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Nancy Grace
Missing Baby`s Mother Tells Dad She Knows
Aired June 17, 2013 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. Please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s my daughter that they arrested. She did a very bad thing (EXPLETIVE DELETED) a dead (ph) baby, by taking her to the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She made several mistakes. I`m not going to say she was directly responsible for anything, but my daughter was in her care at the time this happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Angela Steinfurth sobbing in court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Angela told me that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Angela admitted to knowing baby Elaina suffered a serious physical injury but did not get medical treatment for the child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s guilty of not taking care of that baby like she should have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The baby was injured at one point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said somebody came in the house and took her baby. The baby couldn`t just walk out of a house. I don`t think she`s showing any emotion of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Took that baby. That`s where they`re at. That`s who`s got that baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, live, Toledo. A parent`s worst nightmare, 18-month-old baby Elaina last seen taking a nap, but just minutes later, she`s gone, baby Elaina vanishing, broad daylight.
This story developing minute by minute. Just how does an 18-month-old baby girl disappear from the family`s own bedroom in the middle of the day and nobody sees a thing? And there were plenty of people at home.
As we go to air tonight, we just obtain crystal clear surveillance video of Mommy with baby Elaina just hours before the baby vanishes seemingly into thin air. But what clues does the secret video reveal? Tonight, where is baby Elaina?
Multiple developments in the last hour. Straight out to Fred Lefebrve, morning host, WSPD. Fred, what`s the latest?
FRED LEFEBRVE, WSPD RADIO, TOLEDO (via telephone): The latest is the police searched the Maumee River one again this afternoon. They got help from a group called Justice for Nevaeh, who`s a young girl who disappeared a couple of years ago, 200 volunteers strong...
GRACE: I remember her distinctly. She disappeared from that apartment complex while her mother was asleep, as I recall. Go ahead.
LEFEBRVE: That`s right. And then he was found sometime later buried under concrete near the -- near Lake Erie. Those people have searched all weekend. They were down here Saturday. They were down here again today, like I say about 200 strong. These are people with real -- no real ties to the east side of Toledo, where baby Elaina disappeared from, but they were combing houses, they were combing fields, they were combing alleys.
The Toledo police, who I spoke to early this afternoon, also combed not only the river, but they also searched the Federal House once again this afternoon.
GRACE: Hold on. Speaking of searches, Clark Goldband, we -- you and I were talking just before we went to air about a particular search, and then we crossed over to find out what address that was that was searched. What did you learn?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy. There were homes searched just a few blocks away from where Elaina was last seen, and our research indicates that one of these homes belonged to the -- someone who was in the home`s relatives. So there is a tie there, and that`s where the vehicle has been taken. We`ve heard about a car that`s been searched by law enforcement. It`s now being processed at a law enforcement facility.
GRACE: I`ve got in my hand right here the police affidavit for the mom, the mom now being held behind bars on child endangerment. But I think there`s a lot more to the story than what`s on these four corners of this police affidavit.
Everybody, joining me right now, special guest giving us a primetime exclusive in their search for baby Elaina. With me tonight, Captain Brad Weis from the Toledo Police Department, Terry Steinfurth, Sr., the grandfather, Terry Steinfurth, Jr. -- this is baby Elaina`s natural father, married to the mother. They`re estranged. That`s why she`s at the home with the ex-boyfriend.
It`s a crazy mixed-up story. But what I know is this. The baby`s gone.
Also with us tonight, Richard Schiewe, the stepfather of the mother, Angela, the baby`s mother calling her stepfather from jail. And as you heard the mom leaving the courtroom, you heard somebody say, I love you, Angela. This was him. She calls back, I love you, too.
Where is the baby? I`m going to go straight out to baby Elaina`s father. Everyone, tip line, 1-800-CALL FBI. There`s a $10,000 reward.
Terry Steinfurth, Jr., out to you. You go over to pick up your baby. She is 18 months old. She has trouble walking. She has trouble talking. I`ve learned that since the last time we covered the story -- because of issues with the mommy`s womb.
So when you get to the house, what happened?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR., ELAINA`S FATHER: I arrived to pick up both of my daughters. I asked Angela to go in the house and get them. She sent my oldest daughter, Kylie (ph), out to the car. I was strapping her in the carseat. I turned around, she`s sitting back down...
GRACE: Kylie`s 4, correct?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: ... on the porch with her boyfriend.
GRACE: Kylie is 4, right.
