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NANCY GRACE

Newborn Found in Grocery Store Trashcan

Aired August 30, 2011 - 20:00:00   ET

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


DIANE DIMOND, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight out of North Carolina, where investigators release this surveillance video after a shocking discovery at a grocery store, the bathroom turned into a dumping ground for a tiny newborn baby girl. The infant was just no more than 3 days old. She was found lifeless and dumped into a trashcan inside a bathroom stall, the baby wrapped in a baptism blanket and a mystery gold ring left with her.

The store surveillance video captured this teenage couple entering the store with a large bag, so heavy it was nearly scraping the floor. When the couple left, that bag appeared to be empty. Can this couple be linked to the dead baby? Did they choose her final resting place to be the trash? Late developments in this story straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Henderson County 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need people down at Bi-Lo`s in Hendersonville quick. Our bag boy just found a baby in a trashcan.

911 OPERATOR: OK. You`re at Bi-Lo?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at Bi-Lo`s on (INAUDIBLE) Four Seasons. Oh, my God, please hurry!

911 OPERATOR: OK, calm down. It`s OK. Hold on one second. I need get some information from you, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

911 OPERATOR: All right, what`s your name? Is the baby alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! They just told me to call the cops! It`s in the trashcan! I don`t know!

911 OPERATOR: OK, what`s your phone number? And is it outside or inside trashcan?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s inside! It`s in our bathroom!

911 OPERATOR: Oh, it`s in your bathroom? It`s OK. We`re sending them right now, OK? Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. Just be outside so you can meet with the officers, OK? All right. Bye-bye. Call me back if you need anything, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIMOND: Also in the Carolinas tonight, a beautiful young mother goes missing without a trace. Twenty-three-year-old Sheena Pierce (ph) was last seen by a neighbor getting into a silver SUV with at least two men. No word from her for days. Then suspicious text messages are sent from Sheena`s cell phone. Her family says those messages are completely out of character, and Sheena would never leave her 5-year-old daughter behind. Tonight what has happened to 23-year-old Sheena Pierce?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is missing South Carolina mom Sheena Pierce?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 5-3 in height, last seen getting into a silver SUV-type vehicle, possibly in the design or characteristics of a Kia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A neighbor spotted Sheena leaving between 12:00 and 1:00 PM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 105 to 110 pounds. She`s never run away before. So the chances of that at this point, we don`t have anything to indicate that that`s what has indeed occurred.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But police believe the young mom took nothing along with her except the clothes on her back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With light brown shoulder-length hair, a scar from a recent car wreck on her right forearm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police now actively searching computer and phone records.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was leaving her stepfather`s house, where she lives, as well. We`ve not been able to locate her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After suspicious text messages show up from Sheena`s cell phone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIMOND: Good evening, everyone. I`m Diane Dimond, in tonight for Nancy Grace. A tiny infant girl found dead at a North Carolina grocery store, her final resting place a trashcan.

Let`s go straight out to NANCY GRACE producer Matt Zarrell. Matt, this is just a heartbreaking case. Fill us in. I guess it started on Sunday?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Diane. North Carolina employees at a grocery store made a shocking discovery when the body of a newborn baby girl, had to be only a couple of days old, was found in the bathroom, in the ladies` bathroom in a trashcan. The baby was wrapped in a white blanket with angels embroidered on it. Police were working to find the mother at that time.

DIMOND: Let`s bring in Mark Schulman. He is on the scene. He`s the on-line editor with "The Hendersonville Times-News." Mark, thanks for joining us. Tell us about this surveillance video we`re seeing here. It looks pretty crisp, compared to some of the surveillance video I`ve seen.

MARK SCHULMAN, "HENDERSONVILLE TIMES-NEWS" (via telephone): Yes, it is. It revealed a lot for the local authorities.

DIMOND: And there were clues left behind, as Matt was saying. There was a blanket and we hear a ring? What do you know about those two items?

SCHULMAN: Well, I know that the blanket was a white blanket the infant was wrapped in, and it had Spanish words that translated to "My baptism" on it. And there were also reports that the baby wore a small gold ring on one of her fingers.

DIMOND: You know, Mark, when I look at that blanket, it`s a beautiful baptism blanket, a gift. Someone knew that whoever had that baby was pregnant and gave it to her as a gift. That`s a clue, that somebody else out there knows it. It also has Spanish words on it. So how big is the Hispanic population there?

