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NANCY GRACE

New Developments in Missing Groom Mystery

Aired January 5, 2006 - 20:00:00   ET

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


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, stunning developments emerge in the missing groom mystery, tonight marking exactly six months when 26-year-old newlywed George Smith disappeared from a honeymoon cruise. Imagine that. And now for the first time, we learn the truth as to where the bride was the night her new husband was likely murdered.
And also tonight, please help us. Out of Raleigh, North Carolina, imagine minding your own business, sitting on your own sofa, watching TV, suddenly home invasion, leaving a beautiful 23-year-old North Carolina girl missing.

Good evening, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Tonight, to North Carolina, 23-year-old Michelle Bullard and three friends threatened at gunpoint in a home invasion, Michelle Bullard nowhere to be found.

But first tonight, disturbing new revelations in the George Smith missing groom case. His entire life before him, 26-year-old high school football star George Smith vanishes on a honeymoon cruise. Only clue? Blood, blood inside Smith`s stateroom and on the ship`s side. After months -- repeat, months -- of silence, Smith`s bride finally speaks. And tonight, Royal Caribbean cruise line on the defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The facts will show that within 45 minutes of determining that George Smith was possibly missing, that we contacted both the Turkish police and the American embassy. Approximately an hour afterwards, our Miami office was in contact with the FBI and remained in contact with the FBI throughout the day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: As the facts emerge, it looks more and more as if we`ll never know what happened to the young groom.

Straight out to Pat Lalama, investigative reporter. Pat, what`s the latest?

PAT LALAMA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Oh, my gosh! This gets, as they say, curiouser and curiouser. All right, here`s the latest. The wife -- now the ship -- the people from the ship are saying they found her, what -- seemingly unconscious, on the floor of the deck, the same deck where they had their cabin. They took her in a wheelchair to her cabin. At that point, they say, she seemed OK. She was awake. They let her stay there, and apparently, they might have just thought she was another inebriated honeymooner. It does happen to the best of us. And left.

But then came the new details, and that is, four hours later, they say, they`re looking for her. They find her in -- getting a massage. They ask her if she knows where her husband is...

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait!

LALAMA: Yes. Yes.

GRACE: You said unconscious on the floor of the deck.

LALAMA: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

LALAMA: I`m sorry?

GRACE: Do you mean drunk?

LALAMA: Well, not for me to say, but the words from them are "seemingly unconscious"...

GRACE: Well, Pat Lalama, being drunk is not a felony, last time I looked.

LALAMA: Absolutely not.

GRACE: OK. Go ahead.

LALAMA: Well, I know -- and I`m not saying that that makes her good or bad. All I`m saying is these are...

GRACE: Not that there`s anything wrong with that!

LALAMA: Hey, hey, no complaints from this side, OK?

GRACE: OK.

LALAMA: All I`m saying is you need to know everything. And then they decide, We got to find her. There`s a problem. They find her. She`s getting a massage. She says, Well, you know what...

GRACE: A massage?

LALAMA: A massage.

GRACE: Question, Pat...

LALAMA: Yes?

GRACE: Did she have on the same clothes she had on the night before?

LALAMA: She had on the same clothes from the night before. She tells the people from the ship, You know, my husband -- you know, We met this other honeymooner couple, and he stayed at their cabin one other night, so I was just assuming he was probably there. Now, from that point forward, the ship maintains that she was never left alone, that she was always taken care of. They brought her to the authorities...

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait!

LALAMA: ... she met with...

GRACE: Didn`t you jump ahead of something, Pat Lalama? I mean, the last I heard from you, she was lying on the floor unconscious. They took her back in a wheelchair to the cabin.

LALAMA: Right.

GRACE: And then what?

LALAMA: Then they -- well, then they also -- well, which part are you talking about exactly? They look for the husband. They...

GRACE: What time was this?

LALAMA: Well, we`re talking about 4:30 in the morning...

GRACE: Whew!

LALAMA: ... my understanding is, when they find her. Now, I also believe that they did -- they did let her fall asleep or do whatever, and it wasn`t until the evidence started becoming clear that there was something wrong with this picture, that they went to find her and then started doing the work that it would take to require an investigation. The cops got involved and...

GRACE: OK. OK. OK. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Take a listen to what the captain of the ship has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL LACHTARIDIS, FORMER ROYAL CARIBBEAN CAPTAIN: When they complete their investigation, I asked the police before they leave the ship, Can we secure now the cabin? Can we clear the blood? They say, Oh, yes. It`s clear now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Clean the blood. Clean the blood. This morning -- that was an interview with NBC, and that`s the captain of George and Jennifer Smith`s honeymoon cruise. He was speaking out and strongly denying accusations from the Smith family that Royal Caribbean recklessly discarded key evidence. All I know is they were dead set on cleaning out that cabin!

