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Nancy Grace
Nurse`s Street Abduction Caught on Surveillance Video; Six-Year-Old boy Thrown Off a Bridge
Aired November 04, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: We do begin tonight with breaking news. A shocking surveillance video out of Germantown shows the kidnapping of a
young nurse, screaming for help as she is forced into a dark gray Ford sedan. Just look at this video. This is an actual abduction you are
watching as we join the desperate search for Carlesha.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The distraught family of 22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither wants to know who took her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A man was caught on camera apparently dragging a 22- year-old nurse into a car as she was struggling to get away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let my daughter go. Whatever it takes. I don`t care! Just let her go!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And we go to Seal Rock (ph), Oregon, the body of a 6-year-old boy found floating in the chilly waters of Yakina (ph) Bay, police called to
the scene by a woman who allegedly says, I threw my son off the bridge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 6-year-old boy is dead after authorities say he was thrown off a bridge by his own mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as I heard that she threw him over, I knew he didn`t survive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A community is in shock, searching for answers in the death of a special needs child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And good evening. I`m Jean Casarez, in for Nancy Grace. Thank you so much for joining us.
Take a look at this stunning surveillance video of a young nurse being kidnapped, forced into a dark-colored sedan. Tonight, police are searching
for 22-year-old Carlesha.
Straight out to Solomon Jones. He is the morning host at WURD radio. Solomon, I understand there`s new developments. We`re going to get to that
in just a minute. But first take us through this actual kidnapping on tape from the beginning. What happened?
SOLOMON JONES, WURD RADIO (via telephone): So a car pulled onto the 100 block of West Colter (ph) Street and parked next to a building that houses
a business called JJC (ph) Family Services. He parked almost directly under a camera that was mounted to the side of the building, got out of his
car, walked to the corner where he confronted Carlesha and pulled her violently down the street to his vehicle.
I just left the scene just a few minutes ago, and I spoke with Inspector James Kelly, who`s the commander officer of northwest division of the
Philadelphia Police Department, and he surmised that he -- that that person might have done this by himself. I wonder if there was another person in
the vehicle to kind of hold her down because what you see is another car pull up, stay there for a few minutes, as if they see what is going on, and
then that car backs up away from what is going on.
You see an XH bus -- that`s the bus that runs along Green (ph) Street -- go by. You see a person who is also walking by on Green Street at the end of
that block, and then the car drives away down at the end of that block. The whole thing is caught on camera because it`s right next to -- literally
right under a camera on the side of that building.
CASAREZ: Yes, isn`t that the truth. You know, Solomon, we`re looking at it as you are describing right there. And you`re looking, everybody, at
the person police are saying kidnapped, abducted this Carlesha Freeland- Gaither, who is a nurse in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area.
I think we want to look at this video again because if you look at it step by step, you see the story. And I don`t think I have ever, ever seen a
kidnapping on tape. This is it right here. You are watching the abductor, the kidnapper, forcibly take her to his car. Now, look at that. There`s a
struggle. She`s fighting and she`s fighting hard.
And what happens right there is she loses her phone, she loses -- her cell phone and a glove and her glasses, it is believed. He gets her in the car.
Once he gets her in the car, then she -- well, Justin Freiman, I want you to take it up from there because her family is saying she is a fighter, and
we know that from what happened after she was put in that car. Justin, what happened?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): That`s right, Jean. Once she`s put in that car, you can actually see the rear of that car
bouncing around a bit. That`s because she is fighting in that back seat and actually manages to bust the back windows of that car.
CASAREZ: Look at that. Justin, look at that car right there. She is fighting to get out. She is trying. She is breaking, as you just said,
the glass, shattering the glass of one of those windows, police are saying.
And joining us right now from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the chief inspector, Dennis Wilson, of the Philadelphia Police Department. Thank you
so much, Chief, for joining us. My first question...
CHIEF INSPECTOR DENNIS WILSON, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Oh, you`re welcome.
CASAREZ: ... to you is, how do you know that she shattered the glass in the passenger window?
WILSON: Well, we don`t know if she shattered the glass. We believe she either kicked it or punched it. The glass was definitely broken out on the
passenger side.
CASAREZ: So he takes off after that. Do you believe that he is still in the same vehicle? Because we`ve got to find her, and his vehicle missing
the glass panes in the passenger side back window could be a key right there. Do you believe he`s still in this vehicle?
WILSON: We`re not sure.
