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Nancy Grace
New Target in Midlothian Church Murder; Woman Left Dead at Florida Plastic Surgery Center. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired May 16, 2016 - 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. Mom of three, at Creekside church 4:00 AM to teach aerobics, murdered in the church by a perp
disguised in full SWAT gear, Missy Bevers dead, multiple punctures to the head and chest.
We profile nine people on a police target list -- Bevers`s family, a married male fitness colleague, his wife, another married man, his wife.
What`s their connection to Missy? Was that creepy message she gets just before she`s murdered a fake to point cops away from the real killer?
Missy`s family, quote, "shocked" by her flirtations just before she`s murdered, and quote, "intimate relationships" outside the marriage.
Tonight, after literally a thousand tips, police announce a brand-new target. Bombshell tonight. Do police have a detailed description of the
perpetrator but won`t release it? Why? Midlothian PD working around the clock to nail the killer, now calling in top digital experts whose
expertise is piecing together digital clues to crack this case.
And cops go back to the scene of the crime in the late night hours, retracing the church killer`s footsteps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the best of my knowledge, when my wife arrived, there was no other vehicle in the parking lot.
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: As she came in from this direction, Missy Bevers would not have seen a car parked in the back of the church.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there another vehicle? Did they have cameras outside that could confirm that? I don`t know.
NEWMAN: Let`s just suppose that Missy Bevers (INAUDIBLE) into Creekside church. If somebody parked in the back, she would have seen their vehicle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The desperate search for a 33-year-old Texas mom who falls overboard in the middle of the night while her Carnival Cruise ship en
route to Mexico. Does video capture Samantha going overboard? Who, if anyone, was with her? And why does nearly 12 hours pass before the Coast
Guard is even alerted to start their search of nearly 3,000 square miles of deep blue ocean?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Samantha Broberg...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends of the 33-year-old mother of four on a cruise to Mexico discover she is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She fell overboard about 2:00 in the morning. After they found out that she was missing and then found the video showing that
she had fallen overboard...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Falls backwards 10 decks down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s ABC`s "GMA."
A gorgeous 29-year-old mom of two left dead at a well-known Florida plastic surgery center during liposuction and butt lift. But the south Florida
clinic remains open the day Heather Meadows (ph) dies on the table, not even bothering to cancel patients and close for the day, continuing their
butt lifts.
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. A mom of three, at Creekside church 4:00 AM to teach aerobics, murdered in the church by a perp disguised in full SWAT gear.
Bombshell tonight. Police identify brand-new targets. This as they call in digital experts that say they can give a height, a weight right down to
a shoe size of the church killer.
But first, could Missy Bevers have seen her killer before she even stepped into that church? We re-enact the exact route the killer took on their way
to murder Missy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (voice-over): Over here in the driveway of Creekside church, there`s only one entrance and exit to the
church. We`re pulling out of here now. If the suspect was here and made a right -- this is highway 287. It`s the main highway running parallel to
the church. The killer would have had to make a right here, drive along 287. And as you can see, it`s all remote woods that`s behind barbed wire.
[20:05:00]And not until three quarters of a mile down 287 from Creekside church is the next business, which is a Whataburger. Surveillance cameras
at that location would not have caught someone on the highway. It`s too far back from the street. This is the first location, the first businesses
that possibly could have possibly had surveillance cameras next to Creekside church.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: This as we have more bombshells. On the scene in Midlothian, number one, is it true -- out to you Stacey Newman joining us on the scene
in Midlothian. It is true the husband`s alibi is confirmed?
NEWMAN: Yes, Nancy. Cops have told me that the husband`s alibi -- remember, he went on that fishing trip down in Biloxi. It has been
corroborated by police. We know in Biloxi that there`s tons of surveillance cameras there. And he was also with a fishy buddy, according
to his mother-in-law. Police are saying that his alibi does check out.
GRACE: Everyone, tonight, that is a major breakthrough in this case. We have been waiting and waiting and waiting to hear, was that human blood on
the shirt the family takes to the laundry just hours after Missy has been found dead? And two, does the husband`s alibi check out?
I mean, it seems easy enough, but it`s not that easy to retrace steps, to go to casinos, to go to charter fishing boats, to get an airplane manifest,
to retrace rental car receipts. But what we`re learning tonight, Robyn Walensky, senior news anchor with The Blaze Network, the husband`s alibi
has been confirmed.