I want to quickly go to Pat Brown. She is a very high-profile criminal profiler. Pat, am I crazy, or why didn`t anybody notice blood in the cabin? Now, right there, we are seeing blood that was spotted by a schoolgirl on the outside of the ship. But according to several sources, including "The New York Times," there was blood inside the cabin. I just think -- just me speaking here, Pat -- if I went into my cabin on my honeymoon, my groom`s not there, I might notice blood.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, my guess is, Nancy, that she was really drunk, and when you`re really drunk, you don`t really think that clearly, and neither do the people around you. I mean, a lot of the attacks are toward the cruise ship. But when we think about it, you know, this happens all the time on a cruise ship. Let`s face it, people drink like just idiots on cruise ships.

GRACE: Fish. Fish. Fish, I believe, would be the scientific term.

BROWN: Yes (INAUDIBLE) they just get trashed constantly. So the problem is, when you find people lying on the floor, you go, Oh, my God, another drunk. You talk to them. They say they`re OK. You take back to the cabin. You can`t have a full investigation every time you find somebody lying around drunk. You take them back. She said she`s fine. She`s really probably a little spinning still. She goes, OK, just get out of here. All I want to do is lie down on that bed. That`s what you usually want to do when you`re drunk. She probably never looked. And therefore, when we look back in time, we say, Why not, but probably, it just wasn`t the likely thing for anybody who is drunk to do.

GRACE: You know, actually, that makes sense.

Joining us right now, I`m hearing in my ear, a special guest tonight, the legal counsel with Royal Caribbean, Eileen O`Connor. Ms. O`Connor, thank you for being with us. Why was the cruise line so intent on cleaning the one cabin? You know, there`s got to be a thousand cabins. Why did they have to meet the deadline for the next -- the next group of people coming in?

EILEEN O`CONNOR, LEGAL COUNSEL FOR ROYAL CARIBBEAN: Well, actually, Nancy, we actually didn`t clean the cabin for at least another six days. At the end of the cruise, we kept it sealed, in fact, and off limits. And this was after the Turkish police had been there, done a full forensic investigation -- photographs, fingerprints, blood samples. They took, in fact, evidence from that cabin throughout the day. When Jennifer Hagel- Smith was off being interviewed by Turkish authorities, before anything of hers was removed, they cleared that crime scene. They told us it can be cleaned.

But you know what, Nancy? We didn`t clean it. In fact, we still kept it off limits. We kept it off limits and we allowed the FBI to come on board in Greece, and they looked at it. They thought the Turkish authorities -- who they`d been in touch with throughout this investigation, and that is the proper procedure, they were in touch with them as to what they were doing. They said, They did a good job. We`re OK with this. And then at the end of the cruise -- we were in touch with them the entire time -- we said, We`re going to clean the cabin again...

GRACE: OK...

O`CONNOR: ... at the end, and they said OK. I mean, the FBI -- we informed them, and they said, We understand. This was a released crime scene, Nancy, and we did nothing. Even after the Turks released it, we still kept it sealed.

GRACE: Eileen, question. Everyone, with us, Eileen O`Connor. She is the legal counsel for Royal Caribbean. Eileen, are there videocameras around George Smith`s cabin that would have shown who went in and out of the cabin?

O`CONNOR: We`re not going to go into specifics of the investigation because...

GRACE: Why?

O`CONNOR: ... we do want to find the truth.

GRACE: The fact that there...

O`CONNOR: Do you want to find the truth?

GRACE: All I want to know is...

(CROSSTALK)

O`CONNOR: The fact that there are cameras...

GRACE: That`s not about this case!

O`CONNOR: ... there are -- there are cameras throughout the ship, and all of that evidence has been turned over to the FBI.

GRACE: OK. Eileen, you`re a lawyer. I`m a lawyer.

O`CONNOR: Right.

GRACE: I`m not asking you to divulge super-secrets about this case. I`m asking you, is there -- I can go get a ticket, Eileen, and find out if there`s a camera. So save me the $300. Is there a camera that would catch who goes in and out of the cabin?

O`CONNOR: There are witnesses and cameras...

GRACE: It`s not a legal secret!

O`CONNOR: There are witnesses and cameras that can talk about who -- that can reveal who was going down corridors, and that`s all I can say.