CASAREZ: You are not sure.
WILSON: We are looking for that vehicle, but we`re not sure he`s still in it.
CASAREZ: All right. And that is a 2000, 2002 dark gray metallic four-door Ford Taurus with unknown license plates at this point, originally thought
Pennsylvania, now you think Maryland. And Chief Inspector Dennis Wilson from the Philadelphia Police Department, I want to ask you what happened
just this morning? Because you believe there has been a sighting of him at an ATM?
WILSON: Well, it was actually yesterday morning at 6:01 AM in Aberdeen, Maryland. There`s an ATM transaction right off of 95 in Aberdeen. It`s
her ATM card being used.
CASAREZ: So it is Carlesha`s ATM card. Do you know if he was able to get money off that transaction?
WILSON: He definitely was able to get money. So he had the PIN number in order to do that.
CASAREZ: Chief, I`ve got to ask you -- he was dragging her, as we see on this video, on a pretty dark, desolate -- it`s only 9:40 at night,
everyone, Sunday night. It could be anybody. It`s not that late. But he`s dragging her. Chief, what do you think the intent was to put her in
his car instead of dragging her in the bushes to do whatever his intent was to do to her?
WILSON: Well, we don`t know. But it looks like he targeted her. He pulled down the street right before she walked down the street. He quickly
parked, crossed the street, and then quickly went up to confront her. He confronts her at the corner, walks across the intersection with her, and
that`s where he then forcibly grabs her and pushes her to his car.
CASAREZ: And everyone, she had just gotten off the bus. She had gone to a party for her godson. And there she is right there, a lovely young nurse
in the Philadelphia area, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither. She had gotten off the bus. There`s the bus right there.
So Chief, can I ask you -- you think that he targeted her. Do you think that he knew her previously, saw her get on the bus, saw her standing to
get off the bus? Because how would he be able to know she was getting off the bus because he parked? He didn`t see her getting off the bus.
WILSON: Right. We don`t know if he knows her or not. But we -- but it really looks from the video like he quickly parks and goes back to her.
CASAREZ: All right. Do you have any idea where she is or where he is at this very moment that we`re talking right now?
WILSON: No.
CASAREZ: All right. I want to go to a very special guest with us tonight. This is a family member, the aunt of Carlesha is joining us, Dayah
Freeland. She is the aunt of this young woman that we see on tape. I can`t imagine what your family is going through because people go missing,
but you`ve had to watch it on tape. Dayah?
DAYAH FREELAND, VICTIM`S AUNT (via telephone): Hello?
CASAREZ: Ms. Freeland?
FREELAND: Yes, hi.
CASAREZ: Thank you so much for joining us.
FREELAND: No problem. And I have another -- well, her mother is right here with us, as well, so you know, we`re both going to be able to answer
any questions right about now. I want to thank everybody out there that`s given us support (INAUDIBLE) posting her pictures because trust and believe
Carlesha will be found.
CASAREZ: With the help of all of us, right? And I know that you have been doing your part. As we watch this video -- and Ms. Freeland it can be you
or her Keisha`s (sic) mother -- can you just describe for us what you see on this video? What do you see...
(CROSSTALK)
FREELAND: OK, well, I watched the video several times. And there`s a lot of allegations going on about her getting off the bus. As you can see, the
bus doors never open. She was -- the bus came -- you know, it was a red light before the bus -- it was a red light. By the time the bus got --
approached the red light, it turned green. So there`s no time limit for her to be able to get off the bus.
When she -- she was (INAUDIBLE) walking down the street, and I guess when he came -- and when he approached her, he probably asked her a couple of
questions, and she didn`t agree with what he was saying, so she kept walking. Therefore, he turns the corner, parks the car, comes back to try
to speak to her again. And she crosses the street, and then when she stops at the corner, he probably call her name to probably get her attention. So
that`s why she turned around to see what he wanted, and that`s when he bum- rushed her and drug her down the street.
Seeing this video makes us sick to our stomach to actually believe somebody could be a coward to attack an innocent female like this. You mean to tell
me that you cannot be a man enough to go there and get your own money, that you had to rob somebody else, a female at that? It`s sad!
If anybody is out there that know any type of information, I don`t care how small it is, it could be that you`ve seen a penny (ph) with her name on it,
you can just easily contact us. You see a car go by with windows -- if you see a car at the shop getting the windows fixed or anything, that could
help -- that could be the piece to the puzzle that we might need, anything from everybody.
