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Police Start Fresh in Missing Haleigh Case

Aired September 2, 2009 - 20:00:00   ET


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old little girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone, vanished, the back door propped wide open. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh.

Bombshell tonight. Florida police bring Haleigh`s dad, Ronald Cummings, in for intense questioning about phone calls, phone calls made in the hours leading up to the moment Haleigh goes missing. But why? Police already have new stepmom Misty Croslin`s phone records. What do they reveal?

In a stunning twist, police bring in a new team, starting from scratch in the search for Haleigh. Is there a break in the case? These phone records apparently reveal a crucial timeline, including a major argument just before Haleigh disappears. After searchers comb through dense foliage on foot, on horseback, all on a tip from new stepmother Misty Croslin, we know Croslin the last person to see Haleigh alive, flunks a polygraph with a score of 99 percent deceptive. Croslin says she was tricked, tricked into taking that polygraph. But she insists she passed. Well, that`s not what the polygrapher tells us.

Croslin also revealing she`s afraid her phone is tapped. But wait a minute! When a child is missing, who cares if your phone`s tapped? What is there to hide? We also learn Croslin`s bed made up, not slept in, the night Haleigh vanishes. Was she ever even home? Cops say evidence in the home contradicts her story.

And now reports say she flunked a voice stress test, changing her story, saying up to four people in the home the night Haleigh vanishes but calling it all a dream-like memory. Police insist Haleigh not kidnapped by a stranger. Girlfriend-baby-sitter-turned-stepmom caught on tape. We have the video. And exclusive tonight. For the first time since Croslin reportedly flunks that polygraph, Haleigh Cummings`s biological mother and her grandmother with us live, taking your calls. Where is 5-year-old Haleigh?


MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER/STEPMOTHER: They`ve been on me for six months. They haven`t left me alone for six months. I`ve been the one, the main focus. They just need to move on and look for the right person.

TIM MILLER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Mark Nejame is a very respected attorney. And asked I Ronald -- Ronald, I need more information on this before I can consider representing anybody. And Ronald Cummings said, The (DELETED) had something to do with my daughter`s disappearance.

GRACE: What is her story about what happened that night?

CUMMINGS: The same thing that she`s telling police or whoever, that she put Haleigh to bed, done some laundry, went to bed, and woke up to the door propped open.

CROSLIN: I was sleeping in that bed. How would the bed be made if someone`s sleeping in the bed? I wasn`t the only one sleeping in it. But how would it -- me and his son. How would the bed be made if we were in the bed sleeping?

MILLER: He said that she never made the bed that night. She`d been awake all night. She never went to sleep. They did not have any laundry detergent, so she never washed clothes. The only clothes in the dryer were dirty clothes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think Misty holds some information that could help with that?

CUMMINGS: I don`t think Misty holds any information that`s going to find Haleigh.

MILLER: The question was asked, Why did you marry Misty? His words were, You keep your friends close and your enemies closer.


GRACE: And tonight live to Virginia, 18 and 19-year-old childhood sweethearts, sophomores studying engineering and biochemistry, active in Campus Crusade for Christ, gunned down in cold blood at a popular camping spot right near campus, their lives cut short in a hail of bullets. In a crime that leaves the entire campus in terror, who killed teenagers Heidi and David?


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bodies of two Virginia Tech students have been found at a Jefferson National Forest campground. That`s a popular hangout for students.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheriff`s office received a report of two bodies here in Caldwell Fields, and it was by a man walking his dog. When deputies arrived on the scene, found a male and a female deceased.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheriff says 19-year-old David Lee Metzler and 18-year-old Heidi Lynn Childs were shot to death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s shocking. It`s disturbing. And just to summarize it in one word, it`s brutal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most troubling for those who knew and loved this couple, the questions surrounding their murders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody that`s seen anything suspicious at Craig`s (ph) Creek (ph) from Route 460 all the way to 311 in Montgomery County.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will dedicate all of our resources and efforts to bring the person or persons involved in this to justice.


GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. The investigation into the disappearance of a 5-year-old Florida girl, Haleigh Cummings, heats up. After intense voluntary questioning of Ronald Cummings, the father, a new and disturbing timeline emerges. Is there a break in the case?