GRACE: OK. That`s a good thing to know. Why, I`m wondering, when they brought Jennifer Hagel, the bride, back to the cabin -- they -- they - - she was unconscious, possibly drunk. OK. Fine. Everybody had been out partying that night. Nobody noticed blood in the cabin?

O`CONNOR: It was not noticeable. And let me be clear, Nancy. When we found her, the cleaning staff found her, they called security, who came down, and they called the medical staff. And the medical staff said, We`ll just try to wake her up. And they did, and she what? She did wake up. And they said -- she said, I`m OK, and they said, Well, you know, let`s go see if there`s someone who can escort you back to the cabin. So they actually went to the cabin then, looked in. There was no one there.

So they came back, and standard operating procedure is, if you`re going to bring someone through the halls, you do bring a wheelchair. So they brought her in a wheelchair to the cabin. and they had ice and they were trying to help her. And she said, I`m OK, I`m OK. Just leave me, and they put -- she -- they put her on the bed. She was on the bed lying down, and again...

GRACE: In her clothes.

O`CONNOR: ... they did not notice...

GRACE: In her clothes.

O`CONNOR: In her clothes, on top of the bed. And they -- she said, I`m OK, and so they left the room.

GRACE: OK. Here is what the Smith attorney had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Royal Caribbean had a representative on TV saying, Well, what are we supposed to do? We`re at port with thousands of passengers? Well, the reality is, unfortunately, that those passengers were on board a ship where a potential murder had taken place, and those passengers had the right to know that and to know that when that ship sailed, there was still possible murderers on board that ship.

Here we are, talking about a probable murder, and we`re having questions whether somebody was partying or not partying. And what that has to do with the murder, I don`t know. And the FBI, I`m sure, doesn`t think that has anything to do with the murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Eileen O`Connor, legal counsel for Royal Caribbean. Eileen, in a murder case, a potential murder case, I would never let a material witness leave the courtroom. Forget about it! They have a little thing called an attachment. It`s an arrest. Why did Royal Caribbean allow people to leave that ship without questioning them?

O`CONNOR: Because understand, Nancy, that the ship was docked at 6:00 AM. People were allowed to leave at 6:39. The blood on the canopy was not seen or discovered until 8:30 in the morning. At that point, they immediately looked at the sea (INAUDIBLE) to see who had left the ship and who was still on board and who might be missing. And in that situation, they looked at the cabins above this canopy and they zeroed in, as well, on the Smith cabin and went and -- went -- there were actually, originally, we thought...

GRACE: Well, I guess -- let me rephrase...

O`CONNOR: ... three passengers missing.

GRACE: Let me rephrase, Judge. I mean, why did people, material witnesses that heard the loud thud coming from Smith`s cabin, that heard voices raised apparently in anger -- why were they released at the end of the cruise without being questioned? "A Current Affair" had to go find them and bring them to the FBI.

O`CONNOR: We had interviewed and pointed out passengers to be interviewed, and the Turkish authorities actually did do some interviews.

GRACE: I want to go straight back to...

O`CONNOR: So I -- there are -- there are passengers who were interviewed. Understand...

GRACE: Well, what about the next-door neighbors that heard the thud, the next-door neighbors that heard the angry voices raised? I mean, these are material...

O`CONNOR: In fact -- in fact...

GRACE: ... witnesses. They told -- they said on air they had not been questioned by the cruise line, nor by the FBI.

O`CONNOR: We had other witnesses who did report those noises. But understand, too, the thud noise was not reported until after the blood was discovered on the canopy, and as well...

GRACE: Well, maybe that`s because those people weren`t questioned, Eileen!

O`CONNOR: They were -- we did question them throughout that day. In fact, we were trying to find if we could figure out where he might have gone overboard. So in fact, they were questioned throughout the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BREE SMITH, MISSING GROOM`S SISTER: As you know, my brother, George Smith, went missing on July 5 from the Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas. We believe he was murdered on his honeymoon, with a lifetime of happiness and a promising future ahead of him. George is very missed by his family, as well as his many friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN DRAKE, PASSENGER ON CRUISE SHIP: I`m worried definitely that there was some kind of serious foul play. Unless you were playing king of the world, you know, it`s just not possible to fall over. And I just -- there was so much blood, and the distance from his balcony to that deck was not that great, you know, to generate that kind of injury. So you know, I`m worried that something terrible happened to him and he was pushed overboard. That`s what I`m worried happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I want to go straight out to Pat Lalama. It seems as if this story has more twists and turns than any other missing person case we`ve seen in a long time. Pat Lalama, you told us that Jennifer Hagel, the bride, was found unconscious, seemingly drunk on the same deck of that ship that night, fully clothed, asleep on the floor, I guess in one of the hall ways.