Now, Robyn, don`t be fooled. They`re not saying he`s totally cleared. But they are saying his alibi is rock solid. I think that goes a long way.
ROBYN WALENSKY, THE BLAZE NETWORK: It does go a long way. And there are receipts from gas and tolls and casinos in Biloxi. And when you`re down in
Biloxi in that area, there`s toll bridges to get to where these fishing trips are. If he was there, he was definitely there. But again, he`s not
off the hook. He is the closest person to Missy.
GRACE: And another thing, still no answer on the DNA on those clothes. But I want to go back to you, Stacey. You have walked around the church.
You have investigated. We`ve all been there looking at how Missy could have missed the killer`s car.
Now, we were told repeatedly that there was no video on the outside of that church. But that`s not entirely true, is it.
NEWMAN: Well, what we`re being told now is that cameras outside the church -- there is one main camera at the front of the church in the main
entrance, and there`s also a surveillance camera outside on the right side of the church, where a carport is. The cameras, we`re being told, were
working intermittently.
GRACE: Oh, no.
NEWMAN: That`s the part (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Oh, no. Now I get it!
NEWMAN: Right (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Now I get it. Hold on, you`re breaking up on me, Stacey. Justin Freiman, so there are videocameras, but because of the early morning hours,
it`s dark and rainy, it`s intermittent, so I don`t know what it caught or not. Justin Freiman, we are learning now that they`ve brought in a crack
team of digital experts. For what?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Nancy. Those digital experts -- they`re looking at the video that we`ve been looking at.
They`ve gone into the church to measure doors, to measure things like the tiles on the floor. That way, they can compare it and try to figure out
just what this perpetrator looks like. How tall is the murderer? How wide, how heavy? These are things they might be able to figure out by
doing all of this.
GRACE: Now, another thing we are learning is police have a detailed description of the perpetrator, but they`re not releasing it. What`s that
all about, Robyn Walensky?
WALENSKY: That is very strange to me, Nancy. I have no idea why they wouldn`t release it. They would get a lot more tips. They`ve had almost -
- between 800 and 1,000 tips. I think they`d have another 2,000 tips if they released who they think this person is, male or female.
GRACE: So what does that mean, Stacey -- I`m going to try your satellite one more time. What does that mean that police have a detailed description
of the perpetrator but are not releasing it?
NEWMAN: Well, Nancy, you know that digital forensics team went in there and took a look and also looked at that video very closely. And based on
those tiles that are inside the church and the doorframe, they can do measurements. They can see how tall the suspect is. They can maybe get a
shoe size in this case.
So there`s a lot of factors, Nancy, that they can weigh in with this very detail-oriented and narrow down exactly how tall, how much the suspect
weighed. That would go a long way to...
[20:10:10]GRACE: OK, hold on just a moment. You`re onto something. Unleash the lawyers, Misty Marris and Troy Slaten, Misty Marris out of New
York, Troy Slaten out of LA.
OK, Troy Slaten, you do recall the O.J. Simpson case where Simpson swore under oath that he did not own Bruno Maglis. He referred to them as "ugly
A-S-S shoes" until, whoopsie, "The National Enquirer" gets this picture of him wearing Bruno Maglis at -- at an NFL game, for Pete`s sake.
We also saw in that case bloody footprints at the scene. Hold that, please. Now, look at your monitor, Troy Slaten and Missy Marris. You get
the right shoe and you dip it in blood or a blood -- blood-like substance and you can re-create this with the right shoe.
What about it, Troy Slaten? Would you even want to argue with me there are not bloody or muddy footprints?
TROY SLATEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This is why I always advise my clients to never talk to the police because no good can come from it. Yes, of course,
the police...
GRACE: We`re not talking about talking to police. We`re talking about shoes. I thought you were going to say you always tell your clients to go
barefoot when they commit a murder. So what...
SLATEN: No, no.
GRACE: ... your point? I`m asking about the shoes.
SLATEN: I don`t give advice on how to commit murders. But yes, of course, the police can reconstruct crime scenes. That`s what they do all the time.
They take impressions. They take photographs so that way they can match it up to things they find later.
But this is exactly why you never give a statement to the police if you`re a target. And there are many targets in this investigation.
GRACE: OK. Hold on. We`re being joined right now out of Philadelphia by Steven Becker. Missy, I`ll be right back with you. Steven Becker is a
video analysis expert with Robson (ph) Forensic.
