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ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Police Search for Body of Missing Girl

Aired April 15, 2010 - 19:00:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Cousin Joe takes to the airwaves, saying he`s being framed by Misty and Tommy Croslin. All this as cops drag Misty to the banks of the river. Will today be the day we find this beautiful little girl?

Also, a heart-breaking new twist in the war on women. Cops in Orlando have now called off their search for Jennifer Kesse. This beautiful young woman vanished without a trace four long years ago. Tonight I`ll talk to Jennifer`s desperate, frustrated parents as they vow to pick up where cops have left off.

Plus, Steven Seagal: from celebrity lawman to accused sex monster? Disturbing new allegations the Hollywood actor used his personal assistant as a sex toy and kept sex slaves on his personal staff.

ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, fast-breaking news in the Haleigh Cummings case. For the very first time, police say they believe little Haleigh is dead. And they claim it`s, quote, "only a matter of time before they figure out exactly who killed her."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF HARDY, PUTNAM COUNTY SHERIFF: I`m comfortable to go ahead to say that I`m going to call it a homicide. This case has been going on for 14 months. People are finally starting to talk.

We`re trying to make an arrest. We`re trying to bring somebody to justice for this little girl right here and her family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: For the third straight day, divers are scouring Florida`s St. John`s River for the little girl`s body. The area is less than five miles from where Haleigh vanished 14 long months ago. Investigators are now calling that spot on the river a crime scene.

It`s the latest feverish development since last weekend, when police got a credible tip. They even dragged Misty Croslin out of jail yesterday and brought her to the crime scene. Here she is standing on a dock in handcuffs, wearing a blue jail jumpsuit.

Now, Misty`s own grandma -- Misty`s own grandma -- says she is the mystery tipster who called the cops. Grandma says she believes her own grandson, Joe Overstreet, Misty and Tommy`s cousin, killed Haleigh and that Misty`s brother, Tommy, confirmed her theory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLORA HOLLARS, MISTY CROSLIN`S GRANDMOTHER: In my heart, I think Joe did it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is that?

HOLLARS: Because of the way that Tommy talked to my -- I brought Tommy down Sunday night on the telephone. And that`s when he started telling me, and I toad him, I says, "Hey, Tommy, you failed your lie detector test. Now, I`m fixing to ask you right now. I know in my heart who I think did it."

He says, "Who did you think, Nanny?"

I said, "I think Joe."

He says, "You`re right. Joe is the one that did it."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Detectives rushed to Tennessee, and they grilled Joe until midnight Tuesday. But Joe swears he had absolutely nothing to do with little Haleigh`s disappearance. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE OVERSTREET, MISTY CROSLIN`S COUSIN: I didn`t do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn`t do it?

OVERSTREET: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know who did?

OVERSTREET: I know who did. I called the police and told the cops who did it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s what Joe said for the cameras. Now, listen to what he said to his 67-year-old grandma yesterday just hours after he was grilled by the cops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLARS: The actual words that he said when I talked to him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I may not use them but yes.

HOLLARS: You (EXPLETIVE DELETED) don`t call out here no more. That was his very words just a little while ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... there directed at one`s own grandma?

I am taking your calls on these extraordinary developments: 1-877-JVM- SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297.

So much to get to with my amazing panel, all top experts on the Haleigh Cummings case. We begin with Art Harris of TheBaldTruth.com.

Art, you have broken so many stories on this case. I understand you have new information tonight. What is the very latest?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Jane, I can tell you, I just got off the phone with the grandmother, Flora Hollars, who I`ve been speaking to exclusively over the last several months.

She told me that, after Tommy flunked his lie detector test last week, he called her, wanted to get something off his chest. That`s when she asked him about his involvement. He said, "It wasn`t me." And that`s when he revealed and she confirmed it was Joe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it.

HARRIS: We heard her confirm that. And now, he is saying to her, you know, she called -- she called Misty and asked her what she knew. Misty finally said that she had been to the river and had been pointing out where the murder weapon was. That is what cops had her out there for yesterday. That comes as a result of the grandmother`s relaying the information to police, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But, Art, if she, according to our own story, didn`t go down to the river, she claims and Tommy, her brother, claims that Joe took her to the river. Why would she know where the knife was?

HARRIS: Well, she and Tommy have been covering for each other all this time, apparently. It looks like from his lies that he was not at the house first. Then he came to the house at 10 p.m.

Misty has flunked several polygraphs. I reported the latest one February 26. And now, it looks like they have brought their stories together and that Misty is relaying what Tommy has told her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got it. OK. Let me just set up the clip here. Calling from jail, where he has been held on drug trafficking charges, Tommy told his grandmother on the phone that Cousin Joe went into Ron`s trailer that night that Haleigh disappeared with a knife. Tommy says Joe put a knife to Misty`s throat and then kidnapped Haleigh.