MILLER: I got a voice message from Ronald`s mother, I think on the 18th or 19th, that said, Tim, Misty won`t even talk to Ronald right now. She`s on secret phone calls and stuff. She`s ready to break.

CROSLIN: He called the phone and said that, I`m going to take you to Orlando to get you away because your days are numbered. He told me that if I didn`t take them tests, that he wasn`t going to look for Haleigh.

MILLER: Misty, I said, you know what? I`ve spent time with law enforcement and stuff, and I says, I believe that the day`s going to come when you are going to be arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel that Misty is the key to this investigation?

CUMMINGS: No, I don`t. I think they`re barking up the wrong tree.



911 OPERATOR: Can I talk to her?



CUMMINGS: How the (DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (DELETED)?

GRACE: Whether you accept it or not, that your wife has flunked a poly, have you asked her what happened?

CUMMINGS: I asked her, but I don`t get any answers from her about, you know -- I don`t see what she -- what she`s telling me is not inconsistent.

CROSLIN: If they go out and look for that person, maybe they -- they would be -- have the answers, but they`re trying to get all the answers from me that I don`t have.

MILLER: I`m willing to put this out. I mean, honesty is honesty. I mean, we all got skeletons.


GRACE: Straight out to T.J. Hart, program and news director WSKY, 97.3 FM. T.J., thank you for being with us. Ronald Cummings, the father of little Haleigh, agrees to go with police. He did this voluntarily. And he undergoes intense questioning -- this is just hours ago -- about a phone, a telephone timeline. Can you confirm that there was a horrible argument between Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin, Misty alone at home with Haleigh, just before Haleigh goes missing?

T.J. HART, WSKY 97.3 FM (via telephone): According to his lawyers, they don`t want to get into the intricacies of the conversation, but they say they probably were not having cordial conversations, and they said that there was an argument, and that was pretty much an end of it. Have no idea about how it transpired or anything at this point. But there was indeed an argument.

GRACE: To Natisha Lance, our producer on the story. Police apparently bring Cummings in for questioning, intense questioning, about a telephone timeline leading up all the way to the time Haleigh goes missing. Now, we have reason to believe that they already have Misty Croslin`s cell phone and home phone records, all right? That`s relatively easy to get. The police just had to fill out a subpoena for that and send it to the phone company.

But what are they hoping to get from Ronald to, what, piece together what they were talking about during all these calls? What do you know, Natisha?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, what Ronald`s attorney is telling us today is that they met with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and in that meeting, they wanted to get all of Ronald`s phone records from about 5:00 PM the night before Haleigh went missing up until the time Haleigh was reported missing, about 3:00 o`clock in the morning.

Now, they did have his records at one time before, but they wanted to go through them piece by piece, each record, what calls were coming in, what calls were going out, even the text messages. Ronald was very happy to hand over this information to them. There`s apparently a new agent who is working on the case, and they are starting, quote, "from scratch."

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. And joining us tonight, also taking your calls, is the mother of missing Florida girl, 5-year-old Haleigh. Also with her, the grandmother, Haleigh`s grandmother. Crystal Sheffield, Marie Griffis, thank you for being with us.

First to you, Crystal Sheffield. This is Haleigh`s mother. Crystal, what do you make of the recent developments, the developments especially about Misty Croslin flunking a polygraph?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD, HALEIGH`S MOTHER: Well, I`ve thought all along that she had something to do with it, and now this kind of just proves it. I mean...

GRACE: But why do you think -- why do you say you`ve thought all along that?

SHEFFIELD: She was the last one to see our daughter, and her stories just don`t add up. Everything she says is crazy. I mean, it`s like the cops say, they`re inconsistent.

GRACE: Have you talked to Ronald about the inconsistencies?

SHEFFIELD: I`ve said something to him about her recently, and he pretty much was, like, What do you want me to do? So...

GRACE: What did you say to him? I mean, his response kind of -- to interpret it depends on what you said to him. What did you say to him?