Me and her mom so appreciate everything that everybody is doing for us. (INAUDIBLE) anybody else would do the same thing. Everybody has to take
into the mindset that this was your child, what would you do. You cannot put it off just because it`s not your child. Think in your mind if it was
your child!
CASAREZ: You know, Ms. Freeland, I think we all are just getting chills as you describe for us what you see happen to your niece. And your niece is
22 years old. She`s a certified nursing aide in Philadelphia. And isn`t it true that the ATM transaction this morning was in Maryland, and Carlesha
actually lived for quite a few years in Maryland, right?
FREELAND: Yes, but we have -- honestly, we have no idea what`s going on. There`s so many different stories coming up. So we don`t want to get out
the wrong story to get the wrong mindset or anything to accuse -- we don`t want to -- to be honest, we cannot trust anybody, but we have to at this
point in time to figure out if we can get any type of information.
So we cannot say that, you know, well, she was in Maryland, yes they used her card, or she knows somebody down there. We don`t have no say-so in
that whatsoever. So now what we`re doing right now, which is the hardest part, is waiting. That is the most hardest part that you have to do is
wait because right now, your mind is where their mind is at. You`re wandering, not knowing what the next move is going to be.
It`s (INAUDIBLE) 24 hours -- it`s going on -- it`s about to go on 48 hours now, to be honest. A couple more hours, when it hits 9:00 o`clock, it`s
going to be 48 hours. And we know the longer the time goes, the more critical it gets.
CASAREZ: And Ms. Freeland, we want to tell everybody that there is a huge reward in this case. It is over $40,000 and growing at this point, $40,000
if you know anything of where Carlesha is. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an active abduction investigation, video of an aggressive abduction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baby, give me my child!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Observed on video grabbing a female, our victim, and dragging her to a gray four-door auto.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carlesha`s ATM card was used at a standalone bank in Aberdeen, Maryland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez, in for Nancy Grace. We do have breaking news tonight. You have been watching an actual abduction on tape, a kidnapping.
A young 22-year-old certified nursing assistant, Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, was abducted. And there was a video surveillance camera from the business
that was right there that was rolling and caught it all on tape.
And at this point, police have an all-out alert to try to find this young woman, 22 years old, and her abductor right there that you see in that
video.
I want to go back out to Chief Inspector Dennis Wilson joining us from the Philadelphia Police Department. The last known sighting at this point was
in Maryland, at least of the alleged abductor, at an ATM using the ATM card of Carlesha. Where do you believe this man is now?
WILSON: Well, we don`t know that this is even the abductor for sure. We know for sure that it`s her ATM card being used.
CASAREZ: But isn`t it true you`ve been able to look at the surveillance tape and there is a resemblance?
WILSON: There`s similarities. We can`t ID off that. It possibly could be the offender in both videos, but we`re not certain of that right now.
CASAREZ: All right. And this is about 75 miles -- the Maryland location is about 75 miles from where Carlesha was abducted?
WILSON: I believe it`s around that distance, yes.
CASAREZ: OK. I want to also just make people aware -- it`s off interstate 95, am I correct, where this standalone...
WILSON: Yes, you are.
CASAREZ: OK, so interstate 95 would be the thoroughfare at this point. Everyone, we have now the mother of Carlesha who is joining us and wanting
and going to find her daughter. Keisha Gaither is joining us. Ms. Gaither, thank you so much. With all you have to contend with, we thank
you for joining us tonight.
KEISHA GAITHER, VICTIM`S MOTHER (via telephone): You`re welcome. Just a second, please.
CASAREZ: All right, we`ve got Carlesha`s aunt. While they`re getting together and getting Carlesha`s mother on the phone, I want to go to Marc
Klaas for a second. Marc, you`re watching this abduction. This is a real life, Marc Klaas, kidnapping caught on tape. You`re watching it play by
play. What do you see in all of this?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, it shows you that there`s really very little that a woman, a slight woman or a young child, can do in the
face of a determined predator. This woman put up the fight of her life and she did everything that she should have done, but still he was able to get
away with her.
What we know is that without the video, this might very well be treated as somebody who has just decided to step off and find a new life. So at least
we know what happened to her. Apparently, we know what direction this character is headed in. And now it`s a matter of typing the car, finding
somebody -- suggesting it`s not a stolen car, somebody that knows who has that particular vehicle. We know what the guy looks like. Somebody might
come forward with that information.