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: Yes.
GRACE: OK. You strap her in. You buckle it up.
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: Yes.
GRACE: You turn around, and what do you see?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: She`s just sitting back on the porch.
GRACE: OK. Then what?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: Just sitting there, smoking a cigarette. I asked her to go in the house and get the baby. She told she was -- she had just laid her down far nap and she wasn`t waking her up.
GRACE: OK, laid her down for a nap. OK. That`s the first I`ve heard that. Go ahead.
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: I asked her again. I said, Go get Elaina for me. She refused. Her boyfriend decided for some reason he wanted to basically start yelling and screaming like he wanted to fight, ripped his shirt off. So at that point...
SCHIEWE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: ... I got back in my vehicle...
GRACE: Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: ... and I left.
GRACE: Rips his shirt off? Fight over what?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: Yes. I`ve not the slightest of a clue.
GRACE: OK. All right. Just what happened then? Because we`re going to hear the other side of this story, too. What happened then, Terry?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: So I left. I went to my father`s house. I dropped Kylie, my 4-year-old, and my girlfriend`s daughter off with my dad`s wife. And then me, my dad and my girlfriend went back over to the house to try to get Elaina.
GRACE: OK, what happened when you got there?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: My dad got out of the car. I stayed in my vehicle. As my dad approached the porch, Steven then tried to fight my dad.
GRACE: And back to you, Terry Steinfurth, Sr. You`ve been with us before. And at that point, from what you told me, you go up on the porch. At that moment, what did the mom tell you then, or the boyfriend, either one?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR., ELAINA`S PATERNAL GRANDFATHER: The boyfriend told me he would fight with me, like he wants to do my son, and I just told him I wasn`t there to fight with him. I wanted to see my granddaughter. And all I wanted to see was my son`s wife. And his mother sent him back into the house and told him that we were talking as adults, it had nothing to do with him.
GRACE: So did you see the mother?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: After I sat on the porch and talked with the mother and father for a while, they finally convinced her to come out onto the porch and talk to me, which at which time, we had our confrontation of argument, and she still refused to bring the baby out.
GRACE: Why did she -- what did she tell you about why...
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: And then she went back into the house...
GRACE: ... she wouldn`t bring the baby?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: She said that if she gave me the baby to take with me, that my son wouldn`t -- she wouldn`t see it again because my son wouldn`t bring her back.
GRACE: OK. And so then I understand around 2:00 or 3:00 o`clock, finally she goes in to get the baby. Then she comes out and says what?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: She came back outside and told me that the baby wasn`t in the house, the baby was gone, someone took the baby.
GRACE: And this is a very critical question. At that moment, where was the boyfriend?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: The boyfriend was still in the house.
GRACE: Are you sure?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: As far as I know, he was.
GRACE: Did you see him again?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: I did not see him again until after the police were there.
GRACE: OK.
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: And my son had tracked him down and he came back to the house.
GRACE: So he left the home. During all of this, he leaves the home, right?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: Correct.
GRACE: So he leaves the home and the baby vanishes at the same time.
OK, out to Richard Schiewe, joining us exclusively tonight. This is the mom, Angela Steinfurth`s, stepfather. He`s joining us tonight and giving her side of the story.
Richard, thank you for being with us.
RICHARD SCHIEWE, MOTHER`S STEPFATHER (via telephone): Yes.
GRACE: Now, Richard, you raised Angela. You`re like her own father, correct?
SCHIEWE: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Richard, what do you think happened? What is she telling you?
SCHIEWE: Well, I can only go by what she`s telling me.
GRACE: OK.
SCHIEWE: And remarks towards what Mr. Steinfurth and Terry said are totally, you know, misconstrued by what the police have said in the report and what the newspaper says, OK? He doesn`t know if the boyfriend was in the house or not. You know (INAUDIBLE) plain truth.
(INAUDIBLE) this isn`t about me or anybody else. This is about my granddaughter. My daughter screwed up big-time, OK? I`m not making no excuses. I can`t forgive and I can`t forget it. The story is, she knowed what happened to the baby. She got afraid because people threatened, If you say anything, you`re next. That`s what she told me Thursday from the jail.
GRACE: Does she know where the baby is, or does she just know what happened to the baby?
SCHIEWE: She doesn`t know where the baby is, is what she told me. But she does know what happened to the baby and who took the baby out of the house.
GRACE: What does she believe happened to the baby?