SCHULMAN: We do have a striving (SIC) Hispanic population here in Hendersonville.

DIMOND: And have police told you anything more about any other clues they have, perhaps about the man we see in that video?

SCHULMAN: Yes, that -- in the video, it appeared that the two people were teenagers. And police have actually found the mother and the man in the video.

DIMOND: Oh, my! In fact, let`s bring in Captain David Abrams. He is with the Hendersonville Police Department. This is breaking news for us here -- special guest from the police department there. Captain Adams, thanks for calling in. What can you tell us? You have found a suspect?

CAPT. DAVID ADAMS, HENDERSONVILLE POLICE DEPT. (via telephone): We`ve identified the mother...

DIMOND: Oh!

ADAMS: ... and the male in the video, which aired on the local media outlets.

DIMOND: I see. And is this -- the mother and father of the baby? Do we know about the man?

ADAMS: We do know that she is the mother. We have -- we`re in the process of interviewing the male with her this evening.

DIMOND: Right. Captain, I know this is probably at a very sensitive time for you, breaking news here for us tonight. But what can you tell us about how you either found this woman, or did she voluntarily come in?

ADAMS: Well, fortunately, we had very good media coverage from the newspapers and the TV stations, and the calls we received led us to these people.

DIMOND: You know, it is just heartbreaking to think that somebody dumped a day or two old infant into a trashcan. Has she given you any indication as to why she did that? Was the baby already dead?

ADAMS: The baby was deceased when it was dropped off at Bi-Lo, yes.

DIMOND: Oh, I see. Do we have details about the birth of this child?

ADAMS: Now, that`s what we`re -- our investigators are still sorting out tonight.

DIMOND: You know, Sunday, the baby is a couple of days old, and I know you all are probably at that time worrying about Hurricane Irene coming through your town and your state. Did the -- was this couple cut off from hospital care or something?

ADAMS: Not that I`m aware of. I mean, we`re several hours away from the beach, so the hurricane wouldn`t have affected us.

DIMOND: Oh.

ADAMS: But I don`t know why she did not seek medical attention. Hopefully, we`ll find that out tonight.

DIMOND: So Captain, we`re thinking that this was a stillborn? Is that what we think?

ADAMS: Well, it has been indicated so far that the child was born alive. So we`re waiting to determine the cause of death.

DIMOND: I see. I see. And can you give us any indication how you found this mother? Did somebody who knew she was pregnant point you in the right direction?

ADAMS: We received phone calls and also Crimestopper tips about her identity, which aired on television, and that`s when they called us.

DIMOND: Oh, wow. This is such a fascinating and fast-developing story. Captain, thank you. Stand by.

Let`s go to Michael Morrisey. He is with the Baby Safe Haven out of New England. And you know, Michael, I know that there are these safe havens that parents can turn to all across the country -- hospitals, police stations, firehouses. What do you make of this?

MICHAEL MORRISEY, CO-FOUNDER, BABY SAFE HAVEN NEW ENGLAND: Well, this absolutely didn`t have to happen, Diane. In North Carolina, the baby safe haven law is up to 7 days old for the newborn.

DIMOND: Right.

MORRISEY: As you said, hospital, police station, fire stations. They have EMT stations there, and even in social service agencies, that may be, you know, the lesser place that they`ll go.

But you know, this woman could have gone to the local fire station. She could have gone to a hospital around the corner for her (ph). In a lot of places, we`re asking the women to deliver the babies at the hospital and relinquish them so we have even less problems with, you know, medical emergency care. So you know, she could have called the hot line.

DIMOND: Right.

MORRISEY: And gotten info.

DIMOND: And Michael, get this. Right there in Hendersonville, within a mile, mile-and-a-half radius, there were three safe haven locations she could have taken this child to.

MORRISEY: Yes. We have seen, you know, the safe haven locations a block away from where babies have been found, you know, in the last five or six years. But you know, thankfully, the law is getting a little better knowledge in a lot of places. And you know, we may just have to work on the public relations down there in North Carolina and a few other states, and that`s just going to take time.

DIMOND: Yes. Why don`t young people who have children either in or out of wedlock and they don`t want them or there is a problem -- why do you find, Michael, that they don`t turn to safe havens? What`s the problem?

