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Nancy Grace
Three Baton Rouge Police Officers Assassinated; Teen Girl Vanishes During Spring Break at Myrtle Beach. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 18, 2016 - 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, another deadly attack on police, Baton Rouge, three dead, three wounded. Tonight, horrific new details
emerging as police confirm the gunman, a 29-year-old former Marine, deliberate, targeted attack on innocent police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The quiet of Sunday morning shattered by gunfire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers spot a man dressed in black holding a rifle near a convenience store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Subject, all black, carrying AR.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Responding officers locked in a gun battle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A teen girl spends spring break at Myrtle Beach, but by the end of the week, Brittanee Drexel vanishes. Last known image, this grainy
surveillance video in a hotel lobby. Breaking now. New evidence surfaces tonight in the search for Brittanee. Does that include a suspect?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who snatched Brittanee Drexel from Myrtle Beach?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re certainly not going to release who our potential suspects are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then killed her. The FBI says they have evidence she was held against her will in three places.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe she was killed after that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s tearing me up inside. I`m just very, very, very upset.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight. Another deadly attack tonight on police, Baton Rouge, three dead, three wounded. Tonight, horrific new details emerging as
police confirm the gunman, a 29-year-old former Marine, deliberate, targeted attacks on innocent people.
Joining me on the scene, Nick Valencia, CNN national reporter. But first, Nick, listen to this sound from dispatch. What do we learn?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Subject walking with a coat and an assault rifle out here behind the store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired! Officer down! Shots fired! Officer! Got a city officer down. Shots fired. Shots fired (INAUDIBLE) Unknown
where the subject`s shooting from.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Officer down behind the building (INAUDIBLE) Unknown where the subject`s shooting from.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We pulled up and looked around through the windshield. He had a mask on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Armed subject, all black, carrying AR.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not have a 20 (ph) on the shooter. He is not in sight. Possibly sniper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m hit (INAUDIBLE) left arm. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Officer down. He was right there. Right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Nick Valencia, CNN national correspondent joining us on the scene there in Baton Rouge. Nick, when I hear that officer say, I`m shot,
I`m down it`s -- it`s -- it`s brutal. And to know their family can hear this dispatch sound, where you hear the gunshots in the background that
killed their husband their father, their brother, their son. It`s excruciating!
Tonight, I find it very interesting, Nick, they are saying, police are saying and confirming to us that this investigation is ongoing. It`s not
over with just the gunman.
But I want to take it from the top. Baton Rouge officers were assassinated. They were targeted and assassinated. This guy lured the
police there. What exactly happened? Take it from the top, Nick.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a diabolical attack on police, Nancy. It was calculated. It was methodical, the first 911 call taking
place at about 8:40 AM. And within minutes, the gunman -- I don`t even want to dignify his name by using it. The gunman had already shot and
killed several police officers by the time responding units showed up.
We cannot underscore this enough. This is man who had tactical training. You mentioned it in the open of your show. He`s a former Marine. He knew
what he was doing. He was moving deliberately and tactically behind buildings, trying to lure police officers, and he did just that.
There was this fear and concern all along among police officers here on a heightened state of alert for the last two weeks that something like this
could happen. And on Sunday morning, it did here, Nancy.
GRACE: Nick Valencia joining me, CNN national correspondent. You know, now people are saying, Well, maybe cops shouldn`t wear their uniforms. You
know what? That is a sad day in our country when police officers are in fear to wear their uniforms!
When I prosecuted, Nick, I was proud to be aligned with police because I believed we were doing the right thing. And to think that police officers
tonight, as we go to air, Nick, are afraid to put on their uniforms! I`m just trying to get my mind around how the whole thing went down.
[20:00:17]Joining me in addition to Nick Valencia is Gerry Vaillancourt, host of "The Morning News" there in Louisiana. Gerry, how do police
believe this shooting went down? What happened first, second, third? How did it happen?
GERRY VAILLANCOURT, "THE MORNING NEWS" (via telephone): Thank you, Nancy. They`re led to believe that the shooter came into Baton Rouge a couple of
days before the event. Now, whether or not he did that to observe the area -- but one thing is true, the B Quick (ph) market that is located in that
part where the shooting took place is frequented by police officers.
Did he have someone assist him there? They don`t know. But did he scout that area having been in the area a few days prior to the shooting? That`s
very, very possible because the way he maneuvered himself in between buildings and behind stores to get angles on police officers -- we had a
riveting account on our morning news from a witness that said as he was shooting, she said, that man has training. Somebody trained that man. And
then lo and behold, it turned out he was a Marine.
