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Nancy Grace
Sievers` Murder Not Random, Say Cops. Aired 8-9:00p ET
Aired July 08, 2015 - 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, live, Bonita Springs, Florida, mystery surrounding the murder of a gorgeous young doctor, a
mother of two little girls, Dr. Teresa Sievers murdered in her upscale Florida home while Sievers`s husband and two daughters out of town.
Bombshell tonight. Intense focus now on the Sievers alarm system, in the last days, the alarm system being tested repeatedly, reportedly to
determine why it did not go off when Teresa Sievers murdered. Sources also reporting computers taken out of the family home, as well as Dr. Sievers`s
medical practice computers, police poring over the doctor`s patient list with a fine-toothed comb.
And tonight, was Sievers tailed from the airport? We recreate her route and learn at least seven red lights she passed that night equipped
with cameras, this as the sheriff declares this murder was not random.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not random and arbitrary. There are many, many, many intricacies of this case, based on the evidence that we
have to this point.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That evidence includes the family`s van, as well as a side door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Comfortable saying that`s it`s not a random, arbitrary situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Garstown (ph), Kentucky, where a mom of five, Crystal Rogers`s (ph) maroon Chevy found on the side of the road with a
flat tire. She`s not been spotted alive since.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother of five was last seen at her boyfriend`s farm in Nelson County.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody saw something somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Found her car with a flat tire, and all of her belongings were inside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She don`t ever leave her cell phone, ever!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And Pleasant Grove, Utah, spring cleaning turns deadly when the remains of tiny infants found in cardboard boxes, and that`s just the
beginning. By the time the whole place searched by police, bodies of seven helpless infants, all dead at the hands of Mommy.
Mommy hides seven pregnancies, that we know of, gives birth, only to murder each infant one after the next, now saying she can`t even remember
how many babies she strangled dead. In the last hours, Daddy is eyed for charges of his own. He insists he knew nothing about the pregnancies or
the murders, that he was high the whole 10 years.
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Intense focus now on the Sievers alarm system. In the last days, we learn the alarm system being tested over and over to
determine why it did not go off when Teresa Sievers murdered. Sources also reporting computers taken out of the family home, as well as Dr. Sievers`s
medical practice computers, as police poring over the doctor`s patient list with a fine-toothed comb.
And tonight, was Sievers tailed from the airport? We recreate her route and learn at least seven red lights she passes that night equipped
with cameras, this as the sheriff declares openly this murder is not random. Take a listen to what the sheriff says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Based on the evidence that we have to this point and working it exhaustively, I`m fairly comfortable saying that it`s not a
random, arbitrary situation. And I do believe there`s some connectivity here.
QUESTION: Do you have any suspects?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I`m not going to speak to that.
There`s a lot of intricacies in the case, and what we have to this point -- I have no guarantees. I can`t guarantee you -- even -- even with
an arrest. We could arrest somebody today and put them in jail, and I can`t guarantee anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: There you hear the sheriff saying there is connectivity, that this is not random, that Dr. Sievers, Teresa Sievers, mother of two, was
targeted.
We also learn the alarm system in the home being tested and retested in an effort to figure out why didn`t it go off the night Sievers was
murdered. Now, if you remember the timeline, Dr. Sievers was out of town in Connecticut with her family, her husband, who is her office manager, and
their two young daughters. They`re with her family in Connecticut.
[20:05:00]She flies home solo on Sunday night, comes home from the airport. Did she take an Uber? Did she drive her Toyota Sienna minivan?
Did she get a cab? Did a friend bring her home? Some of the questions we have. We`ve got a few clues as to the answer, and the answer, we believe,
is she drove her minivan, Toyota Sienna, from the airport home. Why do we think that? Because the police took the Toyota Sienna from the home and
they have not returned it. It`s still being processed.
Why? What`s in that Toyota other than her own fingerprints on the steering wheel that they`re so interested in? Why? Why has the Toyota
Sienna become the focus of such intense investigation?
But first, I want to talk about the fact that the sheriff has said point blank this murder is not random.
Joining me right now, Bob Alexander. He is the news director at Fox News 92.5. Bob, I was very surprised to hear the sheriff say that because
that really narrows down potential killers.