Steven, thank you for being with us. You have taken a look at this case. What is your analysis?
STEVEN BECKER, VIDEO ANALYSIS EXPERT (via telephone): Well, it`s been pretty interesting. There are, like I mentioned, a lot of details that can
be gained from the video.
GRACE: Such as?
BECKER: The video shows the weapon that was in the person`s hand. The video shows how this person`s moving, and you can clearly identify the
height and the overall girth of the person.
GRACE: And what do you take from the fact they`re bringing in this crack digi-team? What are they going to be able to do, Steven Becker?
BECKER: Well, you know, in one scene, he opens the door. And right, there you`re going to be able to very quickly measure the person`s height by
comparing to that height of the door. That right there is going to eliminate a large number of people because you`ll get that detail within an
inch.
GRACE: So you can tell within an inch of how tall the killer is, within an inch?
BECKER: Yes. It`s really going to be quite precise. The video resolution is not tremendous, but it`s enough of a resolution, and you have several
frames in which you can compare the height of the suspect to potential perpetrators.
GRACE: I want to go back through what we are learning through Steven Becker, video analysis expert with Robson Forensic. For instance, we had
identified on our own that he/she was right-handed.
Now, look at that video. We`re just seeing different video than we have been watching before, the perp coming out of that door. Look at this
video. Look at the newly obtained video of the perp. There you go.
Now, again, let`s go through what Steven Becker has analyzed. Repeat, Steven?
BECKER: Yes. Again, you`re going to have things like the hunched shoulders that you can see in the perpetrator. You can tell that the
person doesn`t have an overly large belly, or you can`t see breasts visible in the video.
There`s a lot of identifying characteristics in the way the person walks. You can see that they walk with their right toe slightly pointed outward.
These characters are all going to help identify and narrow down the potential list of suspects.
GRACE: Steven Becker with Robson Forensic, what is your best description of killer?
BECKER: Well, again, you know, what we have here are the video images. So without facial recognition or anything that we can do for the face and
things of that nature, you have the overall characteristics of the physical person. You have their height. You have that they`re a fairly large
person but not a slender, tall person. They`re not short. They walk, you know, kind of with a swagger.
[20:15:00]There`s nothing that`s going to give you a definitive, This is a male or female, because men and women can both walk -- you know,
impersonate the opposite. But in my opinion, this person`s moving more like a male.
Again, you don`t see that this person is very athletic. Again, with an outward-pointed toe, this isn`t like a runner. But it doesn`t mean they`re
not athletic. A football lineman can be athletic, but they`re not going to be shaped like a runner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe she was targeted.
NEWMAN: If the suspect made a right, it`s all remote woods behind barbed wire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody knows who this person is.
NEWMAN: Let`s just suppose we`re going to make a left out of here. There`s one house across the street that`s private property, hidden behind
high walls. Would that house have captured anything? Police are probably looking at the surveillance video.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What we are learning tonight is that police have identified brand- new targets. We also learn the husband`s alibi has been confirmed. He`s not off the hook yet, but his alibi on that fishing trip in Mississippi, at
Chandeleur Islands, has been confirmed. He was nowhere near his wife`s murder.
[20:20:10]We are also learning details, reports that police have a very detailed description of the killer that they are not releasing, bringing in
a crack team of digital experts. They can nail down within an inch the height, the weight, even the shoe size of the killer.
It`s on! Police are on the trail, even going back in the late night hours, retracing the killer`s footprints, the steps leading up to the murder of
Missy Bevers.
Another shocking discovery we are making tonight is the location of Missy`s body. To Stacey Newman joining me from Midlothian. What can you tell us?
NEWMAN: Well, a new detail we`ve learned is Missy Bevers`s body was in plain view. When law enforcement arrived at the crime scene, her body was
not concealed. It was not hidden. It was easy for law enforcement to find...
GRACE: You know, that`s interesting, Stacey, because I don`t know what that really reveals other than we had thought that she was off in some
area, putting up -- getting together, assembling her electronic equipment. But no, you`re saying she was readily visible. Her body is not where we
thought it was.
Another bombshell tonight. Robyn Walensky, senior news anchor with The Blaze Network, her family coming out and saying, quote, that they were
"shocked" at Missy`s flirtation just before her murder. What do you know?
