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Nancy Grace

Teacher Feeds Hot Sauce Crayons to Autistic Boy; Texas DA Tries New Tack on Affluenza Teen; Woman`s Body Found Floating in the Ocean

Aired December 19, 2013 - 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 tonight. Off the top, we go live to Kissimmee, Florida. A female elementary school teacher allegedly force feeds hot pepper sauce and crayons to a 5-year-old little autistic boy. Let me just go on record, if this is true, may she rot in hell!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lillian Gomez back in a classroom, the special needs teacher accused of soaking crayons in hot sauce -- the students apparently kept putting them in their mouths -- will not only be rehired by the Osceola County school district but will get a teaching job in a classroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the teacher doused the crayons with hot sauce.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, Texas suburbs, a rich kid gets drunk and high on weed and Xanax at Mommy and Daddy`s second home, then mows down four people dead in his pricey red truck, leaving two more paralyzed forever. Tonight, after getting straight probation for killing four people, the rich kid set to walk free again, as Mommy and Daddy now face millions in lawsuits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Four lives lost, many others changed forever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 16-year-old was driving three times over the legal limit for an adult when he killed four strangers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Juvenile district judge Jean Boyd Simmons (ph) (INAUDIBLE) to 10 years probation, drawing outrage from far and wide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now a Dallas-area district attorney is fighting for jail time for that young man, Ethan Couch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Arkansas. A mother of three disappears, last seen at a holiday Christmas party reportedly decked out in red velvet and high heels. Tonight, her boyfriend says Dawna (ph) goes back to the party right after they left. That doesn`t make sense!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Searchers found the body of Dawna Natsky (ph) in a rugged area of Garland County, police say murdered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Family members reported Natsky missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A U.S. Forest Service worker found her car burned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who would do something like this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live to the big island, Hawaii. Twenty-five- year-old California girl Brittany Royal (ph), always a free spirit -- yoga instructor, loved to travel -- heads to Hawaii to open up a volcano tour company. After living in a tent with her boyfriend for months in Hawaii`s rugged terrain, her body found ligature-strangled, floating in the ocean. Tonight, was Brittany two months pregnant? And what became of the boyfriend? Was he murdered, too, or is he on the run?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-five-year-old Brittany Royal was found strangled and dumped in the waters off Hawaii`s big island. Family and friends are now wondering...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re so in needing to find out mode.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... if the main suspect, her 23-year-old boyfriend, Bo Johnson (ph), might actually be a victim, not a killer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Orlando, tot mom Casey Anthony walks free in the murder of her 2-year-old little girl Caylee. It was one of the most horrific crimes ever heard in a court of law. Shocker tonight! Tot mom Casey Anthony escapes justice again. In the last hours, a bankruptcy court judge lets tot mom walk free on three quarters of a million dollars debt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Casey Anthony could officially be a free woman.

CASEY ANTHONY, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: And I`m extremely excited.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was acquitted on murder charges in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

ANTHONY: Kind of funny to think about, actually. Very, very exciting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Bombshell tonight. Off the top, to Kissimmee Florida. A female elementary school teacher allegedly force feeds hot pepper sauce and crayons to a little 5-year-old autistic boy? If this is true -- if this is true -- let me just go on the record and say may she rot in hell! Hot sauce and crayons force fed to a 5-year-old autistic boy? What? What`s next, tea party with Satan?

Deborah Roberts, news anchor, Florida News Network. What happened, Deborah?

DEBORAH ROBERTS, FLORIDA NEWS NETWORK (via telephone): Unbelievably, Nancy, word is Lillian Gomez, the special education teacher, had soaked jumbo-sized crayons -- she took the paper wrapping off, put the crayons in a disposable cup, poured hot sauce over them and let them soak for days. Then she took the crayons out, let them dry, and put them in a particular student`s bag and told other students not to use those crayons.

GRACE: You know, Matt Zarrell, there are allegations she actually force fed the crayons to the little boy.

