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NANCY GRACE

Misty Croslin`s Lawyer Tells Bounty Hunter Padilla to Butt Out

Aired February 24, 2010 - 20:00:00   ET

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


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh. Last person to see her alive, new stepmother Misty Croslin, who takes to the airwaves, claiming she`s innocent. But even in one brief interview, she can`t keep her story straight, including a 180 on a lie detector she flunked. Little Haleigh`s own father, Ronald Cummings, and baby-sitter- turned-stepmother Misty Croslin both handcuffed, arrested, booked. Charges, drug trafficking.

Bombshell tonight. We obtain even more secret undercover surveillance video taken inside that police car by pinpoint secret camera. New details emerging, haggling over drug prices, a dope deal near a school, the sting, the repeat drug sales to undercover cops, the conversations, the lies, the sales, the takedown all caught on video. And tonight Croslin drops the bomb, admitting on tape she has doubt little Haleigh will ever come home. But why?

And tonight, on those secretly recorded jailhouse tapes, we see hours of Croslin yakking to Mommy, Granddaddy, Grandma, Daddy, brother, but we see a very different Misty Croslin, angry, self-absorbed to the max, demanding her relatives bail her out, insisting she`ll only talk about Haleigh once she`s out from behind bars, Croslin concerned only about herself, whining about conditions in lockup, her food, her cell.

All this while Croslin`s lawyer tells the only bondsman willing to help her to butt out. But why? Is he afraid Croslin may divulge the truth about Haleigh in exchange for bail money? Tonight, Misty Croslin`s house of cards falling in as her own mother arrested on charges of stealing. But what we and the cops both want tonight are answers. Where is 5-year-old Haleigh?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: Let us out right here and we`ll walk up there. Come on, Hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. You want us just to hang out right here?

MISTY CROSLIN: Yes. Just go down and turn around.

RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: ... 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 4, 5. There ain`t but 25 there.

MISTY CROSLIN: Uh-uh, 24.

CUMMINGS: Damn, we got robbed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) him.

RONALD CUMMINGS: We`ll go back if you want.

MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) him. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) him.

RONALD CUMMINGS: You know we ain`t doing it, man, because...

(CROSSTALK)

MISTY CROSLIN: ... because he was dropping. He was dropping. You know, I was counting and I said, Dude, that`s only 24 right there.

RONALD CUMMINGS: Well, it`s a good thing you looked, or otherwise, you`d only got 24. Damn good thing you looked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA CROSLIN, MISTY`S MOTHER: He`ll want to talk to you as soon as you walk out the door.

MISTY CROSLIN: That`s fine.

LISA CROSLIN: OK. You better be honest with him.

MISTY CROSLIN: Mama, I`m being honest, OK?

LISA CROSLIN: I know. I know. He said he can tell by your look in your eyes that you had nothing to do with that, but he`s afraid that you might have overheard something, or something.

MISTY CROSLIN: Well, if he gets me out, I can talk to him. That`s all I`m saying.

LISA CROSLIN: OK. All right. Sounds good to me.

MISTY CROSLIN: You think he`s going to do it?

LISA CROSLIN: Yes, I know he`s going to do it.

MISTY CROSLIN: OK.

LISA CROSLIN: I`m not crazy, Ma. I know what the man told us. I mean, do you think he would have got me a car if he wasn`t being honest?

MISTY CROSLIN: Right. You`re right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live to California, the mystery surrounding the sudden disappearance of an entire family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joseph and Summer McStay mysteriously disappeared two weeks ago with their children, 5-year-old Gianni and 3- year-old Joseph. The couple was last heard from on February 4th. On the 6th, both of their cell phones died. Then on the 8th, their Isuzu Trooper was found two blocks from the Mexican border.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brother can`t find them. Police are called. They go into the house, find something that triggers them to call homicide investigators, who -- who investigate when there`s a suspicious missing case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say the family did not pack to go on vacation, their two dogs left without food and water in the back yard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the patrol deputy was there, he seen certain things -- and I can`t be specific about what they were -- that were somewhat alarming to him. He gave us a call, and that`s how we got involved in the case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just doesn`t look like a vacation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s correct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something else that alerted sheriff`s investigators is when they checked the home, shoes were on the front porch and the energy meter was still running. It does not appear that the family was planning to go anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apparently, when the family`s car was found, the boy`s carseat still in the car. Some other things -- police say that they didn`t apparently take things that they would take with them on a planned family vacation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don`t leave ever the house without your diaper bag and all the other paraphernalia that we usually run around with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) I want my family home safe! I want them to come home!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. We obtain even more secret undercover surveillance video taken inside that police car by pinpoint secret camera. This as Misty Croslin drops the bomb, saying on those secretly recorded jailhouse videos that she doubts little Haleigh will ever come home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: Just going to ride right here by the school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You scared the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of me!