LALAMA: Right.

GRACE: They brought her back to her room.

LALAMA: Right.

GRACE: At that time, no sign of blood, no sign of foul play. The next morning, she gets up, no husband there. This is their honeymoon. She leaves to go get a massage, wearing the same clothing she had on the night before, right?

LALAMA: Right. Those are the facts as we know them from the Caribbean cruise line, Royal Caribbean. She -- the cruise ship, according to them, says, Look, she says, I`m OK. What more are we supposed to do? We let her stay there. She sleeps it off. She gets up. Now, if you talk about blood in the cabin, you know, I`m wondering, Did Jennifer see that blood? I mean, did she miss it, too, or was it just not -- I mean, that`s interesting, you must admit.

She goes off to get the massage. They apparently had pre-set appointments for the massage. Her husband`s not there. She tells the authorities, Well, you know, we had met this other couple. We had gotten to be friends with them, and he, in fact, had spent the night there one other night on the cruise. And you take it from there, Nancy.

GRACE: To Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst. Hearing Jennifer Hagel`s statements and taking a listen to Eileen O`Connor, the legal counsel for Royal Caribbean, what is your analysis?

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, I mean, I think that she may have had an unusual lifestyle. She was probably blacked out that night. According to her statement, she does not remember what happened. She may have gone to get the massage the next day as a way to nurse, I would guess, a very serious hangover. But alcoholism, being drunk or an unusual lifestyle a murderer does not make.

And I do really agree with the point that you`ve stressed, Nancy, that these witnesses should have been brought forward right away because we do know about witness reliability that it`s best right after an event. It decreases over time. And we also know...

GRACE: Bethany...

MARSHALL: Yes?

GRACE: What do you make of Jennifer Hagel, by her own words, the next day, no sign of her husband, nothing resolved, insisting to go back home to America?

MARSHALL: Well, that -- the cruise line is saying that she insisted on going back to America. According to some of her accounts, she was left alone in Turkey without money, clothing, and without a way to get back home. So these accounts differ radically, in my mind. You know, I`ve been in Turkey. It`s not a place that you want to be alone on your own without money or support.

GRACE: Well, wait a minute. I thought she was with the U.S. consulate, Pat Lalama.

LALAMA: ... on whom you believe. She says she was treated badly, left alone. They say she was always -- that once the cruise line said, you know...

GRACE: What difference does it make if you -- what difference does it make if you`re left alone, Pat Lalama? If your husband is missing, the only clue is some blood in the stateroom, on the side of the ship, who cares if you`re alone or with an army? Why would you just leave?

LALAMA: Well, those are questions we need to ask Jennifer. I mean, it depends on the person. Are you scared and want to hook up with your family? Do you want to stay in Turkey and fight the big fight on your own? You know, I mean, it`s just hard to know until you sit down -- now, she, by the way, just to make this clear, according -- my understanding is that she took a lie-detector test. The FBI admits that and cleared it. I just wanted to say that as an aside because I think that`s important. And certainly, no one`s accusing her of hurting her husband.

GRACE: OK...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: I don`t know where you`re going right now. I don`t know where you`re going right now. We`ll all be right back. Disturbing new details revealed tonight regarding the missing groom.

Very quickly, just announced, today, millionaire businessman James Sullivan (ph) going to trial. He was on the FBI`s "Most Wanted" list. Sullivan captured after an international manhunt. If convicted for the execution-style slaying of his wife, Sullivan could face the Georgia death penalty.

Also tonight, police desperately seeking your help. A man bound, gagged and raped, murdered 90-year-old Anna Vuori (ph) in her California home, leaving behind, after murdering the old lady, a glove and a hat. It could be the key to his arrest. Look at this. If you have any information, call 866-846-3592.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER ZALISKO, POLICE OFFICER: It`s physically impossible for someone to go over that railing without some assistance. On my balcony, they actually came up to chest height, and there`s no way that you can fall over, particularly if you`re drunk. The first thing that gives when you`re drunk are your legs.

DRAKE: And I woke about 7:30 and I stepped out on the balcony, and it was just too apparent to miss, right below my balcony. And there was a very large blood stain there, very, very dark in the middle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I want to go straight out to forensic scientist, trace evidence specialist Michael Martinez. Welcome, Michael. What makes this crime scene different from others?