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, first of all, let me just say that the teacher said that she never force fed the crayons, that she only did it -- she only left the crayons out for the kid to eat, to deter the student from eating art supplies, which he had done in the past. I should also note, Nancy, that court documents say no witness ever saw the teacher actually give the child or make the child eat the crayons.

GRACE: OK, I`m asking you, Matt, what is the allegation? Because according to all the documents I`ve seen, she allegedly force fed this boy crayons soaked in hot sauce.

ZARRELL: Well, no, Nancy, the documents do not say that. What the documents say is that there is no witness who actually saw her force feeding the child the crayons. The documents do say, though, that the teacher admits to putting the crayons in the hot sauce and soaking them and leaving them for the child himself to take and put in his mouth.

GRACE: OK, Deborah Roberts, tell me how she got to be a, quote, "special ed" teacher and where she got the idea to soak crayons in hot pepper sauce and give them to the student.

Now, of course, this child is autistic. He wouldn`t know or be able to detect that anything was wrong with crayon. Now, some claim she force fed the student. She denies that. Even leaving out hot pepper-soaked crayons, at the very least, I don`t get it!

ROBERTS: You know, Nancy, I don`t, either because I`m the aunt of two autistic nephews. And I can tell you from firsthand experience that this behavior that this child exhibited in the classroom, eating art supplies, isn`t necessarily a delinquent behavior.

GRACE: Well, you know what? I can remember even my sister, who`s a year or two older than me -- I will never forget the name of the little boy that continually ate the -- the -- what do you make maps out of? You mix together flour and glue.

ROBERTS: Papier mache.

GRACE: That! Yes. Yes. He ate the -- he ate the whole African continent. I mean, he ate the whole thing. So he certainly didn`t get force fed crayons laced with hot pepper sauce.

ROBERTS: It`s just not an appropriate punishment for this child`s behavior. Like you said yourself, he`s 5 years old. And I think especially what the parents of this child find so egregious is that she`s a special education teacher. She supposedly has the training needed to be able to deal with these challenging behaviors in children that are special needs. And yet this was how she chose to teach this child not to eat the art supplies.

GRACE: OK, now, I`m reading from the HuffingtonPost. "Teacher Lillian Gomez, accused of force feeding special needs student hot sauce crayons. A Florida teacher fired last year for allegedly force feeding a special needs student crayons soaked in hot sauce. Returning to work, Lillian Gomez fired after she`s accused of force feeding a special needs autistic student 5 years old crayons and Play-Doh soaked for days in hot sauce!

According to WFTV, she`s going back to work? What? What, Deborah? She`s back to work?

ROBERTS: Yes, she is back to work. Not only did an administrative law judge in August uphold the fact that Lillian Gomez should get her job back, but then the fifth district court of appeals just recently ruled that not only does the Osceola County school district have to hire her back, but they have to put her back in the classroom.

GRACE: Whoa! Forcing to have her back in the classroom -- hey, all you moms and dads out there, there she is.

Now, let me get this straight, Deborah Roberts, news anchor, Florida News Network. Does she admit she soaked the crayons and Play-Doh in hot pepper sauce?

ROBERTS: Yes, she does admit that she soaked the crayons for days in the hot sauce. But she denies that she ever force fed them to the child. She said she was merely doing it as a deterrent for him eating his art supplies.

GRACE: OK, Dr. Bill Manion joining me, medical examiner from Philadelphia. I don`t get it. She`s accused of force feeding hot pepper sauce-laced crayons and Play-Doh to a student. Can you imagine, a 5-year- old, whether voluntarily -- I mean, I don`t see a child that age voluntarily ingesting hot pepper-laced Play-Doh or crayons. I don`t see him voluntarily doing that.