SCHIEWE: Well, when we were searching, me and her, we started -- we got a phone call that they snagged -- a fisherman snagged a duffel bag by the marina. So we went down there, and it was a false report, like a lot of them are. So we searched from the marina to the high (ph) level (ph) bridge. Then the next day, I said, We`re going to finish -- we`re going to finish here. Tomorrow, we`re going to start here and go down. So we did.
GRACE: Wait a minute. Wa-wa-wa-wa-wait! Richard -- everybody -- everybody, with me is Angela`s father, her stepfather that raised her. Angela`s the mother of baby Elaina, now missing.
Question, Richard. Why -- what did she tell you that made you believe you had to search bodies of water for the baby? That sounds like the baby is dead.
SCHIEWE: No, no. We had a phone call stating, from somebody, that the baby -- that a fisherman snagged a duffel bag down by the marina. So we went to check there at the marina. The people said no, that nothing happened, you know, the people that we talked to that were fishing.
GRACE: OK...
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: So we just kept -- so we just kept driving the Maumee River and asking people.
GRACE: So you`re telling me the mother, Angela Steinfurth, went looking for the baby with you.
SCHIEWE: Yes, after we got the phone call.
GRACE: And what was she saying during all this? What is she saying happened to the baby?
SCHIEWE: She doesn`t know what happened to the baby. I mean, she knows what happened to the baby. She doesn`t know where the baby is at.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Elaina. The search for clues into Elaina Steinfurth`s disappearance continued.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does a 1-year-old girl just vanish? A father comes to pick his daughter up. A few hours later...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This is an 18-month-old baby girl, a child like my children, who couldn`t walk well when they came of age. They had trouble walking. She can`t walk well. She can`t verbalize well. She had problems in the womb. This child is missing, baby Elaina. Behind bars tonight, her own mother.
Tonight, just as we go to air, we get secret surveillance of the mom just hours before the baby goes missing. But right now, I`ve got with me Richard Schiewe. I`ll call for the video in just a moment, Liz, but I want to talk to the father.
Richard, thank you for being with us. What is Angela telling you happened to the baby? Because you said she made a big mistake. What`s the mistake?
SCHIEWE: I`m not really allowed to get into that right now. I`ve been told not to talk about that right now.
GRACE: By who?
SCHIEWE: By the FBI.
GRACE: Do you think the baby`s alive?
SCHIEWE: Well, I told the FBI my gut feeling, no. It`s been too long. I don`t. I just have a gut feeling she`s not alive. I don`t why I got that feeling. I hope she`s not. I hope she`s alive. I really do.
GRACE: When is the last time you saw the baby? Why do you think she`s dead?
SCHIEWE: It`s just been too long for her to be gone. And the last time I seen her was the day before she went missing.
GRACE: What is Angela telling you from behind bars?
SCHIEWE: Like I told you, she said she knows what happened, but she doesn`t know where the baby`s at. And there was people in the house that took the baby out of the house and people said, If you say anything to the police, you`re next.
GRACE: Joining me right now, the captain of the Toledo Police Department. Captain Brad Weis is with us. Captain, please tell me about the searches ongoing for the baby. You`re running, from my understanding, alternate searches for a live baby and a dead baby.
CAPT. BRAD WEIS, TOLEDO POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): That`s correct, Nancy. We still have our uniform crews and detectives scouring the neighborhoods, wherever else that the thieves (ph) would take him. And this morning, we brought the FBI dive team out of Quantico, and they`re going to expand the search that the Toledo Fire Department did in the Maumee River at the location we chose (ph).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHIEWE: That is my daughter that they arrested. She did a very bad thing by not doing what she should have done after (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead (ph) baby by taking it to the hospital. There`s nothing that can change that. Nothing. And I done told her that.
She should have been truthful and done (ph). She shouldn`t even have been at that house from the get-go. And it`s a shame that our granddaughter is missing and T.J.`s (ph) daughter is missing. We need to bring that baby home. We need to work together, not nitpick about this and nitpick about that. She`s in there. She`s going pay her price for what she did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Elaina`s maternal grandfather. With me tonight, the natural father of baby Elaina, his father, and the captain of the Toledo Police Department. And also with me, Angela Steinfurth, the mother`s, father, the stepfather that raised her, Richard Schiewe, who you just observed talking.
Mr. Schiewe, you stated that she should have taken the baby to the hospital. Why did you say that?