MORRISEY: A lot of times -- well, for part of the time, they don`t have knowledge of the law. There`s three groups, people who have drug addictions -- they`re afraid to go -- obviously, go to police stations, even fire stations or hospitals. People who are very, very young -- they`re afraid, they make mistakes very easily. And people who -- you know, young people that come from states -- or in Boston, or right in Boston, we have young people coming from a lot of states that go to colleges here that don`t know about the safe haven laws, and people who just immigrate from the country or into the country from other countries where they don`t have safe haven laws.

DIMOND: Well, you...

MORRISEY: So those are three groups with the most problems.

DIMOND: You`ve just brought me to something I want to ask the captain. Captain, when I look at this video of these -- this couple, she appears to be very young. So does he. They appear to be Latino. Have you determined their immigration status? Are they American citizens or from out of the country? What do we know?

ADAMS: I don`t know that. But they are both Latinos and they`re both teenagers.

DIMOND: Can you give us their ages?

ADAMS: We haven`t released that yet.

DIMOND: I see.

ADAMS: Or their names.

DIMOND: I see her there in a red dress. She goes into the bathroom, spends about four minutes, Captain, and then comes out and changes her clothes -- in a change of clothes. That indicates to me some presence of mind.

ADAMS: Definitely.

DIMOND: Yes. What a heartbreaking case. All right, guests, please stand by.

Let me take a moment here and say, you may have heard the exciting news about Nancy Grace. Yes, she is on the new season of "Dancing With the Stars." Good for you, Nancy. She`ll be dancing, by the way, to benefit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Please visit Nancygrace.com to share her experience with her.

We`re going to take a break, be back with more on this story in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Henderson County 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need people down here at Bi-Lo`s (INAUDIBLE) quick. Our bag boy just found a baby in a trashcan.

911 OPERATOR: OK. You`re at Bi-Lo?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at Bi-Lo`s on 120 Henderson Crossing Four Seasons. Oh, my God, please hurry!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This shocking discovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baby has been found dead in the bathroom of a local grocery store.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Little girl without a name, left alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) drop it off in the bathroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like trash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wondering why.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two people in particular.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Made them take another look.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See the female coming in with a large purse in her left hand?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police release surveillance video that shows a woman walking into the bathroom. Minutes later, wearing different clothes and carrying a lighter purse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She comes out after a few minutes with a pair of pants and a pullover shirt on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hidden in the last stall, likely only a couple of days old, wrapped in a blanket with the words "My baptism" monogrammed in Spanish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gold ring also found on the baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police are now desperate to find who left the baby behind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The newborn`s parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to find out what they know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could have been prevented.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s difficult to deal with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIMOND: And as we hear tonight, Captain Adams tells us they have indeed located the mother of that child. Welcome back. I`m Diane Dimond, in tonight for Nancy Grace.

How could a parent abandon a tiny newborn baby in a grocery store bathroom in a trashcan? It`s a breaking news case that we`re following here tonight.

We`re taking your calls, as well, so let`s go out to Jeff in Washington. Hi, Jeff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. How are you?

DIMOND: I`m great, Jeff. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is just a quick two-part question. Is the mother then suspected of murder, number one? And number two, how is the rest of the family going to cope with this?

DIMOND: Oh, those are great questions. Captain Adams, let me ask you, has there been a determination made about possible charges against this mother?

ADAMS: That`s what we`re going to be conferring with, with probably tomorrow our local district attorney`s office here in Henderson County. And of course, a lot of that will depend when we get the autopsy results back as to the cause of death.

DIMOND: Right. And the young man we see in the video with that woman -- we don`t know if he`s the father, right?

ADAMS: No, we just know he`s a friend. We don`t know if he`s the father.

DIMOND: What about the father of this baby? I mean, might charges be filed against him, too?

ADAMS: That could be a possibility if that is the father.

DIMOND: Yes. Interesting. And what about the rest of the family?

ADAMS: Our detectives are speaking with other family members tonight.

DIMOND: Yes. As you can tell, folks, this is a developing story as we speak. And thank you so much, Captain Adams, for being with us.

Let`s go out to Jenne in Wisconsin. Hi, Jenne.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, dear.

DIMOND: How are you? This story breaks your heart, doesn`t it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it does. I lost my daughter in a car crash in `09. She was only 17.

DIMOND: Oh, I`m sorry!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason I`m calling, too, is that there`s so many safe havens out there, and knowing that they could possibly just drop this child off and give this child a chance is just so sad.