About 15 minutes after that, Grandma got another call from Misty, who is also in jail on drug trafficking charges. Misty also told grandma that Joe held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLARS: What Tommy told me when I broke him down was the fact that Joe stated to him that, if he opened his mouth and said anything, that he would bring a gun back down there and kill his whole family. And Misty stated that he had put a knife to her throat that night, which I know Joe does have knives, and I know Joe does have guns in his house out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So there`s a lot of heat on Joe. But, Mike Brooks, do you find it suspicious at all that both Tommy and mystery get the urge to call grandma this past weekend within 15 minutes of each other to spill their guts and tell the same story after months of both saying they had no idea what happened?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Absolutely, Jane. Sorry. Absolutely I do. But, you know, you look at them. We`ve seen Misty in jail. She doesn`t like it in the little girl jail. And neither does Tommy.

The one thing I found interesting today that Sheriff Hardy from Putnam County said, Jane, and that was that he said two investigators from Putnam County, two from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement went up to Tennessee to talk to Joe and that he has a lawyer and that he has, quote, "lawyered up," which means he`s not talking anymore.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Grandma...

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s all it means. That`s all it means.

BROOKS: Exactly.

EIGLARSH: Let`s not jump to any conclusions yet, my bald friend.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: One at a time.

BROOKS: And if there was any probable cause, they would have brought him back with them from Florida. So right now it doesn`t look like any probable cause for Cousin Joe. Are they building that up? We`ll see.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mark?

EIGLARSH: Well, let me just say this. They`d better have more than these two individuals facing minimum mandatory decades in prison for drug trafficking. There better be some physical evidence, because there is no way that prosecutors have proof beyond a reasonable doubt, even if he did it, from the testimony of just Tommy and Misty. It`s just not enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Especially since they`ve been caught lying so many times before. It`s like the boy who cried wolf. If they finally tell the truth now, they don`t have any credibility left.

Grandma Flo offered a few different theories on what might have happened to Haleigh the night she vanished. Listen to this. This is extraordinary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLARS: I`ve heard two different details. I heard that she got a hold of one of Ron`s pills and swallowed it and O.D.`d on it. And then I heard that Misty supposedly hit her in the back of the head and Joe supposedly raped her and then got rid of the body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Again, Joe completely denies any involvement in Haleigh`s disappearance.

T.J. Ward, you administered layered voice analysis to Misty Croslin. Did she reveal anything that`s dovetailing with these new stories that are coming out?

T.J. WARD, CONDUCTED MISTY CROSLIN VOICE ANALYSIS: Well, I will tell you that she did talk about Tommy and Joe. And I asked her directly if she knew if Tommy and Joe were directly involved with the -- with the disappearance of Haleigh, and she said no, and it came back deceptive. So I know that she does know what happened that night. I know directly she knows what transpired.

And her first story about laying the baby down and putting her to bed and looking under the bed when she woke up is al not true.

BROOKS: Looking under the bed? They`re mattresses that sit on the floor, so how is she going to look under the bed?

WARD: Well, she was looking in the bed in the other rooms in the other part of the trailer.

BROOKS: If Misty`s mouth is moving, she`s lying, period.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Everybody, stay right where you are. But is she telling the truth this time that led to this search? We`re all over this fast-breaking news. And we`re taking your calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1- 877-586-7297.

Plus, Jennifer Kesse has been missing for four long years. So why have cops stopped the investigation? Why now? We will talk to Jennifer`s desperate, frustrated parents.

But first, what happened to Haleigh Cummings? Did family members know what happened to this beautiful little girl? Was there a cover up?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLARS: Yes, I do love them. Regardless of what they`ve done, I will always love them. No less and no more. But if you do something like that to a child, I`m sorry. I`m not going to have (ph) it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLARS: This has been a miserable year. And when Sunday came, it just felt like everything was lifted off of my heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know who turned in the tip?

HOLLARS: I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you call the police?

HOLLARS: Yes, ma`am, I did. I turned it in to Crimestoppers. I turned it into the police department.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow. You told everybody.

HOLLARS: I called everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Misty Croslin`s grandma says she is the mystery tipster that led police down to the river`s edge. She called police Sunday and told them her grandson, Cousin Joe from Tennessee, killed Haleigh.

Police are now calling this case a homicide, but Cousin Joe says, "Unh-uh, I`m being framed by Misty and Tommy, my two cousins who are behind bars on drug charges and who have repeatedly changed their stories."

We`re going to get to the phones in a moment. But first, I want to go to Levi Page, who is the last one to interview Misty before she was arrested.

Levi, you`re hearing this new story line. Does it dovetail with anything you`ve learned in your investigation?

