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NANCY GRACE

Missing Maine Woman`s Body Found in New Hampshire Pond

Aired April 27, 2011 - 20:00:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE YOUNG, NEW HAMPSHIRE ATTORNEY GENERAL: It`s with great sorrow that I tell you that we located the body today of Krista Dittmeyer. She was located in what is known around this area as Duck Pond to the back of me. We are treating this as a suspicious death. Ms. Dittmeyer`s body is being transported to Concord. It will be examined tomorrow by the deputy medical examiner. Once that examination is done and an autopsy is complete, we may be able to release to you the manner and the cause of her death.

This search has been ongoing since her vehicle was recovered Saturday morning. North Conway has utilized -- or excuse me, Conway has utilized all their resources, as well as the state police. Yesterday, the FBI volunteered their services. This has been an outstanding effort by the law enforcement community throughout this state to find Ms. Dittmeyer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rescue and ambulance, respond to Mt. Cranmore, the snow-making pond. They have found what appears to be a body in the pond. Repeating, 700 to North Conway route 2 and ambulance respond to Mt. Cranmore snow-making pond. They found what appears to be a body in the pond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. We are bringing the very latest out of Maine and New Hampshire tonight. We learned that the search for 20-year-old single mom Krista Dittmeyer has come to an end. We are taking you now to the presser. Her body has been found only a quarter mile away from her abandoned car, and her little baby girl left alone, strapped in the back in a carseat, her body in a retention pond.

We`re going straight to the presser right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: It`s with great sorrow that I tell you that we located the body today of Krista Dittmeyer. She was located in what is known around this area as Duck Pond to the back of me. We are treating this as a suspicious death. Ms. Dittmeyer`s body is being transported to Concord. It will be examined tomorrow by the deputy medical examiner. Once that examination is done and an autopsy is complete, we may be able to release to you the manner and the cause of her death.

We do not know the manner and cause of her death. We are continuing the investigation. I would ask you to ask the listeners that if anyone has information about her whereabouts Friday, Friday evening into the early hours of Saturday morning, that they contact the Conway Police Department or the New Hampshire State Police.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

YOUNG: I am not going to respond to any reports until we get more information from the medical examiner`s office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are bringing you the very latest out of New Hampshire. In the last hours, before we go to air, we learn the search for 20-year-old single mom, a waitress there in the New Hampshire area, comes to an end. Her body has been found. Her body has been found in a retention pond there at an upscale ski resort only a quarter mile from where her car, her black Nissan Sentra, has been found abandoned. Inside, the car not empty. Strapped in the back seat is her 14-month-old baby girl.

Traces of blood found in the car, and now we know why. Was she dragged to the underbrush? Was she forced out of the car? Was she forced to make the horrible, wrenching decision, her life or that of her baby`s, forced to leave her baby behind in the snowy weather, the car door wide open, the lights still on, hazards blinking, the baby strapped in the back seat but Mommy gone?

Straight out to Rupa Mikkilineni, joining us in North Conway, New Hampshire, where the body is found. Rupa, what can you tell me?

RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, I`m here in North Conway at a ski resort. It`s called Cranmore ski resort. And I`m in the parking lot, the dirty parking lot where her Nissan Sentra -- this is Krista Dittmeyer`s car -- was abandoned and found Saturday morning at 6:30 in the morning, with her little girl, her 14-month-old little girl, strapped into the back seat.

And just about a quarter of a mile behind me, right here -- and in fact, actually, just a few yards behind me is where they loaded her body, 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer`s body, found today in a pond about a quarter of a mile up the road here in a pond that is used, as they say, for snow making. It`s a snow-making pond. Her body was found inside this pond, and the hearse was just a few yards behind me. And this is where they loaded her body into the hearse and took her away to Concord, where they are going to perform an autopsy.

GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls. To Ken Altshuler from WGAN, joining us out of Portland. Ken, thank you for being with us. Ken, a lot of speculation running rampant. But at this hour, what do we know? Number one, Ken, was she clothed?

KEN ALTSHULER, WGAN RADIO: Nancy, they`re being very quiet about any of the effects that they found. All we know is she`s been found dead. The real question is who, how and why? That`s the big question. They did not reveal information of whether she was clothed, how she was killed...

GRACE: OK, my next question...

ALTSHULER: ... the autopsy obviously...

GRACE: ... was going to be, Do we know cause of death. I assume from what you just said we do not know cause of death, is that correct, Ken?

ALTSHULER: We do not know the cause of death. The autopsy will be performed tomorrow. We hope to get results tomorrow or by Friday, Nancy.

GRACE: Back to Rupa Mikkilineni, joining us on the scene where the body is found there in North Conway, New Hampshire. Rupa, give me some quick answers, if you know them. Ken Altshuler as just told us that we don`t know the condition of the body. We don`t know the cause of death. Can you tell me, had the body risen to the surface, or did they have to dive or dredge the pond?

MIKKILINENI: Nancy, we don`t know this, but we do know that dive teams came in this afternoon and were there, and that is -- it is after that that they found the body. So one could assume that the body was in the water, under the water.

GRACE: What time did the hearse show up, the hearse that we are showing the viewers right now? When did it get there?

MIKKILINENI: Dive teams showed up at 2:00 PM. The hearse showed up at 5:00 PM.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. First we`re going out to Anne in New Hampshire. Hi, Anne. I think I`ve got Anne in New Hampshire with me. Anne, your there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I`d like to know -- they mentioned last night that she was getting threatening phone calls from somebody that she didn`t know. Have they -- have the police found out anything more about that? And also, did she ski in that Cranmore ski area? Was she familiar with that area? Did she go there frequently?

GRACE: Good question. To Joe Gomez, KTRH. What do you know, Joe?

JOE GOMEZ, KTRH RADIO: Well, Nancy, that was -- what she`s talking about are some posts that were made on a social networking site that belonged to Krista Dittmeyer. Now, we haven`t confirmed if, in fact, she had been receiving threatening phone calls. This happened after her car was allegedly broken into. You know, as to the listener`s other question, I mean, details are still very closed on this case. I mean, the autopsy on Krista Dittmeyer`s going to be performed tomorrow. Then we`ll know a cause of death and everything else, Nancy.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. I want to go back to Rupa Mikkilineni, standing there where the body was found. Rupa, we`ve got a little bit of a satellite problem, so if I could just get you to focus on the question that I`m asking you. Number one, Rupa, do we know whether her body was clothed?

MIKKILINENI: We do not know.

GRACE: Do we know the cause of death yet?

MIKKILINENI: We do not know. It`s set to be released possibly after the autopsy tomorrow.

GRACE: Rupa, in the car, we`ve been told that there were traces of blood. Do we know if there was a sign of struggle in the car?

MIKKILINENI: Again, Nancy, not confirmed from police.

GRACE: OK.

MIKKILINENI: One investigative officer said traces of blood in the car.

GRACE: OK. Another issue tonight is the father, the baby`s father. It`s my understanding that he is behind bars on a drug offense. They`re not saying he`s been ruled out as a suspect, but they are saying he was nowhere in the area. What can you tell me, Rupa, about the state of their relationship?

MIKKILINENI: The state of their relationship is, in fact, confusing. Family members say they had broken up when he went to jail in January. However, other people say and other sources are saying that they were still together and in touch and in contact.

GRACE: We`re talking about Kyle Acker, a 26-year-old male. He was behind bars on a drug offense, but our sources are telling us that they were on good terms and as a matter of fact, she had taken the baby to see him very recently. We are talking about a young waitress supporting her child. The search for Krista Dittmeyer has come to an end, her body found just a quarter mile away from where her car was abandoned.