DIMOND: Yes, that`s...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, makes no sense to me why people do this.

DIMOND: That`s what Michael Morrisey was telling us with his outreach group to young women. And it`s a good -- thanks for the call, Jenne. You know, it`s a good time, everybody, to sit and talk with your young people about things like this, and not only about birth control, if you so choose, but what to happen (SIC) in this kind of instance.

Let`s bring in some doctors here on this case. Dr. Cathleen London is an MD and Sherry Blake is a clinical psychologist. Ladies, what causes -- what`s the psychology behind this, a mother abandoning her child? Cathleen, what do you think?

DR. CATHLEEN LONDON, NY PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL: Well, first of all, we don`t know if this child really was alive. So everybody is making this assumption that, Why didn`t they go to safe haven? There might be something wrong with this child that wasn`t compatible with life.

DIMOND: That`s right.

LONDON: We do not yet have an autopsy report. And we`re talking young teenagers who likely panicked, if that`s the case, and didn`t know what to do.

DIMOND: Right. But Sherry Blake, jump in here, because still and all, you have a tiny baby in your hand you have given birth to. Dead or alive, you don`t put him in a trashcan.

SHERRY BLAKE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Absolutely. Most people wouldn`t. But we have to remember there are so many unknowns. First of all, fear. Fear would be one of the factors I would look at. She`s young, apparently. And we have so many things we don`t know.

But one thing we do know, that there must have been some type of attachment. There was a ring left. She wrapped the baby. And she wanted the baby to be found. It is very clear that there are reasons unknown to us right now, but fear is likely the greatest factor and the lack of knowledge of what to do in those circumstances.

DIMOND: Right. Cathleen, real quick, what does the autopsy look for? Is it easy to find a COD on a baby, a cause of death?

LONDON: Well, they`re also looking for time of death, like, how long has this has gone on, and so there`s both physical and chemical changes that they`ll be looking for. So hopefully, they`ll know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Calm down. It`s OK. Hold on one second. I need to get some information from you, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

911 OPERATOR: All right. What`s your name? Is the baby alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! They just told me to call the cops! It`s in the trashcan! I don`t know!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Are you going to be all right? You want me to stay on the phone with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. Just be outside so you can meet with the officers, OK? All right. Bye-bye. Call me back if you need anything, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A newborn baby girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Found dead in the bathroom of a local grocery store.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Likely only a couple of days old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reportedly tossed in a garbage can like trash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wrapped in this blanket, the words written on it, "Mi bautista (ph)," meaning "My baptism."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police release surveillance video that shows a woman walking into the bathroom and leaving minutes later wearing different clothes and carrying a lighter purse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIMOND: I`m Diane Dimond, in tonight for Nancy Grace. Let`s go right back out to the phones. Kim is calling in from Texas. Hi, Kim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you?

DIMOND: I`m great, Kim. What`s your question? Do you have a question for one of our panelists?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I have a question and a comment. My question would be, what would be the potential charges that might be enforced upon this couple? And at the same time, why are they not making the safe haven law more widely known to young couples?

DIMOND: Well, I think it is pretty widely known. I think, you know, young people live in their own worlds. And you know, that`s the name of that tune.

But Captain Adams, can you give us any feeling about what sort of charges this woman might be facing, and perhaps the man, too, because I notice in the video, they`re holding hands as if they are a couple.

ADAMS: Right. And if the autopsy comes back as, you know, no foul play, obviously not a murder, then we could possibly have a charge of concealing the birth of a child or concealment of death.

DIMOND: Or mishandling of a corpse, or there are probably a lot different things.

ADAMS: Yes, there`s several different avenues they can explore there.

DIMOND: And what are the penalties for something like that?

ADAMS: The concealing the birth of a child or a death are both felonies, Class I (ph) felonies in North Carolina.

DIMOND: Oh, my. Let`s go out now to another caller. Sarah is calling in from West Virginia. Hi, Sarah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

DIMOND: What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering, did anybody see her walk into the restroom carrying the baby? And how old was the baby?

DIMOND: Well, the baby was a couple of days old. But Mark Schulman, let`s you bring back here. He`s a local reporter with the newspaper there, the on-line editor. Mark, what do we know about that? Were there any eyewitnesses that reported their activities once they were in the grocery store?

SCHULMAN: No, not to my knowledge. From what I understand, you know, of course, several customers come in and out of the grocery store. And you know, what employee would pay attention to a young couple, you know, just walking back to the bathroom?