DR. BILL MANION, MEDICAL EXAMINER (via telephone): No, I -- I think the teacher meant here well by putting the hot sauce on the crayons. It would prevent him from eating the crayons itself. I mean, the crayons could only cause, you know, constipation. They`re not poison or anything like that. And I guess she just thought if she put hot sauce on them, then if he tried to chew on them, it would burn his lips and he would be deterred from that. So it may not be as bad as everyone thinks.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor Odom, also with me, defense attorney out of Atlanta Peter Odom. The school bitterly fights to keep Gomez away from the chalk and eraser, shelling out more than $50,000 in legal fees to keep her out of the courtroom. (sic) Bottom line, she`s going back to the courtroom. (sic)

You`re the defense lawyer, Peter Odom. Why is she going back to the courtroom? (sic)

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Because she should go back to the courtroom. This was...

GRACE: Excuse me, the classroom.

PETER ODOM: The classroom. This was an appropriate way to keep this kid from eating the crayons. Nancy, don`t forget...

GRACE: Really?

PETER ODOM: ... people eat this stuff, Nancy. It`s hot sauce.

GRACE: Adults eat it...

PETER ODOM: It`s not poison.

GRACE: ... in small amounts.

PETER ODOM: Adults eat it. Some kids eat it, too. And she didn`t feed this to him. That`s not what`s proven.

GRACE: What 5-year-old autistic child do you know that eats hot pepper sauce?

PETER ODOM: That has nothing to do with the point.

GRACE: Please answer.

PETER ODOM: That has nothing to do with the point...

GRACE: So you know nobody.

PETER ODOM: ... here, Nancy. That has nothing to do...

GRACE: Once again...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: ... argument.

PETER ODOM: She gave him the crayons so that he wouldn`t eat them again. Perfectly appropriate, and that`s why they`re putting her back in the classroom, and...

GRACE: You know what?

PETER ODOM: ... that`s what should happen.

GRACE: I`m sure he won`t eat them again because he probably got sick, Eleanor.

ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: That`s right. And Nancy, look, this is an intentional act. She intended to do that and intended the consequences of her actions. She put hot sauce, something that is going to make a child`s mouth burn. She knew he was eating crayons. It`s a purposeful crime, and she should at least be charged with child endangerment, at the very least.

GRACE: Jumbo-sized crayons in a cup, soaked them for days in hot sauce before moving them to a bag that was labeled with the autistic child`s name. OK, you know what? The fifth circuit court of appeals I guess says that`s OK.

When we come back, a rich kid gets drunk and high on weed and Xanax at Mommy and Daddy`s second home. Then he mows down four dead. After getting straight probation for killing four, this kid`s set to walk free again, as Mommy and Daddy face millions in lawsuits.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: And now to the Texas suburbs. A rich kid gets drunk and high on weed and Xanax at Mommy and Daddy`s second home, then mows down four people dead in his pricey red truck, leaving two more people paralyzed forever. Tonight, after getting straight probation for killing four by Texas juvenile judge Jean Boyd, the kid set to walk again, as Mommy and Daddy face millions of dollars in lawsuits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) I really need some ambulances. It`s sad. Basically (ph) flipped and (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The night of the accident, he not only had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, but Valium, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tarrant County prosecutors could not find a legal reason to appeal. But today, district judge Joe Shannon said the district attorney`s office is asking the court to incarcerate the teen on the two intoxication assault cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Although the record shows Ethan Couch was behind the wheel the night of the accident, he may have been on the road to destruction long before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to Joe Gomez, investigative reporter with KRLD. The plea, the guilty plea to Judge Jean Boyd, has already gone down. She gave him straight probation. So I don`t understand what the district attorney -- I respect the district attorney`s attempt, but the case is over. What is he trying to do now?

JOE GOMEZ, KRLD: Well, he`s trying to convict Ethan Couch on charges of intoxication assault -- those were two charges that the judge had not made a decision on -- because two people are still critically injured after this horrifying wreck, where he was traveling down the road a way, going 70 miles an hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone, admittedly drunk, three times the legal limit drunk, crashed into a group of pedestrians trying to help out a stranded vehicle. And he killed four.