WALENSKY: The family was absolutely stunned because here she had this very public job. They go to church. She has the three daughters, ages 15, 13
and 8. And by all accounts, this was one big happy family, Nancy.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Misty Marris, New York, Troy Slaten, LA. Misty Marris, I guess where they`re headed -- of course, the family is
shocked that Missy, a mother, a wife, a devout Christian was having flirtations. The police also refer to "intimate relationship" -- paren S -
- outside the marriage. But they don`t say it was her or the husband and/or both of them.
And let me just -- before you two jump on the lover bandwagon, Misty, just because you send a couple of flirtatious texts, that does not an affair
make, OK? That`s not the end of the world. If somebody writes you a text and you send back, that takes about 10 seconds to fire off a response text.
That does not mean that that is the killer, a lover. That`s who people always jump to that conclusion. That`s not necessarily true.
MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, but it`s certainly a possibility. I mean, now we know that somebody was having an extramarital
affair, and not for nothing. Text messages that are flirtatious -- that could be enraging to either -- to anyone, to the lover that she`s still
engaged in a relationship with the husband. I certainly think this is avenue that needs to be explored.
GRACE: Wait! You`re not dragging the husband -- put her up!
MARRIS: No, no, no. The husband`s out.
GRACE: Put her up! Put her up!
MARRIS: He`s got an alibi. The husband has an alibi.
GRACE: You two, don`t drag the husband back in.
MARRIS: No, no. He`s (INAUDIBLE) an alibi.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Why are you look so smug, Slaten? The husband`s alibi has been confirmed. So I guess the quickest thing for you two to do is pin it on a
lover, an alleged lover just because she sends a couple of texts.
MARRIS: A couple of texts? Nancy!
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Are you Troy? No, you`re not.
SLATEN: Just because he wasn`t there at the time of the murder doesn`t mean that he wasn`t involved. So he may have been jilted. He may have
seen some of these texts or found out...
GRACE: Jilted? Do you know something about divorce papers that I don`t know, Troy Slaten? Nobody says this guy`s jilted.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:28:16]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had a passion for fitness and became a Camp Gladiator instructor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) in and out (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing some of her campers, I`ve noticed a substantial impact that she`s had on so many people`s lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
CAMPERS: All day long!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect broke into the church before Bevers arrived and then assaulted her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was one of the boot camp members that discovered the victim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Justin Freiman, I want to follow up on something we were discussing. She went out of town the weekend before she was murdered, to
Austin, to a fitness convention. One of the people on the target list was also there, a married man with children, a fitness colleague.
What do we know about him? Has he been -- has his alibi been confirmed? Is he still in the mix? We`re also hearing there are -- there`s a brand-
new target.
FREIMAN: That`s right, Nancy. Police have made it a point to say nobody is out of the mix fully and that they have new targets that are not in any
documents that they`re looking into right now. They`re following up on almost 1,000 leads.
GRACE: OK, let me understand this. Stacey, there on the scene -- Liz, show me exactly what Missy would see. What could she have seen that
morning around 4:00 AM when she pulls into the Midlothian church?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWMAN: If Missy Bevers was driving in this direction towards Creekside church on U.S. 287, she would have made a left into Creekside church. She
would have had to pull her car left and head across the median because there`s traffic on two sides of this major highway.
[20:30:00] As she came in from this direction, Missy Bevers would not have seen a car parked in the back of the church. It`s totally out of her
sight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: So, she would not have seen a car, but what if she recognized a car that was parked there?
Joining me right now, Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert. Ben it is amazing to me that this team of crack digital experts can measure and
determine right down within an inch, the height, they can determine weight, even shoe size of this perpetrator, giving police a very detailed
description. How does it work, Ben?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Well, Nancy, you`ve got to remember, surveillance cameras, especially surveillance cameras, generally
are what we would call fisheye or wide-angle.
So it`s not going to, you know, it`s not going to give you a perfect representation of the person in the video.
So what it looks like police have done is they`ve done a re-creation. They have retraced the steps with the same video and they`ve put probably police
officers of different heights and different weights down the same path so they could compare to the video.
That way, Nancy, they could get the exact height and weight of the person. Because the camera, like we said, it`s a surveillance camera, it`s fisheye.
It distorts the original image, Nancy.
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: The desperate search for a 33-year-old Texas mom who falls overboard in the middle of the night while her Carnival cruise ship en route to
Mexico. Does video capture Samantha going overboard?