Out to the lines. Gloria in Michigan. Hi, Gloria.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I would be interested in interviews of Krista`s co-workers and if there may have been any patrons that were paying specific attention to her, perhaps unwanted, unwarranted.

GRACE: Good question. To Rupa Mikkilineni. What do you know? What are you hearing there on the ground, Rupa?

MIKKILINENI: Right, Nancy. Police are being extremely tight-lipped about this investigation. They are really, really keeping it close to the vest. But what I can tell you is that they have certain evidence, physical evidence that they have uncovered, that they have been investigating. This was a targeted search today in this pond. This was not a random search of just, you know, checking every body of water in the area, in the entire area. This area had already been searched. They went back to this pond. They sent a dive team in there. So this is an investigative process that is very thorough that led them to this body today.

GRACE: Well, another thing that could possibly have led them to the body -- still out to Rupa Mikkilineni -- is we know that cadaver dogs, that scent dogs were brought in. They can smell in the water. They can smell a body in the water. So if they had been hitting on that pond when they brought them out, then that may have led them to do a dive search to find the body. Apparently, the body had not surfaced at that time.

We`re taking your calls. At this hour, the search for Krista Dittmeyer comes to an end. We know her 14-month-old baby girl, Aliyah, now with her mother. According to her mother, no stalkers, no ex-boyfriends, no problems at work, no jealousies, no feuds, nothing, nothing to suggest that foul play would ever befall Krista Dittmeyer, a 20-year-old working mom.

As it unfolded today, Rupa, lay it out for me. What happened?

MIKKILINENI: Saturday morning, an individual witnessed -- within this parking lot saw Krista Dittmeyer`s Nissan Sentra parked here with the baby in the back seat, door wide open, driver`s side door, and the lights on. Krista nowhere to be seen, Nancy. And since then, there`s been a search going on for the last four or five days, and finally today, it ended with finding her body in this pond a quarter of a mile away.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rescue and ambulance respond to Mt. Cranmore, the snow-making pond. They have found what appears to be body in the pond. Repeating, 700 to North Conway route 2 and ambulance respond to Mt. Cranmore snow-making pond. They found what appears to be a body in the pond.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: It`s with great sorrow that I tell you that we located the body today of Krista Dittmeyer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe she`s out there. I believe she is strong enough to get through this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Frantic search for this young mother.

YOUNG: She was located in what is known around this area as Duck Pond.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-year-old Krista Dittmeyer`s car was found running and lights still flashing outside of Conway`s Cranmore Mountain resort.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her baby alone inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators have found traces of blood inside Krista Dittmeyer`s auto.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a criminal investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say they don`t believe Dittmeyer left her car voluntarily.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s not described as a suicidal person, anybody with a debilitating mental illness or disenfranchised with her life in any capacity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her 14-month-old daughter without her mother tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: For those of you just joining us, the search for a 20-year-old working mom, Krista Dittmeyer, has come to an end. As we go air tonight, the body of this young mom has been found in a retention pond at a high-end ski resort only a quarter mile from where her car was abandoned, her black Nissan found lights on, engine running, hazards flashing, door wide open and her baby girl strapped in the back in a carseat. This was at 6:30 AM. Who took Krista Dittmeyer? Did someone force her to leave the car and leave her baby behind?

We are taking your calls. Out to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Weigh in, Marc.

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, Nancy, they obviously know more than they`re telling you. They went the right her body and pulled it out of the pond. First of all, I would like to extend my condolence to her mother and to her sister. But I think they didn`t know their daughter as well as they thought they did.

What investigators need to do is scour her social networking profiles, her cell phone records, see if they can put together a timeline, see if there were any stalkers, see if there was any unusual activity, interview her friends, interview people that knew her, knew her well even peripherally, and hopefully, that will give them some kind of a conclusion and be able to bring this investigation to an end.

GRACE: Marc, why are you saying they didn`t know her?