MICHAEL MARTINEZ, FORENSIC SCIENTIST, TRACE EVIDENCE SPECIALIST: What makes this crime scene different from others is that you have a crime that`s been committed on a cruise ship. It`s out of U.S. territories. You don`t have the regulations or the things that we take for granted here in the United States.

Furthermore, you also have situations involved where now you have a security team that is ill prepared to deal with a crime of this magnitude. It`s my opinion that I think that the cruise line industry should be able to step up to the plate, more or less, and try to find aspects, to try to train their security personnel for crime scene aspects.

GRACE: Right. Elizabeth, put up those cruise ship crime statistics, if you don`t mind -- 305 FBI criminal cases on the high seas, 45 percent sex assaults, 22 percent physical assault, 10 percent missing people.

Back to Eileen O`Connor, legal counsel with Royal Caribbean. Eileen, as a result of this case and others, there are congressional hearings going on to clean up crime on the high sea. What`s your response?

O`CONNOR: Well, in fact, actually, cruising is actually very safe. I know you have those statistics, but understand that these are floating communities. At any given time, Royal Caribbean has 60,000 people...

GRACE: Well, wait a minute!

O`CONNOR: ... who are actually on a cruise at any given time.

GRACE: I was asking you about the congressional hearings. Doesn`t that bother you as a lawyer that your client is part of an industry that has gotten so out of control with crime, they`ve got to have congressional hearings?

O`CONNOR: You know what, Nancy? I lived in Washington for a very long time, and there are congressional hearings on an awful lot of things.

GRACE: Well, you know what?

O`CONNOR: So -- what I would like to tell you...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: ... sweep it under the table...

O`CONNOR: Now, wait a minute. We`re not...

(CROSSTALK)

O`CONNOR: ... sweeping it under the table. We are not sweeping it under the table. And in fact, there are jurisdictional issues. The Turkish authorities and the FBI worked together and did a complete investigation, and we are still assisting all of these authorities. We want answers. And our hearts do go out to the families. We want to find out what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAUREEN SMITH, MOTHER OF MISSING GROOM: We just went in to disbelief. We just thought it can`t happen. We just thought he was somewhere else on the ship. We just thought, you know, maybe he`s in, you know, a deckchair somewhere. Disbelief. It was just disbelief.

GEORGE SMITH, MISSING GROOM`S FATHER: After the Turkish police left the boat, Royal Caribbean went in and they went into my son`s room and basically packed it all up in Royal Caribbean bags and dumped all the stuff on the dock. That was quite -- I learned that from Jennifer, but I was quite shocked to hear exactly what had happened.

I want Royal Caribbean to say what really happened that night. I think there`s been a cover-up from the beginning. And it continues. They just don`t give us answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That is the family of George Smith speaking out. Tonight, disturbing new details are revealed in the disappearance of 26-year-old groom George Smith.

Before we take you to the North Carolina story, I want to quickly go back to Pat Lalama, investigative reporter.

Pat, it`s my understanding that Jennifer Hagel, the bride, has gone to court and had George Smith legally declared dead and herself named executor?

LALAMA: Right. There`s an important reason for that, and that`s because there can be a civil suit put into motion because of that.

Nancy, do you have a second just to ask the cruise line woman, is it true that there was a rape that occurred two days later, after Jennifer Hagel went missing, and it was videotaped, and that some of the same people might have been involved in that that were possibly involved, had been around her husband that night?

GRACE: Eileen? Eileen?

O`CONNOR: Yes, Nancy, I can confirm that. In fact, some young men who were seen with the Smiths the night before were involved with an alleged sexual assault a couple of days later and, in fact, were taken off the ship, were kicked off the ship.

And also, we asked Italian authorities to meet them. And also, we informed the FBI as soon as the allegation came to light on the ship, as soon as it was reported to us. We, in fact, contacted the FBI, the Italian authorities, the U.S. consulate.

The U.S. consulate and the Italian authorities met us on the ship. We asked them to. And the boys -- the young men and their families, in fact, were kicked off the ship. So I can confirm that.

One thing, Nancy, I wanted to say to you. I do not want to disrespect Congress, because we do -- we are cooperating with those hearings. And in fact, Congressman Shays is doing an excellent job.

And that, in fact, is why we have come up with this factual chronology. We want you to know every single step that the cruise line has taken in trying to determine answers for the Smith family, because our heart really does go out for them. This is about George Smith.

GRACE: Eileen, Eileen, Eileen...

O`CONNOR: And this is what we want to focus on, getting some answers for them. Yes?