(LAUGHTER)

MISTY CROSLIN: Sorry, $190.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $190?

RONALD CUMMINGS: Yes, $7 apiece. It`s actually $189.

MISTY CROSLIN: Well, yes, it`s $189.

RONALD CUMMINGS: For 27 of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For 27 of them?

MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK. All right.

MISTY CROSLIN: You`re going to have to probably give me your money right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: Please God, let him get me out this week!

LISA CROSLIN: Just hang in there a few more days, Meme (ph).

MISTY CROSLIN: I`m going to. Keep minutes on the phone, too!

LISA CROSLIN: Oh, I am. I got $50 on it.

MISTY CROSLIN: Who`s putting $100 in my account?

LISA CROSLIN: Leonard. It`s already on there.

MISTY CROSLIN: And then Dad put $100 in today, too.

LISA CROSLIN: No, the $100 he was going to put in was from Leonard. He just went ahead and Western Unioned it into your account today.

MISTY CROSLIN: And Timmy was supposed to put $100 in there! And Western Union...

LISA CROSLIN: I know. That`s what I don`t understand. They didn`t tell me if they done it or not.

MISTY CROSLIN: No! They said that Dad was putting it in there tonight and they were Western Unioning the money back.

LISA CROSLIN: They were going to until they found out Leonard was doing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: Turning by the school. All right. All right. Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s $190 right there.

MISTY CROSLIN: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK CROSLIN, MISTY`S FATHER: I pray for you every night. I pray for Haleigh, too.

MISTY CROSLIN: I pray for her every day, all day. I`m telling you, I do. I miss her so much.

HANK CROSLIN: Poor little girl. And I miss her, too.

MISTY CROSLIN: God`s going to bring her home.

HANK CROSLIN: God`s going to bring her home?

MISTY CROSLIN: God`s going to bring her home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to investigative journalist Art Harris. Art, what`s the latest?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Nancy, what`s shocking on these new undercover jailhouse tapes, Misty is telling her father that she thinks God will bring Haleigh home, but she`s really not sure. As you said, she has doubts that Haleigh is alive.

GRACE: But why, Art, after all of this time, is she suddenly saying, I don`t think she`s going to come home?

HARRIS: Nancy, that is the $64,000 question. And police are trying to put the squeeze on her, make her sweat in jail. And eventually, they believe that she`s going to tell someone something. On these tapes, she hints that she may know something, if you listen to them carefully.

GRACE: To you, Jean Casarez, legal correspondent with In Session, what can you tell me?

JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION: You know, Nancy, when she says that God is going to bring her home, there`s a lot of interpretations to that. And the state of mind of Misty could be that she`s not alive but that she will be brought home, the body will be brought home. She also says, though, God just hasn`t given her the sign yet.

GRACE: God hasn`t given her the sign. OK, joining us right now, the man of the hour once again, bounty hunter out of California Leonard Padilla. Leonard Padilla has offered to bond her out from behind bars in exchange for her telling him the truth about what happened to Haleigh that night, the night she was alone with Misty Croslin, the baby-sitter-turned- stepmother.

Leonard Padilla, I got a bombshell right here, a letter or a release from Misty Croslin`s lawyer saying, basically, Butt out. But what I want to know, Leonard, is what lawyer tells a bondsman, Look -- who says, Look, I`ll bond you out, but you got to tell me the truth. What lawyer would turn down that deal unless he didn`t want Croslin to talk to you?

LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: Well, I`m not a bondsman. You have to understand that. I`m a bounty hunter.

GRACE: Bounty hunter, bondsman, bail bondsman. You say tomato, I say tomato!

(LAUGHTER)

GRACE: Please, answer the question, Leonard Padilla.

PADILLA: Thank you. OK. All right. It doesn`t make sense that her attorney would tell me to butt out if I`m willing to pay for a $1.35 bond in exchange for information. Now, the information has to come first to prove where Haleigh is or where she can be found. We`re not going to buy a pig in a poke. However, if the attorney feels that way, I don`t -- you know, that`s his situation. He`s running the defense on the pill case. I`m not interested or involved in the pill case. My only...