KLAAS: Well, she said that she didn`t have any stalkers, she didn`t have any bad relationships, she didn`t have anything wrong in her life. But this is obviously a targeted hit. She was the one...

GRACE: Why do you say that she was targeted? Just because she was targeted, Marc, does not mean that there was anybody jealous of her at work or a stalker. A targeted hit could mean the delivery boy. You don`t even know him, but he thinks he knows you.

KLAAS: Well, that could very well be, and that`s why they have to talk to all of these people and bring all of this together. Somebody wanted to isolate this young woman, get her out of that car and murder her. Why, I don`t know.

GRACE: Take a listen to what her family has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I talked to her Friday night. She -- I didn`t ask her -- I didn`t ask if she was driving or whatever. But we were just a quick conversation. She was expecting something in the mail at my house, and I told her she didn`t get it. It was just brief and she was normal, and I would see her on Sunday, Easter Sunday. I don`t believe she had anybody that had a vendetta against her. I mean, she`s very lovable, very outgoing, nothing. I`ve asked all of her friends they just tell me the same thing. They don`t know who would want to do something to hurt her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody wanted to attract attention to the car. I don`t know if Krista was in the car at that point. I mean, we just -- we really don`t know if she was and she wanted her baby to be found and she knew she would be taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That`s Krista`s mom this morning on the "Today" show. We are taking your calls. Back to New Hampshire. Hi, Gina. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Hey, first of all, I want to (INAUDIBLE) I do agree with Marc there. That`s why I called. But the fact that her husband or her boyfriend is incarcerated for drug trafficking, would there be any reason -- you know, could she be involved with any of his business dealings while he`s in jail? And I...

GRACE: There is no suggestion that she is responsible in any way for any wrongdoing at all. None whatsoever.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: I mean, regarding drugs. No, I mean regarding drugs. There`s no suggestion that she was involved in any way. Maybe we`ll find out more. But you know, everybody has a relative or an acquaintance that has done something wrong. Everybody knows somebody. But to suggest that she`s part of a drug trade -- although if his friends knew about her, Gina in New Hampshire, which they may very well have, that raises specter of one of them being involved. You`re right, Gina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police in Conway say this is a criminal investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a serious crime in a small community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dozens of tips flooding the phone lines here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Almost like it never happened. It just doesn`t feel real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-year-old Krista Dittmeyer has disappeared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police find her abandoned vehicle.

GRACE: Car running and the flashers on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the parking lot of a ski resort.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The toddler was alone in the back set of her mother`s car.

YOUNG: We located the body today of Krista Dittmeyer. She was located in Duck Pond.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First (ph) circulated about someone spotting a body in the pond.

GRACE: Another piece of the puzzle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a serious crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just be brave!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened to 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight out of San Francisco, defense attorney Daniel Horowitz, out of New York, defense attorney Alan Ripka.

First of all, to you, Horowitz. You know, in New Hampshire, they do have the death penalty. You have your choice, though, lethal injection, death by needle, or hanging if needle doesn`t work.

DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, I think that I would go for the needle. It`s a lot less painful. But I think in this case, when they catch this person, it definitely will be a death case. And I have to agree today with both you and Marc. I think that this may be people close to her that the parents didn`t know about, maybe tied to that boyfriend.

You know, I`ve had cases where people get arrested for drug cases, and their associates go after the girlfriends, who are innocent, to get money or collect debts. Or maybe he was cooperating and that`s why the attorney general is investigating this case.

GRACE: You know what? I think we`re spinning...

HOROWITZ: It could be one of those.

GRACE: ... a big web of the possibility of this husband, who`s the baby`s father, who`s far away behind bars, somehow implicated in this. But the reality is, somebody...

HOROWITZ: Well, not him, Nancy. Not him. Not him. People who are against him.

GRACE: Yes, I know hat you said.

HOROWITZ: People who are against him.

GRACE: But the reality is...