Well, there`s still two people left, one paralyzed. He can only blink his eyes, Nancy. That`s the only way he can communicate. And so what the DA is trying to do is convict this kid of charges on intoxication assault to, hopefully, get him some prison time. That way, he`s not just scot-free off to his posh rehab center in southern California, Nancy.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Eleanor and Peter, this doesn`t make sense to me legally because he`s already pled to the top count, which is four counts, I guess, of vehicular homicide in juvie court. And he gets 10 years straight probation. He walks free.

Now, typically, isn`t this true, El, when you take a guilty -- when you take a plea, you bundle everything together and you handle the whole case -- you fill out the forms and you send the file away. I don`t see them taking pleas on the top four counts and letting the others dangle out there, the charges on the two people he paralyzed.

ELEANOR ODOM: That is a little bit different. You don`t see things like that very often, where you hold off on the sentencing on those two. It makes me wonder, too, how concerned they are that those two victims may be -- they`re concerned about whether or not they`ll survive.

GRACE: Peter Odom...

PETER ODOM: Yes.

GRACE: ... here`s the problem the district attorney is going to be facing. If the reminder of the charges deal with the same victims, the four dead victims...

PETER ODOM: Right.

GRACE: ... there`s no way they can reopen it because...

PETER ODOM: Double jeopardy.

GRACE: ... assaults merge into the larger offense. For instance, if I shoot you, I can`t be -- they can`t come back on assault with a weapon, when I`ve been convicted of murder. It merged.

PETER ODOM: Right. Exactly.

GRACE: Now, if it`s the two paralyzed people, they may have a chance, maybe.

PETER ODOM: Well, really, no. This is the DA`s office trying to close the barn door after they let the horse out themselves. They should have thought of that beforehand. No doubt it`s the outrage and the media attention that have prompted them. But the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy will not allow it.

GRACE: I`ve got a feeling we`re stuck with Jean Boyd`s, Judge Jean Boyd`s, straight probation after four people are killed.

Joe Gomez, KRLD, is it true the parents are now facing millions of dollars in lawsuits?

GOMEZ: That`s right. One of the survivors, you know, a young boy, wanted to be -- a teenage boy -- wanted to be a soccer player. Now he`s completely paralyzed. So his family is making a civil suit against Ethan Couch`s family for about $20 million. They say in the past six months, they`ve had to pay over a million dollars in medical bills.

And several other families are doing the same thing here because Ethan Couch`s parents are apparently extraordinary wealthy. In fact, Nancy, his father is called "the king of sheet metal" in northern Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We also know more about Couch`s parents. According to the Johnson County sheriff`s office, Fred Couch was arrested for DWI in 1992, criminal mischief in 1994 and assault with bodily injury in 1997. Tanya (ph) Couch was charged with reckless driving in 2003. Both have a long criminal history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Four dead, two permanently paralyzed. We are taking your calls.

Out to Justin Freiman. What more can you tell me?

JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): I can tell you, Nancy, that the father and the mother have both been named in these lawsuits. and it`s not just from the two children that were injured. The families of the four people that died have also got lawsuits pending against them. So you`re talking about well over $20 million in lawsuits for the family that says they could afford to pay for the $450,000-a-year rehab facility.

GRACE: Yes, speaking of that, Liz, let`s show the viewers the rehab facility -- $450,000 -- this rich kid is going to go to, as opposed to juvie jail. That looks like Canyon Ranch to me.

Bethany Marshall, author of "Dealbreakers," psychoanalyst, you know what? I don`t even know what to say to this. This was at the parents` second home. Apparently, they had let the son party there on his own many, many times. He`s just 16 years old.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Nancy, they`ve colluded with him in so many ways. I mean, you look at their own criminal record and the fact that now the child has one. I mean, the apple does not fall far from the tree. There`s intergenerational transmission of dysfunction, where you have a violation of the law with the parents and then the child -- given that the number one factor in this child getting better and recovering from the substance abuse problem is that he knows that there are negative consequences to his actions, why would they take away the negative consequences?