GRACE: Eileen, the three guys that allegedly committed a rape and took the time to video the whole thing, did that occur on the same ship, as part of the same cruise, that Jennifer and George were on, yes/no?

O`CONNOR: Yes, after Mr. Smith was missing.

GRACE: OK. Eileen, thank you for being with us. I know a lot of tough questions. And I appreciate you joining us tonight. Everyone, Eileen O`Connor, legal counsel with Royal Caribbean.

Quickly, I want to go to the next story. We need your help. Elizabeth, do you have that sound?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN ROJAS, MOTHER OF MISSING GIRL: We love her. We miss her. And we want her back in our arms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight back out to Pat Lalama. Bring us up-to-date, Pat.

LALAMA: Oh, man, this story is heartbreaking. The young woman is sitting in a trailer with her boyfriend of one month with another couple. They`re watching a movie. Nothing`s happening. They`re all having a good time, seemingly.

Someone busts into the house. The door`s not locked. He`s got a ski mask on. According to the three witnesses, each of them were tied up separately, brought to different rooms. They were held at gunpoint. The masked man allegedly drags one of the women out, decides he doesn`t want her, takes her back to the house, and brings the other woman, the missing woman, with him.

The only thing they`ve got to go on -- and there`s not even a connection -- there`s no evidence in this case -- is that a couple days later, a 49-year-old plumber who lives about six miles down the road is in his pickup truck. He`s missing, and he shoots himself in the head.

GRACE: To Raleigh, North Carolina, joining us tonight from the "Sanford Herald," the editor, Dan Fields. Dan, what can you tell us about this case and about this 23-year-old missing girl?

DAN FIELDS, EDITOR, "SANFORD HERALD": Well, what we`re trying to figure out -- and I know what authorities are trying to figure out -- is exactly just getting to the bottom of where Ms. Bullard is at. And, you know, there`s a lot of questions, I know, that are going on right now...

GRACE: What do we know happened, Dan?

FIELDS: Well, what we do know right now is that she was -- what the authorities have told us is that she was abducted. She was taken. There was a person, yes, that did go in and take her. The person did, yes, have a ski mask on.

But again, there are just a lot of unanswered questions out there, also, with this person who committed suicide earlier that you just brought up.

GRACE: But is there any connection that we know of, Dan, between the suicide? It`s my understanding police were pulling a vehicle over. When they approached the vehicle, the driver committed suicide. Is there any reason to believe there`s a connection to her disappearance?

FIELDS: There could very well be, Nancy. But that`s the problem, and that`s the frustration.

GRACE: Well, I`m asking you if there`s a reason.

FIELDS: That`s a good question. Unfortunately, I wish I could give you an answer on...

GRACE: So we don`t know of a reason to connect the two tonight?

FIELDS: We`re trying to find that out from the law enforcement authorities...

GRACE: OK.

FIELDS: ... but we just haven`t got a straight answer from them.

GRACE: Dan, question: What time of the morning, noon or night did this take place?

FIELDS: This incident took place around 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning.

GRACE: OK. What were the victims doing?

FIELDS: From what we understand, the victims were in the mobile home. They were watching some sort of -- doing some sort of activity together when this person came in.

GRACE: I understand they were watching TV.

FIELDS: OK.

GRACE: So what happened?

FIELDS: All we know right now, Nancy, is that there was a person that came in on an unlocked door, tied up the four people that were inside of the mobile home, and then took one of the people. In this case, it was Ms. Bullard.

GRACE: Now, did they first, Pat Lalama, take the other girl, then bring her back inside and grab Michelle Bullard?

LALAMA: Well, now, that`s according to the other girl. And the interesting thing is, is that authorities have said that witness statements have been inconsistent.

I`ve got to tell you just one more important thing. You know, they say they were all there, what was it, 1:30 in the morning, but another friend who wasn`t there that night says that she had been trying to get a hold of this young woman all day Sunday, all night Sunday night, all day Monday, all Monday night. So that`s just a little odd.

I mean, this is someone who`s lively, has a job. People like her. And this one friend had been trying to get in touch with her. They were supposed to go to -- she knew that she was supposed to go to some New Year`s Eve party. Why didn`t she -- why wasn`t she able to find them? I mean, I find that really, really important to the case.

GRACE: Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENEE HALL, FRIEND: The unknown is what kills anything, the unknown, I mean, whether she`s alive or, God forbid, is she be dead, but just not knowing.