BOB ALEXANDER, FOX NEWS 92.5 (via telephone): Well, Nancy, the sheriff had been -- the sheriff`s department have been criticized in the
last several days because people are scared. People in the Bonita Springs area are not used to having any kind of crime like this, in particular, and
people have been worried about their safety.
The sheriff came out and said he doesn`t believe that it was a random act, I think, in part to try to quell some of the people`s fears in this
area, that this was not random, that they do have some connectivity. And he uses that word a lot, "connectivity," that there`s a lot of things
connected. So it seems to be that he`s trying to eliminate people`s fears that there is anything random about this.
GRACE: Well, you know, Bob Alexander, right at the get-go, he told everybody to lock their doors. That certainly wouldn`t make me feel safe.
If a home like Sievers`s, which is an estimated $500,000 value, half a million dollar home -- if that is the target with an alarm system and then
he says, Lock your doors, that would make me concerned, too.
But I don`t think that the sheriff would come out and say that just to allay the fears of the neighborhood. I think he meant it. I think that
they have a theory.
So the sheriff coming out openly saying this is not a random murder, that really narrows down the field as to who they believe murdered Dr.
Sievers.
And also, it was very interesting -- to Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert -- you have been analyzing all of her postings,
her Web site, her tweets, her Facebooks. What have you learned, Ben?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT (via telephone): Nancy, Dr. Sievers is a very public figure. She speaks out on hormone therapy, both
for men and women. She`s got numerous videos out there, and some people might consider her views controversial. We don`t know. But she`s very
public...
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! What do you mean about that, because she has a large transgender clientele? Is that what you`re
talking about?
LEVITAN: Not necessarily. She advocates against some of the most common hormone replacement therapies that are well known.
But the fact is not so much her views, is that she`s public. I found it very easy to determine where she was going to be. I found it very easy
to find out she was going to be on vacation for this period of time. Her home address was easy to find.
If somebody had a beef with her, Nancy, it would be very easy to find her and to attack her, frankly. And...
GRACE: Ben, wait a minute! Let me back up something that you said. With me, Ben Levitan and Bob Alexander. Ben, are you telling me that you,
who has no connection to Dr. Sievers whatsoever, could determine that she was on vacation and when she would start seeing patients again?
LEVITAN: Yes, Nancy. It was right on her Web site. She takes off between Christmas and New Year`s, and she takes off this period in July.
It`s very clear on her Web site. And this is what happens when a lot of your information is public. And like I said, it was easy for me to
determine where her home was.
GRACE: So somebody would know that if she went out of town, that she would be coming back in sometime that weekend, most likely, but that they
could find her van, her Toyota Sienna, at the airport. Not only that...
LEVITAN: And her alarm system. Her alarm system, as well, Nancy. From the pictures I`ve seen, I was able to determine that probably her
alarm system reported back to the alarm company by a cell phone connection. So knowing that, I could use a cell phone blocker and very easily get
around her alarm system, if I wanted to get into that house.
GRACE: Interesting that you noticed that, Ben Levitan. How could you look at the home and determine that that would be the type of alarm system
her home has, an alarm system that`s based on cell phone that can be easily, easily manipulated?
[20:10:05]LEVITAN: Well, most of the alarm companies have gone -- you know, most alarm companies used to require a landline back to the central
office. And now -- and those were easily deterred. People would cut your phone line.
This -- it appears to have stickers on the window that would indicate a specific company that does offer the option of reporting you back to the
cell phone company -- or back to the alarm company by a cell phone connection...
GRACE: Wow. Wow.
LEVITAN: ... and that is really easy to defeat.
GRACE: Wow. Not only that, we understand that the alarm system has been tested and retested.
Bob Alexander, even the family, according to our sources, goes back to the home in the past 72 hours to test the alarm system. Bob, are you
familiar with the brothers and the husband going to the home over this past weekend to retest the alarm system?
ALEXANDER: Nancy, I can honestly say there`s been very little information as far as what the family has been doing in the last...
GRACE: Right.
ALEXANDER: ... (INAUDIBLE) last week since they`re been back. So...
