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Nancy Grace

Two-year-old Disappears on Family Camping Trip; Kentucky Mom Vanishes; Two Maryland Tots Gone Missing; South Carolina Baby Missing; Aired 8:30-9p ET

Aired December 24, 2015 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Idaho; bombshell tonight: A beautiful two-year-old little boy goes missing from a family

camping trip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATE EATON, REPORTER, EASTIDAHONEWS.COM, via telephone: This is the camping site where Dior and his family were camping. The creek is just

here, a few yards away.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: We decided we were going to do a little exploring.

EATON: They went up this way, away from the campsite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was going to be good with grandpa, by the campfire.

EATON: By the time the parents came back -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We weren`t more than probably -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 50 yards away, in ten minutes -

EATON: Dior was gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And, live, Barstow, 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, off camera: Scouring farmland and wooded areas for any sign of a missing Kentucky mother of five.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, off camera: Rogers was last seen at her boyfriend`s house. Did you report her missing?

TERRY BALLARD, FATHER, CRYSTAL ROGERS: No, ma`am. None of his families been out to help us find her.

BROOKS HOUCK, BOYFRIEND, CRYSTAL ROGERS: I was not, in the least little bit, alarmed.

SHERRY HOUCK, MOTHER, CRYSTAL ROGERS: She`s got little kids, you know, and they miss their momma.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE, off camera: And, live, a Maryland mom caught on tape acting cool as a cucumber while her tots go missing. She promises to lead police to her

missing tots, but instead leads police on a wild goose chase, chocked full of lies. As we go to air tonight, the tots still missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catherine told family she was taking Jacob to get pizza, but she returned without the child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you have the babies, please call the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reunite the two children with their dad and grandparents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And, Pendleton, South Carolina where one-year-old Leaona Wright goes missing in her white nighty from her family`s Edgewood Square

apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE DISPATCH: Who`s the child`s mother?

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: It don`t make no sense.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: It`s not making sense. Search and rescue teams out, tracking dogs, horseback riders sifted through mounds of garbage from the

apartment.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: The parents are really not saying nothing. They just crying and hollering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE, off camera: And, Plano, Texas, 23-year-old Christina Morris vanishes from a high-end luxury retail shopping mall. Gritty surveillance

video emerges. We have the video.

Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight, to Idaho. A beautiful two-year-old boy goes missing

from a family camping trip. Please, let`s bring him home for Christmas. Take a look at this little boy. The family there. They insist the child

has been kidnapped. To Nate Eaton, a reporter with EastIdahoNews.com, take me to the moment we learn baby Deorr Kunz is gone.

EATON: Well Deorr`s parents had gone a couple yards away from the camping site to look inside the reservoir. They assumed that little Deorr would be

safe with his grandfather and a friend of grandpa`s. They get back and say to grandpa, where`s Deorr. He said, I thought he was with you. They say,

we left him with you. Panic ensues. They search for the little boy. They can`t find him. They call 9-1-1. Search crews arrive and for weeks and

weeks and months and months, no sign of this little boy.

GRACE: Nate Eaton, I don`t quite understand the logistics of what you`re saying. Nate Eaton is joining us in the East Idaho News. You`re saying

the parents walked "a couple of yards", those were your words", a couple of yards from the campsite. Now, a couple of yards, a yard is three feet. So

that`s a couple would be six feet. Six feet from the camping site and he goes missing?

EATON: A little bit more than six feet, Nancy. So this is a really remote campsite. I mean, rocky terrain to get into this campsite. There`s trees

all around. The campsite is secluded and the parents say we`re just going to go up this trail, around, see the reservoir, be gone - they say they

were gone for about twenty minutes when they came back and the child was missing.

GRACE: Okay, now I`m getting a better picture of it, Nate. They wanted to go on a little private hiking themselves; they`re gone about a half an

hour; they go up a little trail to look down at the reservoir; they come back; the child is gone. Listen to this 9-1-1 call. What do we learn?

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: What`s the address of your emergency?