DIMOND: Yes. And they did buy one thing for cash and left quickly. All right. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Henderson county 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need people down at Bi-Lo`s in Hendersonville quick. Our bag boy found a baby in a trash can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. You`re at Bi-Lo?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at Bi-Lo at 120 Henderson crossing four seasons. Oh, my god, please hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, calm down. It`s OK. Hold on one second. I need to get some information from you, OK? What`s your name? Is the baby alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. They told me to call the cops. It is in the trash can. I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. What`s your phone number? Is it outside or inside?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is inside. It is in the bathroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is in the bathroom. All right. It`s OK. We`re sending them right now, OK? Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m fine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. All right. Just be outside so you can meet with the officers, OK? All right. Bye-bye. Call me back if you need anything, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIMOND: You can hear that caller to 911 just hyperventilating at the emotional reaction of finding a two or 3-day old infant in the trash can in the grocery store. Can you imagine?

You know, you want to think this is an unusual case. But when you look back at the past, we understand that this is not an isolated case. I remember covering a story about a woman named, a young girl named Melissa Drexler (ph), we called her "the prom mom", remember that one? There was Amy Grossberg (ph), she gave birth in a motel room with her boyfriend and he threw the baby in a dumpster. Jessica Black (ph), the list goes on and on.

I`ll let you read it as I bring in Andrew J. Scott, former chief of police from Boca Raton, Florida. You know, I kept putting Captain Adams in a tough spot here Andrew, and asking him over and over again, you know, what is the latest? And of course, he can`t tell us because it is ongoing investigation. But how do you question a young mother who has tossed her baby in a trash can?

ANDREW J. SCOTT, FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE, BOCA RATON FLORIDA: The art of interrogation and interviewing is extremely important. And I believe that the interviewers that are going to be talking to the mother now are trying to solicit information not from an accusatory perspective but from a compassionate understanding perspective, even if they don`t agree with this type of behavior, they want to find out as much information as possible as to what actually occurred, be able to establish if the child was born alive or dead, and I think there is some suspicion that the child was born alive, but get to the root of the problem right now and then find up what actually happened.

DIMOND: What is your law enforcement gut tell you when you look at this surveillance footage there, Andrew? This couple is holding hands, yet we`re not sure he`s the father, but what do you think?

SCOTT: Well, here we have disconnect because we have such young individuals who are handling very adult like situations but handling it in an immature fashion. Clearly, there is a disconnect between what actually transpired, the dumping of the body into the waste paper bask net the restroom and so, there`s a lack of consequence management and understanding the severity of their actions.

DIMOND: Yes, there is something to be gotten rid of and, boy, that`s what they did. I look at that satchel, looking so heavy in her hand, as they enter the store, and as they leave the store, after she`s gone in the restroom and changed her clothes, just four minutes later, and the bag is, like, casually held as if it is completely empty. It just breaks your heart to think what was in the bag before.

Let`s go out to Karla. She`s calling in with a question from Alabama. Hi, Karla.

KARLA, CALLER, ALABAMA: Hi. My question is how can, I mean why not just leave it at the hospital? What kind of person puts their baby in a trash can? I`m a foster and adoptive mother and I can`t imagine leaving a puppy in a bathroom garbage can or dumpster. How can someone leave a child they had just given birth to?

DIMOND: Well, that`s a $64,000 question. There is so much psychology wrapped up in it.

Sherry, Sherry Blake re-joins the conversation here. Postpartum depression, immaturity what are we dealing with here?

SHERRY BLAKE PH.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: We could be dealing with a number of things. Unfortunately, and there are so many unknowns right now, and we have to give a little time to sort of sort out what is happening. If this child, if this young mother is indeed a teen, as she appears to be, it is very likely, you know, again, impulsivity, just fear, fear is so many things of what could happen, what may happen to her, fear of the unknown. And sometimes, although we assume that people read about the law and they know where to go, a lot of people just don`t know where to go for help. They don`t know what to do and they may not have anywhere to turn to.

DIMOND: Right. And when they`re so young, you know, one of the callers called in and said, why don`t we tell more people about the safe havens? We do. But young people don`t listen. You know, they got their iPods in their ear and that`s about it.