KAREN RIOJAS, MOTHER OF MISSING GIRL: We love her. We miss her. And we want her back in our arms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: To Lisa Wayne, veteran defense attorney. It sounds as if many of the witnesses, the three remaining people in the home, are giving inconsistent statements. That`s not good.

LISA WAYNE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s what it sounds like, Nancy, but you have to understand, first of all, when you are under a situation, the stress, and the excitement, and the starling nature of the events, you`re going to have different and varying accounts from witnesses, all in the same place, many times.

So that goes to the reliability of not only eyewitness identification but just what`s going on with the people and what`s going on in their minds. We don`t know if these people had been drinking, if anybody`s on drugs. We just don`t know.

GRACE: Right. Now joining me is a special guest, Michelle Bullard`s mother, Karen Riojas. Ms. Riojas, thank you for being with us. What can you tell us tonight? What are police saying?

RIOJAS: Well, right now, we don`t have any major leads, only that we know that Michelle was abducted and that she has not been heard of since the abduction, late Sunday evening, early Monday morning. I can tell you that the 911 call was placed at 1:12, so we actually think the abduction was earlier than the 1:30 that was stated earlier.

GRACE: Had her cell phone been used since she went missing?

RIOJAS: I have called it four dozen and a half times. And I only get the voice mail. But I did talk to Michelle Sunday afternoon and did see her Sunday around 5:00 p.m. And her cell phone was working, because I did reach her.

But we thank, Nancy. We want Michelle back. We want her back safely. We are frantic to find her. And we want her to know that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN RIOJAS, MOTHER OF MISSING GIRL: We love her. We miss her. And we want her back in our arms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Can you imagine sitting on your own sofa, watching TV late one night, home invasion, your three friends are bound, taken to another room, and you are kidnapped? That is exactly what police say happened to a 23- year-old girl, Michelle Bullard, near Raleigh.

Let me go straight out to Michelle`s mother. She is joining us tonight, Karen Riojas. What is your understanding of what happened that night? And, Ms. Riojas, why are the other people`s stories different?

RIOJAS: Well, I feel as though they were separated in the home and in different areas. And I actually feel as though, probably, they were -- I know that one was asleep and was woken, you know, to the event of someone coming in and invading.

GRACE: Right. Right.

RIOJAS: And I also think that they just saw it in a different light.

GRACE: So that doesn`t disturb you, that their stories are a little different, right?

RIOJAS: It disturbs me because my daughter is missing. And, you know, our goal is to find Michelle and have her safe return back to us.

GRACE: Right. And the more correct facts we know will help find her.

But, you know, Karen Riojas, when a lot of different witnesses see the same thing, very often their stories will be a little different, just as you said.

RIOJAS: Correct.

GRACE: One is woken up from a sound sleep. One`s watching TV. One`s in the kitchen. They see things from a different vantage point. It all happens differently for them.

Does she always carry her cell phone with her? Have they recovered her phone? Or do you think the abductor took it?

RIOJAS: She has the phone on her person, yes.

GRACE: She has the phone on her person.

RIOJAS: Her pocketbook was not found in the home. Robbery was a motive in this, in that money was taken. I do not know the amount of money.

GRACE: Karen, what have the others told you about what happened?

RIOJAS: Well, out of the three, I`ve only spoken to two...

GRACE: Right.

RIOJAS: ... about specifics of, you know, the actual event of the intrusion. And one was asleep, that is one that I spoke to. And the other is the female that was there.

GRACE: What did they tell you about the incident?

RIOJAS: Well, I got the most information from the female, because her and Michelle were basically put together while the men were stripped and taped and bound together.

GRACE: How could one guy do all this? He must have had a gun, obviously.

RIOJAS: This is something that has went through my mind 1,023 times. I don`t know, Nancy. It is bizarre to me that one person could...

GRACE: Overcome four people.

RIOJAS: ... overcome so many people.

GRACE: Well, if he has a gun and the others are told what to do, for all we know, he said, you know, "I`m going to duct tape you and rob the place and leave," and maybe they went along with it. What are cops telling you, Karen?

RIOJAS: Basically, there has not been a break in the case. And we, as Michelle`s family, are pleading for the help of the people to look for Michelle, anything.

GRACE: And we are, too.

Elizabeth, let me see that shot again of Michelle Bullard. Everyone, Michelle Bullard in her own home on her own business watching TV, home invasion. The other three left behind. She is taken.

Here`s the tip line: 919-718-4577. The last time her mom spoke to her, Sunday afternoon.

Very quickly to attorney Rahul Manchanda. You know, Rahul, we know that this local plumber was pulled over by cops and he committed suicide. If there is not a description of him in and around that home that night, what do you make of trying to connect him to this?