Was she alone or with someone at the time? And why does nearly 12 hours pass before the Coast Guard is even alerted to start a search? A search of
nearly 3,000 square miles of deep ocean.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The latest on that mystery at sea. The coast guard is searching for a mother of four who fell off a cruise ship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started searching with aircraft from Mobile, Alabama, and then we`ve continued to search through the night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Broberg falls backwards, 10 decks down into the water about 200 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Where is Samantha Broberg? Straight out to Jeffrey Boney, Associate Editor with the "Houston Forward Times". Jeff, I want you to hear what the
cruise director says. Take a listen, Jeffrey.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
COREY, CARNIVAL CRUISE DIRECTOR: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is your cruise director, Corey, and want to reiterate of what the captain
is saying is not the best news but we want to thank everyone for your patience and cooperation this afternoon as we did initiate that search for
the missing guest."
"Unfortunately, they were unable to locate her during the search and now they have concluded after a review of the cameras and unfortunately it
appears she may have fallen into the water early this morning."
"They`ve notified the proper authorities including the U.S. Coast Guard who are initiating search and rescue activities in the area where our guest was
last seen."
"In the meantime, we are proceeding to Cozumel and we expect to arrive on schedule. We are very saddened by the turn of events that did happen
today."
"Our care team is providing support to the traveling companions on board and family back home."
"Ladies and gentlemen, please join us to keep our guests and her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. It has been a difficult day for the
family members on board and for the family back home."
"Again, we do thank each and every one of you for your patience and cooperation today as we did initiate this search."
"But, on a lighter note, we are going to still make sure that everyone has a great time tonight, but overall, as the night goes by, make sure you do
keep herself, her family and her friends in your thoughts and prayers, ladies and gentlemen. Have a great night and we`ll see you very shortly at
our captain`s celebration."
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Jeffrey Boney, he might as well have just said, hey, drinks on the lido deck. I mean, this woman has just somehow fallen overboard, and they
mention it. The Coast Guard isn`t called -- is not alerted for 15 hours. And they`re telling, everybody, hey, we`re on schedule for Cozumel and
we`re going to have a good time. What about it, Jeffrey?
JEFFREY BONEY, "HOUSTON FORWARD TIMES" ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Well, I mean, definitely not the way you want to continue your trip and definitely the
thoughts and the prayers, of course, are difficult to keep on your mind while you`re getting drunk and having a great time and cruising on to
Cozumel.
GRACE: Yeah, I`m with you on that, Jeffrey Boney. Jeff joining us from the "Houston Forward Times." Now, this is what we know. Isn`t it correct, Matt
Zarrell, that her last known whereabouts for sure was around midnight, she got a drink somewhere, is that right? And she used her credit card?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yeah, we spoke to a passenger who spoke to one of the waitresses who works on the cruise ship who told her that
Samantha`s last purchase was a drink at about 12:58 a.m. that night at a bar outside the casino on-board.
GRACE: And I`m understanding, the cruise ship is not confirming or denying if anyone was with her, is that right, Matt?
ZARRELL: Correct.
GRACE: OK. Yeah, I don`t like that. Hold on. I`m being joined right now by special guest Jo Trizila, a passenger on Samantha`s cruise ship, the
"Carnival Cruise Line". Joe, thank you for being with us.
JO TRIZILA, PASSENGER ON MISSING WOMAN`S CRUISE SHIP: My pleasure.
GRACE: How did you find out that Samantha had fallen off the ship?
[20:40:00] TRIZILA: Well, we had been looking, you know, all day with announcements and cabin-to-cabin search, and so this is a thing that has
gone on all day, ending a about 5 o`clock and then at 7 o`clock, we got the confirmation from the Captain.
GRACE: That they could not find her.
TRIZILA: Correct.
GRACE: Whoa. OK. Were people scared?
TRIZILA: Very scared. It was a very somber atmosphere. It was definitely the topic of everyone`s conversation. We didn`t know if she had been
murdered. We didn`t know if she`d been pushed. We didn`t know if she fell. We didn`t know anything other than what you heard in that announcement.
GRACE: Joining me right now, former security chief with "Carnival Cruise Lines" Charles Harris. Mr. Harris, thank you for being with us.
CHARLES HARRIS, "CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES" FORMER SECURITY CHIEF: Thank you, Ma`am, for having us.
