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NANCY GRACE

Body of Missing 4-Year-Old Likely Found; Michigan Woman Charged With Selling Granddaughter for Drugs

Aired March 24, 2010 - 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: Breaking news tonight, live, Newburgh. A 4-year- old little boy vanishes from his own home, Mommy at work, the live-in baby- sitting the little boy when he goes missing without a trace 1:00 PM, broad daylight.

Bombshell tonight. As the search for little Marc Bookal intensifies, as we go to air, a tip leads police cadaver dog teams to a heavily wooded area and the body of a 4-year-old little boy in a duffel bag just two blocks from the missing boy`s own home. At this hour, CSI cordons off the area, police working through the night to positively identify this little body. After an exhaustive 100-day search by land, by air, by water spanning the city of Newburgh and the Hudson River, is this the body of missing 4-year-old Marc Anthony Bookal?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. After months of searching, Newburgh police moments ago just find human remains of a young child believed to be the body of 4-year-old Marc Bookal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At approximately 11:04 today, the state police cadaver dog team located what have been confirmed to be human remains. They are consistent with those of a small child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s my baby!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy disappeared from his home in Newburgh while being watched by his mother`s boyfriend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s basically saying that the little guy vanished. He turns his head and turns around, and he`s gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cory Byrd claims the 4-year-old wandered away from the house. Earlier that morning, the two were seen on surveillance video at a nearby bodega.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These remains were located in a wooded area. This area is approximately one quarter of a mile away from where Marc went missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sources say the body of the little 4-year-old was purposely concealed in a duffel bag.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody deserved to take him from me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story does have some holes. Earlier this year, Marc Bookal suffered burns to his hands which his mother claims was an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has an extensive criminal background, and part of the background does include violence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Department of Corrections says Byrd has served time for an incident that caused serious injury to a child.

GRACE: Why do you believe that he has nothing to do with the disappearance of this 4-year-old baby boy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: And tonight, a grandmother sells -- repeat, sells -- her 10- year-old granddaughter for cocaine. One word. Sick! Slam the jail door shut! And don`t forget, throw away the key.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police arrest a Michigan grandmother for allegedly allowing a 67-year-old man to have sex with her 10-year-old granddaughter in exchange for cocaine. Authorities arrested 45-year-old grandma Angela Blackwell, charging her with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and pandering. Cops allege Blackwell let suspect Johnnie Griffin have sex with the 10-year-old between September and February, using the child as payment for drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Angela Blackwell has taken her 10-year-old granddaughter to Griffin`s Owens Street home, where the grandmother was given cocaine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In turn, the drug dealer`s allowed to sexually assault the victim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blackwell now faces two charges for allegedly allowing the abuse to happen. She`s behind bars right now. That`s where police would like Griffin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think that there`s more victims out there. And as far as we know, this type of behavior could be continuing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators are now on the hunt for Griffin, who`s also accused of sexually assaulting another 10-year-old girl in his truck on March 6th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Breaking news tonight, live, Newburgh. As the search for little Marc Bookal intensifies, as we go to air, a tip leads police cadaver dogs to a heavily wooded area and the body of a 4-year-old boy in a duffel bag just two blocks away from this missing boy`s home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As part of our ongoing investigation, the city of Newburgh Police Department resumed the search for Marc Bookal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They searched the frigid waters of the Hudson River.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn`t wander off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They searched in the woods by the shore...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He doesn`t go to strangers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and through the dirt near a sewage treatment plant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want my son to be found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a search for 4-year-old Marc Bookal that grows grim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Law enforcement making a disturbing discovery at this hour. Police say they found human remains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Preliminary examination of those remains indicates that they are consistent with those of a small child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The remains hidden in a duffel bag, according to sources. The child`s mother told police Marc Anthony just wandered away as they were getting ready to visit a relative.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Byrd was here, falling asleep, had been watching television. He noticed that this door was wide open, and no Marc.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, I think there`s some foul play involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Law enforcement reportedly finding the remains in a wooded patch of land just blocks from Marc`s house. Who`s responsible for the murder of a cute and innocent 4-year-old boy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Rupa Mikkilineni, there on the scene. Rupa, what`s happening?

RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, I`m here in the spot, in the area where 4-year-old Marc Bookal`s body was found this morning after police...

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!

MIKKILINENI: ... searched a wooded area...

GRACE: Wait a minute! Are you telling me that they have made a positive ID of the little boy, we absolutely know it`s him?

MIKKILINENI: Nancy, I`ve spoken to the mayor and I`ve spoken to the chief of police, as well as the PIO here, Newburgh Police Department. They believe that this is the body of Marc Bookal. They done have forensic confirmation yet, which is what they`re waiting for tomorrow.

GRACE: Continue.

MIKKILINENI: So his body was found this morning after cadaver dogs were brought to this area -- actually, they were searching various areas in the area around the home where Marc Bookal disappeared from last December. This is one of the areas they`ve gone over two or three times before in December, Nancy, and they decided to restart their search today because the weather was good. And their searches were hampered last December due to the snow and bad weather.

GRACE: Now, Rupa, I`m getting mixed signals. I`m hearing there was no tip, but our sources are telling us a tip led police to bring the cadaver dogs back out to this very spot just two blocks from the little boy`s home.

MIKKILINENI: Nancy, my sources are telling me that there was no tip, that this was based on a search that they decided to begin today and they got lucky and found the body today.

GRACE: OK. Michael Mazzariello, host of "Street Court," also standing by there where this 4-year-old body has been found -- we are getting unofficial confirmation that this is the little boy we told you about several weeks ago, several months ago, when he first went missing.

Michael, I want you to explain to me why -- first of all, we know there`s no coincidence in criminal law. Things don`t happen by blind luck. Somebody led police to that spot. Now, if they don`t want to admit that, fine, no problem. But what are your thoughts? They`ve already searched the area. There was no reason for them to go back to the area. They did go back, and they find the body. That`s not just dumb luck.

MICHAEL MAZZARIELLO, HOST, "STREET COURT": Well, what the chief of police said at a news conference at 1:00 o`clock and 5:00 o`clock today is that the weather got warmer. It was really cold in December. They knew statistically that if the baby was to be found dead, they would find it close to the area in which the baby was found missing. And that`s what they did. They denied that it was a tip, and they just said it was happenstance that they started the search again today and the cadaver dogs got a sniff.

GRACE: To Clark Goldband, our producer on the story. Clark, take me back. Now, as I recall, Mommy knows the live-in has a criminal history of attacks on children.

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: He sure does.

GRACE: Am I correct? Because we covered this way back when in December, as I recall. Go ahead.

GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy, he sure does. And it goes all the way back to 1998. And it was Mom`s other child at the time. In 1999, charges were filed, and essentially, what law enforcement had said at the time was Cory Byrd purposely hurt the child and had long-term abuse on the child. He claimed the 14-month-old was choking on a Jolly Rancher, takes the child to the hospital, and when the child is examined at the hospital, they say, This isn`t from the Heimlich maneuver, this looks like serious long-term abuse.

And Nancy, also I`d like to add on that for just a moment is that, in fact, Cory Byrd said to law enforcement he left the home at first to go buy marijuana, came back, and then saw the 14-month-old was choking.

GRACE: And let me quickly go to Dr. Leigh Vinocur, University of Maryland school of medicine, joining us out of Baltimore. Dr. Vinocur, thank you for being with us. When you see on a police report or a hospital emergency room report evidence of long-term abuse -- how do you look at a child and determine this didn`t just happen for the first time, there`s long-term abuse, because Dr. Vinocur, what I`m hearing -- and nobody`s been named a person of interest, nobody`s a suspect, but we`ve got a body, a 4- year-old boy`s body two blocks from his home. That tells me a family member, a neighbor, somebody on the inside did it. They didn`t dispose of the body very far away.

Now, why would Mommy leave a baby with a man who had attacked her child before? How do you determine long-term abuse, Dr. Vinocur?