GRACE: Wa-wa-wa-wa-wait! Stop right there, Leonard. Leonard, Leonard Padilla, all due respect, all right, I`ve worked with plenty of bondsmen, or as you call yourself, bounty hunter, whatever. We both know that, yes, they were selling drugs. There`s no doubt about that. It`s on video. But what this is about is finding Haleigh, OK? You can`t separate the two cases.

PADILLA: It`s about Haleigh. It is about...

GRACE: OK, go ahead.

PADILLA: ... Haleigh. It`s about Haleigh. We all know that. But I`m not going to cast aspersions on the efforts of the law enforcement people back in Florida.

What I`m saying is, I`m not involved in the pill case. I`m involved in Haleigh and bringing Haleigh home. And she has the information. Now, one of the rumors that I heard over the weekend was that she has said -- and I don`t know who to, but that she has said that she that night saw her cousin, Joe, standing in the doorway. Whether that`s true or not, I don`t know.

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait! She is now saying she saw her cousin there in the doorway of the home the night Haleigh goes missing? This is news to me. Where did this come from?

PADILLA: It came to me from one of the relatives of Tommy. It was his sister-in-law, Timmy`s wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: Who`s putting $100 in my account?

LISA CROSLIN: Leonard. It`s already on there.

MISTY CROSLIN: And Dad put in $100 today, too.

LISA CROSLIN: No, that $100 he was going to put in was from Leonard. He just went ahead and Western Unioned it into your account today.

MISTY CROSLIN: And Timmy was supposed to put $100 in there! And Western Union (INAUDIBLE)

LISA CROSLIN: I know. That`s what I don`t understand. They didn`t tell me if they done it or not.

MISTY CROSLIN: No! They said that Dad was putting it in there tonight, and they were Western Unioning the money back.

LISA CROSLIN: They were going to until they found out Leonard was doing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA CROSLIN: I see the smile. Go to bed and think positive tonight.

MISTY CROSLIN: I am.

LISA CROSLIN: Don`t cry, Sissy.

MISTY CROSLIN: I`m not. I just want to get out. I`m so happy that I`m going to get out.

LISA CROSLIN: Them happy tears?

MISTY CROSLIN: Yes. Tell him to please...

LISA CROSLIN: I`m so glad to see that smile. Don`t worry, Meme. Just hang in.

MISTY CROSLIN: I love you.

LISA CROSLIN: I love you, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: That`s all we can do is pray to God because he`s the only one, you know? It`s got to be his time. In his time, he`ll do it.

HANK CROSLIN: You think she can come home?

MISTY CROSLIN: Of course, Dad.

HANK CROSLIN: I hope and pray to God she does.

MISTY CROSLIN: Me too. I mean, I can`t tell you by definitely because, you know, I can`t say, you know, 100 percent, but God hasn`t gave me that sign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Did you hear that? Did you hear that, Art Harris? I can`t say 100 percent she`s coming home. And see, that`s not the attitude she had at the very beginning, when the searches were ongoing and this was all fresh in everyone`s mind, the little 5-year-old girl with Turner syndrome was gone, vanished out of her own bed in the middle of the night.

Art Harris, I thought I knew all the updates. I thought I had the bombshell. You`re the one digging. You`re the investigative journalist. Did you know this new revelation from Misty Croslin? She says the cousin, the male cousin, was in the home the night Haleigh goes missing?

HARRIS: Nancy, this is a cousin the family has been telling me all along they suspect. The question is, is it a diversion, or is it true? I can tell you that law enforcement has interviewed this cousin in Tennessee twice.

GRACE: Who is he?

HARRIS: He`s a cousin. His name is Joe. And he was there staying with Misty`s sister-in-law and brother during this period. The sister-in- law tells me that she got up the next morning. The van that she had was moved, and the keys were in a different place in the kitchen. So they are trying to implicate Joe. He took off the next morning after Haleigh vanished.

GRACE: Art, I didn`t hear that part about the kitchen. Would you repeat?

HARRIS: Chelsea Croslin, who`s married to brother Timmy, tells me that cousin Joe used the van and that the keys to the van were in a different place than she left them the next morning when they got up and Haleigh was reported missing.

GRACE: Wait. That`s my big proof, that he used the van and he misplaced the car keys?

HARRIS: Exactly, Nancy. I mean...

GRACE: That doesn`t -- OK, that`s not really helping me much, Art. But thanks for that tidbit. I`m going to come back to you and let you redeem yourself in a moment.

Back to you, Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter, as he has corrected me. He`s offered to bond Croslin out of jail in exchange for the truth about what happened to this little girl you`re seeing on the bottom of your TV screen right now. She was alone with the little girl and baby brother, Ronald Cummings, Jr., the evening this child goes missing. Misty Croslin says she heard nothing, she saw nothing, she knows nothing.