GRACE: Well, let me tell you this -- let me tell you this, Bob. Our sources are telling us that the husband, Teresa Sievers`s husband, who is
the office manager, and her two brothers -- Matt Zarrell, isn`t it Teresa`s brothers, not his brothers but her brothers, all go over there over July
the 4th weekend and they apparently test the alarm system.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Yes. From what the neighbor says, the brothers were in and out of the house. They were
there for about 15 minutes. And as they went inside, after they went inside, the neighbor heard the alarm go off one or two times as the
brothers were inside the house.
GRACE: Right. Clearly, according to our source, testing the alarm system yet again. Everybody`s wondering, why didn`t the alarm go off? Was
somebody already in the house? Did somebody have the code to get? And tonight, we learn that alarm system has turned into a focus of the
investigation, as is her Toyota Sienna.
I want to get back to the Toyota Sienna. We have recreated her route. Let`s take a look at her route from the airport to her home. And what we
learn is that there are at least seven red lights that are equipped with cameras.
There are no toll booths between the airport and her home, but she`s going down I-75. There are traffic light cameras right at the entrance of
her subdivision, as well. We looked at every airport route, and this is what we have learned.
To Ben Levitan again, telecommunications expert. How do those red light cameras work?
LEVITAN: Well, Nancy, you know we record -- digital cameras record everything now. And it`s just a matter of -- and they also read license
plates. So all we need to know is the Sienna`s license plate number. That goes back to a centralized computer at metro, and they can easily determine
which sub -- or which location that car was at all along its path.
And as well, as you said, if she was followed by someone and they can identify a second license plate, they`ll be able to track that following
her.
GRACE: Following, or did somebody wait out in the neighborhood? Focus now on this Toyota Sienna. What are they trying to learn from the
Sienna other than her own fingerprints? And also, those airport video and security cameras -- do they reveal someone waiting there? Or did they
simply wait in her neighborhood until she drove in?
Alarming announcement by the sheriff in the last hours that this is no random murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not random and arbitrary, that there are connections that will continue to develop.
There`s a substantial amount of evidence, evidence that`s being processed as we speak.
There are many, many, many intricacies of this case.
There will be no stone left unturned. It`s something we take very, very, very seriously, naturally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:18:33]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not a random, arbitrary situation. And I do believe there`s some connectivity here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Connections to Dr. Teresa Sievers that might help solve the crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any suspects?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I`m not going to speak to that.
There`s a lot of intricacies in the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An unsolved homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not random and arbitrary. There are connections that we`ll continue to develop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The death of Dr. Teresa Sievers remains a mystery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The investigation into the death of Dr. Sievers intensifies, with police focusing on her Toyota Sienna that we believe she brought home,
drove home from the airport late that Sunday night after being out of town in Connecticut with her own family, her husband, their two children, and
her extended family, sisters.
We learn this tiny lady, who was only about 4-feet-11 -- some of those pictures of her, if you look at her wearing the stacked heels, are
deceiving. Liz, show them the picture of her -- that one. She looks so much bigger. She`s a tiny, tiny little thing. She`s 4-11. She barely
weighed over 100 pounds.
Who bludgeoned her to death, we believe with a hammer? While police focusing on her Toyota Sienna and announcing this murder is not random, her
alarm system being tested over and over. Why did it not go off? Let`s figure out what that piece of the puzzle means.
[20:20:06]Unleash the lawyers, David Lee Windecher, defense lawyer, author of "The American Dream: History in the Making," and Andell Brown,
defense attorney. Also with me, psychologist Caryn Stark.
OK, let`s take off our respective hats of prosecutor and defense lawyer and figure out what this means, the fact that they are trying to
determine and looking so carefully, Windecher, at the alarm system, why it didn`t go off.
Now, I believe that the alarm company can tell you if the alarm was on at the time she came home. So they`re trying to figure out did she turn it
off, or did somebody else turn it off? That`s the obvious explanation to me, because it didn`t go off.
DAVID LEE WINDECHER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s correct. I mean, she just came home from Connecticut visiting her family, so they wanted to make
sure that it was taken apart from her side. If she disconnected the alarm, it would make sense for them to know, unless someone was in the house
before she actually arrived.
GRACE: But following along that theory is a dead end, Andell Brown, because, yes, it`s an alternative -- Windecher`s right, but that theory
would mean the person had been hiding in there all weekend, all right? So that doesn`t really make sense to me, that somebody is in your house all
weekend and she doesn`t notice that the moment she walks in the door.
