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Nancy Grace
Suspect`s Home Searched in Missing Virginia Teen Case
Aired August 14, 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: Time is of the essence.
LAURA ANN MURPHY, MISSING GIRL`S MOTHER: It`s like my heart just been ripped out.
If she was going to miss her curfew or be late for her curfew, she would have called and said, I`m going to be late.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the arrest of Randy Allen Taylor, we made a significant step closer towards bringing her home.
MURPHY: I want her to come home because today would have been her first day of school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 48-year-old is charged with abduction in connection with the disappearance of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s very recognizable to people...
GRACE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... who see him.
GRACE: It certainly is. And it`s not the happy Daffy Duck. It`s the angry Daffy Duck.
MURPHY: She did not have an ATM card or a credit card. The only thing she had on her was cash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring attention to Alexis`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Food Lion parking lot overlooks the Liberty gas station, where Alexis was last seen on August 3rd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see her there, walking around the gas station inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Taylor was caught on this same surveillance video the night she vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the area to be searched is so extensive and is comprised of such challenging terrain.
MURPHY: Please, let us know (INAUDIBLE) Sunday school this morning, but I didn`t have my daughter (INAUDIBLE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Tonight, live, Virginia, a high school senior goes for back-to-school shopping, never seen again. First day of school, she`s not at her desk. Mom works the night shift for the post office, desperate to find her little girl, a straight-A volleyball team captain, her car abandoned at a nearby cinema, but she didn`t go to a movie.
Bombshell tonight. Over 20 Virginia state police, 15 vehicles, K9 units, ATVs all converging at this hour at the home of 48-year-old Randy Taylor of U.S. 29, Nelson County, Taylor`s home, set on wooded property, surrounded, the driveway entrance and a wooded gully near his home now plastered with yellow crime scene tape.
Also tonight, does 48-year-old Taylor have a secret lakeside hideout? And do forensic computer investigations reveal disturbing tweets from an anonymous admirer? Tonight, where is high school senior Alexis Murphy?
We are live and taking your calls. Straight out to WRVA, Jeff Stapleton. Jeff, his whole home and a wooded gully is now plastered with yellow crime scene tape, this as going on 30 police officers, K9 handlers and techs at the scene.
What do you know, Jeff?
JEFF STAPLETON, WRVA (via telephone): Yes, it`s quite a scene on Route 29. It`s a couple miles north of the Liberty gas station on Route 29 in Nelson country, near the town of Lovingston.
And as you mentioned, dogs, ATVs on the scene. It`s challenging terrain in that area, so FBI officials are out there on four-wheelers, heading back into a densely wooded area of the property, dogs trying to pick up scents, that sort of thing, looking for any clues whatsoever.
GRACE: Jeff Stapleton, WRVA, do you know what type of dogs are there? Are they scent dogs or are they cadaver dogs?
STAPLETON: I would imagine that they`re probably scent dogs at this point. They want to keep all hope that they possibly can in finding Alexis Murphy until they know otherwise that they can`t use those scent dogs.
GRACE: Out to Courteney Stuart with "The Hook." She interviewed Randy Allen Taylor about another missing girl, Samantha Clarke. Courteney, thank you for being with us. When you first heard about Alexis missing, did you immediately think of Taylor?
COURTENEY STUART, "THE HOOK": I did not think immediately of Taylor. In fact, I don`t think there was really any reason to because Nelson County and Orange County are on opposite sides of Albemarle, where Charlottesville`s located. So you`re talking about areas that are an hour, an hour-and-a-half apart.
And I didn`t know where he had moved to. When I talked to him last fall for another story that we did -- in fact, we were doing a story on an incident he had been involved with that -- we didn`t even know he was involved in Samantha Clarke`s case until he told us that. So...
GRACE: Well, why were you interviewing him?
STUART: I was interviewing him because he had come to the paper telling us that he had been harassed by police and that he had won his case and that the court in Green (ph) County had tossed out this evidence that would have resulted in him being perhaps put away for a couple years for being a felon in possession of a gun. So we thought we were getting...
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! I had it bass-ackwards, Courteney! With me is Courteney Stuart with "The Hook." She`s the editor of "The Hook." She interviewed Taylor about the Samantha Clarke case.
See, I thought that he was claiming his rights were violated after police, let me just say, got a little too exuberant and stuck a GPS monitor on the back of his car when they were trying to find Samantha Clarke, another young girl who goes missing in the general area.