And if, in fact, this individual knew her, it might make it easier to identify him than if it were a random act. Those are always the most
difficult types of abductions to solve of all.
CASAREZ: And I`m just wondering if this man has injuries on him because she fought for her life in that video. You see that right there in that
surveillance video.
Keisha Gaither is joining us, the mother of Carlesha. Ms. Gaither? (sic)
GAITHER: Yes.
CASAREZ: Thank you for joining us.
GAITHER: Thank you.
CASAREZ: Your daughter is a heroine in this video. I mean, we see her. We see her fighting for her life. Just what do you want to tell everybody
that`s watching the show tonight as they are out and about and they`re seeing cars and people? What do you want them to know?
GAITHER: I want them to look out for my child. I want them to be careful. I want all mothers, fathers, whoever your family is, to clutch onto your
children. Hold them tight no matter what age they are. Hold on tight to your loved ones because this could have been anybody.
Like her aunt say, like, treat my daughter like it`s your daughter. Like, right now, like, this is the public daughter. I also want to say thank you
to the public because you`ll put so much love and support and prayers on me. And I want to read everybody`s. I want to read everything that
everybody say to me, but it`s so much. I just want to thank everybody. I want to thank everybody that`s been here, family, friends, everybody. I
want them to clutch onto your children.
CASAREZ: Yes, it is so true. Ms. Gaither, let me ask you, do you think this is someone that knew your daughter?
GAITHER: I do. Yes.
CASAREZ: You do?
GAITHER: Yes, I do. I believe that if you look -- if you look at the way he took my daughter -- he drove up on the block (ph). He drove there. He
parked, he got out, he went across the street. He had no -- there was no worries in that (ph). If you don`t know somebody and you`re out there just
looking for anybody or trying to stalk anybody, it would (INAUDIBLE) like that. He knew what he was doing. He (INAUDIBLE) her. It`s impossible for
it to be just a good coincidence. He (INAUDIBLE) her. He knew what he was doing.
Who is he? We don`t know, but I believe he knew my daughter. You could tell by her body reactions, the way she was when she was trying to, like --
when she looked back, you could see when she looked back and she was walking, like, she knew him.
CASAREZ: But on the other hand, Chief Inspector Dennis Wilson from the Philadelphia Police Department, you`ve heard the audio. You have not
released any audio. Do you hear her calling his name?
WILSON: She definitely don`t call a name out. We have good audio on that second video.
CASAREZ: OK. I think that`s very important right there because just like you said, we want to keep open eyes, open ears. We don`t want any
conclusions here. And if you knew that person, would you call their name as you are screaming stop and stop?
Justin Freiman, there are a lot of witnesses in the area that actually saw what happened. What did they say they heard?
FREIMAN: That`s right. They heard her screaming for help and they saw this happening. There`s even a car that`s seen on video stop as it`s going
on, pause and then back up -- back down the street. But police say they`ve spoken to everybody, and their stories all do match to what happens on that
tape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The back passenger side window was smashed or kicked out, and the car then drove off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) come back safely. That`s all. We just want to have her come back safely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why her? Who can do such a thing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Help, help. And I turned around, called the cops (INAUDIBLE) Stop, stop, stop. He`s dragging her to the car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her abductor had a large knife. It was left on the ground with Carlesha`s cell phone and glasses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez, in for Nancy Grace. This is so critically important. This was an abduction that just happened, 9:40 Sunday night.
Carlesha is still missing and so is her abductor. And that abductor -- I want to give a description so everybody knows -- an unknown black male, 25
to 30 years of age, 5-10, medium-heavy build, medium brown complexion, wearing a dark-colored jacket with a dark-colored hood, possibly a hooded
sweatshirt underneath, dark-colored hat, dark-colored pants -- all in dark.
I want to go to Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner, forensic pathologist joining us. You know, the chief inspector, Dennis Wilson from the
Philadelphia Police Department, said something very important that I didn`t know, that yesterday morning at 6:00 in the morning, when allegedly, the
abductor used at least Carlesha`s ATM card and actually got money out -- you`ve got passwords, Doctor, when you`re talking about ATMs and using your
ATM card. Could that be a good indication that she is alive and he forced her to give a code to get money for them out of that ATM machine?
DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER/FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: That`s always going to be a good indication that there`s been a matter of time that they
remained together. If she fought that hard in the back of that car, do you think she`s going to give up a password in 30 minutes, 45 minutes? So she
-- and the fact that he wanted a password and she had it meant that they were bartering or negotiating and she thinks she`s going to get away. And
that`s a very good sign too. All a good sign.
CASAREZ: You know, Ramani Durvasula, Clinical Psychologist, joining us from Los Angeles.
As you watch this video, here`s my question. This man had an intent with her. His state of mind is that he walks across the street with a purpose.
He doesn`t lollygag. He finds her. She crosses the street. We see her responding to him and then he drags her. If he wanted to commit a crime
with her, why wouldn`t he drag her in the bushes, drag her behind a building? Why? What`s the state of mind to put somebody in your car?
RAMANI DURVASULA, PH.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I mean, it makes you wonder then what more did he want. Did he want to get money, did he want
to harm her and then, you know, and then remove her from that situation?
The fact of the matter is when I look at this, the one thing that strikes me is it`s almost like this guy is not even thinking about consequences and
that`s always concerning. Because when somebody is that short-sighted they simply want what they want and don`t think about the consequences. I mean,
we`re all under surveillance all the time. This guy wasn`t even thinking about that and that often raises to me the risk of harm or violence.
CASAREZ: You know, tonight we`ve got to thank the German Town Professional Building because that`s the video surveillance that caught all of this on
tape. I think we have a shot of that camera actually during the daytime. This is a daytime shot, all right. This is the very same area that you`re
looking at. And there was one video surveillance camera, there it is right there, and it was from the business. And look at what it caught on tape.
And Marc Klaas is so right, if that video surveillance wasn`t there, police may say, she`s a runaway, she left on her own accord. Voluntary. No, not
voluntary, you saw it, a kidnapping.
I want to ask the Chief Inspector, Dennis Wilson, from the Philadelphia Police Department. We have heard some reports that witnesses believe they
saw a knife. Can you confirm that?
WILSON (via-phone): No, we don`t see that knife on the video.
CASAREZ: OK. All right. That`s good to know because people may have believed they saw something. How many people are you interviewing at this
point? She came from a party for her godson. That`s where she was walking from. Have you spoken to people at that party?
WILSON: I`m not sure. The detectives are following up every lead and are talking to a lot of people.
CASAREZ: Do you believe she took the bus?
WILSON: I do. The bus dropped her off before that intersection. The offender`s car passes, turns up the street. She walks towards the
intersection and he meets her exactly at that corner. You do see the bus going by, but she was dropped off prior to that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The distraught family of 22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither wants to know who took her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A man was caught on camera apparently dragging a 22- year-old nurse into a car as she was struggling to get away.
CARL FREELAND, CARLESHA FREELAND`S FATHER: Let my daughter go. Whatever it takes, I don`t care. Just let her go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez, in for Nancy Grace.
There is an all points bulletin to find Carlesha. She was abducted on tape, videotape kidnapping. You saw it right there. It is the
surveillance video from a business. And she is anywhere at this point, but her family is begging to find her and also find the person that did this to
her.
With us is Dayah Freeland, the aunt of Carlesha is joining us. You wanted to clarify. Where was she before she was walking into view and crossing
the street, right there before her abductor got her?
FREELAND (via-phone): Yes. She was coming from her godson`s motherhouse. Everyone keeps saying -- I understand is a bunch of stories going on so
they`re going to say what they hear.
She was coming from our godson`s motherhouse, not a party at all. It couldn`t have been no more than four people at the house, for her including
the kids, or however it was. But it was nowhere near a party.
CASAREZ: All right, very good clarification. But here -- here`s what I think is one of the headlines. It was 9:40 at night. This is -- this is -
- anybody could be walking at 9:40 at night.
And Miss Freeland, is it true that she was going to call her boyfriend to walk with her home but she didn`t?
FREELAND: No. We`re not sure at all on who she was calling. She probably use her mind as a lot of people should, in a time like this. When you`re
walking by yourself, turn your phone on or call one of your friends. Call anybody and say, hey, stay on the phone with me until I get home. You
never know, she probably -- probably turned her phone on to call anybody, to probably hear her while she was in the struggle. You don`t know
anything, so for person to say she was calling this person, she was calling from here, no.
You have to actually just sit back and stop thinking all so bad and say maybe she was actually using her mind and thinking as a smart person to
call someone as she was walking home to sit there and say, listen, stay on the phone with me while I walk home just to be on the safe side. Maybe she
pushed a call button to have anybody answer the phone just so they could hear what`s going on.