So it goes back to the question if the alarm was on, they`re trying to figure out why it didn`t go off. Theory?
ANDELL BROWN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, we`ve heard two theories. One was the fact that they may have intercepted the signal using some of the
technological devices that are available to people today.
Another issue to consider is, as it was pointed out before, is that her schedule was widely known. Was there someone laying and waiting at the
home because they knew they would be out of town during this time period, and they may have caught her unawares, and that may led to her untimely
demise?
GRACE: And Caryn Stark, based on what Ben Levitan is telling us, she made it very open, her movements, where she was, where she was going. And
when police say this is not random, that doesn`t necessarily scream out the husband did it. He was in Connecticut, all right? They could be referring
to a number of people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perfect alibi.
GRACE: Yes, well, I see where you`re going. But what about people in her practice, the patients even, Caryn Stark?
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, that`s the first thing that I thought of, Nancy. When they keep saying it`s not random, that doesn`t
mean her husband necessarily. It could mean somebody who knew her, that someone was actually wanting to attack her.
And it shows us that we all have to be very careful about what we put on line because we forget it`s not all about our friends.
GRACE: You know, to Jeff Asher, probate and estate lawyer joining us out of New York. Jeff, thank you for being with us. Now, if there is a
will, whether she`s murdered or dies of natural causes, that will will be implemented pursuant to her wishes. We know she`s the bread winner in the
family. Her husband is her office manager.
But aside from mode of death, a will is carried pursuant to the wishes of the deceased unless the recipient, the beneficiary, is the killer,
correct?
JEFFREY ASHER, PROBATE AND ESTATE ATTORNEY (via telephone): That is correct.
GRACE: So what about if there is no will, Jeff?
ASHER: So if there is no will, then the laws of the state come into play. In this particular case, you have to analyze whether or not the
children of the family are their children or are her children because the law of Florida differentiates between those types of children.
Assuming that these are the children of them, of the marriage, then under the laws of Florida dealing with intestate succession, an estate that
passes without a will, then he will inherit the entire estate. However, if these are children of hers and not his, then the husband only inherits half
of the estate, and the children inherit the other half.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TERESA SIEVERS, PHYSICIAN: I didn`t come from the perfect family when I was a kid. Although I`d never had a life anything like these girls
go through, I do like them to know you don`t just wake up one day, become a doctor, have a business and have a perfect life. It requires work. And
so, hopefully, I instill in them hope and a belief that they can be anything they want to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:28:39]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not random and arbitrary. There are many, many, many intricacies of this case. Based on the evidence that we have to
this point...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That evidence includes the family`s van, as well as a side door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... feel comfortable saying that it`s not a random, arbitrary situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We`re also learning in the last hours that police have sent all of their evidence, their forensic evidence, to an outlying crime lab,
not their own, in order to speed up the process. What are they hoping to learn? What link are they trying to make?
We also, as we go to air tonight, clear a tan-colored Chevy Avalanche that we learned had been taken away from the scene. Let`s see a picture of
the Chevy Avalanche. That Avalanche belonging to a co-worker that had actually come over to the home when she, Dr. Sievers, did not report to
work that morning. That was a co-worker`s car that came to check on her. It has no relation to the murder investigation.
But also, we`re finding out that the coroner has preserved tissue and blood from her body. But to Dr. Gallagher, Tim Gallagher, forensic
pathologist joining us out of Florida tonight -- Dr. Gallagher, the body was cremated. We have no indication that was part of her will, so that was
a decision made by the husband.
In the case of, for instance, Kathleen Savio, who was Drew Peterson`s third wife, we know that her body was exhumed at the time of the murder
trial against Drew Peterson because that was needed.
[20:30:00] There you see the exhumation process going on on Kathleen Savio. So will it have any bearing, the fact that her, Teresa Sievers, body was cremated?
GALLAGHER: It may or may not. Photos have been taken of the body, the outside of the body and the inside of the body as well as tissue
samples, large amount of tissue samples, blood and bodily fluids were preserved. So generally that`s more than enough to handle any evidence or
any other information that may come in and reopen the case in the future.