I thought that`s why -- I read your article. I thought that`s why he was complaining, that that`s how his rights were violated. Now, whoa, whoa! This is all new to me. What, Courteney -- what`s he -- what was he complaining about?
STUART: He was -- I think it`s not backwards. It`s just when we came -- when we interviewed him, we didn`t know that he was a suspect in the case. We thought that he was coming just to talk about how the police had harassed him, and we didn`t know why he was complaining about it. But he had won this -- you know, the court had, indeed, tossed out this stuff against him.
So he comes to the office, and all of a sudden, he announces, Well, they`re doing this because I`m the lead suspect in the Samantha Clarke case, at which point -- that was a case I`d been covering, so that`s when I said, Oh, my gosh, you know, let`s sit down and talk about that. So we had a long chat about...
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! All right, you know, out to you, defense attorney Peter Odom. Why is it that guilty people are always whining that their rights have been violated? I`ve never said my rights have been violated. I`ve never heard you say your rights have been violated.
Why is this guy who`s now suddenly connected to two missing teens whining that his rights are violated? You know what? Cops can put a GPS monitor on my car right now. They can stick it right up the tailpipe of my mini-van, and I don`t care! So what`s his problem?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, you know, I don`t know whether he`s guilty or not of that crime or this one. And frankly, if I had been his lawyer, I would have told him don`t go talking to the media, whether you`re guilty or not, so...
GRACE: Get to the point, please.
ODOM: Well, if your question is, why do all guilty people go talk to the media, they don`t.
GRACE: That`s not what I asked you! You know, I`m going to let you collect yourself.
Back to you, Courteney Stuart. So he voluntarily marches into the offices at "The Hook" and starts telling you that his rights have been violated over what charge?
STUART: Well, he had been pulled over and charged with having a -- first it was having a tag light -- a license tag light out. And then they searched his car and they said that they found a gun. He was claiming the gun had been planted and that they were harassing him because -- that`s when he said, Because they`re convinced that I abducted and killed Samantha Clarke. And he -- so he was saying, This is why they`re doing this. And I didn`t do it, and let me tell you my version of events.
GRACE: OK, out to you, Clark Goldband. I want to talk to you about another line of investigation that we have been doing, the NANCY GRACE staff. I want to talk to you about an anonymous tweeter that was tweeting her -- or Facebooking her, I can`t recall which one it was -- and obviously, it`s somebody that had been watching her.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, these sites are popping up in cases we`ve been covering. They`re all the rage, and what they are are question and answer sites, kind of a hybrid between Twitter and Facebook, if you will.
And just 25 days ago -- I`ve got it right here -- there was a question that says, "Saw you at Liberty in dem flower leggings. Goodness, girl." She replies -- Alexis, the girl -- "LOL. Word. I was probably pumping gas."
Now, why we believe this may be significant to the case is because, of course, Nancy, you`ll remember that this gas station was the Liberty gas station where she was last seen on surveillance. You see it on your screen right there. So just less than a month ago, just weeks before she vanishes, at least one person was admiring what Alexis was apparently wearing.
GRACE: You know -- and back to you, Jeff Stapleton, WRVA. Didn`t she go missing in those same flowered leggings?
STAPLETON: Yes, that`s -- that`s what the report was when she was first reported missing. She was in flowered leggings capri pants, I believe is what the outfit was.
GRACE: OK, Jeff Stapleton, I want to get back to his home and his property being plastered with crime scene tape. Tell me, who has amassed at his property? What`s there?
STAPLETON: Well, he moved there after losing his job at the -- at a drive-away motors place. He moved there a couple -- year or two ago and...
GRACE: What I`m saying is, what cops are there right now?
Hold on. Out to the lines. Mark in Virginia. Hi, Mark. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am, Miss Grace. Thank you for letting me come on tonight. I just want to let you know that you`re doing a wonderful job. I appreciate the cases that you take on.
GRACE: Thank you, Mark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is with the Alexis Murphy case. Do you remember when Morgan Harrington, a case that happened this Charlottesville?
GRACE: Yes, I do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And (INAUDIBLE) on the farm.
GRACE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think there is any connection that they would have with that, with that case?