So they`re questioning how he scouted the terrain, how long he had been in town prior to shooting. And now they`re investigating whether or not he
had any associates helping him.
Another detail is somebody was posing on Twitter as the shooter acting as if he was still alive. And the FBI is attempting to track that, Nancy.
GRACE: You know, Nick Valencia, following up on what Gerry Vaillancourt just told us, the fact that he was in town for several days scoping this
out -- it`s going to be hard for me to believe somebody didn`t tell him where cops hang out, where he could find them. And he went there openly
and brazenly, dressed in all black, carrying an AR-15 semi assault rifle type gun, knowing people would see him and call 911 and luring police to
the scene.
Is that how it happened, Nick?
VALENCIA: This is an area that is frequented by cops, Nancy. As a matter of fact, one of those deputies who was shot and wounded was vacuuming his
car when he was engaged by the suspect.
We understand, according to police, that this suspect, a 29-year-old, was in town for at least three days prior to this shooting. We know that on
July 7th, he had posted or he had rented car in Kansas City, Missouri, driven that through Dallas and posted a video from Dallas, Texas, where we
all know what happened there last week, the shooting deaths of five police officers there in Dallas.
And then he made his way here in Baton Rouge. This investigation is ongoing. I just spoke to the mayor of Baton Rouge, and he says that they
have not ruled out that there are possible co-conspirators. This investigation is far from over, but authorities here saying, quote, they
will "leave no stone -- no stone unturned" here in their investigation.
GRACE: You know, another thing, Gerry Vaillancourt, thinking through all this, saying he drove all this way in a rented car to get to Baton Rouge, I
guess focusing on Baton Rouge because of the death of Alton Sterling. But what do we know him, Gerry? Drove for days from where? What`s his
background? Who is he?
VAILLANCOURT: Well, from Kansas City, Missouri, and he was a former Marine. And if he were (INAUDIBLE) and he was in the data site (ph)
service that he did with the Marines and technical capabilities that he had, he didn`t see on-the-ground combat during his services.
And the planning on this, if you follow the dots (INAUDIBLE) prior to coming to Baton Rouge, he registered as a Sovereign Citizen, became a
member of what you call the Washita Nation.
The Washita Nation (INAUDIBLE) being a black separatist group which says they`re independent of local, state and federal law. There was an incident
in New Orleans of a group of Washita Nation members who took over a home and saying that because of their sovereignty, they can claim an unoccupied
residency. And that became a problem. So that`s...
GRACE: Oh, dear lord in heaven! Seizing an unoccupied residency because they claim they`re a sovereign nation? Nick Valencia, CNN national
correspondent, what can you tell me about the Washita Nation?
VALENCIA: It was founded somewhere in the `90s. It is, as mentioned by the fellow reporter there on air, as well, it is a separatist group, a
group that believes that they are some of the original inhabitants of the United States. They believe that no government should be paid attention
to, and he was allegedly a member of this group.
We don`t know exactly how he was getting paid, how he was making his living. He had a variety of titles, everything from spiritual adviser,
spiritual coach. We know he was very fond of social media and had posted a myriad of videos on social media. One social media post that I find very
interesting was about 10 or 11 days ago, where he says he`s not connected or affiliated to any group...
[20:10:03]GRACE: I saw that.
VALENCIA: ... and that anyone to talk about him shouldn`t affiliate with him...
GRACE: Take him down.
VALENCIA: ... affiliate him with...
GRACE: Take him down, Justin!
VALENCIA: ... with Black Lives Matter...
GRACE: He`s making me sick looking at him, this guy that guns down innocent police officers! Yes, I saw that, Nick. I`m going to play that
for the viewers in just a moment about how he said, Don`t connect me to any group because I`m not connected.
You know what? I don`t care what group he is or is not connected to unless they helped him kill these innocent officers!
Michael Christian on the story, I want to hear tactically, strategically how these officers were murdered.
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, we know that one officer was shot, basically, in front of a building, shot directly and killed.
Another officer at that same scene was shot and wounded and made it around the corner, but then he apparently collapsed. Now, there was a third
officer in the back of this building who was taking cover behind some dumpsters.