MOTHER: Um, I`m actually camping in Leadore, just outside of Leadore.

DISPATCHER: Uh, huh.

MOTHER: Um, my two-year-old son, we can`t find him.

DISPATHER: How long has he been missing?

MOTHER: About an hour.

DISPATHER: An hour?

CALLER: Yes.

DISPATHER: Are you by the water?

MOTHER: Yes.

DISPATCHER: Do you know which campground you`re in?

MOTHER: It`s Stone Reservoir, Timber Creek.

DISPATCHER: Stone Reservoir?

MOTHER: Yes, or Timber Creek.

DISPATCHER: Hold on; we need search and rescue. Jessica? Jessica?

MOTHER: Yes.

DISPATHER: What`s your son`s name?

MOTHER: Deorr.

DISPATHER: Okay, what is he wearing?

MOTHER: HE was wearing cowboy boots, a blue, pair, like pajama pants and a camo jacket; and he`s got shaggy blonde hair.

DISPATCHER: Is your husband calling too?

MOTHER: Like, all down where we were camping at and we can`t find him at all.

DISPATCHER: Okay, we need you to stay within cell service.

MOTHER: Okay.

DISPATHER: We`ve got people going; on the way.

MOTHER: Thank you.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: With me is Chief Deputy, Steve Pinner, with the County Sheriff`s Office. Chief, thank you so much for being with us.

STEVE PENNER, CHIEF DEPUTY, LEMHI COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Your welcome.

GRACE: Chief Pinner, I`m trying to understand the logistics, the layout of this. So were there other people camping around them?

PENNER: There was some about a quarter mile, actually a little over a half a mile away, at the other end of the reservoir.

GRACE: And I assume that they were talked to and questioned, and anyone even seen little Deorr, other than the immediate family?

PENNER: No.

GRACE: Now you said - earlier Nate Eaton reported that the grandfather was there with a friend. Was that a male or a female friend?

PENNER: That was a male.

GRACE: A male friend; and I assume both of them were questioned. You know, other than the family, had anyone else seen the child?

PENNER: No.

GRACE: How soon after the child goes missing, Chief Penner, do they call 9-1-1?

PENNER: I think it was probably, they looked for a little while, so it was probably close to an hour.

GRACE: Matt Zarrell, what more do we know about the time surrounding his disappearance?

MATTHEW ZARRELL, EDITORIAL PRODUCER, "NANCY GRACE" SHOW: Well we know that it was during a very short period of time where he went missing; and we

know that there was a delay in them calling. The reason there was a delay was because there was no cell service up at the campground. They actually

had to drive down the hill in order to get cell service and call police for help.

GRACE: And, Matt Zarell, was anyone else around the family? I know the grandfather`s friend has been questioned. I really don`t see that as much

of a possibility because the grandfather was there. This is his grandchild. The parents were only away for about 30 minutes. Do we know,

Matt, about what time of the day or night this was?

ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy; this was in the middle of the afternoon, about 2:30 in the afternoon; and I should note that the grandfather and his friend

actually went back up to the site with police multiple times to show them what happened, answered all of their questions.

But, Nancy, there`s another person we needed to be talking about here, and that`s that the family claims that there was this suspicious man at a

convenience store the morning of the disappearance that was eyeing the child. Now the store does not have surveillance, but the man drove a newer

model black Jeep Rubicon. He was described as being in his 50`s with long white hair. It was curly at the bottom. A private investigator who was

working with the family was actually trying to track this guy down.

GRACE: You know what, with me right now, that private investigator, Phillip Klein, PI hired by Deorr`s family. He`s the president of Klein

Investigations and Consulting. Phillip, thanks so much for being with us. Help me out; help me understand what happened.

PHILLIP KLEIN, PRESIDENT, KLEIN INVESTIGATIONS & CONSULTING: Well, Nancy, we`re coming into this case on a very cold basis. We received the case

approximately three weeks ago. We`re in the process right now of developing our timeline. I do want to say the officers and the police

departments and all the FBI agents that have worked on the case have done a bang-up job. We`re able to come in now, cold, and come back in and follow-

up on all the leads they`ve developed. There is an eleven-minute time- period from the grandfather to the parents that we`re looking at. Equally, there is that 56-minute time-period when the - between the decision to call

9-1-1 and the actual call itself.