CASAREZ: You know, Miss Freeland, you`re so right because there are so many questions. Here`s what we know. We know what we see on that video.
That`s what`s fact, right there. That your niece was abducted, she was kidnapped at the hands of someone much, much stronger than she was.
Back to Chief Inspector Dennis Wilson from the Philadelphia Police Department. She fought, as we have talked about, and you see it on the
tape. Have you called the hospitals in the area to see if anyone has come in to get treated? Because he could be very injured. And that also could
be markings on him.
WILSON: Yes, of course. That`s one of the first steps taken in a missing person investigation, all the hospitals were checked.
CASAREZ: What about surveillance video in Philadelphia. Do you have surveillance cameras at stoplights or anything that the city has put in?
WILSON: Yes, we have city police department cameras throughout the city and we also have a safe cam program where businesses are encouraged to sign
up and give us their location. We have a lot of private businesses and residents that also have cameras. When there`s any type of crime, our
detectives go out. That`s one of the first things they do is canvas the area looking for video.
CASAREZ: And everybody, this reward is upwards over $40,000 now to find Carlesha.
Inspector Wilson, were you able to track the car through those other surveillance videos that I`m sure you`ve combed?
WILSON: Not at this point. We have that two videos of the vehicle at this point.
CASAREZ: Two videos, meaning this one and one other?
WILSON: Yes, we have the one other with the audio. We haven`t released that.
CASAREZ: Is that --
WILSON: But we are scouring from that location, the point of the incident outward.
CASAREZ: Is that second video that you have that you have not released, is that in Philadelphia?
WILSON: Yes.
CASAREZ: Does the ATM video that you believe could be this man, at least they`re using the ATM card of Carlesha, which was yesterday morning at 6:00
a.m. in Maryland, 75 miles away, could you see any kind of a vehicle?
WILSON: No, you cannot. It`s just one male making that transaction.
CASAREZ: What about truck stops? I mean, where -- as the country watches this show tonight, who do you want to look for her? Where do you believe,
once again, that he could be, that she could be?
WILSON: Well, at this point we`re searching the Philadelphia area and we also have the-- we know her ATM card was found in Maryland, so there`s our
two focal points at this point.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: A tragic discovery in Seal Rock, Oregon. Police say a mother calls 911 to report she throws her 6-year-old son off a bridge to his
death.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a call from a lady who said that she threw her child over the side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The woman who allegedly tells police voices in her head told her to throw London, her 6-year-old autistic son, off the bridge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s too far of a drop, especially for a 6-year-old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities close the bridge and search for the child. They find London hours later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: This is horrifying. A 6-year-old is old enough to know exactly what was about to happen to him. I want to go out to Kera Morgan, she is
the News Director of "KNPT Radio" joining us from Oregon.
Start from the beginning. How did this happen?
KERA MORGAN, NEWS DIRECTOR, KNPT RADIO (via-phone): Well, police received a report from 911 that the woman had thrown her child off of the bridge.
They closed off the Yaquina Bay Bridge immediately and first responders, including the coast guard helicopter and lifeboat immediately started
searching the cold waters. It`s a 126-foot drop that that child went through into the water.
CASAREZ: Clark Goldband, Nancy Grace producer. So, wait a minute, there`s got to be back story here. You don`t just walk to the highest point of the
bridge and drop your 6-year-old off. What`s the back story.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Jean -- Jean I think there`s an important points here to bring up that you just heard from the reporter
a moment ago. There was a 911 call to report the child had been tossed from the bridge. The 911 call was from the mother herself, Jean.
CASAREZ: All right, Clark, here`s my question. There`s always a back story here. You don`t just walk on the bridge and throw your 6-year-old
over at the highest point. Isn`t it true that her husband had just been diagnosed with a very serious illness in the last year or so?
GOLDBAND: Yes, Jean, that`s correct. And that diagnosis was M.S. We know about a year ago the husband had been diagnosed with M.S. Now, on top of
that, Jean, this 6-year-old child is in fact autistic, according to reports, so a lot of stress on the family trying to deal with both the
husband and the child.
But, Jean, I think one of the key parts we need to bring up in this story is, yes, there was a 911 call on the bridge, but the person who made the
911 call was the mother herself, according to authorities, calling them to say she threw her own child off the bridge.