GRACE: Dr. Gallagher, if that were true, why was Savio`s body exhumed in the past, like so many other bodies that have been exhumed in the past?
GALLAGHER: There are some limitations as to what you can take. Sometimes, photographs may not show exactly what you need, or you may be
looking for a chemical or a drug in the body that you haven`t tested for initially.
GRACE: So cremating the body would absolutely destroy any possibility of getting additional facts and forensic evidence, is that correct, Dr.
Gallagher?
GALLAGHER: It certainly would limit your ability to do that, although there are forensic pathologists who are experts in cremation investigation.
So it certainly will limit it, but it won`t eliminate it.
GRACE: Caryn Stark, we also learned that when the brothers came back over following the police, trying to figure out what happened, why the
alarm didn`t go off, we learned that Dr. Sievers` husband sat in the car. He has not gone back into the home. We also learned from another source a
few days ago he broke down in the middle of the street, crying. I would not be surprised if he never goes back in this home, Caryn Stark.
STARK: Well, I wouldn`t either. Just doesn`t make sense for him to go back in, because it is retraumatizing him. Once you`ve heard about a
situation and you know that someone has been killed, you don`t want to -- most people -- go back to that scene, because you will feel all over again
as though you just found out about it. And that it just -- all those same feelings come back. The people who go back are usually people who get some
kind of pleasure out of observing it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:36:00]
GRACE: Live to Bardstown, Kentucky, where a mom of five, Crystal Rogers, maroon Chevy found on the side of the road with a flat tire. She
has not been spotted alive since.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re just trying to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Crystal Rogers` car was found on the Bluegrass Parkway abandoned with a flat tire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crystal, if you can hear our voice, we love you. We want to know where you`re at.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her purse was in there, her cell phone was in there, her keys was in the ignition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me right now Scott Johnson from WVLK. Scott, she was at her home that evening, and she leaves at some point. We know she was
talking on the phone, the cell phone, and she leaves, and her car is found at what time and what`s in the car?
SCOTT JOHNSON, WVLK: In the car, we`re not sure exactly when it was found. She was last seen on Friday. The family reported her missing on
Saturday. Or went to the police on Saturday, the 4th, to report her missing. The car was found with a flat tire and the keys were in the car.
There was a cell phone, her purse, diaper bag in the car. There was gas in the car, police say. The only thing wrong was there was a flat tire.
There were no other problems, but there was no Crystal.
GRACE: Joining me now special guest, in addition to Scott Johnson, from WLVK. The father and mother of Crystal. Take a look at this maroon
Chevy. Tommy and Sherry Ballard are with us. Thank you for being with us.
TOMMY BALLARD, FATHER: You`re welcome.
SHERRY BALLARD, MOTHER: You`re welcome.
GRACE: First of all, our prayers are going up ever since we heard about her missing, and we are all hoping and praying for her return. I
want to start with you, Ms. Ballard. When did you first learn she`s missing?
S. BALLARD: Friday, her granddaughter contacted me and said she couldn`t get in touch with her. So I texted my daughter and just told her
that her daughter was trying to get in touch with her and to call her. I think that was around 6:00 maybe. Around 9:30 maybe, Kylie texted me back
and said she still hadn`t heard from her mother, so I started calling around to people that I think she would have talked to --
GRACE: Was that abnormal? Was that unusual, Ms. Ballard, for her not to have texted back?
S. BALLARD: Right at that moment, I didn`t pay real big attention. A little bit, not a lot, because the kids were -- her oldest daughter that
lived there with her was at her grandmother`s. The two, the younger two was at their dad`s, and she just had the baby there at home. It was July
4th weekend. I thought maybe she had plans and maybe didn`t get to her phone. But then when I started calling everybody and nobody had heard from
her, that was sort of unusual.
[20:40:00]
GRACE: When you say you started contacting everybody and no one had heard from her, who did you contact?
S. BALLARD: I called my mother, because she`s real close with her. I called my younger daughter. I called my sister-in-law, Barbara, and I
don`t remember if I -- I think that`s all I called. I called Sabrina, my niece.
GRACE: And Ms. Ballard, with me is Tommy and Sherry Ballard. This is Crystal`s mom and dad. When did it hit you she`s missing?