DR. LEIGH VINOCUR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: Well, there`s several things you can do. If they X-rayed the child, you can see on a skeletal survey that they`ve had fractures that are in different stages of healing. The same thing with bruises in different stages of healing. Those things sort of make you suspicious that this child -- and then there are specific types of fractures and specific types of long bone injuries that make you think of abuse. And it`s...

GRACE: What about this, Dr. Vinocur? He says he tried to save the boy with a Heimlich maneuver when he choked on a Jolly Rancher, but the baby, the child, had a perforated liver. How does that work? I mean, you know, I`m not as familiar with the human anatomy as you are, but how do you perforate a liver during the Heimlich maneuver?

VINOCUR: No, you shouldn`t. And obviously, he forcibly did something to this child, punched him in the stomach or did something that was -- you don`t lacerate a liver that way, so -- and a 14-month-old, too. So it`s just -- it`s terrible. I don`t know why it wasn`t reported and the children weren`t taken away.

GRACE: Got it. Let`s take a look. I had Mommy on the show live at the time this little boy, 4-year-old Marc Anthony Bookal, went missing. This is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

What do you know about the child`s disappearance? What did the boyfriend tell you what happened?

CHRISTINA BOOKAL, MARC`S MOTHER: That he wanted to go over to his aunt`s house, and he said OK, he can go, but he went out the door, and he went out after him shortly and he wasn`t there. So he had called me...

GRACE: He called you...

BOOKAL: ... and told me he wasn`t next door.

GRACE: Did he call you before...

BOOKAL: I was at work at the time.

GRACE: ... before or after he called police?

BOOKAL: I believe it was after.

GRACE: Now, did the little boy go to school yesterday?

BOOKAL: No, he didn`t. He said his stomach was hurting.

GRACE: What was wrong?

BOOKAL: From time to time, his stomach is hurting and he just don`t want to go to school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And when I questioned her about the previous abuse on another one of her children, she defended the live-in. Again tonight, no person of interest or suspect has been named, but we know whoever the killer is was close to home.

We are taking your calls live. Back to the scene right now. We are seeing live video of the search for a 4-year-old little boy. A body has been found just two blocks from the home of Marc Anthony Bookal. We`ll take you back live when we get back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn`t do anything to him! He didn`t do nothing! (INAUDIBLE)

BOOKAL: I think somebody must have snatched him up because he don`t wander off or anything. He`s always where he`s supposed to be at. He never wanders off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teams of police fanned out looking for 4-year-old Marc Anthony. The boy disappeared from his home in Newburgh while being watched by his mother`s boyfriend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A parent`s worst nightmare.

BOOKAL: He`s always where he`s supposed to be at. He never wanders off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) welfare of a child.

BOOKAL: Wherever he`s at, just let him come home please!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) worst case scenario...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cory Byrd, his mother`s boyfriend, has been arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the door, the back door that leads to an alley...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The psychology of a 4-year-old is not to run away from home and be gone for this long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... which is what the mother`s boyfriend says was wide open when he realized that Marc had gone missing.

BOOKAL: He (INAUDIBLE) behind him, and he was gone, like, a minute later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just walk away and nobody know where he`s at. Marc is not going to do that.

GRACE: You left your son alone with a man that has a history of beating a child.

BOOKAL: It wasn`t a history of beating a child. It was reckless endangerment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Extensive criminal background does include violence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to sources, the body found concealed in a duffel bag.

BOOKAL: That`s my baby. Nobody deserve to take him from me!

GRACE: Mr. Byrd went to jail over the physical treatment of his now 12-year-old son. Why do you believe that he has nothing to do with the disappearance of this 4-year-old baby boy?

BOOKAL: Because, for one, he has a good relationship with Marc. And for a child, if he was being abused or whatever, he would not go to that person. And my son is not a person to go to other people. He`s...

GRACE: Well, what about this...

BOOKAL: He`s to me, and that`s it.

GRACE: ... 1-year-old? What about the other little boy? Didn`t he have a good relationship with him? That was his blood relative, his own son.

BOOKAL: Yes, he did.

GRACE: So what`s the difference? You left your son alone with a man that has a history of beating a child.

BOOKAL: It wasn`t a history of beating a child, it was reckless endangerment because he gave him a piece of candy and he choked on it, and he tried to perform the Heimlich maneuver...