SHEFFIELD: I told him what I -- how I felt about her test results, and I told him I really didn`t want to be around her anymore, like when I pick our son up. And he was just, like, What do you want me to do? So maybe we can talk about it and I...

GRACE: When you go to pick up your son and you see Misty, have you tried to speak to Misty Croslin about what happened that night?





SHEFFIELD: Because she was the last one to see our daughter, and I just -- I...

GRACE: I mean, if -- if somebody was the last person to be with my child, John David or Lucy, and police say they have the key to what happened, I would at least say, What happened?

SHEFFIELD: Well, I haven`t seen her since the results.


SHEFFIELD: But I did talk to her on the telephone, and she was telling me she had no problem with me and that she didn`t have anything to do with our daughter going missing, that she was at home and all this stuff that everybody`s saying is lies about her. That`s the only time I`ve talked to her.


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was the bed made?





911 OPERATOR: 911. What`s your emergency?

CROSLIN: I just woke up and our back door was open, and I can`t find my daughter.

911 OPERATOR: Can`t find what?

CROSLIN: My daughter.

911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your address?


911 OPERATOR: What`s the numerical?

CROSLIN: The numerical? What`s that?

911 OPERATOR: The number. Green Lane?


911 OPERATOR: OK, when did you last see her?

CROSLIN: We just, like -- you know, it was about 10:00 o`clock. She was sleeping (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: OK. How old is your daughter?

CROSLIN: She`s 5. Hello?

911 OPERATOR: OK. What was she last seen wearing?

CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE) the middle of the night.

911 OPERATOR: Ma`am?

CROSLIN: She was in her pajamas. We were sleeping.

911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. You said your back door was wide open?

CROSLIN: Yes, with a brick. Like, there was a brick (INAUDIBLE). Like, when I went to sleep, the door was not like that.

911 OPERATOR: OK, the back door...

CROSLIN: It was locked.

911 OPERATOR: Listen to me. Your back door was wide open. What are you talking about a brick?


911 OPERATOR: What is the brick?

CROSLIN: It`s on the (INAUDIBLE) on the stairs. Like (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: And there was a brick laying there?

CROSLIN: Yes. It`s still there.


CUMMINGS: ... better come on!

911 OPERATOR: We got them coming. Tell him we got them coming.

CROSLIN: They`re coming.


GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Joining us tonight exclusively since the stepmother of little Haleigh apparently flunks a polygraph, the child`s mother, Crystal Sheffield, and her mother, the grandmother, Marie Griffis, joining us out of Florida.

To Crystal Sheffield. You mentioned that Misty Croslin`s first polygraph, the one administered by police, was full of inconsistencies. How did you find that out?

SHEFFIELD: No, not the polygraph, just her stories. I know nothing about the polygraph from the police. I have not revealed that.

GRACE: OK. Why did you -- where did you learn that what she told police was full of inconsistencies?

SHEFFIELD: The -- it was on your show, actually. I think it was one of the investigators. He said that, We`ve known all along that her stories was full of inconsistencies.

GRACE: You made an accusation that Croslin was on a drug binge. Do you have any evidence to support that claim?

CROSLIN: No, I don`t.

GRACE: Then why did you say it?

CROSLIN: It was just a thought. I mean, maybe she was. Maybe she wasn`t.

GRACE: It was just a thought. So you have nothing to support the claim that she was on a drug binge around the time Haleigh goes missing?

CROSLIN: Well, there`s been people that have been questioned that said she was on a drug binge before Haleigh went missing.

GRACE: OK. Let`s go to calls. To Sharon in Alabama. Hi, Sharon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.

GRACE: Thank you for calling. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When this case first started, you all showed a map of registered sex offenders in the area.


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I`m wondering if Misty may have had one of those as her guest on that night. And you know, she`s talking about she had four guests and it was foggy, so I assume there might be drugs and drinking going on. So I`m wondering if she had a registered sex offender in there and now she`s scared to death to tell anybody.

GRACE: Out to Natisha Lance. I know police questioned or looked up all of those sex offenders. I remember when they did it. But have there been accusations that have surfaced that she and was entertaining men in the home the night Haleigh goes missing?