So far everyone in this case is being cooperative. We`re looking at it from three angles. Obviously a possible homicide. Secondarily it could

have been what we call a nature take, which would be some type of an animal. The child could have wondered away and some type of animal up

there could have taken the child. We believe that`s far-fetched. But, third, we are looking at it as a possible kidnapping.

So, we don`t have anything in stone yet, Nancy, but we are developing our timeline. Our teams been put together, and we have boots on the ground in

Idaho and I`ll be flying up there tomorrow and meeting the team and we`re going to be - we`re going to find out what happened to this young boy.

GRACE: You know, Mark Klaas is with me, President and Founder of KlaasKids Foundation. Mark, I would like you to analyze this as best as you can.

MARK KLAAS, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Sure, Nancy. I think of the three scenarios that were just put out by Mr. Klein, the least

likely would be that somebody murdered the child. It would be very hard for four people to keep a conspiracy together like that, plus the fact that

all these months later the family has hired Mr. Klein and his firm to get the baby tells me that they`re being very proactive about this.

The other two scenarios I think are more plausible: the possibility of an animal taking the child when nobody was looking; or the possibility of a

random kidnapping. Now, if it had been a kidnapping, this wouldn`t be a kidnapping for sex. This would have been somebody who would have probably

taken the boy because they wanted a child of their own to raise.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Now live to Barstow, 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: On foot or by boot, we`re all looking for signs of Crystal Rogers, a mother of five.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Houck maintains his innocence and has fully cooperated with detectives.

BROOKS HOUCK, BOYFRIEND, CRYSTAL ROGERS: We have had a stressed relationship at times.

UNIDENTIFED: Trust was a huge ordeal in their relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Matthew Fogel, anchor with PLG. Matthew thank you for being with us. For those of you just joining us, Crystal Rogers,

absolutely a gorgeous young mom; beautiful on the inside and the outside. Her parents are joining us tonight. Please, help us bring her home for

Christmas.

This is a mom of five. 35-year-old Crystal Rogers, 5`9", about 140 pounds, blonde shoulder-length hair. Take a look at Crystal.

Matthew, for our viewers that are not familiar with Crystal`s story, let`s take it from the beginning, at the night she goes missing. What happened?

MATTHEW FOGEL, NEWS ANCHOR, PLG: Hi, Nancy. Well, Crystal was last seen on Friday, July 3rd. She was reportedly last seen on a family farm of her

boyfriend`s. They were seen there together. She was not seen on July 4th. On July 5th her parents got worried and reported her missing. That same

evening that they reported her missing, her car was found on the side of Bluegrass Parkway, in Milson County, about a 14 mile - 14 miles from that

family farm. It was found with her - the keys still in the ignition; some of her possessions still in the car, her cellphone and a couple of other

items still in the car; no sign of a struggle outside of the car. Police say that it looks like a nail had been run over and the tire had been

driven to the side of the roadway on a flat.

At that point a massive search effort has been conducted over the past several months and it`s been pretty much a massive search effort by both

police and -

GRACE: You know what seems odd to me, Matthew Fogel, is that if she goes missing on July 3rd, didn`t the boyfriend that was last with her, go to a

big family July 4th party, and she wasn`t there, and he just went ahead and went to the cookout without ever reporting she was missing?

FOGEL: Right, and as he said on your show, back in July when you interviewed him, he said he had tried to call her a couple of times on

Saturday, but that he wasn`t startled about her missing when he woke up on Saturday morning because he said whenever they were fighting, if you will,

if they have a stressed relationship, as he quoted, that she would go to her cousin Sabrina`s house if that ever happened.

GRACE: Okay. All right, as a matter of fact he did tell me that. Take a listen to his interrogation tape with police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DETECTIVE: There, on the phone records, there appears to be a phone call, around midnight -

HOUCK: All right.