GRACE: OK...

BOOKAL: ... which is not supposed to be performed on a child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Ikea, Virginia. Hi, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy!

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, is the man in custody right now, so is he looking at being the suspect?

GRACE: What about it, Clark Goldband?

GOLDBAND: I can tell you that Cory Byrd is in custody, but not for the reason one may think. In fact, remember, he was at the time arrested for endangering the welfare of a child just a few days after this child had vanished. However, the state dropped those charges, saying they did not want to reveal all the evidence in case prosecution happened down the road. However, he is in jail this evening, Nancy, serving 15 months on a probation violation for testing positive for pot.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Sue Moss, New York, Alan Ripka, defense attorney, New York, Jason Oshins, defense attorney, New York.

First to you, Oshins. You know darn well you that don`t -- police don`t just go out and make a probation violation arrest for no reason. They think he may be implicated. They have to.

JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, Nancy, you`re 100 percent correct. They targeted him from the very beginning. They looked at his record...

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

OSHINS: Yes?

GRACE: They didn`t target him!

OSHINS: Well, he was -- he was a target of the police based on his criminal history, the association between the child. He was their target from the very beginning.

GRACE: Alan Ripka, if they arrested everybody in a parole or probation violation because they had a joint, we wouldn`t have enough room in the jails for the killers and the child molesters, OK? So that`s not why this guy`s behind bars.

ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The reason he`s behind bars, as far as I`m concerned, is because it gives them an opportunity to put pressure on him. When you`re behind bars, that`s how you get people to talk.

GRACE: What about it, Sue Moss?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely. But if this guy did it, then that mom is just as guilty because if a man beats up an infant son, you don`t cue up the next one! She should have taken her kid and gotten out of there!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He walked out the house? Come on. He`s not going to walk out the house like that. He`s scared of people. If I bring him right here and say, Go to you, he`s not going to go, you know? So you`ve got to tell me something better than that, he just walk away and nobody know where he`s at. Marc is not going to do that. He`s not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marc disappeared while in the care of Cory Byrd, his mother`s live-in boyfriend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn`t do anything to you!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The state police cadaver dog team located what have been confirmed to be human remains.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn`t do nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These remains were located in a wooded area.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn`t ask for this!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This area`s approximately one quarter of a mile away from where Marc went missing.

BOOKAL: That`s my baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body appeared to have been purposefully concealed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The remains hidden in a duffel bag, according to sources.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: As we go to air, a search is ongoing, a 4-year-old boy found in a duffel bag just two blocks from where 4-year-old Marc Anthony Bookal lived, the last place he was seen alive. And I`m hearing in my ear in the commercial break that Cory Byrd has now been named an official person of interest.

We are taking your calls. Out to Laura, New Jersey. Hi, Laura.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, is how old is the 4-year-old`s mother? Are they just not old enough to take their jobs as moms seriously anymore? Like, he didn`t go to school that day. She`s arguing the difference between beating a child and reckless endangerment. How old is she?

GRACE: Yes, Liz, cue up that interview I had with the mother, Christina Bookal. And I say "mother" in the loosest sense of the word. Rupa, how old is the mom? I know Cory Byrd is currently 30.

MIKKILINENI: Nancy, I think they`re both the same age. They were both 19 at the time the 1998 allegations of child abuse occurred. So they must both be 30.

GRACE: And back to you, Michael Mazzariello. I remember when we covered this way back when. As I recall, it was in the middle of December. And I asked the mother over and over about the boyfriend, his story, the live-in, and the prior abuse on the 14-month-old sibling. And she defended him. She went to the mat.