RAHUL MANCHANDA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that`s the problem right now. There`s very few clues right now. And what law enforcement is trying to do is look at every single possibility to extrapolate and to figure out if there is any connection.

You`ve got to remember, this is a very small town, a very low crime rate. So anything and everything that comes up on the radar needs to be looked at. I think there were -- authorities are talking about how this is the worst thing that`s ever happened in their history. It`s just very good police work to look at every single possible scenario.

GRACE: Well, you know what? You`ve got a good point, Rahul.

Back to Dan Fields. You know, Dan Field, everyone, editor with the "Sanford Herald." You may be right that there`s no real connection between this guy that committed suicide when cops pulled him over and the abduction of Michelle Bullard. But the two of them happening so closely, seemingly unexplained, the police have got to look for a nexus. Dan, how small is the area?

FIELDS: Sanford is about 25,000 in population. The incident that occurred, it occurred pretty much with a bordering county. Sanford is in Lee County. That`s in Curran Park County (ph).

GRACE: Right.

FIELDS: So it`s right nearby. So it`s not exactly in an area where it`s sparsely populated. That`s not true at all. But Sanford is big enough...

GRACE: You said about 25,000, right?

FIELDS: Yes, ma`am.

GRACE: OK.

To Pat Brown, criminal profiler, you know, we all said this with the Shasta and Dylan Groene case, that it was such a small area, it had to be someone they knew. Well, in fact, it was someone that had been watching them. What do you make? I think it`s significant that this is such a small town.

BROWN: Well, Nancy, Joseph Duncan, this was an unusual case with him. And we probably wouldn`t have guessed that someone would have come in and done that kind of crime. But he was a desperate man on the run and didn`t care.

My question would be: Was this trailer positioned near a major highway, where somebody coming off a highway, desperate to grab something and keep going, a felon of some sort on the run...

GRACE: That`s a good question. Dan, was it? Was it near a big highway?

FIELDS: It was not.

BROWN: OK.

FIELDS: And the thing is here, we don`t know if there`s a connection with this or not. And, at least on the news media`s part, that`s what we`re trying to figure out, because the biggest thing is that we want to get information out, so ultimately Ms. Bullard can return home safely.

GRACE: Very quickly, everyone, we`ll all be right back with Michelle`s mother. Let`s go to tonight`s "All-Points Bulletin." Law enforcement on the lookout for Cyril Byrd, wanted in connection with the `98 Cincinnati murder of 50-year-old Jerry Gilbert (ph).

Byrd is 32, 5`10", 185 pounds -- take a look -- black hair, brown eyes. If you have info, call the FBI, 513-421-4310.

Local news next for some of you, but we`ll all be right back. And remember, live coverage of a Massachusetts trial regarding the death of a child, 3:00 to 5:00 Eastern, Court TV.

Everyone, please stay with us as we remember Private Joshua M. Morberg, just 20 years old, just out of high school, an American hero.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We at NANCY GRACE want very much to help solve unsolved homicides, find missing people. Take a look at 64-year-old Nita Mayo, last seen August 8, 2005. Her car found Pinecrest, California. If you have info on Nita Mayo, please call the Carol Sund Carrington Foundation, toll- free, 888-813-8389. Please help us.

In our final moment, I want to go back to Michelle Bullard`s mother, Karen Riojas. What can you tell us tonight about your girl? What can we do to help you?

RIOJAS: Nancy, I fully believe that Michelle is out there and she is alive. And we are just frantically waiting her return.

My daughter left with no shoes on her feet, Nancy. Her shoes were left. Michelle did not like to wear shoes in the house and was, you know, watching a movie. And I lay in my bed at night, trying to sleep, wondering if my daughter`s feet are cold.

And Michelle has the most beautiful smile, the most bubbly personality. And we just are asking anyone who has any information about the whereabouts of Michelle, look for her. You`ve seen the photos. We`ve tried to get them out, especially locally. And the reason that we chose to go nationally is because we want to broaden our search for Michelle.

And, Nancy, any information that you or anyone can get for us, we, as her family, her father, Julian, and me, and the whole Michelle Bullard family would appreciate.

GRACE: Karen, let me put that number up again, 919-718-4577. This is a confidential number. We know that someone out there knows what has become of Michelle Bullard. Thank you to Michelle`s mother.

RIOJAS: Thank you, Nancy.

GRACE: Yes, ma`am.

But thank you to all of our guests tonight. And thank you for being with us. Until tomorrow night, good night, friend.

END

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