GRACE: Well, we all know the defense in front of the judge, Jean Boyd, was "affluenza," that he was too rich to know right from wrong. And believe it or not, Judge Jean Boyd, said, OK, walk free.

When we come back, a mom of three disappears. She`s last seen at a holiday Christmas party reportedly decked out in red velvet and high heels. Tonight, her boyfriend says Dawna goes back to the party after they leave the party. That doesn`t make sense to me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Live to Arkansas. A mom of three disappears. She`s last seen at a holiday Christmas party, reportedly decked out in red velvet and high heels. But tonight, her boyfriend says Dawna goes back to that Christmas party after they leave the Christmas party. That doesn`t make sense!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police investigators believe they found what they feared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The effort ended early when one searcher found a body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You literally have to fight your way through it to get to the area where the -- where the body was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When searchers found the body, the word spread quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who would do something like that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mean, vicious, psycho.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`ve located a deceased person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reported a burned car. The car belongs to Natsky (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would never burn her own car. This girl would call me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This world was so great with her in it. It`s a loss. It really is a loss. And I want to see justice. I want whoever did this to her--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To pay for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To get what they deserve.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a friend of ours, and this is very tough on us, because this is more than just an employee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Hot Springs Village Police Department, where she worked, (inaudible) government agencies were unable to do nine days from 400 people from the community, including this group of friends, were able to do in about an hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Take a look at Dawna. Dawna Natsky, mom of three, vanishes after leaving a Christmas party. Her boyfriend, Kevin Duck (ph), age 30, said that they left the Christmas party, but then she -- he goes home and goes to sleep. But she goes back to the Christmas party.

Joining me tonight, Jeff Meeks, senior reporter, Hot Springs Village Voice. Jeff, thanks for being with us. That doesn`t make sense that she goes back to the party after they leave the party?

JEFF MEEKS, HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE VOICE: Yes, it doesn`t.

GRACE: Jeff, tell me about the Christmas party. She went there with the boyfriend, Kevin Duck, is that right?

MEEKS: Yes, she went to the Christmas party here in the village with her mother and Kevin Duck. And that night, apparently there was some sort of an argument, and Dawna and Kevin abruptly left the party around 11:00 p.m.

GRACE: Hold on, I`m making notes. They leave the party around 11:00 p.m. Did the mother go with them? Or no?

MEEKS: No, when Dawna left, she left her purse and her mother behind.

GRACE: Okay. Hold on, making notes. 11:00 p.m. She leaves her purse and her mom stays at the party? So this was what, like a neighborhood or a community party?

MEEKS: It was a few miles from where they lived, but yes, it was a community party. There were several other people there.

GRACE: Take a look at Dawna Natsky. Mother of three vanishes after leaving a friend`s Christmas party. She goes home after an argument with her boyfriend, Kevin Duck, also at the party. Her car found torched. Her body found not far away. It all happened within the space of just a few miles. Jeff Meeks, senior reporter, Hot Springs Village Voice, the mother of three, where are the three children?

MEEKS: Well, one is still here in the village, and two others are in college now.

GRACE: I want to go out to Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author of "Deal Breakers." Bethany, I find it interesting that the car was torched. Because if this is a random killing, a random abduction and killing, why go to the effort of torching the car? That`s getting rid of evidence, Bethany.

MARSHALL: That`s definitely getting rid of evidence. Not only that, when you think about the husband, it`s really in the context of intimate relationships that most homicides occur. Because it`s within our most intimate relationships that we have jealousy, envy, rage, hostility, the wish for revenge. So in these kinds of investigations, it`s always important to look at the spouse, the intimates, start small, and then spread outward.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Melissa in Texas, hi, Melissa, what`s your question?