MAZZARIELLO: That is correct, Nancy. I spent time with her today. She`s very distraught. She`s just trying to make ends meet. And she`s really having a hard time of it, I`ll tell you that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A sad ending to a desperate search.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The state police cadaver dog team located what have been confirmed to be human remains.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police in full force, searching by air and on foot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Preliminary examination of those remains indicates that they are consistent with those of a small child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Marc disappeared while in the care of his mother`s ex-con boyfriend, Cory Byrd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no way he should have been watching my son!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that he has thus far refused to speak to us I think obviously piques our curiosity as to his involvement in this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was shocked to find out that he was the one that was watching him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The time that we`ve been away from him is too many things, too many holidays, too many, you know, gatherings that we used to have. It`s not the same.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cadaver dogs discovered human remains of a child in a wooded area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say whether it was in anything or -- or (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t comment on anything as far as the body itself goes, specifically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We`re going to take you straight back to Newburgh and the discovery of the boy`s body in a duffel bag.

But right now, breaking news. We have just learned over the wires that the search for the would-be skeleton of American girl Alabama beauty Natalee Holloway has been called off by the Aruban government, yet they say they did not find the correct location.

So bottom line, without ever finding the spot on the ocean floor where the American tourists see that which resembles a human skeleton -- they never find the spot, but after just a few days in the water, they have called off the search. The search for the possible remains of Natalee Holloway now abruptly comes to an end. We`ll keep you updated on that as we hear more about it.

But right now, straight back to Michael Mazzariello, host, "Street Court," standing there -- standing by there in Newburgh at the scene where the body was found. I just played you sound of the mother defending the live-in, Cory Byrd, last known to be with this little boy alive. He`s got a history of beating her children. One turns up with a perforated liver. And you tell me she`s just barely making ends meet? That`s what you`ve got to say?

MAZZARIELLO: Well, Nancy, you know what? Christina Bookal is a good mom. I`ve been to her house. Her other children are well kept. The room is tidy. The house is clean.

GRACE: Wa-wa-wa-wait!

MAZZARIELLO: She`s a...

GRACE: Well kept?

MAZZARIELLO: You know what, Nancy?

GRACE: If she`s a good mom...

MAZZARIELLO: She has one job -- she has one job -- she has one job for 10 years. She kisses the baby good-bye. She leaves him with Cory Byrd, for better or worse. She comes back, the baby`s missing. This woman has been traumatized, and I understand where she`s at right now. She found out today her child is dead.

And you know what? To defend Cory Byrd -- I don`t know if she`s in the position to do that right now. Cory Byrd`s in jail on a parole violation. He`s not going to get out. He is the suspect and he is the target. And the police...

GRACE: OK. I heard you, Michael. I heard you. We`ve said all of that before. But what stuns me...

MAZZARIELLO: Right.

GRACE: You are a father of two, and you`re telling me she`s a good mom? She left the boy with the man that nearly killed her other child, nearly killed her other child! How can that be a good thing?

MAZZARIELLO: Well, Nancy, everybody makes choices. I`m not here to defend her, I`m here to say that...

GRACE: Well, you just did!

MAZZARIELLO: ... she gets up in the morning...

GRACE: You just did!

MAZZARIELLO: But you know what, Nancy? She goes to work. She goes to work.

GRACE: So?

MAZZARIELLO: She has no choice. She`s a woman with -- she doesn`t have a lot of assets. She did the best she could for these children. That`s what I saw. That`s what I saw with my own eyes...

GRACE: Out to Susan Moss...

MAZZARIELLO: ... spending time with her.

GRACE: ... child advocate. Sue Moss, explaining away leaving a child with a man who does drugs and who nearly killed your 14-month-old baby, how can that be a good mommy? I get it. There have been many times in my life that I`ve worked up to three jobs at a time just to make a house and a car payment. I remember it well. But why would you leave your child with the man that nearly killed your 14-month-old?

MOSS: I cannot understand this! This child did not wander into a duffel bag! Look at his story! It makes absolutely no sense! But let`s not forget, in addition -- in addition to beating the other infant son, who was 14 months at the time, he also beat up an 18-year-old so badly, slicing him and beating him up so badly then he calls this man a vicious animal! This guy has a history a mile long, and for her to leave even one child with this guy`s care for even a moment, that -- that means she is as -- as -- as part of the guilt as anybody else!

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Alan Ripka, defense attorney, New York, Jason Oshins, defense attorney and civil attorney. Jason Oshins, if Cory Byrd turns out to be the killer -- and come on, you know the deal. He was the last one seen with the boy. The boy was left alone with him. He has a history of abusing children. He has a history of drugs. Is there any way that by leaving the child with him, the mother can be charged?