Back to you, Padilla.

PADILLA: Yes, ma`am.

GRACE: The whole family, in my mind, has been trying to pin this on the cousin, Joe Croslin (SIC), from the get-go. And it is very unusual that immediately after Haleigh goes missing, he leaves town. He`s gone. What exactly did they say? What exactly did they say about his involvement?

PADILLA: Well, basically, she related -- and I think she related it to law enforcement and possibly her sister-in-law -- that she saw Joe Overstreet standing in the doorway, in the back, where it was propped open with the child. Now, subsequent to that, I know that Joe Overstreet was seen hanging "Haleigh missing" flyers in town, and that shortly thereafter, he called his then girlfriend, Jennifer (ph), and said, I have to go to Antioch, Tennessee, where he lives. That`s where his mother and the family lives.

Subsequently, I think law enforcement went down there and did several interviews with him. It`s not to say that they`ve cleared him, but according to -- speaking to Chelsea and other family members, it`s kind of an ongoing discussion with Joe as to what he might have done or maybe participated in.

GRACE: Well, bottom line, you know, if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck and it looks like a duck, it`s probably a duck. Padilla, this is what I know. I know when they made an arrest, they put her behind bars, not cousin Joe Croslin.

As we go to break, take a listen to some of the secretly recorded tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, like I told her earlier, I`ll just give y`all a call when I`m done out there and start heading this way, and we`ll see what`s up at that point.

MISTY CROSLIN: All right.

RONALD CUMMINGS: Yes, if I can`t -- I mean, I don`t know if you do Roxys or whatever, I can get them, but they`re (EXPLETIVE DELETED) expensive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: I want out of here!

LISA CROSLIN: I know you do. It`s been 21 days. It`s too long.

MISTY CROSLIN: It is. You know...

LISA CROSLIN: But you`re coming home. I know. As long as you say you`ll talk to him, he`s coming to get you.

MISTY CROSLIN: OK.

LISA CROSLIN: So -- and I`m going to let him know what you said.

MISTY CROSLIN: OK.

LISA CROSLIN: OK? All right, baby, I love you.

MISTY CROSLIN: I love you, too. And hold a candle for me tomorrow.

LISA CROSLIN: Oh, I will. I promise, OK? Don`t cry.

MISTY CROSLIN: I love you!

LISA CROSLIN: I love you too, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN: Just going to ride right here by the school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You scared the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of me!

(LAUGHTER)

MISTY CROSLIN: Sorry, $190.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $190?

RONALD CUMMINGS: Yes, $7 apiece. It`s actually $189.

MISTY CROSLIN: Well, yes, it`s $189.

RONALD CUMMINGS: For 27 of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For 27 of them?

MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. OK. All right.

MISTY CROSLIN: You`re going to have to probably give me your money right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Alex Sanchez out of New York and Randy Kessler of Atlanta. Welcome, gentlemen. I`ve never heard of a lawyer -- first to you, Sanchez -- telling a bondsman -- I`ve got it right here in black and white, OK? Telling a bondsman -- or excuse me, Padilla, a bounty hunter, that`s going to help the client get out from behind bars on bond to butt out, not to contact his client anymore, to stay far away from the family, no communications. Why is he so worried about Leonard Padilla talking to his client?

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Leonard Padilla is like a monkeywrench in the criminal system. Nobody really understands how to deal with him and they`re not sure what his objectives are. But the lawyer`s looking at it from a legal point of view. He doesn`t want his client to speak to Leonard Padilla because his client may say something very incriminating, and then Leonard Padilla is going to take that information and is going to have to go to the district attorney`s office with that information. So why on earth should she speak to Leonard Padilla?

GRACE: You know what? Put Sanchez back up, please. Sanchez, a truer word was never spoken. Finally, after coming on our show, much less Court TV, for what now, 10 years, I finally wring the truth out of you. I`m so proud!

What about it, Kessler? He actually -- a defense attorney, actually admits the reason her lawyer probably doesn`t want her to talk to Padilla is she may say something incriminating about the night little Haleigh goes missing. Don`t we want to find out the truth about that night?

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the defense lawyer`s worried about exactly what he should be worried about, the image of his client coming out, saying, I`ll cut a deal, get me out of jail and I`ll tell you what I know. The presupposition is she knows something. If she cuts a deal, it`ll be on your show tomorrow night, saying she must know something because she cut a deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANK CROSLIN: I want to get your brother out, too.