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. First of all, it doesn`t make sense why this lady would go back to the party, because her mother would have brought her stuff to her, knowing that she had left it there. To me, it sounds like this guy has something to hide. And burning her car. That`s a big -- if he is -- and did anyone see her go back to the party?

GRACE: To Matt Zarrell, did anyone witness Dawn go back to the party?

ZARRELL: No, they did not, Nancy.

GRACE: You`re taking a look at Dawna Natsky, mom of 3, goes to a friend`s Christmas party, never seen alive again. Her boyfriend, Kevin Duck, insists she went back to the party. To Jeff Meeks, senior reporter, Hot Springs Village Voice. Isn`t it true, Jeff, that people saw him forcibly pushing her out the door of the party?

MEEKS: Yes, there was a friend of Dawna`s that said something toward the line that it looked like he wanted to leave and she didn`t.

GRACE: Everybody, in Wachita (ph) national forest, her car was found. It`s a green station wagon looking car. Then 200 yards from that roadway, near Jesseville (ph), Arkansas, her body found. Take a look at mom`s car, mother of three. Back to you, Matt Zarrell, I`m -- what can you tell me about cell phone pings belonging to the boyfriend, Kevin Duck?

ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy, now, police have spent a lot of time going over his cell phone records. And cell phone record pings place Kevin Duck approximately half a mile from the locations where Dawna`s car and body were both found, particularly the car, within two hours of the car being found. His phone was pinged in that location.

GRACE: Hold on, though. In his defense, let`s see the map very quickly, Liz, it`s all -- I`m going to have to side with you on this one, Peter, it`s all in such a close proximity. It`s five miles from the home, the party, the location of the national forest where she was found, the fact that his phone pinged in that area could arguably be innocent.

P. ODOM: Absolutely.

GRACE: It`s where he lives.

P. ODOM: Right. That really doesn`t tell you anything, and unless they have some physical evidence that`s going to tie him to this event, other than the circumstantial evidence, they really don`t have enough for a conviction.

GRACE: Everyone. Take one last look at Dawna Natsky (ph). Mom of three, vanishes after a Christmas party there in Arkansas.

To tonight`s case alert, a Michigan man beats up his own mother over what? Christmas tree decorations. Cops say 33-year-old Louis Atwood (ph) punches his mom repeatedly. Why? Because mommy doesn`t have a Christmas tree ornament with his name on it. She only has one for his brother. The 33-year-old behind bars tonight. I guess he`s waiting on mommy to come bail him out.

When we come back, a 25-year-old California girl, Brittany Royal, heads to Hawaii to open up a volcano tour company to take people down to visit volcanoes. After living in a tent with her boyfriend for months, her body found ligature strangled, floating in the ocean. What became of the boyfriend? Was he murdered too? Or is he on the run?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)0

GRACE: We go live to the big island, Hawaii. A 25-year-old California girl Brittany Royal, always a free spirit, yoga instructor, loves to travel. Heads to Hawaii to open up a volcano tour company with her boyfriend. After living in a tent with the boyfriend for months in Hawaii`s rugged terrain, her body found ligature strangled floating in the ocean. Tonight was Brittany two months pregnant? And what became of the boyfriend? Was he murdered too? Or is he on the run?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were excited about them being pregnant and starting this new adventure and new life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But her fairy tale took a tragic turn and has now become a chilling mystery. Royal was found strangled, her body dumped in the ocean. Both families say they don`t know what to believe. According to Brittany`s mother, Hawaiian police have been sharing little to no information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re so in needing to find out mode, that it`s blocking the grief process, which has been really, really difficult for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: You`re seeing video from ABC`s "Good Morning America." Joining us tonight Julie Royal, the mother of Brittany Royal, and Schuyler, her brother.

To both of you, thank you for being with us. Julie, this seems like a horrible, horrible nightmare. Your daughter just absolutely gorgeous. A free spirit. Yoga instructor, loved to travel. What was her plan, she wanted to open up, explain to the viewers, a volcano tour company in Hawaii?