DETECTVE: -- on Friday night, Saturday morning -

HOUCK: All right.

DETECTIVE: -- on your way home, basically.

HOUCK: All right.

DETECTIVE: Do you know who that person was who called you around midnight? So you remember talking on that phone call?

HOUCK: Can you just call the number back? I don`t -

DETECTIVE: I mean, I could. I could look at the phone --

HOUCK: Yeah, look at my phone, but I don`t remember that.

DETECTIVE: You don`t remember getting a phone call on the way home? Would it be unusual for you to get a phone call at midnight? I mean, it is for

me and I work for the sheriff`s office. I get calls quite frequently.

HOUCK: Some of the people that do the tile for me, I wouldn`t put it past them to call me any time. They lay brick during the day -

DETECTIVE: It was a very short phone conversation is the only reason I ask. It`s kind of unusual to get a 13-second phone conversation at

midnight; it is for me. It may not be for you.

HOUCK: All right, well, just check it out. Check out the details. That`s all right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Okay, let me understand that. Matthew Fogel, PLG, who called who for 13 seconds?

FOGEL: Apparently the man on the other line called Brooks Houck on that phone call and he actually told, as you saw there, Detective Snow, that it

was probably work related. That they figured that out later, and he actually put it on speaker that it was a work related phone call.

GRACE: Okay. Tommy and Sherry Ballard just joining us, the father and mother of Crystal Rogers. Please help us bring her home for Christmas; her

family desperate for answers. This is a mother of five.

Tommy and Sherry, thank you for being with us.

TOMMY BALLARD, FATHER, CRYSTAL ROGERS: Your welcome.

GRACE: We are not letting this go until we get answers about Crystal. Now, what is this business about the boyfriend`s brother had been a police

officer and he was let go, Mr. Ballard?

BALLARD: He was fired because he was interfering to the case, I was told, and he`s failed his lie detector test over Crystal.

GRACE: Well, Stacy Newman, talk about burying the lead. Matthew Fogel, is this true, that the brother of the boyfriend failed a lie detector test? I

have not confirmed that? Do you know that he failed a lie detector?

FOGEL: Yes; that`s true, and he failed a lie detector test on his knowledge of -

GRACE: What?

FOGEL: -- what -

GRACE: Stacy Newman; put her up please. Stacy? Lie detector test, the brother failed the lie detector test?

STACY NEWMAN: Yes, he failed the polygraph -

GRACE: Ringing a bell? Ding! Ding! Ding!

NEWMAN: And that`s related to not only his movement but his police cruiser where police K-9`s apparently hit on his cruiser in the trunk of the car.

GRACE: Wow! Okay, hold on. Hold - wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you telling me - is it scent dogs or cadaver dogs that hit on his trunk?

NEWMAN: Scent dogs hit on his trunk; that was one of two places that canines hit in this investigation and he was questioned about that on

police interrogation video.

GRACE: Let`s take another look at that police interrogation video. With me tonight, Tommy and Sherry Ballard, everyone desperate to bring home

Crystal Rogers. Listen.

(BEING VIDEO CLIP)

HOUCK: It`s extremely difficult to get up in the morning and push on, look at Eli. I know that, here I`ve got a million things going on that I have

to get done and then who`s going to suffer? He is, and it`s not right. I`m ready to hire, hire an auctioneer to sell all this stuff so I can be

there for him like Crystal. What else do you want to know?

DETECTIVE: Take a minute; it`s all right.

HOUCK: No, it`s -

DETECTIVE: It`s fine to be upset; I understand. It`s fine to be mad; I understand that, too.

HOUCK: He`s there asking, asking for everybody. It`s a shock to him.

DETECTIVE: It`s okay to be upset by it; I understand. It`s okay to be upset with her family. They`re -

HOUCK: Yes, but their emotions are so shot right now and I can understand it, and I don`t - if that`s how they want to be -

DETECTIVE: But you`re highly emotional too; that`s okay.