OSHINS: You know what? I think we`d all like to identify. I feel the passion that Sue Moss -- I feel your passion on it. And I`m a father of two. It`s neglectful, but at the same time...

GRACE: Just give me a yes, no.

OSHINS: No, it`s not. It`s not criminal.

GRACE: Ripka? Ripka?

RIPKA: Cannot charge with reckless endangerment under these circumstances unless something recently happened that would clue her into the fact that he had this propensity.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live.

Out to Caryn Stark, psychologist joining us out of New York. You know, Caryn Stark, I cannot recall a time in the over, I don`t know, 13 years that I`ve argued cases with Michael Mazzariello, now host of "Street Court," that we have ever disagreed. Why is it, Caryn Stark, that people want so desperately to believe a mother has good intention intentions?

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Because they have such a cherished view, think about it, Nancy, of what a mother is supposed to be and how a mother is. And I did -- I hope you don`t mind but I want to clarify what the mother said about her son must really care for him because her son went to him, and you know,, wanted to be with him. And it`s just the opposite. Children tend to attach themselves to the more abusive person. They really identify with them. They see them as being strong and fearful (ph). And he would go to the person who abused him, if, in fact, he did.

GRACE: Caryn, will you explain that? Because I don`t understand it. But I have observed in even child molestation cases, the child will go to the molester if it`s a family member.

STARK: Because the person who`s the molester is the person with power. And a child blames themselves. They don`t know any different. And they see this powerful person as the person that they identify with.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. And I`ve got to tell you, I am just sick, sick. It was last December, December 14, that we reported on this 4-year-old little boy. He`s beautiful. Marc Anthony Bookal goes missing from his own home. Right now, police are processing a scene just two blocks from the boy`s home in a heavily wooded area. They have found a child`s body.

Lou Palumbo, private investigator, New York, what do the cops do now? They`ve got him in custody. If he`s the right one, how do they prove the case?

LOU PALUMBO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, they have the remains of the child so conveniently sealed in this bag. Whoever perpetrated this act, that was a mistake. Normally, if you discard a body in a wooded area or in an area similar to the one in which this child`s body was found, the elements get to it. The forensics dissipate.

You know, there`s obviously a considerable amount of decomposition of the body, but there still is a very strong likelihood that there`ll be something there along the lines of DNA or other materials, other forensics that`ll tie him to this crime. And eventually, you`re going to see him charged, this individual.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: You left your son alone with a man that has a history of beating a child.

BOOKAL: It wasn`t a history of beating a child, it was reckless endangerment because he gave hum a pierce of candy and he choked on it, and he tried to perform the Heimlich maneuver, which is not supposed to be performed on a child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marc disappeared while in the care of Cory Byrd, his mother`s live-in boyfriend. At approximately 11:04 today, the state police cadaver dog team located what have been confirmed to be human remains. Preliminary examination of those remains indicates that they are consistent with those of a small child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was an area that we had very thoroughly searched around the time of the disappearance back in December, and subsequent to that probably three or four times. We will attempt to examine the surrounding brush and dirt that the body was found on to try to determine if...

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GRACE: We are live on the scene in Newburgh. Cadaver dogs and police, allegedly acting on a tip, have converged on a spot about two blocks away from where a little boy, Marc Anthony Bookal, lived. Left alone with the live-in by the mom, he was never seen alive again. This was December 14. Today police believe that they have found the body.

Out to the lines. Annette in Texas. Hi, Annette.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How`re you doing?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, first of all, I`d like to tell you, you are the guardian angel of all the children that are unfound, lost, and when they have passed, you certainly go after them, and I love you for that.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And by the way, I have a 14-year-old daughter, and it`s not so bad, Nancy, when they turn teenagers because my daughter loves me to death, and we`re best friends.

GRACE: God bless her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anyway, I just wanted to tell you, this guy -- I mean, could he have possibly made a deal? He`s been in jail for 15 months. And has the mother been tested for drugs?