GRACE: OK, keep Mark in Virginia on the line. Before I go to Morgan Harrington, did you mention another name? Did you say it was -- were you talking about Alexis Murphy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am, I was talking about Alexis Murphy.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I know that you know that those cases with the girl that was in Orange County and then with her being in Charlottesville, that that -- that`s the relationship to the farm that Morgan Harrington was found on, was in between Charlottesville and the man`s home that they have up under custody now.
GRACE: So you`re saying -- let`s show a shot of Morgan Harrington. Morgan Harrington was the young lady who had been at a concert. She leaves, leaves the concert just to go to the restroom, leaves her friends. She is found dead.
Now, Mark in Virginia, you`re saying that where Morgan`s body was found -- I know it was found in a field on a farm, and you`re saying it`s between what and what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlottesville -- it`s between Charlottesville and I can`t -- what`s the man`s name that they have up in the custody now for the case?
GRACE: Randy Taylor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, Randy Taylor. It`s right in between his home and Charlottesville, and almost in the same area where they found Alexis Murphy`s car, where her -- where she was because, you know, involved with the concert. And the car location is almost in the same vicinity, and that`s almost halfway in between Lovingston and Charlottesville where...
GRACE: Yes, Alexis Murphy, Mark in Virginia, was working at Kids to Kids. It was a children, a kids` clothes store, Kids to Kids. And you`re saying that it is in the general of where the concert was?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: All right, out to you, Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. What do you make of that, Marc?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, it`s just so disturbing on every level. This guy is -- now we`re suggesting that he`s a potential serial killer, and that would not be unheard of at all. I mean, look at these predators. Look at this guy, Ariel Castro up in Cleveland. There`s a trial for a guy named Joe Nassau (ph) right now here in my area, a serial killer of young women that goes back years and years and years.
I don`t know if there`s any validity to this, but you know what? They found Morgan Harrington, and they might be able to search her for forensic evidence that would tie this all together.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alexis, if you`re out there, if you can hear us, just know that your family loves you. We will never stop until you are home. Our family circle is broken right now, but it will be mended.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 17-year-old last seen on surveillance video at this central Virginia gas station.
MURPHY: I carried my youngest son to school this morning, but I didn`t have my daughter to take! (INAUDIBLE) if anybody know anything, please, please let us know. Please!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time is of the essence, and the area to be searched is so extensive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our family...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Somewhere, there is a clue about where high school senior Alexis Tiara Murphy is tonight. We want to find that clue.
Joining us exclusively tonight is the mother of Alexis Murphy. Laura Ann Murphy is with us. Ms. Murphy, thank you for being with us.
As a crime victim myself, I know it is excruciating, what you`re going through. And the fact that you are joining us and putting out a public plea tonight means so much to the investigation.
One thing I want to nail down, Mrs. Murphy, I don`t think your daughter -- we have been investigating her ourselves for days now. From what I know of her, I don`t think she would have gone up to Taylor and initiated a conversation with him. I just don`t see it.
MURPHY: No. Me, either. Not someone that looked like that, no, she would never initiate a conversation with him at all.
GRACE: I mean, your girl is very, very smart. She had good grades. She`s co-captain of the volleyball team at school. She works part-time at Kids to Kids. I mean, your girl had a lot going for her. Why do you think she would never have had a conversation with Taylor in person?
MURPHY: Well, I know for a fact that someone looked like that, she would never have a conversation with. Even when we go out shopping to shores and men look at her funny, she`s always, like, underneath of me, and like, walking in front of me and walking next to me because she`s scared. And someone that looked like that, I know she would never, ever.
GRACE: And what Ms. Murphy is saying -- let`s have a shot of 48-year- old Randy Allen Taylor. He`s covered in tattoos. He`s been in and out of jail. He`s got a rap sheet as long as the interstate. I mean, this is the kind of guy you see in the gas station, you go and lock -- you know when you instinctively just lock your doors with that electric lock? Yes, this is the guy that makes you lock your doors.
Back out to you, Jeff Stapleton, WRVA. What police presence has come to Taylor`s home? Are they -- is it true they have come out there with shovels and picks?
STAPLETON: Yes, they`ve come out with shovels and picks. That`s the same thing they were doing Monday, as well. That`s the day that they held the press conference to identify Randy Taylor as the person that`s being held in her disappearance.
So you got -- you`ve got Orange -- you`ve got the Nelson County sheriffs out there. You`ve got probably other sheriffs` offices in the area. You`ve got the FBI. The FBI took over the investigation last week. And...
