she`s dead in a head-on collision, and B, she`s with her son, he finally said, Oh, yes, the son is dead, too. They were in the same collision.
JOSTAD: Exactly. There were a couple of different versions. it wasn`t even just one story, according to police.
GRACE: OK, to Detective Lieutenant Steven Rogers, Nutley Police Department, former member, FBI. Steve, come on. When you start merging your lies, you get a really bad smorgasbord lie. It`s not holding water.
LT. STEVE ROGERS, NUTLEY, NJ, POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, you sure do, Nancy. And I`ve got to tell you, it may be a little bit of a daunting task for police to get down to the bottom of this because he`s going to lawyer up as soon as he`s caught. However, as you stated earlier, mom has a story to tell us, the teachers have a story to tell us. The police will put all this information together, and bingo, they`re going to nail him.
GRACE: To Ryan Bell with the Lee County sheriff`s office, joining us out of Fort Myers. Lieutenant, is it true that he said she`s dead in a head-on collision, she`s visiting her son, and oh, yes, the son is dead in the same head-on? Did he actually do that?
BELL: Absolutely. He had about four different stories. He couldn`t, you know, keep his story straight. At one point, she died in a car crash in North Carolina, another time in Tennessee, another time in Texas. Oh, yes, well, her son was in the car crash. He just can`t keep his story straight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: News of a teacher`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 41-year-old middle schoolteacher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amy Patterson, a science teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seemingly vanishes into thin air. Police say they want to speak with ex-husband Daniel Proctor. Proctor`s mom who calls Amy`s school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She didn`t show up for work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think (inaudible)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Proctor appeared to have left town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies say they`re very interested in talking to proctor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hoping he can provide us with information on Miss Patterson`s whereabouts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A beloved middle school teacher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida teacher Amy Patterson.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, she`s missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her neighbor believes something doesn`t add up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the couple`s home, the doors and windows are sealed off with evidence tape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is Amy Patterson?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: We are taking your calls.
Everyone, for those of you just joining us, a middle school science teacher goes missing at the very beginning of the school year. She doesn`t show up. When the school calls around to find out where is she, they find out from her husband that she`s killed in a head on collision. A horrific crash. Well, her car, the one in the head on collision then turns up 800 miles away with him behind the wheel, not a scratch on the car.
Back to Lieutenant Ryan Bell from the Lee County Sheriff`s office. Now, I`m trying to make a flow chart, Lieutenant, so far, according to the husband, Daniel Ray Proctor, PS, he`s just been named in a bolo as armed and dangerous. His photo is out, the police are looking for a white ford explorer, `97, tag number, 47 N Nancy, 82 T, Tijuana, 2.
So then, he gives a story, come and get this straight Lieutenant Belle, that the crash was in North Carolina, the crash is in Tennessee, the crash is in Texas. We got the story that the crash is in Alabama. Then when he says she was visiting her son, he then clarified it all by explaining, oh, yes, her son was in the car and they both die. Do I have it right, lieutenant?
LIEUTENANT RYAN BELL, LEE COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE (via telephone): You have it right. This guy can`t keep his story straight.
GRACE: Lieutenant, help us out. Who should be on the alert to look for this guy? Let`s put his picture up. Where can we look for Daniel Ray Proctor? What is most likely area he`s in?
BELL: He`s most likely in the southeastern United States. I`m pretty confident that he`s either in Florida, Tennessee, Alabama or North Carolina. We have been tracking him in this immediate area for the last couple of days. So anybody in that area should be on the lookout for this guy.
GRACE: And isn`t it true, back to you, Ellie Jostad, you said he visited a friend and left a note saying, hey sorry, but I had to steal your car. Didn`t he also steal a `38.
ELLIE JOSTAD, PRODUCER, NANCY GRACE SHOW: Right. And that`s why they`re calling him armed and dangerous. I`m sure he has a 38 caliber handgun on him that he also stole from that friend, you`re right.
GRACE: Guys. This man, Daniel Ray Proctor, is suspected in the murder of Amy Patterson, a middle school science teacher. We don`t know where he is, a bolo has just been issued for him, armed and dangerous. Police do believe he`s in the southeastern United States. Ninety seven white explorer, armed and dangerous. Take a look.
Out to the lines, Gloria in Ohio. Hi, Gloria, what`s your question?
GLORIA, CALLER, OHIO: Hi, Nancy, I`m glad to get to talk to you.
GRACE: Likewise, Gloria.