HOUCK: That`s fine. What they`re mad about is the darn cellphone that I took away from Ashley because her mother told me to take it away from her.

That`s what they`re mad about and it`s just been a spiral since then, in October.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Welcome back; the search for Crystal Rogers goes on. Joining me, her mother and father, Tommy and Sherry Ballard. To you, Mrs. Ballard,

what is your understanding of what happened the night Crystal goes missing?

SHERRY BALLARD, MOTHER, CRYSTAL ROGERS: I don`t think Crystal was ever in that car that was on the BGE. The last place that I know that she was

specifically seen was walking in to her home, after she had came back from a trip to Wal-Mart. I haven`t heard anything of anybody seeing her since

then.

GRACE: And to you, Mr. Ballard, what do you think of the nail in the tire? What do you make of that?

BALLARD: I know she had trouble with the tire, that she aired it up every couple of days. But I don`t know if it was because of that nail. They

still have that tire in the crime lab, so I think somebody just got out of that car quick and left it, that`s what I think. I think they was going

further.

GRACE: You know, back to you, Matthew Fogel, joining us from PLG, Matthew, you heard what we said earlier about the boyfriend. I find it very unusual

that she goes missing. She had been at his place. He says she leaves, that he was not surprised that she was gone the next morning; that whenever

they had a spat that she would just leave; and he goes on to a July 4th party as if nothing`s wrong. I find that a little unusual, but, okay, I`ll

go with it. But what concerns me is that the boyfriend`s brother, according to what you guys are reporting, is fired from the police

department, and failed a polygraph specifically on questions on Crystal`s disappearance. What more do we know, Matthew?

FOGLE: Well, as Tommy said, you know, he was fired also for interfering with the investigation. Brooks Houck, his brother, Crystal`s boyfriend,

was actually being interrogated by police when Nick called Brooks and said that he should protect himself that investigators might be trying to trip

him up. They said that was conduct unbecoming of an officer. That was one of the other reasons why Nick Houck was fired.

A key issue here is that no criminal charges have been filed against Nick Houck, that was just a thing that he was fired through -

GRACE: Okay, let me understand, when you`re using the names. I want the viewers to understand, so Crystal`s boyfriend is in the middle of his

police interrogation and his brother, the police officer, according to you, calls him and says, hey, listen, all this is going to be held against you.

Watch out for yourself, basically. So he tells his own brother to watch what he says.

FOGLE: Right, that`s what he says. He says investigators might be trying to trip him up.

GRACE: Oh, okay. Then let me correct that. His words are investigators might be trying to trip you up, is that right?

FOGLE: Right.

GRACE: OK. So what is he doing now that he`s not a cop anymore?

FOGLE: That is unknown at this time. Our calls to him have been unanswered.

GRACE: Now another issue. Matthew Fogel, PLG. What can you tell me about K-9s hitting on the brother`s cruiser, police cruiser?

FOGLE: Well, I know that they took the police cruiser to the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab, and according to interrogation videos that Nick

Houck was speaking with KSP investigators, Kentucky State Police investigators, they claim on the video that they used luminol, which is a

chemical to find bodily fluids, that they put luminol in the trunk, and it fluoresced, if you will. That`s what they quoted him saying.

GRACE: OK, that`s not good.

FOGLE: They said that that --

GRACE: That is not good. Marc Klaas, president and founder, Klaas Kids Foundation, what`s your take?

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, first of all, Mr. and Mrs. Ballard, I am so sorry for what you`re having to go

through. 22 years ago, I went through a very similar situation during the holidays, and I still have trouble finding joy in the Christmas season.

Nancy, if my wife were missing for even one hour, and I was unable to get ahold of her, I would move heaven and earth to locate her. And that

includes calling 911, calling the FBI, and calling anybody else I could think of who would help me find her. That`s regardless of whether we had

an argument or we didn`t. And that`s to put aside all of this business about any possible conspiracy between the brothers. I just think that this

thing stinks to high heaven.