SCHIEWE: I said she should have took her, but I did not know until this past Thursday that she was threatened by people in that house that if she talks, she`s next.
GRACE: Well, how does she think she`s going to be harmed by people in the house if she`s behind bars?
SCHIEWE: There was 11 people -- no, no. At the time the baby went missing, that`s when they told her. That`s when they told her that, If you say anything to the police, you`re next. She is cooperating right now with the FBI and the police.
GRACE: Another question. You stated that she should not have been at the house at all. Why do you say that?
SCHIEWE: Well, first thing, she could have stayed here with me, but she choose to be with Steven. Second thing, her husband should have never left her three months prior to this to move in with his girlfriend and not pay the rent, not pay the utilities, nothing. You know, he didn`t care about them kids. His grandfather never cared. His dad never cared about him.
GRACE: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
SCHIEWE: I`m the one that who took (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Response from you, Terry Steinfurth, Jr. And I don`t want to go off on some crazy tangent about who didn`t pay rent because right now, I don`t care. That`s on you. What I want to do is find this baby. But what is your response to that, Terry?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: Me and my wife separated due to -- for several reasons, one of which being the way she treated my children. That`s why we separated. And we separated back in November. It wasn`t three months ago.
GRACE: The way she treated which one of your daughters?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: Both of them. I mean, she yelled at them, cursed at them. She would snatch my oldest daughter by her arm, and like, yank her, drag her around, smack her in the mouth, just things that I don`t agree with. That`s not how you correct children.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: How could somebody get in that window, Mr. Steinfurth, and take the baby?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: They couldn`t. There`s no way nobody walked past me to go through that window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Toledo police continue their search for Elaina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One-year-old Elaina Steinfurth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A nervous wreck. I want just her home in one piece. I want to know that she`s OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A father comes to pick his daughter up. A few hours later, she`s gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Angela Steinfurth breaks down in court.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Steinfurth is charged with felony child endangering of 18-month-old Elaina.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where`s (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the mom and dad? Where (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Why aren`t they (INAUDIBLE) in jail? Why are they not prosecuted? They know what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something has to break. Somebody knows something, and somebody has to talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. We are taking your calls. The search goes on tonight for 18-month-old baby Elaina. Mommy says she puts her down for a nap around the noon. There are multiple people in the home. It`s broad daylight. But when the bio-dad comes to pick up baby Elaina and her 4- year-old sister for visitation, she won`t let the baby come out. Then finally emerges and says the baby is gone.
We are live taking your calls.
Liz, let`s see the video, the secretly taped video, video surveillance that shows the mom with the baby. This is just hours before. There you see the mom holding the baby. Take a look. She`s kissing the baby.
The baby appears well, well nourished. It looked clean. Take a look. She`s on her cell phone, she`s holding the baby. She`s coming -- holding, still holding. Now to a lot -- maybe this doesn`t mean anything to you but it means something to me. Look at her rocking the baby. She`s loving on the baby.
Look at this. She`s holding the baby. I don`t know if all of you can see what I`m seeing. She`s sitting alone on the front porch. She`s holding the baby. And I am just telling you, I`m telling you that this is a mother -- I don`t care what anybody says, she loved this baby.
Now did she lose her temper and hurt the baby? I don`t know. Did somebody else in that home, her boyfriend, did they hurt the baby? Is she covering for somebody? I don`t know. But look at that.
To Terry Steinfurth, Jr. -- and that`s video obtained by affiliate WNWO. Angel Steinfurth and baby Elaina. This is just -- look at her lovingly putting the baby in the carriage. Look at this. This is important. This matters. This is just before baby Elaina is abducted.
Terry Steinfurth, Sr., Terry Steinfurth, Jr. This is the bio-dad and the paternal grandfather.
Let me ask you, Steinfurth Jr., what do you think happened? Could you see that video I just showed?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: No, I did not.
GRACE: Well, it`s video --
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: I have seen it, though.
GRACE: -- we obtained of the mom and the baby. And I`m not saying that she didn`t do all the things that you said. Both of these things can be true. But when parents fly off the handle and they don`t know how to parent, bad things happen.
I want to hear, Terry Jr., did you ever call CPS or the police about the bruises you`re saying you saw or the treatment that you observed? I`m telling you what, I love my husband but if he smacked my child in the mouth, yes, fur would fly, honey. Fur would fly. I`d be all over him.