JULIE ROYAL, MOTHER: Let me explain this just a little bit further on this. She really didn`t have plans on it, it was really more Bo (ph). Brittany`s plan was she wanted to build a yoga studio and possibly teach yoga.

GRACE: Schuyler, when you first heard about the death of your sister, what was your immediate thought?

SCHUYLER ROYAL, BROTHER: My immediate thought was, it was Bo who had did it.

GRACE: But now, it seems as if there is a shift, Ms. Royal, that people believe that locals were angry, outsiders were coming in and starting this volcano tour company, and they were planning to buy about ten acres of land, is that the theory?

J. ROYAL: There`s definitely been a lot of theories from local people that have contacted me on the Facebook page that I`ve created, and yes, a lot of it is surrounding the fact that they were purchasing ten acres of land there on the lava. And, coincidentally, Brittany`s body was found on the 28th of May, which was the morning that Bo was supposed to go and sign the paperwork for the land. So there`s been a lot of talk and speculation. And again, these are from locals there from the area that live there, that both of them were killed, that they were warned not to buy the land, or you know, not to do lava tours. And that both of them were killed because of it.

GRACE: Why? Why not do a lava tour? Why not buy the land?

J. ROYAL: I don`t know. I don`t know if they were perceived as a threat. I don`t really know, exactly.

GRACE: To Schuyler Royal. This is Brittany Royal`s brother. What`s the theory behind a conspiracy to kill them because they were outsiders buying local land and starting a lava tour company?

S. ROYAL: There`s been speculation and talk about my sister and her boyfriend Bo as being perceived as a threat to people that are already in business in that area that are already giving lava tours. There is definitely speculation that there were possibly locals that were threatened by them, and didn`t want them encroaching on their land. And that did not want them taking their business necessarily. I think that`s one of the conspiracies out there right now.

GRACE: You`re seeing shots of Brittany Jane Royal, just 25. Julie, is it true she was pregnant at the time she was murdered?

J. ROYAL: She was. She was about -- probably eight weeks pregnant.

GRACE: Is it true she was staying in a tent with the boyfriend?

J. ROYAL: Yes, let me kind of explain that a little bit. So they were both living in separate residences there on the big island. And then they had gone back to Alaska to visit his family for two weeks, flew to California, over Mother`s Day, which is when we found out she was pregnant. When they got back to Alaska, the land hadn`t closed, and so they pitched this tent until they could either get another residence or something like that. So yes, they were living in that tent right there, that you see. Not necessarily in that area. They had moved it down more toward the cliff area of the ocean. But yes, they were just roughing it, she had a water catchment system and solar for their cell phone. I mean, this is -- Brittany was all about this kind of living. She loved that.

GRACE: To Alexis Tereszcuk, senior reporter, Radaronline.com. Alexis, I`ve just been prosecuting too long I guess for me to buy into a Hawaiian conspiracy, lava conspiracy to kill them. Did you see those ridiculous letters? Using local language about the white man trying to buy some land? And they had to be killed? Where is he? Where`s the boyfriend? That`s what I want to know. Isn`t it true there are reports he`s turned up since her death?

TERESCZUK: Nobody has heard from him, but there was a local manager of a hostel, a hotel for traveling students, and they said there was a man who fit the description of Bo Johnson and he was checked in under a fake name, which was Jeffrey Allen (ph), and he mysteriously disappeared after a few weeks. That was an original report. So at the time, all of the signs were pointing toward Bo.