LANCE: There have been accusations that she was entertaining some people in the home the night Haleigh was missing. We don`t know if they were male or female, but there have been those accusations. And yes, all the sex offenders in the area were questioned more than once. They canvassed that area over and over again.

GRACE: Out to Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. Mike, weigh in? What do you make of it, the fact -- in my mind, the fact that police are bringing in new blood -- not that there was anything wrong with the old team, they were excellent -- but new blood to put fresh eyes on it, and that they bring in Cummings, who, I would like to add, came voluntarily, where they grill him over his phone records -- Who were you calling, what were you talking about with Misty Croslin just before the child goes missing -- now we find out they have a major argument just before she goes missing to the point where Misty Croslin apparently cuts her cell phone off.

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Nancy, that`s a great point. And if you recall, back early on, I brought up what was in the police report, where he called her, My dumb "B" girlfriend." Now, as -- in reference to law enforcement, they had done this before and got some fresh eyes on the case. Sounds like they`re doing it again. I don`t have a problem with it. But still, you know, all these eyes looking at this, they`re still not coming up with one big thing, probable cause.




911 OPERATOR: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me get some information from her.




911 OPERATOR: Can I talk to her?




911 OPERATOR: Tell him we got them coming. He needs to try to calm down a little bit, OK? The officers are going to come out there and do what they can. We can`t have him screaming and yelling at the officers whenever they get there, OK?

CUMMINGS: Give me my (DELETED) phone! I got better people to talk to than a (DELETED) (DELETED) that ain`t coming!




GRACE: Out to the lines. Gina in Florida. Hi, Gina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. The night that Haleigh went missing, the back door to the trailer was propped open with a brick. It`s possible Misty put the brick there so she could get back into the house after partying without waking up the children. So my question is, if Misty did go out that night, could someone who knew that the kids were left alone go back to the house and abduct Haleigh?

GRACE: I think that is entirely possible. But let`s analyze this, Dr. Patricia Saunders -- Saunders joining us from New York, clinical psychologist. Let`s think it through. Is Dr. Saunders with us? Liz, can you please put her up on the screen? Hi, Doctor. Doctor, if her only offense was that she went out that night -- she shouldn`t have gone out to party, shouldn`t have gone out on a date, whatever -- if that were her only offense, if that was the only problem, don`t you think she would have come clean to that by now?

PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Absolutely, Nancy. No question about it. There are not only inconsistencies, but this is a person who maintains that she passed the voice stress test and the polygraph, even though experts have said no. That`s someone who`s willing to ignore and distort reality. So she is walking around in a dream-like state, as she says.

GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers -- Susan Moss, New York, Richard Herman, famed defense attorney out of New York, Kirby Clements (ph), former prosecutor turned defense attorney out of Atlanta. Richard Herman, what do you make of it?

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look, polygraphs are not the facts. So we`ve got to get that straight, Doctor. They`re not reality and they`re not the facts. They`re not accepted in court. So let`s move away from that.

GRACE: OK. Put Herman up, please.


GRACE: Richard...

HERMAN: Nancy, no one`s going to...

GRACE: Try, try, try to be truthful, all right? Just try. Have you ever -- and I already know the answer, so don`t try to waffle. Have you ever sent one of your clients for a polygraph?

HERMAN: Yes, I have.


HERMAN: I did it so that I could show it to...

GRACE: Because...

HERMAN: ... a prosecutor like you...

GRACE: ... you...

HERMAN: ... who I know would ignore it!

GRACE: ... believed it!

HERMAN: You would ignore it, Nancy!

GRACE: You believed it. So don`t jump up on this show and try to pretend they have no validity!



UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty Cummings has said she put Haleigh to bed that February night and then later she went to sleep. Miller said Ronald does not buy that story.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was the bed made?

MISTY CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S STEPMOM, LAST SEEN HALEIGH: No, I was sleeping in that bed. How would the bed be made if someone`s sleeping in the bed? I wasn`t the only one sleeping in it. But how would it -- me and his son. How would the bed be made if we were in the bed sleeping?