What did you do when you saw these bruises or this behavior?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: There were several arguments about it. I was trying to get ahold of someone at CSB. I never had a chance to make contact. She ended up the week before she went -- Elaina went missing, Angela actually gave me the girls to live with me because she said that she couldn`t care for them because she was getting thrown out her boyfriend`s house because her and her boyfriend were fighting because of the way he was treating my children.
GRACE: Because of the way the boyfriend was treating the children?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: That`s what she told me.
GRACE: OK. Let me go out to you, Michael Board, WOAI. What do you know?
MICHAEL BOARD, REPORTER, WOAI NEWSRADIO: Well, we know that the FBI, Coast Guard have been out searching this river. We know in the past there has been a report that a diaper was found along the edge of the river about a mile away from the home that was apparently the same size and same brand that little baby Elaina wore so there must be some credible evidence that`s leading dive teams back and back again to this river, Nancy.
GRACE: To Terry Steinfurth Sr., the grandfather, isn`t it true that baby Elaina was in therapy? She had troubles walking and speaking, something to do with a problem within the womb?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: When she was younger, yes. As a matter of fact I transported her to therapy a few times. As far as I snow she was done with her therapy, though, and she was starting to walk good.
GRACE: Good to hear.
Back to Captain Brad Weis, Toledo Police Department.
Captain, Captain, isn`t it true that 660 Federal Street was searched?
WEIS: Yes, we searched two locations during our second search warrants.
GRACE: Is that the boyfriend`s grandparents?
WEIS: It`s the boyfriend`s grandparents is the one house and then I believe a relative owns the second house that we also searched.
GRACE: Now, and the grandparents are deceased, are they not?
WEIS: Yes.
GRACE: So was a vacant home searched?
WEIS: Yes. I believe the family was using it to store just some objects and furniture in.
GRACE: And that is the boyfriend`s grandparents, is that correct?
WEIS: Yes, I believe.
GRACE: OK. Also, Captain, is it true that DFACS or Child Protection Services has had a conversation with the mother before?
WEIS: I`m sorry, could you repeat that, Nancy?
GRACE: Has CPS, Child Protective Services, ever been brought in for any reason in the past?
WEIS: They were brought in 2012 for Angela and Terry, Jr., while they were having issues in their marriage but it was a closed case.
GRACE: With me, Michael Gast, founder of the National Academy of Police Diving.
Michael, under these conditions if this child were in the water would she still be on the bottom? Would she have floated to the top? At this point if they haven`t found her in that body of water I don`t think she`s in there.
MICHAEL GAST, FOUNDER, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLICE DIVING: Well, probably so unless she was weighted down.
GRACE: Unless she was weighted down. At a certain point, Michael, would her body break apart?
GAST: At some point, but it would be more time that has been involved now. But basically it takes one and a half times the actual body weight to keep a body down. So it`d take a lot of weight to keep a little baby like that down, more than one person would be able to handle probably.
GRACE: Back to Richard Schiewe, the stepfather of Angela. Is it true you went to the river search area today and what did you observe?
SCHIEWE: The Coast Guard boat and the FBI in the water.
GRACE: And?
SCHIEWE: That was it. They just, you know, wouldn`t say nothing. You know they`re nothing not talking about anything. Whatever I ask them they won`t tell me. (INAUDIBLE) job, that`s what they say. We`ll get back with you.
GRACE: With me is Angela Steinfurth`s father, Richard Schiewe.
Richard, is it true that the day after baby Elaina went missing your daughter goes to work, goes to a new job?
SCHIEWE: She was supposed to go to a new job, yes. She was supposed to start the next day.
GRACE: And she went while the search is going on for her daughter.
SCHIEWE: No, no, no, no. She didn`t go. She was supposed to go, to start her training for a new job but she didn`t go.
GRACE: What was she doing in the search for baby Elaina?
SCHIEWE: We were running the bushes, the woods. We searched both sides of the river from the Hollywood Casino all the way to the eye level bridge on both sides. I had a friend of mine put his boat in the water. He ran up and down. He was in the water two times with the boat trying to go and, you know, look for Elaina.
GRACE: Well, surely with all this time you were with the baby`s mother you had to ask her what in the hay happened to the baby. Did she ever give you a clear answer?
SCHIEWE: No, ma`am, she did not. She said, all right. She`s I don`t know. The only time she started talking is when she got put in jail.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s an ongoing investigation. Anywhere leads take us we`re going to exhaust those leads.