Let`s bring in the lawyers. Darryl Cohen and Hugo Rodriguez. All right, you two, our criminal defense attorneys. This woman needs an attorney. What do you do for her? What do you tell her to do? Hugo, you go first.

HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: First, she has got to be emotionally fragile having gone through this experience and it is unfortunate. And we need to evaluate that situation. We need to make sure she is protected not only psychologically but legally.

There are a lot of other issues that all the others have discussed. We don`t know what immigration consequences we have. We don`t know which is it could be dramatic. There are a lot of other issues, them being young teens. Again, the autopsy will be very telling and will direct law enforcement as to what if any charges are forthwith. But she needs to be protected. She needs to be protected emotionally, psychologically and legally.

DIMOND: And Darryl Cohen, you go to the police officer, Captain Adams who graciously gotten to gave us his time tonight while they`re conducting this investigation, you go to him and say, come on, guys, take it easy on her or what do you do?

DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, first we have to decide whether we have to see what the results of the autopsy are. Once we know whether that child, that infant died from natural causes, or died because of being killed, then we make a decision as to which way she goes.

As a defense lawyer, if it is murder, then I tell her to keep her mouth shut, do nothing and needs to be protected. As a defense lawyer, if it turns out the child died after childbirth or something of that nature, then you handle it in a very different way. But clearly when we find the results of the autopsy, we`ll know which way to go. And it`s - whatever it is, it is tragic. I disagree about the safe haven. Very few people know about safe haven laws. The educated know. Not the kids.

DIMOND: Yes, I`ll give you that. I agree. All of us in the crime and justice field, we know about it, but, again, the kids with the iPods. I want to go back to Doctor Cathleen London. I`m Afraid, we cut you off a little bit for time reasons there. Talk to us about the autopsy on a child this young, Doctor London. What exactly do they look for? How tough is it?

DOCTOR CATHLEEN LONDON M.D., ASSISTANT ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, NEW YORK- PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL: Well, I mean, there is certain things that will be done no matter what the age. The parameters change because of the, this being such a young child. We know, we would know if the young child, if the umbilical cord is still attached.

DIMOND: It`s not, we know that.

LONDON: So there`s, how big is which child? They can go by core body temperature and that will give you this calculations to say how long is this child been, deceased.

DIMOND: Look at the lungs and the head trauma, things like that.

LONDON: Correct. They can look for pooling of blood. They can look for rigor mortis all these give us a clue of about how long. And then, yes exactly, they can look at the status of the lungs, things that are not obvious that might lead to you know, was there something wrong? Maybe there is something anatomically wrong with this child.

DIMOND: Yes. That`s a very good point to keep in mind. All right, stand by.

You know, I guess you heard the news, the news is out now. I`m sitting in here for Nancy Grace because, as it was announced just last night, she is on the new season of "Dancing with the Stars." I can`t wait to see this.

Not to worry, though, Nancy will be back here tomorrow night. But we also want you to know that Nancy will be dancing to benefit the national center for missing and exploited children. You can share her experience by visiting nancygrace.com.

Hey, Nancy, break a leg.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suspicious text messages are among few clues police have in the search for missing South Carolina mom Sheena Pierce (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her stepfather, he has received one or two texts since her original physical disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 23-year-old mother last seen August 19th getting into a Silver SUV parked outside her home. Text messages from Sheena`s cell phone say -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m in the mountains. I am fine. Leave me alone. Things of that nature.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Sheena`s stepfather isn`t buying it and doubts it was not Sheena who sent text messages to his phone. Family members say Sheena would never leave her 5-year-old daughter. Police now searching for the SUV marked with a dark stripe on the hood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possibly in the design or characteristics of a Kia, as it stands right now. We have not been able to locate her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIMOND: Welcome back, everybody. I`m Diane Dimond in for Nancy Grace. Well, a 23-year-old South Carolina mother just vanishes without a trace, leaving behind her 5-year-old little girl. A neighbor reports seeing Sheena Pierce getting into a silver SUV around 5:00 at night, nearly two weeks ago. She had just left the home that she shared for several years with the child`s father and she was living with her stepfather, so what happened to Sheena? Is she away living some sort of care free life or is she in some actual danger?

For the latest on this story, we go out to Joe Gomez. He is a reporter with KTRH News Radio. Hey Joe, take us back to the day that that last moment when she gets into this car and disappears. Who else is around? What is happening?