S. BALLARD: It really hit me Sunday. My daughter texted me back or called me and asked me, she said, have you heard from Crystal yet? I said
no, I said, you haven`t heard from her? She said no. And so I called my mom back and other people, and they hadn`t heard from her. And I told my
husband, I said, that`s just not right.
GRACE: How often do you normally talk to her?
S. BALLARD: During the week, at least probably every other day, if not every day because the kids, like her older daughter lives with me, so
we`re constantly in contact. Not as much on the weekends.
GRACE: And that is so true, Ms. Ballard. Even adult women very often call their mom and dad every day. You know, you`ve got grandchildren
involved. You`ve got them checking on you, you checking on her. And most people are in touch with their family quite often.
Mr. Ballard, to you also, thank you for being with us, what are police telling you tonight?
T. BALLARD: Nothing. I mean, I understand they`re doing all they can. They don`t want to jeopardize nothing, but we really haven`t found
out nothing. We`ve been out searching ourself since Sunday, since me and my son found her car.
GRACE: Where are you searching?
T. BALLARD: Where her car was. And they said she was seen at her boyfriend`s farm. We`re searching out towards that area, just every lead
we get.
GRACE: You know, hold on, I`m hearing in my ear that the sheriff is joining us right now. Sheriff Ed Mattingly with the Nelson County
Sheriff`s Office is with us. Sheriff Mattingly, thank you for being with us. I know the Ballards have just come in physically from out searching
for their daughter, and I don`t know what I would do other than exactly what they`re doing, go out and start searching. Interesting, Sheriff
Mattingly, her car had a flat. I`m curious what caused the flat or was the flat -- was it a fake? Did she really pick up a nail or did somebody slash
the tire to make it look that way?
MATTINGLY: First appearance, we will be sending the tire to the lab, but it appears the nail was worn, as if it had been wedged down into the
tire and driven on. The tracks at the scene also indicate that the car came to the side of the road, driving on the rim.
GRACE: I`ve done that before, and it certainly leaves a mark. Well, Sheriff, you`ve answered my question. That`s enough to convince me she
really did have a flat. That is not a contrived scene. What`s interesting, Sheriff Mattingly, I think this is true, our sources are
telling us her keys, her cell phone, her diaper bag and her purse was in the car?
MATTINGLY: Her personal belongings were in the car, but that doesn`t mean she was the person driving the car. We`ve used the media to generate
tips, but when you do that, it also creates confusion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:48:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re still waiting on you. We love you. We`re looking for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They found her unlocked maroon Chevy Impala abandoned on the Bluegrass Parkway. Her tires were flat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Everyone, please help us find Crystal Rogers. She is a mother of five. Look at her. 5`9, close to 150 pounds, blond shoulder-length
hair. Her car, her Chevy maroon colored Chevy found on the side of the road with a flat. We believe it`s a legitimate flat. Her boyfriend, who
once ran for sheriff, by the way, is totally cooperating. He has not lawyered up. He is speaking with police. With me, her mother and father,
Tommy and Sherry Ballard. Also with us Sheriff Ed Mattingly, clearing up a lot of questions for us.
To Tom and Sherry Ballard. Mr. Ballard, it`s my understanding that you believe that your daughter, like me, would drive the car on the rim all
the way to safety. That`s what I would do, especially if I had my children in the car, but that`s what I would do. Would she have pulled off the road
or would she have kept going?
T. BALLARD: She would have kept going. She`s done it before. She`s drove on the rim. She wouldn`t have stopped her.
GRACE: Also at night, if she were in the car at night, that suggests to me even more so that she would keep going until she could get to safety.
What does that say to you, Mr. Ballard?
T. BALLARD: I don`t think she was in the car. I don`t know, but I think she would have never got out of that car. She would have never
turned it off. She would have called me or somebody she would have knew. She had AAA, but she always called somebody.
GRACE: You know, what you just said, Mr. Ballard, that she would have called you, that she would have called somebody, her cell phone was there.
[20:50:00]
Her cell phone was there. Let me know when I get back up to Ben Levitan, please. To Sheriff Ed Mattingly. I`m sure that you guys have already
ordered all of her cell phone records, to figure out who she was talking to, when she reportedly leaves her apartment, and who, if anybody, she was
talking to or tried to talk to around the time you think she got the flat.