GRACE: Tommy and Sherry Ballard, joining us tonight. We are seeking your help in finding Crystal Rogers.

Sherry, where is the baby? I know she`s got five children, but where is the youngest?

SHERRY BALLARD, MOTHER OF MISSING WOMAN: The baby is still with Brooks. They won`t let us see him. The judge still has not -- he`s made his

ruling, but he hasn`t signed the papers. But could I clarify --

GRACE: Wait, wait, the judge -- yes, clarify. Go ahead.

S. BALLARD: On the fight that Brooks were saying that there was a spat. Brooks specifically told me on the day that I reported my daughter missing,

I specifically asked him, Brooks, were you fighting, and he said no. That`s why I could not understand why he thinks my daughter would have got

up and left that house and not take that baby with her, which was something that she never, ever did. If they got in a fight --

GRACE: You know what`s -- I want to follow up on something you just said, Miss Ballard. You said the judge hasn`t signed what paper?

S. BALLARD: He has not signed -- supposedly, he has told us that he has made a ruling, but he hasn`t, you know, on visitation for the baby. But he

has not signed the papers yet. I have called his office just to see if he had signed them. I was specifically told not to call his office again.

GRACE: Really? Well, what judge is this?

S. BALLARD: Yes.

GRACE: Who is this judge?

S. BALLARD: Jack Seay.

GRACE: I don`t understand what you`re saying. Jack Seay?

TOM BALLARD, FATHER OF MISSING WOMAN: Judge Seay.

S. BALLARD: Judge Seay. Judge Jack Seay.

GRACE: Judge Jack Seay. How do you spell Seay?

S. BALLARD: Yes, I`m sorry. S-E-A-Y.

GRACE: So Judge Jack Seay, S-E-A-Y, office, told you not to call him anymore?

S. BALLARD: They --

GRACE: Your daughter is missing, and you want to see your grandchild, and you`re not supposed to find out about the order?

S. BALLARD: Yes. He specifically -- he called my lawyer and told my lawyer to tell me that information.

GRACE: OK. Matthew --

T. BALLARD: We went to court over --

GRACE: What did you say, sir?

T. BALLARD: We went to court about two months ago to see that grand baby, and then about a month ago, probably five weeks ago, he told our lawyer,

he`s made his decision, he just needs to sign it, but he`s never signed it.

GRACE: You know, Marc Klaas, can it get any tougher for this family?

KLAAS: Well, it couldn`t get any worse for this family. They have no victim rights at all. They`re being treated like trash. This is a

horrible situation.

[20:34:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: A Maryland mother caught on tape acting cool as a cucumber, while her tots go missing. She promises to lead police to her missing tots, but

instead she leads police on a wild goose chase, chock full of lies.

As we go to air tonight, the children still missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: These are their photos. 27-year-old Catherine Hoggle, her daughter, 3-year-old Sara, and her son, 2-year-old Jacob.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please come home, and we love you, and if you have the babies, please call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a highly unusual case. Two children go separately missing from the same family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Chuck Carroll with WNEW.

Chuck, thank you for being with us. What happened? How did this whole thing start?

[20:40:01] CHUCK CARROLL, REPORTER, WNEW: Christmas of 2013. That`s when Catherine Hoggle was actually first committed and upon her release, a rule

was implemented by the children`s father that she was not to be left alone with the kids. And then she disappeared with the kids one at a time,

September of 2014, and it appears that this was something she had been planning in the months leading up to this disappearance.

And then once they went missing, there was just an all-out search conducted in the D.C. area for Catherine Hoggle and the kids. She was found five

days later, but the kids, they`re still missing.

GRACE: With us, Chuck Carroll, WNEW. Also with me right now, Captain Darren Francke with the Montgomery County Police in charge of the Major

Crimes Division.

Captain, thank you for being with us. You know, I just heard Chuck Carroll say she had been planning the disappearance of her two tots, Sara an Jacob,

for a long time. Why do you believe that is or is not true?