GRACE: Out to you, Clark Goldband. What can you tell me?

GOLDBAND: He has a sentence for 15 months. He just began serving that sentence a few weeks ago, so he has about a year or so left on that sentence.

GRACE: And back to you, Michael Mazzariello. You keep telling me there was not a tip. But he`s been behind bars for some time now on this probation or parole -- I think it was probation violation.

MAZZARIELLO: Right.

GRACE: Do you think he may have said anything to lead cops to this spot?

MAZZARIELLO: No, I don`t think so whatsoever because what happened, Nancy, is they dropped the endangering the welfare charges on him because they didn`t want to hand over evidence that they obtained in search warrants, and the DA felt double jeopardy might attach. So they had him on the parole violation, kept him away, continued to search. The weather got better. They brought the dogs out and found the baby, unfortunately.

GRACE: OK, Michael, remember, you were the prosecutor. You went to law school. You`ve been the defense attorney. You`ve got to break that down and explain it to everybody, about why they thought there would be double jeopardy, why they dropped the endangerment charges. Explain.

MAZZARIELLO: All right. He was charged with endangering the welfare of the child. In other words, he had to watch the baby. The baby disappeared on his watch. He`s arrested. He pops (ph) the parole violation. They get him on that. The district attorney now has to investigate the case.

The district attorney, according to the paper in the report, says that, If I charge him with the endangering the welfare of the child and I get a conviction, and later we find the body, the evidence that I use to convict him on the endangering might be the same evidence and the charges may be double jeopardy. So he felt, in the interests of justice, that this baby would be found, and he`ll go now with the murder charges.

GRACE: Sue Moss...

MAZZARIELLO: ... and without the fear of double jeopardy.

GRACE: Sue Moss, I understand Mike`s explanation. And if that`s the DA`s thinking, fine. But that absolutely would not have been double jeopardy because murder is not endangerment of a child.

MOSS: Absolutely. They`re different crimes. I think the reason why they dropped it is they didn`t want to tell them what they were searching for. They didn`t want to turn over the search warrants. They didn`t want to turn over the evidence that were produced by the search warrants. And they didn`t want to tip their hands because I think they knew that this guy is the guy who did the full crime.

GRACE: And you know what else? You know what else? Back to you, Mazzariello. I think that police believed all along that the body was close by, based on the timeline, that Cory Byrd couldn`t have gone that far with the body, that they would find the body.

MAZZARIELLO: Absolutely, Nancy.

GRACE: And so why tip their hand? When they could get him on a violation, why tip their hand, show it all, when they could find the body and then go forward with the murder trial?

MAZZARIELLO: That`s exactly right, Nancy. I agree with Susan Moss. I didn`t think that double jeopardy attached.

GRACE: Got it.

MAZZARIELLO: But it was a good excuse for him to go forward like he did. I think he made the right move, the DA.

GRACE: Everybody, we are switching gears right now. I want to tell you about a granny who sells her grandchild for sex in exchange for cocaine.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 45-year-old grandmother has been arrested after police say she prostituted her 10-year-old granddaughter in exchange for cocaine. Authorities say Angela Blackwell let 67-year-old Johnnie Griffin have sex with her 10-year-old granddaughter in exchange for the illegal drugs. Police are now looking for Griffin on first and second degree criminal sexual conduct charges.

Investigators allege Griffin had sex with the 10-year-old girl between September and February while the grandmother was caring for her and believe Griffin also may have sexually assaulted another 10-year-old girl in his truck. Both the grandmother and Griffin could face at least 25 years in prison if convicted as charged.

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GRACE: To Alisa Zee, news director, Detroit Metro Networks. Alisa, I`m in shock that a grandmother would sell her 10-year-old granddaughter for cocaine. What happened?

ALISA ZEE, DETROIT METRO NETWORKS (via telephone): Well, as you`re hearing -- good evening, Nancy. This is a story out of Saginaw, Michigan, about 90 miles from Detroit. And as you`re hearing, this 45-year-old woman is accused of supporting her drug habit by trading out her 10-year-old granddaughter to this 67-year-old man for sex. And she, by the way, is also allegedly a person who engaged in sexual acts with the little girl herself.