And according to what we`ve been informed by police authorities, that third officer behind the dumpsters saw that the second officer was down but still
alive. He left his cover to go around the corner to rescue his fellow officers. That`s when the shooter saw him, shot him, killed him, and then
the shooter went back and finished off the second officer who had been wounded.
GRACE: So he goes back and murders the officer that was lying there shot but still alive. OK, Justin, let`s go into the police presser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this ongoing investigation, the most compelling piece of evidence is the video. It is chilling in the sheer brutality of
the shooting. There`s no doubt whatsoever that these officers were intentionally targeted and assassinated. It was a calculated act against
those who work to protect this community every single day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:15:55]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) we pulled up, looked around through the windshield. He had a mask on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three officers ambushed and gunned down in Baton Rouge with three other officers wounded. At 8:40 AM, officers spotting a man
dressed in black wearing a mask and holding an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle near a convenience store.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me on the scene, CNN national correspondent Nick Valencia. Nick, these officers ran to the threat, not away from the threat. This guy
lured them there. He went back intentionally to gun down an officer that was only wounded.
What I want to know is this, Nick Valencia. There`s no way this guy wasn`t helped. Somebody had to tell him where the cops hang out. He`s not from
Baton Rouge. Someone knows more about this.
What are police doing to find out who, if anyone, was his accomplice?
VALENCIA: We know that he was not alone in this city, but exactly what that means is unclear. Were those folks that he was talking to in Baton
Rouge -- were they part of this plan? Did they know anything about this plot? That`s something that was asked at that press conference, and police
don`t really have an answer for it, other than to say that they`re still not ruling out that there were co-conspirators, only to say that the person
responsible for killing police was shot dead himself.
Now, it is terrible to report about the deaths of these officers, one of them still clinging to life, Nancy. And we learned at that press
conference earlier that the youngest victim, the youngest police officer that was shot and killed in this, 32-year-old Montrell Jackson -- his son
turned 4 months old today.
GRACE: You know, Nick, just to make it more of a heartbreak, to think about the little boy just 4 months old who will never know his father,
never, will never know Montrell Jackson! And the other two -- you know, Nick Valencia, I was reading something that he, Montrell Jackson, posted.
It was talking about how people were treating him after Alton Sterling was killed.
He says, "I`m tired physically and emotionally, disappointed in family, friends, officers for some reckless comments. But hey, what`s in your
heart is in your heart. I still love you all because hate takes too much energy. I definitely won`t be looking at you the same. Thank you to
everyone that reached out to me or my wife. It was needed and much appreciated."
"I swear to God, I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform, I get nasty, hateful looks. And out of uniform, some people
consider me a threat. I`ve experienced so much in my short life, and these last three days have tested me to the core. When people you know begin to
question your integrity, you realize they don`t really know you at all. Look at my actions. They speak loud and clear."
"Finally, I want to send prayers to everyone affected by this tragedy. These are trying times. Please don`t let hate infect your heart. This
city must and will get better. I`m working in these streets, so any protesters, officers, friends, family, whoever, if you see me and need a
hug or want to say a prayer, I got you."
Nick Valencia, how close to his death did he post that?
VALENCIA: It was just about nine days ago, Nancy, on July 8th, that he made that social media post. It comes from a black police officer here in
this community that knows the community very well. He had more than 10 years of service in Baton Rouge. It`s a city -- as he wrote on Facebook, a
city that he loved, but wasn`t sure if it loved him back.
[20:20:10]That really speaks to what officers have been going through, of course, we know across the country, but specifically here in Baton Rouge.
They had shifted to 12-hour patrols. They were patrolling not by themselves anymore. They were going two at a time to 911 calls. Some were
avoiding altogether the area where Alton Sterling was shot and killed because they didn`t want to go into another confrontation with residents
here.
This, of course, has been the fear by police officers at the state level, at the local level ever since Dallas, and we saw that fear realized on
Sunday morning.
GRACE: Oh! Oh! Who is the man that gunned down innocent police officers, a massacre -- a massacre of innocent police? Look at what we dug up on
YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, and this is very important. I wanted to let you all know because if anything happen with me -- because I`m an alpha male.
I stand up. I stand firm, and I stand for mine until the end, to the last day on this -- in this flesh. But I`m not the flesh. I`m not the body. I
have a body.