HOROWITZ: All right.

GRACE: ... regardless of trying to suggest she`s somehow involved in wrongdoing -- she was forced...

HOROWITZ: I`m not saying that, either. I`m saying that she is targeted as the innocent victim of because of what he did. So many times, the people around these drug dealers end up hurt. When they`re arrested, if he owed somebody 100 grand, they may think she has the money, even though she doesn`t.

GRACE: Weigh in, Alan.

HOROWITZ: So I think that`s where I would be looking.

ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think -- I don`t think that at all. I think this could have been a random hit. I think if this was a targeted hit, it wouldn`t be in an open parking lot, the baby wouldn`t have been in the back seat. I think this could be a random grab, rape, kidnap, whatever you want to call it. And I think the evidence points that way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A passerby discovers an abandoned baby in the back of a Nissan Sentra.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trace of blood inside Dittmeyer`s abandoned car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The engine still running but nobody else in the vehicle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-year-old Krista Dittmeyer was a single mother living in Portland.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mommy gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She last spoke with her mother, a conversation that didn`t seem unusual.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was nothing out of the ordinary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hours later her car was found in this parking lot, engine running, lights flashing, her sleeping daughter inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels like a movie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s with great sorrow I tell you we located the body today of Krista Dittmeyer. She was located in what is known around this area as Duck Pond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. I want to go straight to the scene. If you`re just joining us, the body of single mom, 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer has just been found in a retention pond there at an upscale ski resort in New Hampshire only a quarter mile away from where her black Nissan Sentra was found abandoned, lights on, flashers flashing, engine running, door wide-open, and her 14-month-old baby girl strapped in a car seat asleep in the back.

A quarter mile away is a retention pond used by the ski resort to make snow when they don`t have enough snow. She was found dead there in the hours before we go to air tonight. Straight out to Rupa Mikkilineni standing by there at the scene. What do you know?

RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, I`m standing here right here in the parking lot about a quarter mile right behind me is where the pond is, where Krista Dittmeyer`s body was found this afternoon at about 2:00 p.m. when dive teams went into this pond and searched for her and found her.

And just a few yards behind me is where a hearse pulled up at 5:00 this afternoon and took her body away to Concord where it is being analyzed and an autopsy is being completed for tomorrow.

And now, Nancy, the parking lot I`m standing is the spot where Krista Dittmeyer`s car, her Nissan Sentra was found abandoned with her 14-month- old little girl strapped in the backseat with the light, the hazard light flashing, driver`s side door open, engine running. And a passerby at 6:30 in the morning on Saturday found this little girl and reported to it the police.

GRACE: You`re seeing shots right now. We have gotten just before we went to air, video of the search team, the pond where we are body was found. Something led police to that pond, eat ear tip, cadaver dogs, we don`t know. But early this morning police and all law enforcement went radio silent. Not returning calls. Not giving statements, backing out of press releases. Everything went quiet. And now we know why.

We have the 911 call where her body was reported as being found. There you see the hearse going to the location. We know that tonight her little girl, just 14 months old, still asking where`s mommy, is living with Krista`s mother.

We are taking your calls. Straight out to former Portland police captain. What about it, C.W. Jensen, former Portland police captain. What about it, C.W.? This is your neck of the woods.

C.W. JENSEN, FORMER PORTLAND POLICE CAPTAIN: There`s a few strange things that hit me right away. One is, obviously, as an investigator I want to know, why is this young lady at this location which seems somewhat remote, probably and why did they have her child with her.

That would suggest to me that she went there not expecting any kind of a problem. You`re not going take your child if you think that there`s some kind of criminal activity going on, like some people have suggested tonight. You`re just going, obviously there for some reason you got your daughter, you`re not worried.

Then she has her flashers going. It almost seems like she stopped, she put her flashers on because she expected to talk to somebody, and then something went horribly wrong.