JOE GOMEZ, REPORTER, KTRH NEWS RADIO: It is a very strange situation, Diane. Apparently Sheena was only seen by a neighbor mowing his grass. She was seen getting into this car filled with men. Now, Sheena had reportedly said she was going to go on a date, but that was last time anybody had seen her, two weeks later she is still missing.

Now, Sheena`s father says this is very strange because Sheena has a beautiful 5-year-old little girl who she loves, why would she leave her little girl? Why would she run away with this group of men, very bizarre Diane? Furthermore, her father also says he`s been receiving text messages, strange texts from Sheena, but he doesn`t think they`re actually from her. All this leads to the question, did she run away or was she taken?

DIMOND: Yes, that`s the mystery. Were they really messages from her or not? Now, apparently Hollie Harper is the missing mom`s really best friend. Hollie you got some facebook. You reached out to her on facebook one day and the next day you got a phone call? You sure it was from her?

HOLLIE HARPER, SHEENA PIERCE`S BEST FRIEND (via telephone): Yes, ma`am, it was her. I`m 100 percent sure.

DIMOND: What did she say to you, Hollie?

HARPER: It was a very weird conversation. She said she was fine. And that she would be home the next day, to call her father and let him know she was OK. And I asked her, I said, well, Sheena, who are you with? She said, I can`t tell you that. I said, well, where are you at? She said, I can`t tell you that either. I said you`re OK? She said, yes, I`m fine.

DIMOND: Did you get the impression she was OK?

HARPER: At that point, yes. Because, I mean there was no fear in her voice. I mean, but it is not like Sheena to not tell me where she`s at or who she`s with, she`s always been, you know pretty honest with me.

DIMOND: Well, this is just a mysterious case. Let`s bring in Captain J. Grubs. He is with the local police department there. Thanks for taking time to talk with us, Captain. Have you got some new leads on this case?

CAPTAIN J. GRUBS, LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have got some information that is pointing us in a slightly different direction. We`re trying to run down the leads as we speak.

DIMOND: Slightly different direction from what, the men she got into the car with?

GRUBS: We`re trying to identify the folks that were in that van. We have got a lead, possible lead on one of the gentleman that was in there. We did receive information on a tip line with a name and possible vehicle description. And we have been by the location where it is supposed to be. It is not there yet, but we`re going to check back to make sure we can either discount or attribute that vehicle to the incident.

DIMOND: So, there may be more than just the silver SUV, another automobile involved?

GRUBS: Correct.

DIMOND: You know we have covered so many of these cases. I have over the course of my career, and I know that you police officers always like the man in the woman`s life. What do we know about this, the father of her young daughter? Is he somehow connected to this, do you think?

GRUBS: As it stands right now, he`s in no way indicated to us as being a person of interest or an actual suspect in the crime. He`s actually cooperated with us and he`s in custody of their daughter right now.

DIMOND: Oh, interesting. And Ellie Jostad is a Nancy Grace producer. Ellie, what have we learned about the father of this little girl?

ELLIE JOSTAD, PRODUCER, NANCY GRACE SHOW: Right. Well, as the captain explained, he is apparently cooperating with police. They were together for about eight years. And they just recently separated with apparently was an amicable situation and she moved actually from the boyfriend`s house in with her stepfather whose had a bunch of health problems. He had a stroke recently. He`s also got COPD, has breathing problems.

DIMOND: Oh my.

JOSTAD: So, she moved in to take care of the stepfather. And to live there, take care of her little girl. So apparently an amicable separation, the stepfather even says the ex-boyfriend is heart broken over this, has been crying his eyes out over it and is doing everything he can to help.

DIMOND: Andrew Scott, let`s bring you back in, as a former police chief. What do you make of this? What does your gut say? Is this a woman who said, my daughter is 5-years old, I`m exhausted, let somebody else take care of her? But you wouldn`t leave your daughter with a sick older man.

SCOTT: No, her behavior patterns don`t indicate this is her style of abandoning her 5-year-old child to go out on a hot date. So it does lead us to think that there is something a bit more nefarious than what she`s just cutting out for a couple of weeks. The other thing is the text messages are a little cryptic. I would be concerned and it sounds like the captain of the police department, they seem to have a real handle on this and it looks like they`ve got a nice lead.

DIMOND: Yes. It sure does. Cathleen London, M.D., let me bring you back in. Because I always worry about the children. What does this 5- year-old little girl who apparently is with her daddy now, but her mommy is gone. How does she handle that?