But I just want to let y`all know, don`t affiliate me with nothing. I`m not affiliated with the black business school, even though I might promote
their business or something like that, or any of my friends, any of any associations. Those are just associations. I`m not affiliated with it.
yes, I was also a Nation of Islam member. I`m not affiliated with it. Don`t affiliate me with the money (ph) team (ph). (INAUDIBLE) Floyd
Mayweather. Don`t affiliate with me nothing. Black business school -- I was a Christian. I was in Africa. Don`t try to say, Oh, he was African.
He was this and that. No. They`ll try to put you with ISIS or some other terrorist group or anything. No. I`m affiliated with...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:26:00]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired! Officer down! Shots fired! Officer down! Got a city officer down!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say the former Marine opened fire with an AR-15-style assault rifle before officers killed him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me now, Michelle Southern, assistant news director at LRN in Louisiana. Michelle, thank you for being with us. What are police
doing to figure out if this guy had accomplices?
MICHELLE SOUTHERN, LOUISIANA RADIO NETWORK (via telephone): Well, right now, they don`t know if he was acting alone or not. I mean, they say that
they know that he was the one who initiated this, and obviously, he`s gone now. But he had been in town for several days. Obviously, you know, I`m
sure that he had to interact with some people. There were a lot of people in town who were here for the funeral of Alton Sterling. That was on
Friday. There have also been some protests in our area.
But as far as whether or not he had help or not, all they stopped short of was saying today that they know that he acted alone that day and that he
was taken down by SWAT.
GRACE: To Darrin Porcher, Ph.D., retired NYPD lieutenant, a criminal justice expert. Darrin, thank you for being with us. I mean, when you
think about this guy, Darrin, I mean, it`s almost like he`s playing dress- up. He`s a poser because he dresses up all in black. He`s waving around an AR-15 semi assault rifle-type weapon. It`s like he`s living out what he
believes an assassin would look like. And he is intentionally luring police to the location so he can then gun them down.
And I want to ask you, what can police officers do to save themselves, other than just hang up their uniform and quit?
DARRIN PORCHER, RETIRED NYPD LIEUTENANT: Well, this is a very calculated and precise attack on police officers. And it kind of reminds me of what
happened here in New York City, where we had the assassinations of Officers Liu and Ramos. We have a situation where as police officers now have to
function on optimum reporting -- excuse me -- a level of optimum safety to ensure that their vigilance is paramount because we have someone that
attacked police officers.
An attack on police officers is an attack on our free society. Police officers are our first line of defense. Therefore, when I look at the
repulsive behavior exhibited by this individual, it draws a concern as to where are we going as a society. We`re moving away from where we need to
be in the center.
He was an ex-military member, and that`s even more repulsive. I`m an ex- Army officer and I look at this and I say to myself, Where did we go wrong? So moving forward, police departments need to be more vigilant in
protecting their members from the atrocities committed by this psychopath.
GRACE: Agree, Dr. Porcher. To Joe Scott Morgan, certified death investigator, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University. Joe
Scott, talk to me about the type of firepower this guy unleashed.
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Yes, Nancy. Let`s understand this. When people say that it`s an AR weapon -- the AR can be
adapted to -- it`s a -- it`s a -- that`s a platform. So you can fire multiple calibers, 2, 23 or 5.56 is what`s common among the military. You
can also fire sub-.62.
But what this comes down to, Nancy, is the fact that when the police showed up, they had very little chance, particularly since this guy has got
tactical training, just at a basic training level, and he is advancing on targets. He`s apparently got these guys into a chokepoint where he can
shoot them and just mow them down like the coward he was.
These rounds are high-velocity, and once you`re struck by one, it`s going to do tremendous damage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The quiet of Sunday morning shattered by gunfire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officers spot a man dressed in black holding a rifle near a convenient store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arm subjected, all black, carrying (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Responding officers locked in a gun down.
GRACE: The men and women that protect us, that risk their lives for us. Tonight, are in danger, are under fire. Three officers dead. Three more
wounded. One is fighting for his life as we go to air tonight.
Straight out to -- hold on. I`m hearing in my ear. Take a look to this right now. We`ve obtained sound of the gunfire.
[20:35:00] (GUNFIRE)
GRACE: How many of those bullets connected with a police officer, an innocent officer? One even running back in harms way no save a fallen
comrade. He was murdered. He was shot dead trying to save a comrade.
These officers were running to the threat, not away from the threat. And whoever help this guy, Gavin Long, murder innocent police officers, you
better run because hell will be unleashed on you if you are found out.
Unleash the lawyers joining me. Defense attorney, Randy Kessler, Atlanta. Misty Marris, defense attorney, New York.