MISTY CROSLIN: Well, worry about me first, OK?

HANK CROSLIN: I`m worried about both of you.

MISTY CROSLIN: I know that. But I`m saying get me out first!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN, RONALD CUMMING`S EX-WIFE, LAST SEEN HALEIGH: Yes, I know. Tell him to get the process started. Start the court thing so I can get -- go to court and get out.

LISA CROSLIN, MISTY CROSLIN`S MOTHER: OK. I promise you. Don`t worry, baby. You`re coming home. You`re going to be coming home.

M. CROSLIN: OK.

L. CROSLIN: You watch and see.

M. CROSLIN: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

L. CROSLIN: I see a smile.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Left?

M. CROSLIN: Yes. Just go straight.

RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF HALEIGH CUMMINGS: What you got? I hear you sniffling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?

CUMMINGS: What you got? I hear you sniffling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CUMMINGS: Roxies or something?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. My (EXPLETIVE DELETED) stays (EXPLETIVE DELETED), dude.

CUMMINGS: You got some good dope or something?

M. CROSLIN: (Laughs)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No.

CUMMINGS: I like to get high, that`s why I was asking. If you had any powder to let me know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I got to go talk to some people this afternoon. I`ve got to be straight.

CUMMINGS: Well, do whatever you got to do, man, because like I said them 50 percs, I told you it wasn`t a guarantee. It`s a guarantee he`s getting them. There`s no ifs, ands or buts. He gets them every month. He gets 100 of them but he won`t sell me but 50.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

CUMMINGS: So I guarantee you there`s 50 Percocets right around the corner, I just don`t know.

M. CROSLIN: Hey, baby. Baby! Ronald! He don`t want to do it right here. You got to go Spinners?

CUMMINGS: What?

M. CROSLIN: He don`t want to do it right here. Do you got to go to Spinners?

CUMMINGS: Yes.

M. CROSLIN: All right. We`ll follow right behind you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where`s he going?

M. CROSLIN: The Spinner`s right down the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going to go where I just met a dude at because it`s off the road, ain`t nobody there, ain`t no houses, no nothing.

M. CROSLIN: See, I don`t think it`s set up, like --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean it`s like 10 minutes up the road.

M. CROSLIN: I don`t think we have time for 10 minutes up the road because we were going to stop here, go on and get his son and then he`s got to go shoot back to another job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Well, you want to --

M. CROSLIN: Well, they`re already gone so you have to take me to them I guess. They`re already gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Misty Croslin dropping the bomb behind bars. She`s not so sure Haleigh, little Haleigh, will ever come home again. This as detailed recordings out of that cop car emerge. Pinpoint recordings of them haggling over the price of drugs, even talking about a drug sale near a school.

I want to go to Paul Penzone, director of prevention programs at Childhelp.org. Former sergeant Phoenix PD and undercover drug cop for six years. You know that`s kind of a dangerous assignment. I`m surprised you lasted six years.

Either you get hurt or you get exposed as being a cop. One way or the other. But what do you make of these undercover surveillance videos? They`re awfully chatty and chummy with the undercover cop.

PAUL PENZONE, DIRECT OF PREVENTION PROGRAMS, CHILDHELP.ORG, FMR. SERGEANT, PHOENIX PD: It`s great police work. What it shows you there is if you take Misty Croslin, and look at her as a little girl, it`s easy sometimes for people to kind of feel sorry for her. But when you see her in her true element, it tells you the real picture.

So the detectives there did a phenomenal job. And it is extremely dangerous, it`s very risky work. But when you see what they do, what the payoff can be, it`s very high. But I want to make a point to something real quick, Nancy. We have a three-ring circus going on right now.

You have a bounty hunter, you have cousin it, you have the parents, all these things going on. In the middle of it all is Misty Croslin. Don`t buy into this story because it starts and ends with her. There`s a civil process called a free talk.

If she had something she and her attorney could sit down with a prosecutor, talk a little bit about what they believe they can bring to the table, and maybe get her in the position of strength.

But the truth is, if what you`re saying really is what you did then you`re in a bigger problem. So I think she`s where it all begins and it might be where it all ends.

GRACE: Joining me is a special guest right now out of Florida. This is Ronald Cummings` attorney, Terry Shoemaker. A very well respected in that region of the country.

Terry, thank you for being with us. Terry, you know, since the first time I met and spoke with Ronald Cummings, I`ve believed him. It was a gut instinct. No, I never believed he hasn`t done drugs. I never believed he had not sold drugs in his past, but his grief over his daughter missing, to me, was genuine.