CAPT. DARREN FRANCKE, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: Based on the search warrants we have done, based on the history we have gathered from -- as he

was reporting, her previous issues with mental health, and a lot of it has to do with the activities on September 7th, September 8th. She went about

taking Jacob out of the home and then Sara early on the 8th. To us it just showed us preplanning, and that she really had been looking at this for a

while.

GRACE: Joining us right now, in addition to Captain Francke, is a special guest, the father of the two missing children. Please, take a look at

them. Where are they? Please, help us bring them home for Christmas.

With me right now, the father, Troy Turner. Mr. Turner, thank you for being with us.

TROY TURNER, FATHER OF MISSING CHILDREN: Thanks for having me back on.

GRACE: Mr. Turner, I just can`t even imagine heading into Christmas without my children. I want to first hear how you managed to get through

every day.

TURNER: Honestly, I`m not really sure, half the time. But it`s kind of -- I guess it`s just realizing that it`s not about me and just, you know,

understanding what they need and my son and what he needs.

GRACE: Has your wife given you any information at all about the possible whereabouts of the children?

TURNER: No. She -- no, not at all, actually. Just -- it might be a statement here or there and then backtrack later. But mostly, you know, it

just -- conversations tend to become more about her.

GRACE: When you ask her about the children, what does she say?

TURNER: Just the same things as, you know -- as previously reported. Just that they`re out there, and, you know, that they weren`t harmed. And

that`s kind of the one thing that she stays constant on.

GRACE: Justin Freiman, can you help me track her movements, when we realize the two children are gone?

JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, first she`s at one of her parents` homes, and she takes the son, saying that she`s dropping him

off and getting some pizza. Dropping him off with a friend. She returns without him or the pizza. The next day, her daughter is missing as well.

GRACE: Let`s see the tip line. 240-773-8477.

Justin, what is she doing in the video? What is that, a Chick-fil-A?

FREIMAN: Yes. She was at a Chick-fil-A. Of that`s when she goes there with her boyfriend, and she says she just wants to stop in there for

something to drink. And at this point, she`s not answering any questions, being asked about where are the children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:47:58] GRACE: Live to Pendleton, South Carolina, where 1-year-old little Leaona Wright goes missing in her white nighty from her family`s

Edgewood Square apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Couldn`t even walk. She couldn`t leave from that apartment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody came into the house and took the child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god. Ma`am, I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, that`s the part --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re reporting they were asleep early in the morning. When they woke up at 8:00, 9:00 hour, the front door was open.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m going to be honest with you, because basically, they should have been up with these kids. She says she was sleeping. Now

she woke up, her baby was gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Joining me right now is Dave Priest. Joining us from WRNN.

Dave, thank you for being with us. Tell me about the baby`s disappearance. How did it all start?

DAVE PRIEST, REPORTER, WRNN: Well, it started back on June 6th. The mother, Keira Sullivan, the 22-year-old, was apparently at a bachelorette

party the night before. And left her 1-year-old baby, Leaona, in the care of her boyfriend, Travis. She reported to police that when she got up the

next morning, the front door was open, the baby was gone, and that one of her other children must have opened the door and let the baby out.

GRACE: Take a look at the baby girl missing from South Carolina. That story really doesn`t hang together for me.

Dave Priest, what more can you tell me?

PRIEST: Well, it doesn`t hang together for the police either. They`re calling that, well -- they`re quoted, misinformation. They use that

initially, because that was the mother`s explanation. But now they`re saying that they believe that the daughter may have been gone, the 1-year-

old may have been gone by the time that Keira got back from the bachelorette party, but may not have known it at that point in time.

They`re still trying to piece it together.

GRACE: Stacey Newman, I feel like there are holes in the story.

STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: There`s a lot of holes. And you can actually hear it on the 911 call from those neighbors. They can`t even

make sense of it when they`re hearing the story from the mother. And one of the family members did say at some point the mom said she believed the

daughter went missing while she was out at the party. Not when she -- after she woke up and saw the front door open.

[20:50:07] GRACE: A South Carolina baby girl is missing, wearing her little white nighty. What can we learn from that 911 call? Listen..