GRACE: Hey, Jeff, hold on just one moment. With me, Jeff Stapleton, WRVA.
Right now, out to a federal presser. Let`s see what they`re saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an ongoing investigation, and we will continue following outstanding leads in order to answer remaining questions in this matter. We continue to seek information from anyone who may have seen anything of interest on the day of Alexis`s disappearance or during the days between then and when her car was discovered in Charlottesville.
We are also looking for any information the public may have regarding suspect Randy Taylor prior to the disappearance of Alexis and anything regarding his activities or involvements that might prove helpful to this investigation.
We will be releasing a flier with a picture of Taylor and his vehicle, a late model GMC Suburban-like truck with Virginia license plates. This information will be made available as soon as possible after this conference.
Again, if the public has any information regarding Taylor, please call the Nelson County sheriff`s office at 434-263-7050.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alexis Murphy vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last seen on surveillance video at a Lovingston gas station.
MURPHY: I kept calling her cellphone, and it just kept going to her voicemail. And that`s not like her because she keeps her cellphone with her 24/7.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To Randy Taylor. I`m not going to hate you, I`m going to pray for you. And if you know where my niece is, you need to let the authorities know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, I appreciate those prayers, but it may take more than just prayers to get this guy to talk. Tonight, where is high school senior Alexis Murphy?
Right now, let`s go straight back to that fed presser and hear what they`re saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`d also like to thank the public in advance for any information that is provided. As you know, it is quite difficult to bring this type of case to resolution quickly and thoroughly, especially when time is of the essence and the area to be searched is so extensive and comprised of such challenging terrain.
I know there is some speculation that this case may be connected to other similar disappearances or abductions in the region. We are certainly looking at all possibilities and information in this regard. However, we are not prepared to discuss this at the present time, and our focus here today is to bring attention to Alexis`s disappearance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK, very quickly, with me, special guest Diana Wheeler. This is the Orange County commonwealth attorney who is overseeing one of the other girl -- missing girl`s case, Samantha Clarke.
Diana Wheeler, thank you for being with us.
DIANA WHEELER, ORANGE CO. COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY (via telephone): Thank you.
GRACE: Diana, it is very rare that you hear a fed admit that they are looking into connections with other cases. Usually, they keep that very close to the vest. Obviously, one of the other victims they`re talking about is Samantha Clarke. Why?
WHEELER: Samantha Clarke walked away from her house September 13th, 2010, and was never seen again. That was a Monday night. The Saturday, Sunday and daytime Monday, she had quite a bit of contact with Randy Taylor and two or three other individuals that were connected with him. And she had numerous phone contacts, either texts or calls, that he initiated to her immediately before she left her home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FBI and Nelson County authorities announced a disheartening discovery in the 17-year-old`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities announced the arrest of this man, 48-year-old Randy Allen Taylor, and charged him in connection to the teen`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A break in the case puts this man behind bars and charged him with abduction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve really got to get her home. Our family is just struggling with this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: FBI and local authorities searched the home where Taylor lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the arrest of Randy Allen Taylor, we`ve made a significant step closer toward bringing her home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While Taylor has been charged, Murphy has yet to be found.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. We may have Taylor right now, but he`s not talking, and we don`t have missing high school senior, Alexis Murphy.
For those of you just joining us, Alexis goes for school shopping, back to school shopping, she`s never seen again. Joining us tonight is her mother, Laura Ann Murphy, begging for the girl`s return. Randy Taylor, behind bars, we believe connected to other missing girls, refusing to talk.
Take a look at him. You can`t miss the Daffy Duck on the side of his neck. Also with us tonight, Diana Wheeler, Orange County Commonwealth attorney, who is overseeing another missing girl case, Samantha Clark.
Back to Marc in Virginia. Marc, the rest of your question?
CALLER: Yes, ma`am. I think that we had a witness that said he had saw a female with blond hair in the truck with Randy Taylor. And maybe, you know, that was a -- we think he could have used one of those to lure Alexis into the vehicle with them, or would that be a way that he could be able to approach--
GRACE: Marc in Virginia. Marc, let me go to Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation. Marc, for instance, with Samantha Clark, I really don`t see Samantha Clark, this young girl, hooking up with Randy Taylor. I think that he used a lure of some sort. Maybe had a woman with him. Maybe he used a false identity, I don`t know what it was. But I don`t see the two of them, let me just say, going out on a date. Same thing here with Alexis Murphy. Obviously he`s using some type of lure to get these girls.