Law enforcement responds immediately, Jean, and they allegedly have to call the husband, the father of the boy, to try to verify this story. It`s
probably not often someone calls 911 to tell them they just killed their 6- year-old.
CASAREZ: You know, you`re so right. And the coast guard came out and the search after that.
Randy Kessler, Defense Attorney, joining us from Atlanta. What Clark has just said. Here are the cold hard facts that I`m going to tell you. Her
husband has multiple sclerosis. Her little 6-year-old boy has autism. She had tried to get money dealing with a lot. She made a hard, cold choice,
Randy Kessler, and that cold hard choice was get to rid of her little boy.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. But she is not a rational person. Let`s not minimize mental illness. Mental Illness is (INAUDIBLE) to a lot
of society. People don`t believe it really exists. She has mental illness. She was depressed, she got a lot of aggravating factors that
increased her depression. She needs help. She obviously did not make a rational choice and decide, well today, I`ll going to do this.
She has a lot of pressures that a lot of us just don`t understand and thank goodness a lot of us don`t have to deal with this. She`s got a disease.
She`s got to be fix. She`s got to helped. She should stay away from children, she should be punished, she should be restricted. But she needs
our help.
CASAREZ: Patrick McDonough, Defense Attorney out of Atlanta. I understand she was dealing with a lot. And we can`t put ourselves in her shoes. But
to call up the police and confess and tell them exactly what she did. She knew what she did. She knew it was wrong. And that`s why she called
police.
PATRICK MCDONOUGH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, she -- she called police. But under Oregon law, there is what they have, guilty except for insanity.
That`s what the defense is going to be here obviously. There were a lot of stressors going on in her life. But there is in all likelihood some
underlying mental illness. And that`s what they`ll need to find out. They`ll need to have her mentally evaluated. They`ll need her mental
history combined with her hearing voices that time of day. Then if she was sentenced, she`ll be sentenced to stay in a mental institution instead of a
prison.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez in for Nancy Grace.
This cute little boy, 6-years-old, that you were looking, alive and well and just beginning his life, his mother allegedly went to the highest point
of the bridge which was 130 feet up, and dropped him over.
I want to go out to Patrick McDonough, Doctor William Marrone, Medical Forensic Pathologist, Toxicologist, joining us. What was that drop like?
Because this 6-year-old was able to think and feel and understand. What did everything through?
MORRONE: A drop from 130 feet has got to be terrifying no matter who you are. And children experience fear as well as pain. And the actual impact
to the water can be fatal on impact because it could break his back. It could break his neck. And that would come with intense pain.
And if he wasn`t damaged fatally on impact to the water, he would have been paralyzed and not able to swim because it is too cold. Any way you look at
it, it was a tremendous amount of fear and pain. And children are innocent. That`s -- that the fun -- whether there`s mental illness or not,
children are innocent. This shouldn`t happen.
CASAREZ: All right. We want everybody to know, this just happened. This happened 24 hours ago. This little 6-year-old was alive and well and was
then plummeted off the bridge.
To Ramani Durvasula, Clinical Psychologist. I mean common, what kind of women would have the mind set, the premeditation, to take her, and by the
way, there was a police officer that saw her carrying him, allegedly, on the bridge. And he was struck because it was such a large child to be
carrying. What`s the mindset to premeditate that?
DURVASULA: I mean, I think what we to -- we have to frame this mindset. That this is incredibly life, again. This woman had significant issues
with mental illness. Just stress by itself is not going to lead to this. But that really horrible combination of mental illness and significant
stress can sometimes result in some really terrible things happening.
I agree with attorneys that now some really significant mental health evaluations have to happen. Premeditated means a very different thing when
a person is suffering from mental illness.
CASAREZ: Well, by the way she is charged with murder. And it is serious murder, first-degree murder. So prosecutors may be going in that
direction.
We want to stop to remember. American hero, Army Specialist Christopher Katzenberger, 25-years-old, from St. Louis Missouri. He was awarded the
Bronze star and purple heart, a Medic. He love treating children at Afghanistan. He lives behind his parents, Michael and Kathlene, his sister
Amanda. Christopher Katzenberger an American hero.
I spoke with Nancy tonight. She wanted me to tell you the reason she is not here is it is her twins` birthday and she will tell you all about it
tomorrow, all right.
Thank you so much.
"DR. DERW" is coming up next Good night everybody.
END