Okay, Misty Marris, if someone aided and abetted, helped him plan, led him to the location where these police officers hang out or converge. They`re
looking at the death penalty. You have to pull the trigger yourself to face the death penalty.
MISTY MARRIS, LITIGATION ATTORYNEY IN NEW YORK: Nancy, well you don`t have to pull the trigger yourself to face a death penalty. You have to agree to
commit this crime. You have to participated in the crime. You have to participated in the planning or the commission of the crime.
Somebody merely saying police officers hang out over here is not going to be enough to tie them to this heinous crime.
GRACE: I guarantee you this, Randy Kessler. What Misty Marris said is in part true. She is right about that. You can`t just know about it. But this
guy has left a trail -- a trail a mile wide.
I mean, days and days before this mass murder on police officers. He was alerting the media what to say about him if and when something happened. So
somebody that does that, you know is leaving a computer trail, an e-mail trail, a texting trail. Something.
RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY IN ATLANTA: Right. Hindsight is 20/20. Hopefully, we learn from this. If anybody out there has a friend that is
talking, provider like that, it`s no longer just provider, it`s no longer just (inaudible).
It may be leading to something. Tell somebody. Alert somebody. Talk to authorities. Worst thing that happens, you will get into trouble...
GRACE: Hey -- Hey, put him up. Okay. I see what you`re doing, Kessler. You`re not answering my question. You`re going down another path.
KESSLER: What`s the question?
GRACE: I don`t think you want to answer my question. If someone housed this guy and they see him stocking up on ammo and weapons. They know he`s been
casing out police and they provide him a place to stay as he plans mass murder on innocent police officers. They`re going down, Kessler.
KESSLER: That`s a lot more facts than you gave first time.
GRACE: Unless you and your army stop them.
KESSLER: No. You know what I`d do. I`d say let`s get the other one talk right now. Let`s figure out how to resolve this. If he -- he -- he had no
intent. You need intent to commit the crime or to conspire to commit a crime.
And that can be a close call. How do you read somebody`s mind? We need a lot of evidence. We don`t have any of that evidence here right now.
GRACE: Well, this is what I believe. Up to Gerry Vaillancourt with the morning news. Gerry, if he had stayed in, say a Motel 6 or a Marriott or
wherever, there would be somebody that recognized him, that saw Gavin Long, that saw him checking in and out, even if he used cash, which leads me to
believe that he stayed with somebody, right? Does that make sense? So, who is that somebody?
VAILLANCOURT: Let`s keep this in mind. He encountered civilians but he didn`t fire at them which leads you to believe that he targeted police
officers.
Number two, the biggest concern on the federal level, when you look at crime investigations in this country because of the increase in the
incidence, is the lone wolf. It doesn`t mean this early to mean he was with someone, because if somebody is familiar with tactics, they understand they
are better at working alone.
I heard an interesting conversation this past week among law enforcement. When they apprehended those two individuals, that they let go just
recently, that they did it at Walmart changing their clothes because they were dressed in a similar fashion to the shooter.
They were hoping there was a connection because they felt if it was a group of individuals, it would -- it would increase the chances of information
leaking out there because it increases the percentage of somebody talking.
They were hoping it would be more than one or two or three to make the police work a little easier. So, it doesn`t necessarily mean he had to
work...
GRACE: Right.
VAILLANCOURT: ... with someone when the big fear is a lone wolf prevails in this country.
GRACE: You know, Michelle Southern, assistant news director, LRT. Michelle, again, than you for being with us. Question, what can you tell me about the
other victims?
SOUTHERN: Well, one of the victims, 41-year-old, Matthew Gerald. He was a BRPD officer.
[20:40:00)
He was killed in the ambush. He was also a former marine and he was a Black Hawk crew chief in the army. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters.
The deputy that you hear on the tape would be East Baton Rouge Sheriff`s Office Deputy Brad Garafola, the one who went back to check on the officer
and went back into danger himself. He is leaving behind also a wife and four children.
And also, Montrell Jackson, who you already talked about. And we do have a 41-year-old, Deputy Nicholas Tullier, who is continuing to fight for his
life as we speak. He`s barely hanging on.