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Right beside me on my left is the bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping, and here on the right we have the bed where little Haleigh was sleeping. And you can see it is all but about 3 1/2 feet from each other. And this is right where Misty said she got up and she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

M. CUMMINGS: When I went to sleep, she was there. And then when I woke up she was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you said that she never made the bed that night, she`d been awake all night, she never went to sleep, they did not have any laundry detergent, so she never washed clothes.

M. CUMMINGS: If they`d go out and look for the right person maybe they`d have the answers. But they`re trying to get all the answers from me that I don`t have.

TIM MILLER, DIRECTOR, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: I`d love to get that little girl home. Ronald said if he had $35,000 he could get her home. Well, you know what? I`ve got five people that could go ahead and get $35,000 and we could put it in a special account tomorrow.

And when little Haleigh comes home, she can go ahead and give that $35,000 to somebody and we`re all full of (EXPLETIVE DELETED).


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Joining us tonight, Haleigh`s mother, Crystal Sheffield, and grandmother, Marie Griffis.

To you, Miss Griffis, thank you for being with us. You stated that at the very beginning you doubted Croslin`s story. Why?

MARIE GRIFFIS, GRANDMOTHER OF HALEIGH CUMMINGS: Because of the inconsistencies with the bed and who was sleeping in what bed. There were four different stories.

GRACE: What were the four stories?

GRIFFIS: Well, one minute all three of them were in the -- in the same bed. Then Haleigh was on a different bed. And it was just her and Butterbean. Then -- and Butterbean is Junior, by the way. Then he was in a totally different room other than her and Haleigh. And it just kept getting bigger and bigger.

GRACE: What, if anything, have you been told about her police polygraph?

GRIFFIS: That they were full of inconsistencies.

GRACE: Such as?

GRIFFIS: As her timeline. They can`t figure out whether she was or was not at home. If -- it`s one right after another. It`s all mind- boggling.

GRACE: To Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh`s mother. Crystal, recently she has suggested that the four people were in the home that evening. Have you heard that version?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD, MOM OF HALEIGH CUMMINGS: No. The only thing I`ve heard was about the AC guy and her brother that stopped by. That`s the only people I know about. And she said they left, both of them.

GRACE: Back to T.J. Hart with WSKY. T.J., I want to focus specifically on what the cops are focusing on right now that we know of. And that is this phone timeline. They are focusing, honing in on a big argument that Ronald Cummings had with Misty Croslin just before the child goes missing.

So you`re telling me you have no idea what the argument was about, you know nothing about it?

T.J. HART, PROGRAM & NEWS DIR., WSKY 97.3FM, COVERING STORY (via phone): That`s according to his attorney. That`s for sure. He said there was a brief argument and that was the end of it. That`s Ron talking to his attorney.

GRACE: OK. Natisha, what do you know?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, according to Tim Miller, they were arguing about -- Misty had apparently been gone for several days prior to Haleigh going missing. She had just come back into the house. They had had arguments about possibly some -- her entertaining other people outside of their relationship.

And when she came back into the house that argument had carried over and carried over also into the day that Haleigh went missing.

GRACE: To Susan Moss, child advocate, family law attorney. Susan, how often have you seen when spouses argue, one takes it out on the child? Like the father and the mother argues just recently and the father throws the baby off a bridge. That just happened.

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Absolutely. Unfortunately too often. Or another scenario is perhaps that she got in a fight and maybe she left. Or somehow the timeline is screwed up. I mean, she failed this poly. Oh, golly. I mean, come on. This is a surprise to no one.

This is a 16-year-old who has changed her stories multiple times. She didn`t call the cops until dad came home and literally forced her to call the cops. And also, this child was taken from a small trailer? How did she not know? It`s just surprising to me her nose hasn`t grown.

GRACE: To Kirby Clements. Kirby, you`re a veteran trial lawyer. You`ve been on both sides of the fence. You were a felony prosecutor. Now you`re a defense attorney. What do you make of the fact that Susan just brought up. She didn`t call the cops until Cummings gets home and says where the H is the baby? Then they call the cops.

KIRBY CLEMENTS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that is a problem, and I have to tell you that anytime your client.