I don`t think that there was a lot of time between when she was taken and when she was killed. I mean, you`ve got a car lights on, flashers going, and all that kind of stuff. That`s not real surreptitious. It seems very strange to me. Who knows if they have video cameras around there. Obviously police had information. Whether it was info from witnesses, her friend, phone calls, cell records, all those kind of things but they got on it fast and were able to find her.

GRACE: Back to Rupa standing by in Conway, New Hampshire where Krista`s body was found. Describe the terrain for me from between where her Nissan was found and where her body was found in that retention pond. Could she have been dragged out of the car to that pond? Is it accessible from the road? You can see the pond from the road or do you have to be local to know where that pond is?

MIKKILINENI: Nancy, I think you got to be local know where that pond is because you can`t view it from the road. You can`t view it from this parking lot. This parking slot a sandy, rocky dirt parking lot in between a fitness center and a lodge, a Cranmore White Mountain Lodge, resort lodge which is right behind me.

You got directly behind me about a quarter of a mile, rocky but not hilly. Somebody could have dragged her through this terrain but they have to know the area to know where that pond is.

GRACE: Back to Ken Altsure (ph) joining us, morning host of WGAN. Ken thank you for being with us. He`s joining us there from Portland. You could tell me if snow is still on the ground in that area, and it would have been possible to drag her through the woods from where the car was to that pond? I`m trying to figure out was she taken from that car, or was she killed somewhere else, the car brought there and her dumped in the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody could have easily dragged her to that pond. There is no snow on the ground.

GRACE: To Rupa, do we know whether there were any items found between her car and the pond such as a shoe, a cell phone, anything belonging to her?

MIKKILINENI: Nancy, police are not releasing this information. Although there have been some reports that friends or individuals related to her may have been searching in the woods after she went missing. And there`s some reports of a possible flip-flop or a shoe of hers that could have been found. This is 100 percent not confirmed and not confirmed by police.

GRACE: To Caryn Stark, psychologist joining us out of New York. Weigh in, Caryn.

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Hey, Nancy. There`s so many questions here. I`m not sure I agree it`s somebody who knew her. There`s something disorganized about this crime scene. I`m thinking was somebody in the car when she got into car? What have made her stop? It`s hard to believe that she would just pull off the road and decide to be in this abandoned place. Something made her stop the car and there`s blood in the car.

So, maybe somebody was already in the car. It certainly was a killer who was not thinking out what they were doing in this particular scene because they just leave the car and there`s time to call attention to the car with the flashers on.

GRACE: Caryn, I got a theory. You know how everybody is saying oh, well because the boyfriend did drugs, he`s been in jail since way back in January. We`re going into month five now. Almost half a year has passed.

But people are saying, you know, maybe because he was in drugs, that blah, blah, blah, and she`s connected. You know why I think people do that? Because they don`t want it to be them. They don`t want to be pulled over on the side of the road and end up in a retention pond with the baby in the backseat.

You want to find a way to make us, you, me, different from that poor girl just 20 -- remember when you were 20 years old? I was getting ready to go to law school. You know, still immersed in college, my whole world ahead of me. Remember when you were 20? Nobody wants to think that could be me. So this girl is different from me. This would never happen to me because her former ex did drugs, sold drugs. Nobody wants to think it can be them. That`s why everybody keeps trying to pin it on the guy behind bars.

STARK: And looking for an answer, Nancy. They don`t want to believe that this could happen to somebody, that something so intrusive and awful could all of a sudden happen. And to me I keep thinking here`s a disorganized person who is a killer and maybe the next time this killer will be more organized and we have to watch out. Maybe the police need be very careful now.

GRACE: Straight to the lines out to Lakisha. What`s your question, dear?

LAKISHA, CALLER FROM INDIANA: Hi, Nancy, how are you doing?

GRACE: I`m good, dear, thank you for calling. What do you think?