And after trying all those cases for all those years, believe me, I have not hung around with nuns and priests and virgins. All right? So somebody that did drugs, that was not my first time at the rodeo with being with a drug user or seller.

TERRY SHOEMAKER, ATTORNEY FOR HALEIGH`S FATHER, RONALD CUMMINGS (via phone): Yes.

GRACE: How is he responding to being behind bars? Not just because the drug sales but because Misty Croslin won`t talk about the night Haleigh went missing?

SHOEMAKER: Well, he`s very confused right now as to what`s going on with Haleigh`s case. You know, because he is behind bars, as you stated, you know, law enforcement isn`t keeping him up to date on anything that`s going on and he keeps wondering what`s going on? Do they have any new leads? Or has Misty said anything or anybody else?

So that`s the hardest part for him right now is trying to find out what`s going on with his daughter.

GRACE: Well, Terry, my question was more pointed. My question is -- I believe a lot of focus came down on your client, Ronald Cummings. Yes, he did the drug deals. I can see that on video.

But what they want is the truth about where Haleigh is. That`s what they want. Misty now is telling people -- Misty Croslin, she observed her cousin, who is not a suspect or person of interest, in the home the night the child goes missing. What about that?

SHOEMAKER: Well, that`s the first I`ve heard anything about her cousin being in the house that night. The only thing I`d heard previously and the only thing that I believe Ronald has ever heard is that possibly, you know, her brother went over based on some telephone call that supposedly happened when Ronald called the house. So --

GRACE: So you had not heard this, Terry?

SHOEMAKER: No, I have not.

GRACE: OK. Let`s take a look at the ammunition, just some of it -- this is the tip of the iceberg -- that the state has against Misty Croslin and Ronald Cummings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUMMINGS: Two, four, six, eight, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 2, 4, 5. There ain`t 25 there.

M. CROSLIN: Uh-huh.

CUMMINGS: Yes.

M. CROSLIN: 24.

CUMMINGS: Damn. We got robbed. (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We`ll go back if you want. (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You know when to do it, man.

(CROSSTALK)

M. CROSLIN: He was dropping. He was dropping, I was coming and I said dude, that`s only 24 right there.

CUMMINGS: Well, it`s a good thing you looked.

(CROSSTALK)

CUMMINGS: Otherwise you would have gotten only 24. Damn good thing you looked.

M. CROSLIN: But he was dropping them. He`s (EXPLETIVE DELETED) bad.

CUMMINGS: How many does he got left? That was it or what?

M. CROSLIN: I don`t know.

CUMMINGS: Well, we don`t want to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) with him no more anyway. He don`t do good business. That`s the end of that.

(CROSSTALK)

CUMMINGS: She`ll get them. She`ll get them for you. I mean, so right now you just got (EXPLETIVE DELETED) there for a minute, but she`ll get them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like I told her earlier I`ll just give you all a call when I`m done out there and start heading this way and we`ll see what`s up at that point.

M. CROSLIN: All right.

CUMMINGS: Yes. If I can`t -- I mean, I don`t know if you do Roxies or whatever, I can get them but they`re expensive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Art Harris, investigative journalist. Art, what do you make of it?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, ARTHARRIS.COM: Nancy, what I make of it is that these undercover tapes correspond to the police reports that have them nailed (INAUDIBLE) rights on drugs. But Misty`s lawyer is hoping that she has something he can use to cut her a deal to lower those years that she`s facing. That`s why he doesn`t want her talk to Padilla. If she does the information loses its leverage.

GRACE: Out to Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation. A tireless crusader for victims and missing people.

Marc, what do you think?

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I think that the one common theme in every one of these jailhouse conversations with Misty is that she`s whining and begging and doing anything she can to find a way to get out of jail.

And with Leonard`s very generous offer on the table, and it`s been on the table for some time, I believe that if she had anything, anything at all, she wouldn`t be listening to her lawyer. She wouldn`t be listening to her mother. She would be talking to Leonard and arranging to get out of jail.

She hasn`t done it. She has nothing. If the police are going to solve this case they`re going to have to go back to the binge prior to the night that Haleigh disappeared. And that`s probably where they`re going to find the truth.

GRACE: To Dr. Lillian Glass joining us from L.A. What do you think, Lillian?

LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT, AUTHOR OF "TOXIC PEOPLE": I think she`s a pretty obnoxious entitled person in saying that God is going to give her an answer. She`s got a lot of information that she knows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. CROSLIN: That`s all I want to do, is get out of this place. I`ll never come back, like for real. I will never do anything to get in trouble ever again. I will try never to come back.