GRACE: Everyone, we are spotlighting brave women of 2013. Tonight, "Breaking Bad`s" Anna Gunn. She responds to critics of her strong-willed character, Skylar White, who stands up to the lead male character, Walter White. Facebook insults, even threats on her life, Gunn highlights society`s issue with strong women who quote, don`t confirm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA GUNN, ACTRESS: I think it`s the brilliance of the show, is that he gets into the cracks and crevices of the human psyche in so many different ways, and it`s so truthfully written that I think that`s what`s so -- that`s what captures so many people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: When we come back, tot mom Casey Anthony walks free on the murder of her 2-year-old little girl Caylee, and now she walks free again. Escaping justice. In the last hours, a bankruptcy court lets tot mom walk free on nearly a million dollars debt.

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GRACE: Tot mom escapes justice again? We`re talking about Casey Anthony. All right. Michael Christian, investigative reporter who covered the entire tot mom Casey Anthony murder trial, what happened this time?

MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, Nancy, Casey Anthony, like so many people, have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. She filed last January. She claimed that she owes virtually $800,000, and she only has $1,000 in assets. So a U.S. bankruptcy judge has discharged most of her debt. His name is K. Rodney May. This does not include debt that may come to her from defamation lawsuits filed against her. But any other personal debt -- and it`s interesting, Nancy, because she owes about 80 people, 80 creditors who are after this money, but the person that she owes the most to is Jose Baez, her criminal defense attorney.

GRACE: I`m sure he`s rolling in money off of his book, Michael.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Who else does she owe money to, Michael Christian?

CHRISTIAN: You know, I don`t know that. I`ve read that in the filings that there`s 80 creditors or almost 80 creditors. But other than Jose Baez, I`m not sure who the rest of them are.

GRACE: Whoa. Nearly a million dollars in debt. Tot mom is off the hook once again. So, Michael Christian, when the real income is down, that means she owes absolutely zero to anybody?

CHRISTIAN: To any of those almost 80 creditors. Now, again, this discharges most of her debt, but it doesn`t have anything to do with the two defamation lawsuits that are still filed against her. One of those is from a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez, who says she was harassed and threatened because of accusations by Casey, that she was responsible for kidnaping Caylee Anthony, and the other one is by Ray Cronk, I`m sure you`ll remember, he is the meter reader who found Caylee`s body. He claims in his suit that Casey Anthony accused him of playing a role in Caylee`s death. So those two suits are still pending. They could be tried as early as next January, or certainly early next year, and any outcomes from those things, any judgments, would not be covered by this bankruptcy.

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GRACE: Out to you, Pat Lalama, correspondent with "Investigation Discovery." Tot mom Casey Anthony escapes justice again, Pat?

LALAMA: Well, it looks like today this woman is breathing the biggest sigh of relief, because a federal judge says, guess what? I`m clearing you of most of your huge debt, about $800,000. She doesn`t have to pay at this point most of it. She`s a happy girl.

GRACE: You know, I`m not sure who all she owed. I know a little bit of that is to Jose Baez, her defense lawyer, but he`s rolling in dough from his best-selling book about his memoirs, but who else does she owe money to? And how is it she`s going to walk free? She doesn`t even have a job. Shouldn`t she be forced to at least work?

LALAMA: Well, she doesn`t have a job, and she appealed to the bankruptcy court and said, look, I have $1,000, I`m not working, and my debt is 800 grand. The only thing we know is that most of that was supposed to be attorney fees, but who knows what else she owes. We do know, Nancy, that anything that`s adversarial, anything that`s a conflict like perhaps a crime that`s committed or any asset or debt she may have because of lying or fraud, she doesn`t get to wipe clean. We know what that means. She still has two defamation suits against her. And those will go forward and she`s not clear of that debt.

GRACE: With me, Pat Lalama, correspondent from "Investigation Discovery." Somehow, Pat, I don`t think we`ve seen the end of tot mom Casey Anthony.

Let`s stop and remember American hero, Army Staff Sergeant Edward Laredo, 34, Houston, Texas, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, loved cooking for his wife. Three brothers, widow Jennifer, serving the Army. One son and two daughters. Edward Laredo, American hero.

Dr. Drew up next. I`ll sew you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END