GRACE: And I have been on the "Carnival" cruise, and I have taken the children on a Disney cruise. So I`m a little familiar with cruises. Those
are the only two I`ve ever taken.
And frankly, the one with the children, I was so exhausted with all the Disney characters, it was a blur, but a fun blur.
Now, this is what I don`t understand. With me, Charles Harris, former security chief with "Carnival Cruise Lines". Isn`t there something called
an automatic man overboard system?
HARRIS: Yes, there is. There is a protocol when a person goes overboard, that any officer or anybody who notifies it can initiate or contact and say
person overboard. And there is a procedure in which they go into stopping the motor, starting a rescue attempt and identification of where the person
went overboard.
GRACE: Well, I`m trying to understand something, Charles Harris, why did this cruise ship not have that?
HARRIS: I don`t know. And it raises a big question. You know, your people talked about, and in your cruise director, made a big statement that the
last place they saw her was on the rail backward. Why did they not initiate?
GRACE: Yeah. And what I don`t understand is that tonight, they are refusing to confirm or deny whether she was alone.
And Dr. Michelle Dupre, Forensic Pathologist, they didn`t tell the Coast Guard for 15 hours? I thought you were supposed to stop the cruise ship
right then and there and start searching. Fifteen hours? She doesn`t have a chance. Michelle?
DR. MICHELLE DUPRE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Nancy, no, she wouldn`t have a chance. And that length of time in the ocean, it would be almost impossible
to see her or find her after that length of time. It`s amazing that they were not notified earlier.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A gorgeous 29-year-old mom of two left dead at a well-known Florida plastic surgery center during a liposuction and butt lift. But the South
Florida clinic actually remains open, the day that Heather Meadows dies on the table. Not even bothering to cancel patients or close for the day, just
continuing their butt lifts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clients finding out a 29-year-old woman didn`t survive a procedure here. Heather Meadows, a mother of two from West Virginia,
rushed to nearby Larkin Community Hospital where she died.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Daniel Chang, reporter with the "Miami Herald," this is a young woman. She`s what, 29 years old? She has an infant girl. She has
a 6-year-old little boy, she goes in for what are routine procedures, I think. This is not an -- I don`t see how this can be an accident.
DANIEL CHANG, "MIAMI HERALD" REPORTER: Hi, Nancy, thanks for having me on.
GRACE: Yes. What happened?
CHANG: Well, Nancy, the cause of death has been ruled accidental, at least in the preliminary police report. I spoke with the Miami-Dade Medical
Examiner`s Office today and they indicated that the primary cause of death was actually fat emboli of the coronary and pulmonary arteries.
And what that means is that during the liposuction, during which they remove fats from the midsection of the body and then they inject that fat
into the buttocks for an enhancement, it`s very likely that a piece or clump of fat was injected into an artery that traveled up to her heart
and/or lungs and ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait. Daniel Chang, I`m just a lawyer. Daniel, with the "Miami Herald," Hold on, let`s go to Dr. Paul
Nassif, Plastic Surgeon. What did he just say?
DR. PAUL NASSIF, PLASTIC SURGEON: Well, unfortunately, he`s probably correct, Nancy. A fat emboli, which basically what that is, is when you`re
injecting fat into the buttocks, there`s large veins there. A piece of fat or clumps of fat got into one of the veins that traveled up to the lung and
caused a pulmonary embolism. And that ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: OK, are you -- are you -- are you saying, Dr. Nassif, a blood clot to the lung?
NASSIF: Not a blood clot, a fat clot to the lungs. A piece of fat ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: All right. Let me just start at the beginning. Back to the "Miami Herald" reporter, Daniel Chang. Before I duke it out with Dr. Paul Nassif,
Plastic Surgeon, Daniel, let`s start at the beginning. What happened?
CHANG: OK. What happened is -- these are the facts, is that Heather Meadows died -- she was declared dead shortly after noon on Thursday, May 12th. And
she had received a cosmetic procedure that has not been verified yet by the police or the Florida Department of Health, and she died from complications
of that procedure.
And what we learned today from the Medical Examiner`s Office is a little bit more detail on what those complications were.
Now, what we also know is that the clinic where she received this cosmetic surgery procedure had had a patient die of similar circumstances in the
past and ...
(CROSSTALK)
[20:50:00] GRACE: Whoa, wait, wait, wait.