KLAAS: Well, or Nancy, he`s following them to remote locations, where they become very isolated and vulnerable. Now, Alexis` car was found in a parking lot, at night. Women are incredibly vulnerable in parking lots at night, and the predators know that. So there is a number of ways that he could have attached himself to these women, but it`s well beyond the pale to think for one second that anybody`s going to walk up to this creep and engage in conversation with him.
GRACE: Out to Jeff Stapleton, WRVA. Jeff, what do we know about Randy Taylor? Let me see the shot of the Liberty gas station. It`s huge. Seems to be right on a big intersection, it`s a big spot where all the locals go. It`s connected to a McDonald`s, and I know, isn`t this right, Ms. Murphy, that she liked the McDonald`s caramel frappe? She would go there and get that? If you look at the left of this, you can see the McDonald`s right over to the left, just to the left of the word, Liberty. They were connected. Isn`t that the drink she always wanted, Mrs. Murphy?
MURPHY: Yes, that`s her drink, yes.
GRACE: And Jeff Stapleton, is it true that Taylor has been spotted just above that? At some other establishment. Clark, what`s right above that? He was spotted-- yes, the Food Lion.
STAPLETON: Yes. There`s a Food Lion across the street, Nancy.
GRACE: Jeff, has he been spotted in the Food Lion looking down into the McDonald`s and Liberty gas station area?
STAPLETON: Yes, that`s where a resident in that area said and claimed that Mr. Taylor was up there just in a parked car watching people go by, not really going into the store to purchase anything, but he`d just sit in his car watching people go by, and he has a good vantage point to that Liberty gas station and the McDonald`s where Alexis was last seen.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, defense attorney out of Atlanta, Peter Odom, also joining us tonight, death penalty qualified prosecutor, death penalty qualified prosecutor, Eleanor Odom.
OK, Eleanor. I can`t tell you tonight whether he`s guilty or innocent, but I know this. When you look out your window and you see the feds with ATVs and canines digging through your backyard, in the gully behind your house, that`s not good.
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: No, it`s not good, and it`s not good that it`s the FBI, Nancy. It makes me wonder what is it about this case that`s connecting the FBI to it? Do they suspect him having problems or doing something to girls in other states? So, that`s the big issue there with the FBI.
GRACE: What about it, Peter? He`s been behind bars now over 24 hours. He`s still not talking.
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Eleanor is exactly right. The fact the FBI is now investigating this case tells you that there`s something that they`re not disclosing. There must be an interstate connection that the investigators know about that we don`t know about, because both these missing girls are from Virginia. There`s nothing there to give the FBI jurisdiction. So it is very intriguing. Clearly, they`re looking at him for something else.
GRACE: Out to you, Diana Wheeler, Orange County Commonwealth attorney, overseeing another missing girls case, Samantha Clark. Why are the feds involved?
DIANA WHEELER, ORANGE COUNTY COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY: I can`t tell you that because I`m not a part of what`s happening in Nelson County. So I do not know why they are.
GRACE: Back out to Clark Goldband. Clark, what can you tell me, does this guy have a secret lake hideout?
GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy. According to local reports, at the time of this other girl that went missing, Clark, law enforcement not only searched the trailer home he was living at, he owned another trailer home some miles away by a lake, Nancy. His camper in this case, also seized.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators arrested 48-year-old Randy Allen Taylor and charged him with abduction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was just sitting in the parking lot, watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually could have targeted her several days or weeks before all this occurred.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators have been searching for Alexis by air and combing her neighborhood looking for answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Traveling on four wheelers into the woods, armed with tools to dig.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we continue to ask the public to keep calling in with tips and critical information, particularly if you know Randy Taylor or recognize him now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is high school senior Alexis Murphy? Straight A student, co-captain of her high school volleyball team. She goes out to do back to school shopping, she`s never seen again. Out to her mother, Laura Ann Murphy. Ms. Murphy, what are police telling you?
MURPHY: They haven`t come to me today and said anything, but they reassured me yesterday that they are on every lead that they have, and that they`re not going to stop working this case until Alexis is found. They reassured me of that.
GRACE: Out to Dr. Bill Manion, medical examiner joining me out of Philadelphia tonight. Dr. Manion, thank you for being with us. They have converged, they have swarmed Taylor`s home, and a gully, a ravine going down the back of this heavily wooded area, his house sits back off in a very, very densely wooded area. They showed up with shovels and picks. Explain.