GLORIA: My question is, how could he come up with so many different stories and not be held in custody?
GRACE: Well, I tell you, that is a good question. I`m going to go straight to lieutenant Bell. Is it a function, Lieutenant Ryan Bell, that by the time all of the stories are coming out he was already gone? I mean, did he tell all these different stories to? Probably not the police.
BELL: No, absolutely not. We haven`t had the opportunity to talk to him. We would love to come into contact with Mister Proctor. But we don`t have that opportunity.
GRACE: I bet you would. So who is he telling all these to, Jean Casarez?
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, IN SESSION: Good question. He was telling it to a landlord who wanted rent. He was telling it to the neighbor from across the street. And that`s the story the school got, right, from what I`m just learning right now from Ellie Jostad, the school heard that also and so they wanted to know where they could send flowers?
GRACE: So, bottom line, he`s telling the story to the landlord, the neighbor, the school, his mother, that`s a fourth story, his mother. And I wonder if he told the story to the son who did not die in a horrific car crash.
Out to Doctor Racha Mikkilineni, doctor of internal medicine joining us in New York. Doctor Mikkilineni, crime scene tape is still around the couple`s home. Why? What can police still be looking for in the home?
DOCTOR RACHA MIKKILINENI, INTERNAL MEDICINE: Well, the home could have been the crime scene. So they need to look for evidence of the status of their relationship, evidence of a struggle. The problem here that I see is, though, this is - there has been a lot of time to cover up evidence at this point.
GRACE: But you know, Dr. Mikkilineni, if you`re talking about, for instance, trace blood evidence or blood spatter, where is the doctor? Can I see her, please? There she is. For instance, blood spatter, like blowback, you know, you shoot somebody, the blood back from the wound or throwback where you hit with, for instance, a bat and swing back and blood spatters up on the wall, a lot of times that is so microscopic, you have to have, for instance, luminal to find that kind of a blood scene, that kind of a blood trail. What do you think?
MIKKILINENI: That`s correct. That`s absolutely right. Because he could have gone back there. He could have cleaned up the blood spatter if there was a struggle or something that created spatter. And that`s exactly what would need to be done.
GRACE: To Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas kids foundation. OK, we`re looking at least three weeks. How bad is that , Marc Klaas that they beat the clock, the killer beat the clock before anybody figured out she`s missing?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT, FOUNDER, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, they have got a very - I think they`ll have a very strong circumstantial case against this guy. The litany of lies, the history, the fact that even his own mother turned him in, I mean, when do we see that in all the cases that we have covered, parents are always covering for their children. They`ll find him, hopefully they`ll do it without anybody else getting hurt, and then they`ll be able to put this case against him. But best case scenario is that at some point he`ll tell them what he did. Worst case scenario, they`ll have to prosecute without a body.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Paul Batista, Pilar Prinz. OK Pilar, the story gets worse for your client here. Now his wife killed in a horrific head-on collision in Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and, oh, yes, now that he thinks about it, that son she`s visiting, yes, he`s dead too.
OK Pilar, how do you get him out of that? And none of this is protected under the constitution. He`s not in custody. He`s not keep in the cops. Nobody had to give Miranda warnings. He`s talking to landlord, neighbors, school, his own mother, Pilar. Go ahead, hit me, Pilar. Let`s hear it. What you got?
PILAR PRINZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: t is all admissible and this guy is putting himself in hot water by doing it. But we still need to back up and slow down. We have a missing person case. So, they got obviously, the police need to find this guy, they need to bring him in and see what he`s going to say to that.
GRACE: What do you mean back up? That`s what we`re trying to do tonight, find this guy, which we have been talking about, back up. That what tonight is all about. Because if you find him, you`re going to find out what happened to her. I`m just telling you that, Pilar.
Quick break, everybody. We`re taking your calls. We`re live in Florida.
But as we go to break, I want to thank you for all the love, for the phone calls, the e-mails, the text messages, the kind words, after it is announced I am one of the lucky contestants "Dancing with the Stars" season 13. Today I`ve been in the studio already five hours. The twins came to cheer me on. Then I came straight here, feet killing me. A lot of stiff competition. But I got heart. I set up nancygrace.com with behind the scenes video for you and photos I took for you and you can go there and give me all your dancing tips. And ps, any and all money I make on "Dancing with the Stars" goes straight to the national center for missing and exploited children. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also competing for the coveted mirror ball trophy, she`s a former prosecutor turned crime commentator, courtroom queen Nancy Grace.