LAKISHA: My condolences go out the Krista`s family. What I think. I think it was somebody totally that wasn`t involved with her, a stranger and probably was waiting in the car or following her down the road. You know, like really close and probably beeping their horn and things like that to get her to pull over, and, you know, they snatched her out of the car and to trace the blood is there to show it.

GRACE: One thing, Lakisha, that`s sticking in my mind is if someone had intentionally taken her why would they take her with the baby in the car and why turn on those hazard lights?

For those of you just joining us, the search for 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer comes to an end in the last hours. Her body found just a stone`s throw away from her abandoned black Nissan Sentra with her baby strapped in the backseat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anyone at all remembers seeing her at any point at all, just please let us know any details.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Krista Dittmeyer`s car was found here in the park lot of the Cranmore Mountain ski resort, inside her 14-month-old baby girl still alive found in her car seat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rescue and ambulance respond to Mount Cranmore. The snow making pond they have found what appears to be body in the pond.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s with great sorrow to tell you we located the body today of Krista Dittmeyer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A black hearse winding its way back to the snow make pond that`s been at the center of a large scale investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ambulance responds to Mount Cranmore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the pond that has been the focus or dive teams and crime scene experts all day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. For those who just joining us, who murdered 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer? In the hours just before we go air we learn her body has been found submerged in a retention pond, a pond that the ski resort used to create snow when they needed it, just a quarter mile, just a stone`s throw away from her abandoned black Nissan. In that want Nissan, the killer left alone her 14-month-old baby girl Alia.

We are taking your calls, but first I want to go to Dr. Janice Amatuzio. Doctor, thank you for being with us. Dr. Amatuzio is the former chief medical - thank you, and author of "Forever Ours." Doctor, can you tell from taking the body out of the water how long the body had been in the water?

DR. JANICE AMATUZIO, FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Here`s what we can tell from the information we have now. First of all, the identification was made at the scene, made prior to going to the morgue. This indicates to me there were sufficient physical characteristics, in other words, the facial features were well preserved to make a positive identification. This is not surprising due to the fact that the body had been submerged in this cold water or exposed to cold air for a period of five or six days.

The second thing that we know for certain is that there was sufficient blood whether in a mound or pattern in the vehicle that police right away suspected foul play. It wasn`t as though there was a small cut on the finger or something like that.

But those are the two things that I think we can say right here and now, number one, the body is well preserved enough for the investigators to have been able to make a positive identification right there at the scene. They didn`t have to go and wait for dental records or DNA or fingerprints. They made it right then and there. Secondly, there must have been something in that blood pattern at the -- in the vehicle that caused those good investigators to say, this is foul play.

GRACE: Dr. Janice is with us. Thank you for helping me with your name, joining us from Red Wing tonight, author of "Forever Ours," former chief medical examiner. Doctor, with the cold temperature of the water affect decomposition of her body and if so how?

AMATUZIO: The cold water would have preserved the body. The cold water would have slowed all the processes down and earlier you asked if the body had been floating or on the floor of this pond. In all likelihood they found it on the floor of the pond. The body has to start breaking down and in the process forming gases in order to allow it to rise to the surface. That would not have been the case in this condition. The body would have been very well-preserved.

GRACE: Doctor, when you say forming gases, you mean inside the body the decomposition creates gas. And like rotting food or any type of decomposer, it lets off gas but contained in the body which swells the body and the body will then rise up?

AMATUZIO: That`s exactly right. We`re all mammals and all of our tissues do behave the same.

GRACE: Joining us -- go ahead.

AMATUZIO: I`m sorry. I said when the decomposition process is allowed, in other words, when enough warmth and time have passed by, the processes will begin. But when the body is placed and I cold or cold and wet environment, all of those processes are slowed down.

GRACE: Doctor, another question. They are not saying cause of death. But I think that sources would have leaked it if they could tell immediately such as a stabbing or a gunshot wound. That lead me to think it`s either strangulation, you know, or asphyxiation. Will they be able to determine the cause of death?