GRACE: Everyone please join me in prayers for the officer tonight fighting for his life. Prayers can change things and now back into the presser.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are confident that this suspect was the only shooter at the scene actively involved in the attack. Whether officers may have
been involved in some other fashion remains to be determined.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A teen girl spends spring break at Myrtle Beach, but by the end of the week, Brittanee Drexel, vanishes. The last known image of the girl,
this grainy surveillance video from a hotel lobby. Breaking tonight, new evidence surfacing in the search for Brittanee. Does that include a
suspect?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These images from surveillance cameras on the Myrtle Beach strip show 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel heading back to the motel
where she was staying but never made it there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The information that we obtained through the course of this investigation, we do feel like that she is deceased.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators need one key piece of information to make an arrest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And police are not revealing that key piece of information. They say they need to make an arrest in the kidnap and murder of this teen girl,
Brittanee Drexel. Away on spring break at Myrtle Beach, she vanishes in the space of about 18 minutes. She`s gone, gone forever.
Dave Priest, Morning Show host, WRNN, joining me from Myrtle Beach. Dave Priest, let`s start at the beginning. So, I know her mother from talking to
her mother is torturing herself about this. It is not the mother`s fault.
The girl asked to go on spring break out of town. The mom says no. So, the girl, who is just a girl, she`s just a teen, all right, a young teen. She
thinks she`s going to pull a slick one and she goes on the spring break with her friends and tells her mom she is spending the night at a local
friend house. A girlfriend`s house.
The next thing that mom knows, her daughter has vanished. Now, what can you tell me about this security video that we`re going to show now. Let`s see
this surveillance video.
There she is. She`s with a couple other teen girls. She -- her long-time boyfriend stays at home. They`re talking about, you know, every hour on the
hour, probably wishing she hadn`t even come. And she borrowed one of her girlfriend`s pair of shorts. The girlfriend gets mad. She leaves that night
from one hotel to walk back and return the borrowed shorts.
Dave Priest, WRNN, what happens then?
DAVE PRIEST, MORNING SHOW HOST, WRNN: Well, what happens then is the big mystery, Nancy. We see on the video that -- that we see her leaving the
hotel back on the night of April 25th of 2009. And there were some surveillance cameras out on the street. They were able to see her walking a
couple of blocks away but other than that, that`s the last anybody seen of her.
It`s very suspicious that she left in the middle of the night to return some shorts, but there`s really no concrete evidence as to what happened to
her since that time.
GRACE: Well, apparently, the people she was with say they heard her arguing over the cellphone with the girlfriend over the shorts and she leaves. And
she says, I`m coming back now to bring them back to you.
I mean, they are teenage girls. I can`t just imagine them fighting over a pair of shorts. You know, Matt Zarrell, following up on Dave Priest`s
comments. He`s absolutely right.
But what what we are learning from the FBI tonight is as she`s walking back to deliver the this borrowed shorts, she`s walking about a mile from the
one hotel to where she is staying with the girlfriends. She talks to the boyfriend on phone at about, what was it, 8:58, Matt?...
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yeah.
GRACE: ... Then she`s never heard from again. What happens starting at 8:58?
ZARRELL: So, she leaves -- so 8:48 is when you see her leave the hotel. 8:58, she is texting her boyfriend back home, but she`s walking back to her
hotel. It`s about a mile and a half down the road where she was staying.
She said she would probably gonna back and go to sleep. Now, a traffic camera, Nancy, that picked her up walking to the hotel, never showed her
walking back. So, 8:58 is the last time she text her boyfriend.
At 9:15, the boyfriend is texting her, saying he`s concerned and starts sending messages over and over and texts her friends, apparently saying he
cannot get her to answer.
The friends start calling her. Phone records show her phone is starting to ping south.
[20:50:00]
At 9:27 p.m. So, 12 minutes after the boyfriend gets concerned, records show her cellphone is seven miles south of Myrtle Beach, and police believe
the phone was in a vehicle based on the distance it traveled in that time.
GRACE: Oh yeah, yeah. It had to be in a vehicle, Matt Zarrell, because she couldn`t go that fast on foot. I mean, the surveillance catches her. I
guess it`s a red light video. She is seen leaving the hotel. She is seen walking along just like she says back to where she is staying in a hotel
with her girlfriends and -- then she never makes it back to the hotel.
And in that one mile is when the boyfriend is talking to her on the phone from back home, the hometown honey, he never hears from her again.
Suddenly, she`s pinging several miles away going south and what is so scary and frightening is the FBI is divulging they believe that she is kept alive
for several days before she`s killed.