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is your emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fiance is missing. I can`t find her anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Family, friends and police are searching for the 22-year-old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Katelyn is the love of my life. I`ve been with her for six years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So far no one can explain who or what made Katelyn disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Katelyn`s disappearance received national attention.
GRACE: Breaking news tonight, a beautiful young bride vanishes without a trace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No forced entry, no obvious foul play. The only thing missing, her red cell phone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cell phone fit the description for what we know of Katelyn so far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would never just leave. She would never just take off and go somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, where is your emergency?
JOHN CARTER, FIANCE OF MISSING WOMAN: My name is John Carter. I am calling -- I know that you`re not supposed to report a missing person after - before 24 hours, but my fiance is missing. I can`t find her anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Where did you see her last?
CARTER: I saw her at, like, 12:00 last night. She stays in a house by herself. So I`m really nervous. Her car is still there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there an address?
CARTER: Yes. Doorshire(ph) drive.
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GRACE: We`re taking your calls and joining us tonight is a special guest, the fiance that reports the bride to be missing, John Carter. Alexis Weed, I understand there has been a development. What items have been found and where?
ALEXIS WEED, PRODUCER, NANCY GRACE SHOW: Yes, Nancy. One of the latest searches there was a cell phone that looked to be very much like the one Katelyn had as well as the cell phone battery. These were all found in a wooded area. Sneaker shoe and also a hoop earring.
GRACE: Was the cell phone separated from the battery?
WEED: Nancy, All these items were found within about two feet of each other.
GRACE: They`re all there together. Did somebody take the battery out of the cell phone?
WEED: That we don`t know. We just know that the cell phone and battery were found. No it was not said by police whether or not they are together.
GRACE: But think about it Alexis. Use your noodle, that thing on top of your neck. Listen, when would you think, Alexis that somebody would say we found the cell phone and the battery?
WEED: True, Nancy, it is just that suggest that to me but I can`t confirm that with police at this point.
GRACE: That`s true. We got to confirm that, but to me, if it was separated, that would be very significant that someone did not want that phone to go off because they did not want that phone to be traced.
Everybody, we`re taking your calls. Alexis Weed, again, you stated to me that it was in the woods. Where were those woods in relation to her condo.
WEED: This is a park area, it is two miles west of where her town home was located.
GRACE: OK. Alexis what more can you tell me tonight?
WEED: I can also tell you that investigators are saying that they now know the last place the cell tower that Katelyn`s phone pinged from, they`re not saying the exact location and the reason, Nancy, is because the ping gives only a radius of the cell phone and not an exact location.
GRACE: OK. You know, Alexis, slow it down. Tell me that one more time because this is crucial. What you`re telling me I think is where her phone last pinged. Go ahead, dear.
WEED: Right, Nancy. We knew the phone was shut off around 12:45 a.m. in the morning on Sunday, that evening that Katelyn went missing. But now we`re learning just today from police that they do know exactly the tower that that last ping came from before her cell phone was shut off.
GRACE: And where was it?
WEED: It was - we don`t know the exact location and police are saying the problem is that the ping gives only a radius and not a pinpoint exact location.
GRACE: You know what I`m interested to find out, Alexis, if that ping is anywhere near where the phone was found, and also where was it in relation to her condo? Also, when she sent that text message or that message was sent around midnight, could that have been the ping, Alexis? And if so that would tell me where that message was sent from.
WEED: Right, Nancy. It could be that ping. We just don`t know. We have put that question out to police. They will not answer. But we do know the phone was shut off around 1:00 in the morning, yes.
GRACE: To Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas kids out of San Francisco. Mark, it is entirely incorrect to say that when somebody goes missing, the family has to wait 24 hours before they tell police.
KLAAS: Yes, the 24-hour rule is based upon the Lindbergh case. And the law that came as a result of that that brought the FBI in. The presumption was that a kidnapper could get across state lines within 24 hours and from that grew the 24-hour rule. It is never really existed. And unfortunately it is one of those urban myths that continue to exist today.
GRACE: To John Carter, this is Katelyn Markham`s fiance that reported her missing in the 911 call. John, thank you for being with us. Did you actually wait 24 hours? How long did you wait before you called her in missing?
CARTER (via telephone): I did not wait 24 hours. As soon as I found out, it was probably about an hour after I had notice she was missing and in between that time I called people. I called my mom to see if she happened to be in my house. I called my dad to see if she happened to be with him. I called a few friends to see if she was with them and then I called the police.