AMATUZIO: I suspect because there was blood in the vehicle she will have some sort of wound or trauma. I would say that we need to allow the forensic pathologist to work, that time to allow them to pay attention to detail. You are very right Nancy that many times with young women in particular, manual strangulation, some sort of sexually motivated crime would be more common. But at this point that would just simply be speculation.

GRACE: Out to Michael Gast joining us out of Miami. Michael, thank you for being us. You`re one of the most renowned divers in this country. How would the search with divers have taken place in this retention pond like this?

MICHAEL GAST, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLICE DIVING (via telephone): Depending on the size of the retention pond and the depth they would set up a systematic way of covering the bottom. A body would be found quickly. The matter would be how it was laying on the bottom, how it was recovered, how it was preserved.

You got to remember the diver`s job is to be an extension of the investigator. He`s got to collect all that information as he`s making that recovery and report back to the investigator and follow his cue or her cue as far as, you know, what they want done. And then there`s the evidentiary process afterwards once the body is removed.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Daniel Horowitz, San Francisco, Alan Ripman (ph), New York. Daniel, the fact that the killer likely left a little strapped in a car seat alone for god only knows how long, I mean, you can see the snow on the ground where the car was found, and that kind of weather, with the door wide open, and killing the mother at best, a quarter of a mile away, would that go into aggravating circumstances at trial?

DAN HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it can be used both ways, Nancy. Of course it`s aggravating whenever you put a baby at risk. This person could have been a killer and then made a call to the police. But you know he could also say I didn`t kill the baby. I left the baby safe. Spare my life.

GRACE: Alan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s 100 percent aggravating. This baby`s life was in danger.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Just joining us right now, special guest Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler" joining us out of D.C. Let`s hear your theory, pat.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Nancy, I think if this had been a serial killer we would have found her body thrown in the side of the lot because he wouldn`t have wasted time going to the pond. He would have turned off those flashers because he doesn`t want somebody to find the car.

I think it was two people, one driving the car up there and one driving another vehicle. Then they took her body to the pond and dumped it and left that lot in the vehicle they brought up.

GRACE: Ok. Wait a minute. Back it up, Pat. Explain that again.

BROWN: OK. I think it was more likely something happened in Conway, with some people she did know. I believe they drove her car up there. They drove a second vehicle up, and then they dumped her body, and the two people returned in the vehicle that they brought to the lot.

GRACE: Why, Pat, the baby? Why have the baby in the vehicle?

BROWN: Well, I think the baby was in her vehicle. I don`t think they wanted to harm the baby, so they turned the flashers on and disposed of her body, turned the flashers on to save the baby, and left in their vehicle. And I think the police know this. I think they have targeted somebody already or a few people.

GRACE: Pat, do you think they were smart enough not to leave fingerprints in that car?

BROWN: Well, you know it is cold up there. So everybody can throw on a pair of gloves. I wouldn`t be surprised if there`s no fingerprints in there.

GRACE: You`re right, pat. That`s a really good point. I didn`t think they would be smart enough to use gloves. And you know they had to put their hands all over the car, possibly yanking the car door open. But you`re right. With that weather, they probably had on gloves.

Everyone, the tip line still in effect -- 603-356-5715.

Let`s stop and remember Marine Corporal Brandon Hardy, 25, killed in Iraq. Awarded Purple Heart, combat action ribbon, Hawaiian medal of honor, also served the air force. He loved his faith in god, cowboys, outdoors, baseball, fishing trips, Penn State football.

He`s remembered for his beautiful blue eyes, leaves behind his parents, sisters and brother, serving in Afghanistan, fiancee Samantha, proposed to her at a Trace Adkins concert. Brandon Hardy, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you, and happy birthday to North Carolina friend Sis Carl. She loves to garden and time with her eight grandchildren. Happy birthday, friend.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern. And until then, goodnight, friends.

END