LONDON: She`s probably asking for mommy. She`s not going to - kids don`t necessarily get the concept of time either. So even if you`re gone for a few minutes, they think it is forever. So but it plays the other way too. So hopefully mommy will come back and that time will contract as well. But right now, she`s probably, "where`s mommy and upset about it."

DIMOND: Sure. I can`t imagine. I have a daughter myself. She`s lots older than that, but Captain Grubs, let me bring you back in and ask you. How are you in your mind, categorizing this case? Is it a missing person, is it a kidnapping, is it a homicide, God forbid?

GRUBS: Well, we have no indicators at this point it is anything other than a missing person, but we do have some strange activities that have occurred. Like I said, we`re trying to run those down and get rid of those quickly as possible. And all the resources we have of local, state and federal agencies are assisting us in that process.

DIMOND: That`s interesting. You know, it is not against the law to run away from your life, unless you`re running away from, you know, a court ordered custody payment or something.

GRUBS: Well, that`s true. She, of all indications we have, she has no reason to go off. She appeared to be a stable young lady that was home helping her stepfather and her daughter and was the typical home body. And that`s why this whole incident, you know, does raise suspicions that, like your gentleman said, there is something else going on.

DIMOND: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Sherry Blake, what do you make of it?

BLAKE: This is one of those cases again we have a lot of unknown. My heart goes out for the 5-year-old child. Child`s missing asking "where`s mom?" But on the other hand it doesn`t add up. But so many things don`t add up until we can find more pieces to the puzzle. And that`s going to take time.

DIMOND: Yes. But do you often see mothers, devoted mothers of 5- year-old daughters just saying, "Hey, I don`t want this life anymore, bye- bye."

BLAKE: Usually, when that happens, they talked about it and I`m sure she`s talked about it to someone. And something, there are pieces missing. Usually mothers don`t just walk off and leave their babies. Usually.

DIMOND: Usually.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DIMOND: Welcome back. Sheena Pierce has been missing for almost two weeks from her South Carolina home. Her best friend is Hollie Harper. Hollie, what do you think happened to your best friend?

HARPER: I honestly don`t know. It`s not like her just to take off. I think maybe she went out with some friends to have a good evening and something went wrong. I`m not 100 percent sure. I know we`re all worried about her and Ashleen (ph) needs her. We all want her to come home safe.

DIMOND: Worried sick I bet. Donna calling in from North Carolina. You`re going to be our last word, Donna.

DONNA, CALLER, NORTH CAROLINA: All right. I`d like to know if they`ve actually checked the stepfather out. Not that I think that this stepfather, I don`t know if he had something to do with it or not, but I mean if the stepfather - she was there with the stepfather, does he know - you know?

DIMOND: I got you. Before we run out of time, I`m going to go to Ellie Jostad. Ellie, what do we know about the stepfather?

JOSTAD: Right. Well, as far as we know the stepfather is cooperating. He has actually helped raise Sheena ever since she was a little girl. So, as far as we know, no one in this case is a suspect at this point.

DIMOND: I`m sorry to have cut you off there Donna but I got the gist of your question. And apparently the stepfather is, has be doting with her all of her life.

All right we take a pause here tonight.

Let`s stop to remember please, Marine Lance Corporal Troy Nealy. 24- years old from Eaton Rapids, Michigan, killed in Iraq. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the combat action ribbon, the armed forces reserve medal.

He loved growing up on a farm especially raising cattle and driving his ford pickup truck. He was also active in 4H and memorial scholarship. He named in, Troy`s honored there. He dreamed of riding in the rodeo and traveling the western United States.

Billy Ray Cyrus dedicated his song "some play all" to Troy who wanted it played at his funeral. He leaves behind parents, Norman and Nanette, his loving brothers, Todd and Michael. Troy Nealy, a true American hero.

Thanks to all of you and all of our guests. Our biggest thank you of course is for you being with us and inviting us into your homes every night.

You might have heard that our own Nancy Grace is on the new season of "Dancing with the Stars." Nancy will be dancing to the benefit of the National Center for missing and exploited children. Please visit Nancygrace.com to share the experience with here.

Nancy, break a leg and don`t worry, folks. She will be right back here tomorrow night 8:00 Eastern Time. Until then, have a great night, everyone.

I`m Diane Dimond sitting in for Nancy Grace tonight. Stay safe.

END