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody`s got the baby, the baby is missing, not here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who`s the child`s parent? Let me speak with them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ma`am, what`s going on out there? You`re saying the baby is missing and then --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The baby is missing, this is all I know. I just flew by here. She came out here, the baby cannot walk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I`m with the police. Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So nobody knows about how long the child has been?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, because she was asleep.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do we know who took the child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody knows who took the child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she -- how old is the child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old is the child?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old is your baby? One. So she can`t walk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay on the phone with me, do not hang up me, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she do. I think he do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think you do what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talking about the baby. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do they know who took her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, ma`am. Nobody know who took her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Robin Thicker, defense attorney out of Maryland. Troy Slaten, defense attorney out of L.A. Also joining us Dr.

Ish Major, psychiatrist out of Atlanta.

First to you, Robin Thicker. Question, the baby cannot walk yet. Somebody had to take the baby out of that crib, out of that apartment. It doesn`t

look good. The mom is accounted for. She was out at that bachelorette party.

ROBIN THICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s the boyfriend, it`s an acquaintance, it`s a neighbor, it`s someone in an adjoining apartment, someone who covets

having a beautiful child like this.

GRACE: You know, Troy Slaten, would you agree or disagree with that?

TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I agree. This boyfriend tested positive for methamphetamine, cocaine, THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, even

their 3-year-old, the other child tested positive for all those drugs. There`s a lot of bad things going on in that apartment, Nancy.

GRACE: Doctor Ish Major, do you really believe that someone, just in order to have a child of their own, would actually kidnap a child? Because you

can adopt a child. There are thousands of children that need a home. Why kidnap one?

DR. ISH MAJOR, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, Nancy, you would kidnap one when you know the adoption agency isn`t going to let you follow through with that

process which goes into the thought process of the person who would do this in the first place. Somebody who has no remorse or no concern for the

family or maybe even the child. They only know what they want and anything is willing to do it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:56:45] GRACE: Now to Plano, Texas. 23-year-old Christina Morris vanishes from a high end luxury retail shopping mall. Gritty surveillance

video emerges. We have the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: From classmates to accused criminal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have nothing to do with the disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Enrique (INAUDIBLE) was formally charged with kidnapping his high school acquaintance Christina Morris. The search for

Christina Morris grew more exhaustive and exhausting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Justin Freiman on the story. First let`s look at the video. Could you take it in full, please, Liz. Here you see her,

Christina Morris, walking out of a high end mall, a lot of really classy, expensive stores there. There you see her walking out. It is in the

evening. It`s very clearly her.

Justin, where do they walk to? Do they go to her car?

FREIMAN: Nancy, they are walking out from a night out with friends. This is an acquaintance of her in this video. They then move apart allegedly.

She goes to her car and he claims that he goes to his car but she is never seen again.

GRACE: You know, I`m taking a close look at this. Are they dating or are they just acquaintances, Justin?

FREIMAN: They`re acquaintances, they`ve known each other for a few years. The sad thing is not only does she go missing, her car remains in that lot,

Nancy.

GRACE: Robin Thicker, defense attorney joining me out of Maryland. It doesn`t look good for him, he`s the last one with her, she goes missing

that night.

THICKER: I agree. You have to look at him, you have to find out where he`s gone immediately thereafter. Are there any other video cameras in the

parking lot.

GRACE: Everyone, there`s a $25,000 reward, tip line, 972-941-2148.

We remember American hero, Army 1st Lieutenant Benjamin Brit, 24, Wheeler, Texas. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, a West Point grad, loved chess and all

thing Texas. Parents Day Jr. and Mary.

Benjamin Brit, American hero.

We are sending everyone the very best wishes for a Merry Christmas and blessings on all I`m missing tonight. Thanks to our guests and especially

to you or being with us, inviting us into your homes.

I`m Nancy Grace signing off. To everyone, have a very, Merry Christmas, full of peace and love. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern

and until then, good night, friend.

END