CHANG: Yes?
GRACE: Are you saying one of these doctors had another - have another dead patient on their r,sum,?
CHANG: Well, it is not one of the doctors who was listed on Encore`s website, but is a doctor who has worked at either Encore or one of its
affiliated clinics. And they`re affiliated through either the physicians who work at these clinics or the owner or through corporation papers with
similar mailing address and the like.
GRACE: OK, you know what, Daniel Chang, millions of women have butt lifts, millions of women have lipo and it is considered to be very routine.
This young woman, Heather Meadows, completely healthy, the mother of an infant daughter and 6-year-old son, they even have something called a mommy
makeover, where you have your breasts lifted, a tummy tuck, and some lipo, making moms really feel bad about how they look.
You know what? Fine. Take a listen to what Encore Plastic Surgery says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready to feel and look like the best version of yourself? Here, at Encore Plastic Surgery, we`re the most modern,
cultivated center in South Florida.
We offer the highest quality of board-certified surgeons with years of experience in cosmetic and reconstructive procedures.
Thank you. Have a beautiful day. See you soon. OK. Bye-bye.
With warm customer relations, expertise knowledge and unique programs to meet your needs, we do hope that you choose us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our team looks forward to meeting your goals, whether it is nonsurgical or surgical procedures.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Spread your wings. The time to feel amazing is now. We do hope that you choose to be a part of the Encore family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A (ph) created video from Encore Plastic Surgery. You know, they left out the part that one of the associated physicians has another dead
body on the resume. I think that`s what you told me, Daniel Chang, with the "Miami Herald".
I want to go to Dr. Paul Nassif, the plastic surgeon. You guys are acting like, oh, you know, routine. This is not routine, Dr. Nassif, for someone
to get a fat emboli in their chest and die.
And Dr. Nassif, is it true they just did butt lifts SOP? They just kept right on plowing through the patients? While this girl dies dead on the
table with these two children left behind? They just kept on at work?
NASSIF: I`ll tell you, Nancy, that ever happened to me or any of my friends, obviously, we would not be doing anything that day. That would
probably be one of the worst days of our entire life, if something like that happened, to have a patient die under your watch. There`s nothing
worse than that. And thank God ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Misty Marris, Troy Slaten. You know, I am not for one minute buying that a completely healthy woman goes in for a butt
lift and lipo and she is dead on the table and that`s just what, SOP? I`m not buying that, Troy.
SLATEN: It happens. You know, every time you undergo some sort of ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: That`s your defense ...
SLATEN: ... medical procedure ...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... it happens?
SLATEN: ... or surgical procedure, you risk dying.
GRACE: There are risks. And you know what? As long as the doctor is using accepted medical procedures, there is no malpractice.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 29-year-old woman didn`t survive a procedure here. Now an investigation into what killed her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A very healthy 29-year-old mother of two, an infant girl, a 6-year- old little boy, dead on the table with routine lipo and a butt lift?
To Dr. Charles Sophy, Psychiatrist with the L.A. County Department. DCFS, author "Side by Side," Dr. Sophy, I think that that preys on mothers, young
mothers to say, you need a mommy makeover.
A mommy makeover? Like you`re, what, ugly? After you have the child? You got to have a breast lift, you got to have lipo, you got to have a tummy
tuck. What?
DR. CHARLES SOPHY, PSYCHIATRIST: Absolutely. It only plays right into the fact that you feel tough and you feel tired and you`re exhausted after you
have a baby. And it only feeds into that, that there`s something even more wrong and now you can fix it, instead of it is a great process. You don`t
have to look perfect but be a good mom.
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember, let`s honor American heroes Stewart Franklin, Donnie Lawson after an eight-day manhunt. The two men found
missing 9-year-old Carlie Trent and her alleged kidnapper, Gary Simpson, remote area in east Tennessee. Franklin holds Simpson at gunpoint while
Lawson called cops. Stewart Franklin, Donnie Lawson, our American heroes.
Everybody, my miracle son, here is John David. He`s graduated from Wolf Pack. He is a bear! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday I was
fighting my way through that pregnancy and they almost died. And now, he graduated Wolf Pack. Thank you for your prayers and keep them coming.
"Forensic Files" next. Thanks to our guests but to you for being with us. Nancy Grace, signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8 o`clock sharp,
Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
[21:00:00]
END