GLORIA: With us and taking your calls, John Carter, this is Katelyn`s fiance.
John, let`s get to the timeline again. You were at that condo that evening. What time did you get there and what time did you leave?
CARTER: I got there around 7:30, 8:00. I left around 11:30, 12:00.
GRACE: OK. And then what happened?
CARTER: I went to a friend`s house, we texted a few times back and forth.
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Do you work during the day?
CARTER: I work in the evening.
GRACE: Where?
CARTER: At a pizza place.
GRACE: And so at 11:30 at night or midnight, you then go to a friend`s place?
CARTER: I`m 22.
GRACE: So?
CARTER: Well, I go out. I hang out with friends and since I don`t have to wake up early in the morning, I go out late sometimes.
GRACE: OK. So at midnight you go to a friend`s house and then what happens?
CARTER: We texted back and forth. I just sat around. We watched some TV.
GRACE: What did you watch?
CARTER: Huh?
GRACE: What did you watch?
CARTER: Just some random noise shows in the back ground. Mostly us sitting around talking.
GRACE: OK, go ahead.
CARTER: And then she had texted me a few times. I had gotten a message around 2:00, I decided to go home and then I -
GRACE: Hold on. What were you two texting about?
CARTER: The records that I was getting rid of. She had just said she wanted to be there to see them go and I was just telling her, well, I have a few that I got to get rid of so you can come over tomorrow, the next night and we`ll, you know, burn my records and -
GRACE: OK. OK. To Kelsey Cano, staff writer, reporter with the HAMILTON JOURNAL NEWS. Kelsey, thank you for being with us. Kelsey, what more can you tell us tonight?
CANO, STAFF WRITER, REPORTER, THE HAMILTON JOURNAL NEWS: I mean that`s pretty much it, what John just said. I don`t know the exact timeline other than that he`s told authorities that he last saw Katelyn around 11:00, 11:30.
GRACE: Back to John Carter. These text messages went back and forth between you and her until what time?
CARTER: Around, I mean like the last picture message was the last thing I got which came in I can`t remember, 12:45 or 12:50.
GRACE: And John, had the police asked you to take a polygraph yet?
CARTER: No, they have not.
GRACE: Are you willing to take one?
CARTER: Yes, I am.
GLORIA: Everyone, tip line 5133523040
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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where did you see her last?
CARTER: I saw her, like 12:00 last night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Victoria Chason (ph) organized a search hoping for clues. They were surprised by what they found. A red phone, battery.
CARTER: No response. I call her. No response.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An earring and a shoe, all within a few feet of each other.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s definitely a road that not a lot of people go on. Especially at night.
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GRACE: Where is a 22-year-old bride-to-be, set to be married, Katelyn Markham?
We are taking your calls. I want to go back out John Carter, again, thank you for being with us. Everyone, this is her Fiance that was with her just before she goes missing. Now, we left off around 2:00 a.m. You leave your friend`s house. You go home. On foot or in a car?
CARTER: In my car.
GRACE: Ok. You get home. Then what happens?
CARTER: I sit around and I watch a few TV shows to help me, you know, get tired, get ready to go to sleep. I send her a good morning text message. Just kind of, you know, give her, you know, I hope you have a good day kind of feeling. And then I went to sleep right after that.
GRACE: What time?
CARTER: Around 4:00.
GRACE: 4:00. Hmm. All right. What time did you get up?
CARTER: Around 4:30.
GRACE: In the afternoon?
CARTER: Yes. I -
GRACE: You slept for 12 hours?
CARTER: I have a crazy sleep schedule.
GRACE: So it`s 4:30 when you realize that she`s missing. What time did you realize she`s missing?
CARTER: I realized she was missing at around 7:00 in the evening.
GRACE: Holy molly.
CARTER: Yes.
GRACE: Everybody, let me give you the tip line. Bride-to-be, a young art student, is missing. 513-352-3040.
Let`s stop and remember Army Corporal Russell Cullbertson III, 22, Amity Pennsylvania, killed in Iraq. Awarded bronze start Purple Heart, army commendation. Loved the outdoors, restoring cars, fireworks. Favorite holiday, 4th of July. Favorite sports team, Pittsburgh Steelers. Remembered as the go-to guy. Leaves behind parents Denise and Russ, Sister Elizabeth, Brother Will. Russ Culbertson III, American hero.
Thank you to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night at 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night friend.
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