GRACE: Boy, you sure are putting perfume on a pig? That`s a problem. That`s all you can say?

CLEMENTS: It is a problem.

GRACE: You have to sugarcoat that pill.

CLEMENTS: Well, you know, we have to find out what else is going on. I mean if I`m her lawyer, I`m focusing on the father, too. After all, you know.

GRACE: The father? You`re focusing on the father?

CLEMENTS: I would have to focus on the father. This story doesn`t make sense.

GRACE: The father wasn`t home when she went missing.

CLEMENTS: Well, you know what.

GRACE: So why focus on the father?

CLEMENTS: No one knows what time.

GRACE: That doesn`t even make sense.

CLEMENTS: The problem is nobody knows what time the child went missing. Everybody`s.

GRACE: We know when he went to work by all accounts.

CLEMENTS: Says who?

GRACE: Says Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin and the child was seen that day at school up until that afternoon just before Cummings goes to work.

CLEMENTS: What time did the child end up missing? Nobody can answer that question. You all say that this poor -- this young 17-year-old girl, she`s lying, she`s.

GRACE: I`m not saying what time the child goes missing.

I want to go back to Crystal Sheffield. You bring up a great point, Kirby. Crystal Sheffield, you`re the mom. What time was Haleigh last seen by anybody other than Cummings and Croslin?

SHEFFIELD: The last time I seen her was.

GRACE: I didn`t ask when you saw her. Certainly, you as the biological mother know the facts of this case. So when was she last seen by someone other than the father and the stepmother?

SHEFFIELD: That I don`t know. I know that the last time Misty says she seen her was 8:00.

GRACE: You don`t know where she was that day? You haven`t found out?

SHEFFIELD: She was at school that day.

GRACE: Until what time?

SHEFFIELD: She gets off the bus about 3:00 something? It`s what I was told.

GRACE: She gets off the buss at 3:00 or she gets out of school at 3:00?

SHEFFIELD: She gets off the bus around 3:00. A little after 3:00.

GRACE: Do you know what time she would get out of school?



SHEFFIELD: I don`t live there. I don`t live there.

GRACE: You didn`t know what time your daughter got out of school?

SHEFFIELD: I`m assuming around 2:30. I don`t live there. I was never told those kind of things.

GRACE: To Dr. Marty Makary. You know, Dr. Marty, I`m starting to think this child never had a chance. She didn`t have a chance. She`s also got Turner syndrome. Could you just tell me what obstacles she would face with Turner syndrome if she were taken by an outsider that didn`t know how to treat her?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, PROF. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOHNS HOPKINS: Well, in short, she had a lot of medical needs. This was a child who most likely had frequent coughs, the flu, sore throat, upper respiratory tract infections. This child we know had seen the doctor many times, had been hospitalized already at her young age, and we know this is a condition which affects the development of kids because they have a lot of medical needs.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Deann, Wisconsin. Hi, Deann.


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

DEANN: I`m just wondering, has her father taken a polygraph test?

GRACE: The father? The biodad?


GRACE: Absolutely. And to our knowledge he`s passed.

Kim in Ohio, what`s your question, dear?

KIM, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy. I just wanted to know why has she not been arrested if she flunked the poly?

GRACE: Well, because polygraphs, unless they`re agreed to up front, are not admissible in court. It`s not enough for probable cause. For all we know she could be lying about a tangential issue such as what she did earlier that evening. So they can`t pin a case on a flunked poly.

Very quickly, to tonight`s "Safety Tips." Protecting yourself from H1N1, swine flu. Includes fever, cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue. If you have these symptoms, much like the flu, stay at home 24 hours. After the fever`s gone.

If you become severely ill, you must see the doctor immediately. Swine flu, contagious. Please cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands. Use Purell. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Avoid contact with sick people.

Don`t touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Just don`t touch anything from here up, for Pete`s Sake. For more info -- please help us contain swine flue. Go to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It`s at CDC.gov.

ANNOUNCER: "Nancy Safety Tips," brought to you by.



UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another sad day for the Virginia Tech community after two students were found killed in Montgomery County.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 19-year-old David Lee Metzler and 18-year-old Heidi Lynn Childs were shot to death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are a young couple. The male subject was found in the vehicle and the female subject was found outside of the vehicle. Quite honestly, it`s brutal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The campground where the bodies were found is about 15 miles from the tech campus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re all Hokies here, and it`s just a big family. So you know, yes, it hits deep with everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Metzler was an industrial and systems engineering major. Professors call him a very fine young man who had a clear path for his professional future.

Childs` professors in biochemistry say she had excellent grades and was already emerging as a standout student.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody that`s seen anything suspicious, anybody suspicious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Virginia Tech`s president reaches out to the victims` families, saying no that the university administration and everyone within this community intensely feels this pain.


GRACE: Two shining stars. Now dark. An 18 and 19-year-old, both sophomores, both intensely involved in Campus Crusade for Christ. They both played the guitar in the praise band. Excellent grades. The world before them. Their lives cut short in a hail of bullets.

Who murdered these two beautiful teenagers? We want answers.

Straight out to Jim Nolan, reporter with the "Richmond Times- Dispatch." Jim, what happened?

JIM NOLAN, REPORTER, RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, COVERING STORY (via phone): Well, Nancy, apparently, they went to Caldwell Fields, which is a popular hangout for Tech students, about 15 miles from campus in the Jefferson National Forest sometime in the evening.

Police believe that sometime between 8:30 at night on Wednesday and 8:00 a.m. the next morning they were shot and killed by unknown assailant or assailants. They don`t know yet whether there is one suspect or multiple suspects.

GRACE: Joining me right now, two very special guests, Dr. Keith Metzler. He is the father of David Metzler, one of the teens, and Sergeant Donald Childs, the father of Heidi Childs.

Gentlemen, thank you for being with us. To you, Dr. Metzler, please tell me about your son.

DR. KEITH METZLER, M.D., FATHER OF MURDER VICTIM, DAVID METZLER: David was just a laid back, just tender-hearted loving kid that liked to have fun. He deeply loved his friends and his family, and most of all he was deeply committed to Christ and wanted to share that with his friends and lead them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

GRACE: Sergeant Childs, what can you tell me about your daughter?

SGT. DONALD CHILDS, FATHER OF MURDER VICTIM, HEIDI CHILDS, VIRGINIA STATE POLICE: She was a wonderful girl. Loved life. Full of life. She walked the walk and talked the talk. She had just a wonderful attitude about life in general, was always smiling.

She loved her family. She loved David. She loved school. But most of all, she loved the Lord and she was a living example of that.

GRACE: You know, gentlemen, I -- couldn`t understand. I thought I understood felony crimes, being a crime victim, until I had my children. And even now at just age 2, you pump so much love, so much nurturing, so many high hopes and dreams into them, for it to end in this manner. I want you to know our prayers are with you.

METZLER: Thank you.

CHILDS: Thank you, Nancy.

GRACE: To Richard Herman. Richard, you have defended so many murder cases. Do you believe that a reward will help?

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, I think a reward will absolutely help. Hasn`t this school suffered enough? I just cannot believe the torture that we read going on at Virginia Tech. These two young people got slaughtered like this.

I don`t know. Was this close-up? Was it a rifle? What was the caliber? What information do we have on this, Nancy?

GRACE: Right now not very much is being released, is it, Mike Brooks?

MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Not at all, Nancy. And that`s the whole thing. You know, we don`t know. Apparently one victim was inside the car, one outside the car.

They probably vacuumed it with a forensic vacuum to try to get any hairs, fibers, DNAs, any kind of fingerprint evidence. Taking a look at -- I know it`s not pleasant to talk about with both the gentlemen there, but angle of the bullet, all these things.

But it`s going to be very, very important in determining was there one perp in this, was there two? What exactly happened? We don`t know right now, Nancy.

GRACE: To the lines, Melissa in West Virginia. What`s your question, dear?

MELISSA, CALLER FROM WEST VIRGINIA: Yes. I would like to congratulate you on your twins. You are a wonderful mother. I have twins as well. So I know what a blessing that is. And my question is when was the couple last seen?