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: We`ve had multiple companies printing the flyers. We have flyers all over. I`ve heard that we have flyers down in Cincinnati. So they are getting out, people are looking. People are listening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`ve been to my house, they`ve been to my friend`s house, several of my friends` houses. You work together, unite together on this. I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate everything they`re doing and I do believe that we`ll find this baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. The search for missing baby Elaina, just 18 months old. With me right now, Dr. Bill Manion, and joining me tonight out of Philadelphia.
Dr. Manion, question. If a baby 18 months old were just dropped, dropped from an adult level on, let me just say five and a half feet, would the baby die?
DR. BILL MANION, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER, BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ: Well, yes, the baby could suffer a skull fracture, a subdural hematoma, a bleed on the brain and yes, that could cause death. Absolutely.
GRACE: How would that happen?
MANION: Well, the -- normally when a head injury occurs like that either there`s a skull fracture on the side of the -- of the skull, usually the Squamish portion of the temporal bone is the thinnest area. And if that fractures, oftentimes there`ll be a bleed beneath that area and once that blood begins to fill inside the skull it will push the brain down into the vertebra column and you`ll get brain herniation and the baby will stop breathing. So once a head jury occurs you have to get the baby to the hospital as soon as possible.
GRACE: So you`re saying that that would happen because of the pressure, because of the bleeding on the brain?
MANION: That`s correct.
GRACE: Got it.
MANION: It will cause brainstem herniation and brainstem herniation will interfere with the respiratory centers that cause the baby to breathe.
GRACE: And all this could happen from a single drop?
MANION: Absolutely. Absolutely.
GRACE: OK. To Richard Schiewe, this is Angela, the mother`s father.
Richard, have you heard a scenario where the baby was dropped?
SCHIEWE: I cannot comment on that.
GRACE: I`m going to take that as a yes.
SCHIEWE: Well, you can take it whatever way you want. I`m just saying I cannot comment on certain things.
GRACE: When was the last time you spoke to Angela?
SCHIEWE: Because it would hamper the investigation is what I was told.
GRACE: OK.
SCHIEWE: That`s why --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: When did you last speak -- I understand. I completely understand. When was the last time you spoke to Angela?
SCHIEWE: Day before yesterday.
GRACE: OK. To Captain Brad Weis --
SCHIEWE: No, I`m sorry, I talked to her yesterday. I`m sorry. I talked to her yesterday.
GRACE: With the Toledo Police Department.
Captain, Captain, is the mother`s story changing?
WEIS: I can`t comment on the interviews and what she has --
GRACE: OK.
WEIS: What she is saying as you`re aware our investigation pans out.
GRACE: This is something that I observed.
Liz, let`s see that full train -- I mean, that video side by side of the mom.
This is Angela Steinfurth. She`s 25. She has two children. Observe when she`s being interviewed. She`s perfectly calm but when she is -- once she`s arrested finally we see tears when she is arrested.
This is not when the baby is missing. This is not hours after the baby is gone. This is when she is arrested.
Unleash the lawyers. Jeff Gold, New York, Danny Cevallos, New York.
Jeff Gold, weigh in.
JEFF GOLD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This is a strange one, riveting, riveting dialogue you`re having. And if there`s a trial a lot of this is going to come in. I mean, I agree with you when you see her with that baby, you really feel maybe she --
GRACE: Actually none of this is going to come in because it`s all hearsay.
GOLD: Well, I --
GRACE: But go ahead. Give me your analysis.
GOLD: You know, I don`t know about that. But I will say this. I agree with you when you see her with that baby it doesn`t seem like she did it. Why wouldn`t she take the baby to a doctor? One of two reasons, she`s either a -- a Christian scientist or she`s covering up. And it really seems like she`s covering up for somebody else and what we heard is that she`s already talking to the FBI. Maybe she`s under witness protection by being in jail.
GRACE: Danny Cevallos?
DANNY CEVALLOS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, unless they come up with more information in their investigation, this is a defensible case. All they have is her statements. That`s not going to rise to the level of beyond a reasonable doubt that she participated in some act that caused the death.
GRACE: Well --
CEVALLOS: There is the accident defense and it is very available. But the reality is, it sounds like this is someone who doesn`t like jail and likes to talk.
GRACE: But remember --
CEVALLOS: But as it stands right now, it`s defensible.
GRACE: Dropping a baby --
CEVALLOS: It`s defensible.