I know I`m not ever doing anything, like God is going to guide me and not let me do anything wrong ever again. And I`m going to start going to church, get my life straight because I don`t want to be in here no more.

This is, like -- this really opened my eyes. Really. It opened my eyes big and --

HANK CROSLIN, MISTY CROSLIN`S FATHER: You think Ronald is going to do a long time?

M. CROSLIN: Probably. I don`t know.

H. CROSLIN: Just for the -- never mind.

M. CROSLIN: I don`t know, though.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I find that very interesting. The visitor says, just for the drugs -- wait, never mind. In other words, don`t answer that. Don`t start talking about the night Haleigh disappeared.

With me is renowned medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper. He`s a chief medical examiner out of Broward County. He is author of "When to Call the Doctor."

Dr. Perper, as always, thank you for being with us.

DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": Sure.

GRACE: Doctor, the time has passed. There have been theories that this child has been kidnapped, has been sold. The possibility of her death is the preeminent theory that cops are working with. If they were to find her now, is she even identifiable?

PERPER: Well, probably yes, because there would be still perhaps some tissue which can be used for DNA fingerprinting. And usually it`s difficult to identify children, but the age and the gender would fit. It depends also where the body was found.

If the body was buried then the preservation would be better than if it was in the water or in the air. So there are a number of factors, but I believe that it would be still something, some tissue to examine, and if not soft tissue then bone marrow.

So I think that it would be a possibility of definitely identifying her and taking blood from the parents and making sure that, indeed, this is the child.

GRACE: Dr. Perper, it has now been about a month since Misty Croslin was arrested for drug sales -- drug trafficking. She should be dried out by now, right? From prescription pain medication?

PERPER: Yes. That`s correct. If she was on some of the pills which apparently were involved like oxycodone, for example. It takes between one and three days for the symptoms to appear and after a week they would disappear. It would be very disagreeable but usually they wouldn`t endanger her life so should be dry by after a month. Yes.

GRACE: Marc Klaas, where do you think we go from here?

KLAAS: Well, I think that you have to go back to the beginning. And I think you have to go back to that night. You have to sort out her various stories. You have to look at the binge weekend that she did before. Who were the people involved in that? What are the repercussions of that? Are they involved in this?

We know that she didn`t want to be there. She didn`t want to be baby- sitting, and she was wasted from a weekend of drug, sex and rock `n` roll.

GRACE: And to you, Paul Penzone, weigh in.

PENZONE: He`s right on. You have to remove all the distractions and just stay focused on where the investigation started. Go back and look and see if there`s anything at all that you overlooked, and don`t underestimate the players who are involved and what they`re capable of.

It`s still out there. We can find this little girl and hopefully she`s still alive. It`s going to start with Misty.

GRACE: Everyone, I want to keep you advised about what`s happening with the most unusual case. An entire family disappears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m shocked, you know? And I hope everything`s OK.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Joseph McStay, his wife, Summer, and their two young boys, ages 3 and 5, haven`t been seen or heard from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They haven`t been seen since February 4th. We know that four days later before anybody realizes they were missing the car had just been towed as abandonment. Didn`t raise any red flags because nobody knew they were missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was in a parking lot down there and then it was towed from the parking lot as abandoned. We were told that he would -- absolutely wouldn`t go to Mexico with his family.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Other things don`t add up as well. A pair of Ugg boots and children sandals remain on the front porch, and their two dogs, seen here in a home video with Summer, were left in the backyard unattended.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: The dogs left at home, highly unusual. The brothers says that they`re not answering their cell phones and now Joey McStay`s phone appears to be dead.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tonight loved ones who cannot imagine what happened are just praying the McStays will come home safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Joseph Pena with the San Diego News Network.

Thank you for being with us, Joseph. What can you tell us? What`s the latest on the search for this family?

JOSEPH PENA, REPORTER, SAN DIEGO NEWS NETWORK (via phone): Thank you for having me, Nancy. Here is the latest. The San Diego County Sheriff`s Department has released a flyer today describing the family as endangered, missing. Also authorities are reporting that perishable or refrigerated food items were discovered left out in the family`s home.

And finally according to a local news report, Joseph McStay may have had business connections in Mexico or may have been making a purchase in Mexico for a home remodeling project the family was working on.

McStay`s father, Patrick McStay, told a local news outlet that Joseph may have been buying granite countertops there for the family home or Joseph`s business, an indoor fountain business, may have taken him across the border.