DR. BILL MANION, MD: They`re looking for any kind of evidence that can link Alexis to that scene. They`ll be looking at her tire prints, footprints, any type of trace evidence, fibers, clothing, ripped clothing, torn clothing. Any evidence that she was there at that scene. They will be spraying the scene with luminol, looking for any blood traces, and processing his trailer the same way, looking for hair, blood, any evidence that there was a clean-up. Any type of forensic trace evidence.
GRACE: Out to the lawyers, Peter Odom, how do you get him to talk?
P. ODOM: Well, it`s going to be very difficult to get him to talk. He`s got the right to remain silent. The only way that I see them--
GRACE: Please don`t start reciting the Constitution.
P. ODOM: No, no, listen up, Nancy. The only way they`re going to get him to talk is if they start putting things on the table in terms of negotiation. And it`s a little early for that. The police at this point don`t know how strong their case is, so they don`t know whether they have a strong motivation to negotiate, and I don`t see this guy talking. I don`t see them putting anything on the table for him.
GRACE: Eleanor?
E. ODOM: Unfortunately, Peter`s probably right, too. I don`t think he`s going to talk unless there is some incentive to talk. But this is why the cops are out there swarming where he lives, his land, searching for everything they can so they can tie it to him. Because Nancy, let`s face it, even if he does talk, what if you get to court and the statement`s tossed out? You have to have the evidence to back up any charge.
GRACE: Back to Jeff Stapleton, joining us, WRVA, he`s joining us from Richmond, Virginian. Jeff, right now, we know that police, ATVs, canines, crime scene processors, shovel, picks and work are out there, what can you tell me about him owning another trailer or hideout somewhere on that lake?
STAPLETON: Are you talking about the Green County Lake?
GRACE: Yes.
STAPLETON: Yes, the Green County Lake, he says, they`ve searched that multiple times as well. He keeps another trailer around that Green County Lake and police have been there a couple of times, probably with the dogs and the ATVs as well. Maybe not the ATVs, probably not as rough terrain there, but dogs definitely looking for clues. Any source. They can`t leave any stone unturned here. They`ve got to look for everywhere he`s been, to look for any clues.
GRACE: Out to Courtney Stuart, senior editor with The Hook. Interviewed Randy Allen Taylor, when he sauntered into The Hook`s office to announce that police have been harassing him and planting evidence on him. Courtney, I want to hear what he is like in person.
COURTNEY STUART, EDITOR, THE HOOK: Well, on the day he showed up in our office, he was dressed nicely. He was wearing a collared shirt. It couldn`t conceal the Daffy Duck tattoo on his neck or his sort of gaunt appearance. He was soft spoken, he seemed uncomfortable, but he was also very insistent on his innocence, and I think he was putting on sort of I`m just a man wronged. That was his position, that he had been wronged, but he was quiet, and you know, he looks the way he looks, so I think he probably is maybe intimidating or, you know, certainly not somebody that would encourage people to come up and talk to him, I guess.
GRACE: Out to Eris Huemer, psychotherapist joining me out of LA. Dr. Eris, we know now through our own investigation that someone had been watching her and texting her. Telling her that they saw her at the same gas station in the same outfit a couple of weeks before, and were commenting on how great she looked.
DR. ERIS HUEMER, PSY D.: Well, that`s the thing, Nancy. Is that abduction is a singularly grotesque interaction, and what happens a lot of times with these abductors is they have profiled exactly how -- they have profiled the victim, and they have planned what they are going to do, how they are going to abduct the child or the person, and their method of selection. So this is something that possibly has been in the works for quite a while.
GRACE: To Laura Ann Murphy, this is the mother of Alexis, now missing. Ms. Murphy, you have called Taylor an evil monster. Right now, we don`t know what his connection to your daughter is. Why do you say that? What do you know?
MURPHY: Just looking at him, looking at his eyes, he`s an evil person.
GRACE: Have you seen him in person?
MURPHY: Yes, I have seen the truck around. You know, when I do go to Loewe`s (ph) and stuff, but I`d never seen him in person.
GRACE: When you say you`ve seen his truck around, let`s show a picture, it is a very easily identifiable vehicle. Mr. Murphy, could you describe what he drives?