Ben Levitan, telecommunication expert out of Raleigh. Ben, the last ping on her cell is at midnight. What I find interesting, Ben, in addition to that,
is that first, the friends are calling her when the boyfriend says where is she? Now, It`s just 9:00 o`clock. It`s just 9:00 o`clock.
And they started trying to call her. And At first, her phone rings but then very quickly after that, Ben Levitan, starts going straight to voice mail.
What does that mean?
BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATION EXPERT: You know what that means, Nancy. If -- if the phone rings and rings and goes to voice mail, that means the
phone is on and you`re being ignored. If the phone goes directly to voice mail, Nancy, that means the phone network knows that phone is turned off.
It doesn`t bother to ring the phone. The phone goes right to voice mail. It means the phone is turned off or broken or thrown away, Nancy.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK}
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who snatched Brittanee Drexel from Myrtle Beach?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) potential suspects are (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then killed her? The FBI said they have evidence she was held against her will in three places.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe she was killed after that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s tearing me up inside. I was very, very, very upset.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: How does the FBI know that she was held against her will in three different places after she is abducted on spring break? She goes on spring
break to Myrtle Beach with some of her little girlfriends. She never comes home.
To Dr. Tiffany Sanders, psychologist, joining me out of Chicago. Dr. Sanders, you`ve given a lot of thought and study do this case. Give me a
profile of her kidnapper.
TIFFANY SANDERS, PYSCHOLOGIST: Absolutely, Nancy. This is somebody who lacks any sort of empathy, concern, care for a human being. Who will -- who
will take her away from her family, her friends, her loved ones.
This person has some sort of mental illness, disturbed, because you wouldn`t imagine that a human being will kidnap and keep someone for days
on end unless they are evil, just pure evil, Nancy.
GRACE: Well, you know, that`s going to be an argument in court, mental illness versus pure evil. But let me tell you something, Dr. Tiffany
Sanders, it happens every day.
Practically once a minute, someone goes missing. I`m very curious, Dave Priest, as to how the FBI knows she was held against her will in three
different places, Dave.
PRIEST: Well, we`re curious about that as well. We just passed the seven- year anniversary of her disappearance, and we`re here in Myrtle Beach area. We have kind of adopted Brittanee even though she was from the Rochester
area in New York.
And we`ve been following this really closely for a long, long time, and we`ve never heard any of this information...
GRACE: So, we don`t know why?
PRIEST: ... and so they held a press conference just recently in McClellanville. We found that she was held in Georgetown, McClellanville,
and even North Charleston.
That`s the first time that we heard that. And as you (inaudible) earlier, they said that they believe that she`s passed away, but they won`t disclose
any of that information although I believe they told the family, but family really is a family. They would not understand that.
GRACE: Yeah, Randy Kessler, a question to you. Do you believe the abductor could get a deal if he comes forward and gets her whereabouts, even know of
her remains.
KESSLER: I think he`s gonna get a better deal, but if he doesn`t come forward, he gets convicted because they -- family needs closure. You want
to bury her remains...
GRACE: What about you, Misty?
MARRIS: It`s absolutely possible that he will get a deal just to solve this mystery.
GRACE: You know, Joe Scott Morgan, can we even get the cause of death now?
MORGAN: It`s very, very difficult with skeletal remains, Nancy. Let`s keep in mind that if -- if -- if her her body is skeletonized, which I would
imagine by this time it would be unless she was preserved in some way, it would be very difficult to find any kind of insults on the skeleton.
GRACE: Let me give the tip line, 25,000 dollar reward. 1-800, call FBI.
We remember American hero, army sergeant, Mike Sonoda, Jr., 34, Fallbrook, California. (inaudible) Purple Heart. Loves science fiction, history.
(inaudible) inspector for U.S. Postal Service. Parent, Mike Sonoda, Sr. and (inaudible) sister, Irene (ph). Mike Sonoda, Jr., American hero.
Happy birthday to California friend, Annette. Isn`t she beautiful. And happy birthday, Atlanta friend, Donald (inaudible), jazz musician, loves
fishing. Isn`t he handsome. And happy birthday to longtime friend of my parent, Jesse Evans (ph). He loves pop, R&B, Bluegrass. Model (inaudible)
because his dad, a railroad engineer. Happy birthday, Jesse.
Everyone, thank you for being with us tonight, inviting all of us into your homes. Nancy Grace signing off. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 o`clock sharp,
eastern, and until then, good night.
[21:00:00]
END