GRACE: So you`re telling me that there in the home when the cops arrived they found refrigerated items left out? Like milk?

PENA: Yes. Yes. Refrigeratable items were left out along with -- they did find the family`s dogs there unattended, uncared for.

GRACE: To you, Lt. Dennis Brugos, San Diego County Sheriff`s Office, a special guest joining us out of San Diego.

Lieutenant, thank you for being with us. That says to me even if there was a legitimate reason for them going to Mexico, such as these countertops that he was ordering, they left in such haste.

LT. DENNIS BRUGOS, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE (via phone): Yes, they did. Actually the countertops had been installed in the home. The house they recently purchased, and it was actually in a kind of state of renovation. There were other things. They were putting down new hardwood flooring and that type of thing.

So it`s very possible they were purchasing things in Mexico. We`re checking on that right now. We have two of our liaison detectives who work in Mexico on a daily basis and they`re following up on that.

GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, the kicker is even if they were purchasing things in Mexico, why would they have taken the children down there to do business? Number two, why would they have left the car, I believe it was left, abandoned at San Isidro?

JOSTAD (via phone): Yes, that`s right, Nancy. It doesn`t make any sense that they would take off without their vehicle. If they were going to transport these countertops and -- you know, like you said, why bring the kids along?

Another thing I wanted to bring up, though, Nancy, the house searched last Friday and the cars as well. Search warrants served. Cadaver dogs brought in. But they did not find anything.

GRACE: To Alex Sanchez and Randy Kessler -- Alex, it`s not a crime you just disappear.

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, it`s not a crime if you disappear as long as you`re not putting anybody in damage. If the kid needs medical treatment, needs to go to school, you can pick up your family and move across the world.

GRACE: But Randy Kessler, the carseats were left in the family vehicle.

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. If there`s a crime, wouldn`t the criminal have stolen the car and sold the car and gotten some money for that and taken their property? Nothing has turned up -- credit cards, personal items. It sounds very strange.

GRACE: Tipline, 888-580-8477. There is a reward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just don`t know what happened. We just want them to be back home. I know they didn`t skip home. I know they wouldn`t hurt one another. They`re beautiful, amazing people and they were very happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: To Lt. Dennis Brugos, San Diego County Sheriff`s Office, where exactly along the border was their vehicle discovered?

BRUGOS: It was actually about two blocks from the crossing itself, in a private parking lot of a small shopping mall. And it was towed just as abandoned and actually that was on the 8th and this matter didn`t come to our attention until the 15th.

GRACE: What do you think, Paul Penzone?

PENZONE: You can`t remove the possibility of randomness, which is always a scarier situation for investigators because it`s the hardest track and why if it occurred. But you have to start with those closest to the family and friends to just find out anything outside the ordinary going on their live, and hopefully that will lead you somewhere.

GRACE: You`re right, Paul. Marc Klaas, what do you think?

KLAAS: They`re going to have to track any potential credit card activity, any cell phone activity, look into the family`s computer, see if there might be something there that will give them a glimmer of hope as to where to take this investigation. But I agree with everything else and everybody else has said.

GRACE: To Dr. Joshua Perper, what should they be looking for inside that family car?

PERPER: Well, they should look there for any kind of disruption to -- or damage to the interior of the car indicating that there was some kind of struggle or unusual activity. Any blood, any body fluids, fingerprints, which possibly can be later on matched to the fingerprints of the abductor if there was such an abduction.

It depends. At that time apparently they didn`t find anything in the car and can give a report for everything.

GRACE: Tipline, everyone, there is a reward, is 888-580-8477. That`s CrimeStoppers. An entire family, including two tiny children, disappear, left behind the family dogs to fend for themselves, the home in disarray, even food lying out on the kitchen counters.

Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Specialist Matthew Murchison, 21, Independence, Missouri, killed, Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, Army Achievement Medal, Combat Action Badge.

Loved animals, making people love, Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. Kansas basketball. Dreamed of being a cop like his father. Leaves behind parents Michael and Debra, sister Melissa.

Matthew Murchison, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being us. And tonight, thank you to Vancouver friend Audrey for these winter Olympic mitts for the twins. I understand they`re very difficult to get at the Olympics. Between her hometown host of the winter games, she never misses a show. Thank you.

And tonight, our prayers to South Carolina friend Kathy Evans.

Kathy, please stay strong.

And tonight, a very special thank you to high profile lawyer out of Seattle, Ann Bremner, and her family, Jim and Lenea, for these beautiful flowers for my mom.

And, Ann, thank you for all your prayers and get-well wishes for mother.

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

END