GRACE: Good question. To Jim Nolan, when were they last seen?

NOLAN: Well, the last contact, Nancy, that authorities are saying that they had was around 8:00 or 8:30 on Wednesday evening. And they`re not elaborating on how that contact took place. But the authorities have said that they believe that the couple was there alone, at least initially.

GRACE: Back to Sergeant Donald Childs, the father of Heidi Childs. What, if anything, are police telling you that you can share with us? I want the viewers to know what they can to help.

Everyone, the tip line, 540-382-2951. Sergeant?

CHILDS: We would appreciate, of course, any tips called into the line, anything at all. I would not want to jeopardize anything in this investigation at all. I can tell you that there is in the works a reward being organized. It`s too early at this time to tell you any of the details.


CHILDS: Other than there is a reward being generated for this.

GRACE: Dr. Metzler, what, if anything, can you share with us that police have shared with you to help the viewers? Do we know if it was one assailant, two? The time of the shooting? Have they placed the time of death?

METZLER: No, we really don`t have those kind of details.


METZLER: The only thing we know is that they`ve pulled out all the stops, so to speak, and they`re using all the resources available for this case.

GRACE: Dr. Metzler, how is your family?

METZLER: Well, we are obviously saddened and deeply hurt. The pain is awful. But we also have a wonderful hope and assurance that both of our kids are in heaven. They trusted Christ as their savior. And we feel a real peace for them.

GRACE: Heidi Childs, David Metzler have lost their lives. Tonight, we want questions, and as we go to break on a happy note, a very special happy birthday to Fayetteville, Georgia friend of the show, Aunt Ruth.

A loving wife of 54 years. Her family loves her for her big heart, always caring for others. She`s a proud mother, a grandmother of three, and she is so brave.

Happy birthday, Aunt Ruth.

And happy birthday to California friend, Lourdes. She works for the Burbank Unified School District, loves movies, reading, never misses a show. Biggest joy, her two girls. She`s a cancer survivor, so brave.

Happy birthday, Lourdes.




UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bodies of two Virginia Tech students have been found at a Jefferson National Forest campground. That`s a popular hangout for students. The sheriff says 19-year-old David Lee Metzler and 18-year- old Heidi Lynn Childs were apparently shot to death.

The campground were the bodies were found is about 15 miles from the Tech campus.


GRACE: Out to Dr. Marty Makary. Dr. Makary, assuming the cause of death is by shooting, I`m hoping against hope that this was a quick and painless death. What can you tell us?

MAKARY: They`ll be looking at particulates of gunpowder at the actual entry site. They`ll be looking for the trajectory. They`ll be looking at autopsy for any bruising. And they`ll be able to tell whether or not there was a struggle. I suspect there will have not been any type of struggle.

GRACE: Back to Mike Brooks. Mike, what`s your analysis?

BROOKS: You know, Nancy, right now, with no good evidence that we`re hearing about, I`m sure maybe the sergeant knows a little bit more, but I don`t blame him for not saying anything. But right now it`s just what we`re doing right now.

GRACE: Right.

BROOKS: Getting it out into the public`s view. Because a lot of times, Nancy, as you know, a lot of times people think -- you know, don`t believe they see anything, but they really do.

GRACE: Sergeant Childs, how is your family tonight?

CHILDS: They are feeling the pain. Her sister`s very close, her two brothers very close to the sweet Heidi that she was. And we`re getting by. And the grace of God. The grace of God.

GRACE: Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Robert Carr, 22, Warren, Ohio, killed Iraq. On a second tour, lost his life just weeks before he was to return home and celebrate his first wedding anniversary.

He`s remembered for his big heart and the way he made other people smile. Loved sports, wrestling, football, dreamed of being an ultimate fighter. Leaves behind parents Christine and Jeff, sisters Jennifer, Julie, Rachel, brother Matthew, who also served Iraq and Afghanistan. Grieving widow Nina.

Robert Carr, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for inviting us into your home. And happy birthday to one of our show`s stars, Beth. The proud mother of 2-year-old Kaitlin.

Happy birthday, dear Beth.



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