MATTINGLY: We have all that information and we have detectives reviewing all that information right now. I`m not at will to go into
detail, what`s in those records, but we do have that information.
GRACE: To Matt Zarrell, what more do we know, Matt?
ZARRELL: We know that the car was found about 12 miles from the home where Crystal was last seen. And another important factor we`re waiting
on, which is that we know that Crystal was seen that afternoon at a Walmart. That`s the last sighting of her that we know of. We`re trying to
get the surveillance video from that, too, to get a closer look at that, as well.
GRACE: You know, interesting, to Tommy and Sherry Ballard, when she was spotted that afternoon at Walmart, was she with anyone?
S. BALLARD: She had her two children with her.
GRACE: And where did they go that evening? Did they go with her to the apartment or did they, what?
S. BALLARD: She took her -- she took the kids to their dad`s house, to an apartment where they lived. They were spending their weekend with
their dad.
GRACE: And then --
S. BALLARD: She may have had the baby with her, I`m not sure.
T. BALLARD: We really don`t know.
GRACE: So the Walmart video she revealed who was with her, but you believe she had two children with her. She was not in the company of
someone else, correct?
S. BALLARD: No. Just her and the kids. She may have had the baby with her, I`m not sure.
GRACE: Now, who has the baby tonight?
T. BALLARD: The dad. Her boyfriend.
GRACE: The dad does. To you, Sheriff Mattingly. Is it true the boyfriend is being cooperative?
MATTINGLY: Yes, he is.
GRACE: Has not hired a lawyer?
MATTINGLY: He has not.
GRACE: Agreed to take a polygraph?
MATTINGLY: Yes.
GRACE: I know you`re not confirming this, but we have reports that his polygraph was inconclusive. That does not mean he is lying. That does
not mean that at all.
MATTINGLY: The result of the test is inconclusive. And that means exactly that. Not conclusive.
GRACE: Scott Johnson with us, WVLK. The 12-mile trip from her home to where her car was found, what is in between those two points? Are there
shopping malls, is there a grocery store, a gas station? Is there a red light with a camera?
JOHNSON: That`s a very good question, to be honest. I`m not familiar with the area. The car was found along the Bluegrass Parkway, which is a
state freeway that runs near Bardstown. The parkway itself is a relatively rural area.
GRACE: Is that correct, Sheriff Mattingly? Between the boyfriend`s home and her car, mostly rural?
MATTINGLY: Not necessarily, no. The Bluegrass Parkway is rural, but their residence is in a populated area, and Bardstown is a town between
about 12,000 and 13,000 people, and, you know, there are businesses along those routes.
GRACE: To Ben Levitan. Ben, I want to talk to your very briefly about her cell phone. Her cell phone -- I believe her mother and father.
If she had had a flat and she was driving that car, she would have called one of them. She would have tried to call one of them or the boyfriend,
who is the father of her baby. She would not have -- why would you get out of the car and leave it and leave your cell phone, your car keys, and your
pocketbook in the car? Sheriff, was the car locked?
BEN LEVITAN: No -- why would you?
GRACE: So, what can we learn from her cell phone, Ben?
LEVITAN: Well, what we`re going to learn is probably she did call somebody. All we`re going to be able to tell from her cell phone is that
she was in that location. What may be more useful, Nancy, is if she was hooked up to a cell tower that covers the Blue Ridge Parkway, let`s find
out who else was hooked up to that cell tower. The cell phone company can do a dump of that cell tower and tell you every cell phone that connected
to that cell tower around that period of time. Maybe those people are suspects, but maybe those people are witnesses. Maybe they drove by and
saw her. So we`re not necessarily -- yes.
GRACE: To Thomas and Sherry Ballard. If you could speak to her right now, what would you say?
T. BALLARD: Just come home safe.
S. BALLARD: We`re looking for you.
[20:55:00]
T. BALLARD: We`re doing everything we can.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Tonight, we honor Ft. Worth police officer, Kelly Whitehead. Saving a man from drowning in a lake. Whitehead called to the scene, jumps
into the lake, treading water to keep the man and herself alive. Whitehead says, it was just another day on the job. A job to make a difference and
save someone`s life. Officer Kelly Whitehead, American hero.
Drew up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