GRACE: Oh! Stacey Newman, our producer on the story -- Stacey, I`m just stunned that it took so long to uncover. There had been another child victim?

STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: There was another child victim, Nancy, just 10 years old. She says she was molested by 67-year-old Johnnie Griffin in his truck. She finally told her mother. Her mother went to cops, and in light of that investigation led cops to finding out that he molested this grandmother`s granddaughter.

GRACE: Stacey Newman, please tell me Granny`s behind bars.

NEWMAN: Granny`s behind bars right now as we speak on a $1,500 bail.

GRACE: What about the child molester? Where`s he, the doper?

NEWMAN: He`s on the run, and the cops are on high alert, looking for him right now, Nancy.

GRACE: His name, Johnnie L. Griffin, 67 years old, facing a mandatory minimum 25 years to life.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Detectives say they uncovered Griffin`s alleged sexual abuse after a 10-year-old girl claimed Griffin touched her in his truck on March 6th. That led police to a second case. Police claim 45- year-old Angela Blackwell was taking her 10-year-old granddaughter to Griffin`s Owens Street home, where the grandmother was given cocaine.

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GRACE: Straight out to special guest Brad Lamm, certified interventionist, author of "How to Change Someone You Love." He`s at Bradlamm.com. Brad, selling your granddaughter, your 10-year-old granddaughter, for cocaine? How much worse can it get?

BRAD LAMM, INTERVENTIONIST (via telephone): It really can`t, and I hope this woman goes to jail for life and I hope this guy, this knucklehead, is castrated. But what it really shows us, too, is nonsense like this happens all the time in homes where the parent or the adult is addicted. Kids are 70 times more likely to be molested or abused in the home of an active alcoholic or addict. And that`s what this story tells me, more than anything, is that if family or friends -- when you see somebody that`s using drugs, they should not be having children around them.

GRACE: Brad -- Brad...

LAMM: They shouldn`t care for children.

GRACE: ... just to humor me, would you please repeat that statistic, the 70 percent statistic?

LAMM: Kids are 70 times more likely to be emotionally, sexually or physically abused in the home of an active alcoholic or addict. That`s just -- those are the cold, hard facts.

GRACE: Brad, have you seen anything like this before?

LAMM: You know, I`ve seen lots of sexual abuse in the homes of people that are addicted. I`ve never seen it where it`s this blatant or ripped from the headlines like this, Nancy, but I have seen things that would just -- you know, would make you sick and cry yourself to sleep. That`s what addiction does to families.

GRACE: To Alisa Zee, Detroit Metro Networks. Alisa, what about Johnnie L. Griffin? How can we find him?

ZEE: Well, police are certainly looking for Johnnie Griffin. And as is very common when they`re looking for a suspect, they don`t disclose a lot about how they`re searching for him because that could, of course, tip that person off.

GRACE: Right.

ZEE: We do know Johnnie Griffin is 67 years old, heavy-set, African- American. And of course, anybody who might know of Johnnie Griffin`s whereabouts is asked call police. They do...

GRACE: There is a $26,000 reward. Is that correct, Stacey?

NEWMAN: ... and also, we just flashed a picture of a truck, two-tone blue pick-up, chrome rims, black cover over the bed of the truck. Be on the lookout for that.

GRACE: Let`s see that very quickly, Liz, if you can pull it up in time. Describe it again, Stacey?

NEWMAN: A two-tone blue pick-up, chrome rims, black cover over the bed of the truck. We don`t have a make or model at this time.

GRACE: Tip line, 845-569-7508, a $26,000 reward.

Let`s stop and remember Army Specialist Jonathan Emard, 20, Mesquite Texas, killed, Iraq, awarded the Bronze Start, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, loved football, soccer, carried his niece`s photo in his helmet, the life of the party, the man of honor at sister`s wedding, always rooting for the underdog, leaves behind parents David (ph) and Debbie (ph), sister Jennifer (ph). Jonathan Emard, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. And happy birthday to our superstar, Stacey, AKA "Squeaky." Happy birthday, little girl!

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 o`clock sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

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