MURPHY: From the pictures, I`ve seen the big truck with the camouflage stuff, paint around it. And it`s got -- gray. I mean--
GRACE: Well, it`s something you wouldn`t forget. It`s a GMC Suburban, and he`s camouflaged the exterior. It`s a huge, huge truck. Stapleton, I assume that the Suburban is -- has been seized, correct?
STAPLETON: That`s correct. They took that from his property I believe on Monday.
GRACE: Back to Alexis` mom, Laura Ann Murphy, joining us from Lovingston, Virginia. Ms. Murphy, Randy Taylor was questioned and under suspicious in the disappearance of Samantha Clark, another teenage girl that goes missing. Walks out to an errand, she`s never seen again. What is your reaction to the fact that he was never formally prosecuted in that case?
MURPHY: I am very sick about that. I am just heartbroken for her family. That he was never prosecuted for that. And just to think that he`s out there still, walking around amongst all of us, it is very sickening.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alexis is very close to her family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Murphy`s coach describes number 9 as a standout.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s very outgoing and athletic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alexis was going to be a leader on this team this year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Innocent 17-year-old girl who had so much promise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her family misses her so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. Where is high school senior Alexis? She goes out to do back-to-school shopping and is never seen again. With us tonight, her mother, asking for your help. Tip line, 434-263-7050. Out to Andrew J. Scott, former chief of police, Boca Raton, president, AJS Consulting. Andrew, thank you for being with us. What do we do now?
ANDREW J. SCOTT, AJS CONSULTING PRESIDENT: My pleasure. Well, what we need to do is sit, and unfortunately for the mother, it`s excruciating, but we have to wait and let the forensic evidence technicians, along with the FBI and the canine, to do their searching where they think that possible evidence might be located there. And that`s probably one of the most difficult things that a parent has to do is wait on these types of things.
The other type of thing that they have to be cognizant of is the social media. Who is this cyber stalker? Where is it emanating from? I think that`s a very leading -- a lead, a very good lead that needs to be developed further.
GRACE: To Laura Ann Murphy. A ping went out from her phone, and then after that, it`s my understanding every time you would call it, it would go straight to voicemail or would it ring?
MURPHY: It would go straight to voicemail.
GRACE: Now, she kept her phone with her at all times, right?
MURPHY: Yes.
GRACE: Huh. And did she text a lot? Have police gone to get her texts from the phone company? Because even without the phone, they can get the text.
MURPHY: Yes. Yes, they have done all of that.
GRACE: And Clark Goldband, do we know of her very last texts? What time was she last known to text?
GOLDBAND: Well, Nancy, we know she tweeted at about 7:40 p.m. That`s just a few minutes before she vanished at that gas station. So, that was just a few minutes before, she was posting tweets. She posted well over 50 tweets, and on Twitter, she tweeted, "I actually look cute right now."
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GRACE: We remember American hero, Marine Lance Corporal John Sparks, 23, Chicago, Illinois. Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal. Mother Lenora, grandmother Leona. John Sparks, American hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The small town of Lovingston, there are pink ribbons to remember Alexis, and posters with details of her disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re working on bringing you home, because we all miss you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Right now we are going straight to another state`s presser.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to first say that we continue to hope that Alexis will be found safe and returned to her family. With the arrest of Randy Allen Taylor, we made a significant step closer towards bringing her home. Taylor, age 48, of Thomas Nelson Highway, Lovingston, Virginia, was taken into custody Sunday afternoon without incident. He remains in jail without bond. At some point, there will be an advisement hearing at the Nelson County general district court, where Taylor will be advised of his right to have an attorney represent him.
As of right now, I do knot not know when that will be. As the commonwealth`s attorney, I cannot get into the specific details concerning the arrest of Randy Taylor because I am ethically prohibited --
GRACE: Back to Courtney Stuart, editor with The Hook. You`ve interviewed him before. Have you thought that maybe he would trust you? Have you tried to speak to him?
STUART: I have tried to contact his attorney. I think his attorney changed today, but no, I have not been able to reach him since his arrest, and I would very much like to.
GRACE: Why did they change his lawyer?
STUART: You know, I am actually not sure about that. I know they appointed one and then they switched to somebody in Charlottesville is my understanding, and that`s all I know at this point.
GRACE: Everyone, tip line, 434-263-7050. Dr. Drew up next. Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, where we will continue our search for Alexis. Until then, good night, friend.
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