GRACE: -- may be an accident but then with holding medical care? First of all, you`ve got to convince me you drop a baby and it dies, number one. OK? Because I heard you --
(CROSSTALK)
CEVALLOS: No, that`s not true.
GRACE: But I`m not down with that.
CEVALLOS: Because it`s the government`s burden. It`s the government`s burden, not the Nancy burden.
GRACE: As I was saying -- I`m not the jury. I`m telling you what I`ve observed over so many homicide prosecutions I can`t even count them, sir. What I`m telling you is that that stinks to me. But say it was an accident. I`m going to give you that, Cevallos.
You drop your baby and it`s bleeding from the mouth or the nose and you don`t take it to the hospital? OK. To me that is criminal.
To Eris Huemer, psychotherapist joining me from L.A., I`d like to hear your analysis.
ERIS HUEMER, PSY.D.. PSYCHOTHERAPIST, DOCTORERIS.COM: Well, Nancy, this is definitely a form of child neglect which is a form of child abuse. Whenever a child is dropped on the head and the child isn`t getting the proper medical needs that it needs, it is a form of medical child abuse. So it is definitely something --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Even if the mother --
HUEMER: Yes.
GRACE: If a mother was told you`re going pay if you rat us out, you know what, no way in hell would I let somebody take my child. Over my dead cold body.
HUEMER: I would rat them out. I would rat them out definitely because I`m going to protect my child.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Straight out to our dive expert, Michael Gast, founder, National Academy of Police Diving. The police captain has told us that the conditions there at the (INAUDIBLE) river, zero visibility. Describe.
GAST: Well, zero visibility is when you have so much suspended particles in the water that you`re not able to see anything beyond your face plate or your mask.
GRACE: Also with us right now, everyone, the father of baby Elaina as well as the grandfather. Let me ask you this, Terry Steinfurth, Jr.
You are the father of this child. Did you outright ask the mom or anybody else in that home what happened?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: Several times.
GRACE: What did they tell you?
TERRY STEINFURTH, JR.: We don`t know, we don`t know. That`s the only answers I keep getting.
GRACE: What about it, Senior?
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: That`s more or less what they`re telling me. Nobody knows who took this baby. Nobody can tell us when the baby left the house.
GRACE: I do not believe that. I do not believe that.
TERRY STEINFURTH, SR.: Or when the last time they saw the baby in the house.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: We remember American hero Air Force Senior Airman Michael Buras, 23, Fitzgerald, Georgia. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Joint Service Commendation medal. Parents Joy and John, sisters Michelle and Samantha, daughter Madison.
Michael Buras, American hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA STEINFURTH, MOTHER OF MISSING BABY ELAINA: I need all the support that I can get to bring her home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Over a thousand fliers with vital information about little Elaina Steinfurth. Toledo fire crews take (INAUDIBLE) River. There were no signs of her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still plenty of time, plenty of chances for that little girl to still be alive and well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With me tonight, the biological father, his father, and the mom`s father, all joining together in the search for baby Elaina.
Back to Richard Schiewe, the father of mom Angela Steinfurth.
Richard, you are saying that only one side of the story is being told. And that the Steinfurth`s side of the story. I want the hear your side of the story.
SCHIEWE: Well, my side of the story is, I don`t know what happened to my granddaughter, but I do know I want to find her and I hope she is alive. But I have a gut feeling that she`s not. And her mother did not drop her on her head. Like you just got done saying. Nobody said she dropped her. Nobody said anybody dropped her.
GRACE: Nobody has said anybody dropped her.
SCHIEWE: You just did. You just said what if she dropped her.
GRACE: Do you believe nobody dropped her? You think nobody dropped her?
SCHIEWE: I can`t say. I can`t say what happened to her. Because it will mess up the investigation.
GRACE: Well, you just corrected me in saying that I was wrong when I said she dropped her. So obviously --
SCHIEWE: She didn`t drop her.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: You think somebody dropped her.
SCHIEWE: I didn`t say that.
GRACE: Well, I know you didn`t. You`re absolutely right. But guess what I learned in the first grade. Two plus two equals four.
Everyone, the search for baby Elaina goes on. 1-800-CALL-FBI. There`s a $10,000 reward for help in finding baby Elaina and bringing her home.
As we go to break, happy birthday to New York friend Donald. Loves reading, boating on the Hudson.
Happy birthday, dear Donald.
Dr. Drew is up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Tonight, our prayers with the family of baby Elaina. Until tomorrow night, good night, friend.
END