LEVI PAGE, INTERVIEWED MISTY: Actually, I think that it`s B.S. I think that Misty and Tommy are both liars. I think that you can`t trust anything they say.

I interviewed a man by the name of Carl Jones (ph) who Misty lived with after she divorced Ronald Cummings, and Misty tried to insinuate to him that it was actually drug dealers that took Haleigh. So how can we trust what Misty says now?

Misty has lied from the very beginning. She`s only -- her and Tommy are only coming up with this after a year after Haleigh vanished. That`s highly suspicious. I think that Cousin Joe is a red herring, and I think any prosecutor that would go in a courtroom and argue that Cousin Joe did this would be laughed out of court.

The motive of this is because Cousin Joe went to the home to steal a gun. The gun wasn`t there, so he went -- he was angry and he abducted Haleigh? A prosecutor that would argue that would be laughed out of court. That`s a laughable motive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, Art Harris, what is the motive that you`ve been hearing if not this crazy, kooky gun story?

HARRIS: Well, I did break that on ArtHarris.com, Jane. And it was the gun story. Of course, Misty has been talking about the mystery dream where there are four shadowy figures in the room. And suddenly, the shadowy figures come closer as she begins to tell and retell the story.

Then it`s Tommy. And now Tommy is saying, when he went down to the river, that Joe took Haleigh to the river. And Misty has pointed out today to police -- actually yesterday what the murder weapon, where it was tossed. I`m told, Jane, it was a rope.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. A rope. So she was asphyxiated or hung?

HARRIS: I can`t confirm that. I just know that this is what Flora told me, that Misty told her when they spoke today from jail.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. That`s new information.

Kelly, Ohio, your question or thought?

CALLER: Yes, I`m wondering where is social services involved? The department of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), CMT, whatever you may have called them. Where are they involved on behalf of these children that are being kidnapped, taken, brought back and murdered? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) community or free housing. Where is social services on the news talking to defend these children? They`re there to protect. Where are they?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I mean, look, I think you raise a very good point.

Mike Brooks, the dysfunctionality in this family started long before Haleigh disappeared. Misty, who was watching her, was babysitting her, had been, according to published reports, on a three-day drug-and-sex binge in the days leading up to her disappearance. And that`s not somebody you want to leave a 5-year-old child with.

BROOKS: No, especially a 5-year-old child with Turner`s Syndrome, Jane. I mean, this -- this cast of characters is unbelievable.

Let me point out one thing that I thought was very interesting today, that -- another thing I thought was interested that Sheriff Hardy said. He said of the investigators that were there at the river, he said that anthropologists were on scene. And the divers were finding all kinds of things on the silty bottom of the St. John`s River. So what does that mean if an anthropologist is on the scene, Jane? That they are looking for bones and body parts.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And remember, there are alligators in these waters. So I don`t want to be graphic, but you can to the math. If a body is thrown in there, it might not last very long.

Misty`s grandma says her grandson, Joe, has been acting very, very strangely. Like, in fact, he may be hiding something. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLARS: Since Joe come back from Florida, he`s been a completely different person. I mean, entirely different.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How so?

HOLLARS: His actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Grandma says she spoke with Joe on the phone yesterday hours after he was grilled by police and that Joe was furious with her. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLARS: Do you want the actual words that he said when I talked to him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I may not use them, but yes.

HOLLARS: You (EXPLETIVE DELETED) don`t call out here no more. That was his very words, just a little while ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, if he is falsely accused, anybody would be angry over that.

Stephanie, California, your question or thought?

CALLER: Hi, Jane. Thank you.

My question is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) are saying different things. Some are saying that they`re dredging the river for her body. And then reports today are saying they`re dredging it for a weapon. Are they looking for both? Or one or the other? Have they found the body and are just not saying yet?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Art Harris?

HARRIS: My sources are telling me they`re using that blue and white cooler to dig up mud and sift for whatever they can find that can put together what the anthropologists are standing by to help with, and that would be skeletal remains.

If, in fact, a rope is used and the skeletal remains are intact, the hyoid bone in the neck would be snapped...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got it.

HARRIS: And even without flesh or, you know, you`d be able to at least ascertain that...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: T.J., you`re hearing this story. Did Misty, when you interviewed her, she say anything about a van? Because cops were looking in the neighborhood for a van.

WARD: Yes, she talked about a van. And she said there was blood in the van. But she went to tell me that it was deer blood.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Fantastic panel, stay right where you are. More fast-breaking news on day three of the dramatic Haleigh Cummings search.

Plus, desperate parents search for answers. Jennifer Kesse now a cold case. Her parents are mad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARDY: I`m comfortable to go ahead and say that I`m going to call it a homicide. This case has been going on for 14 months. People are finally starting to talk.

We`re trying to make an arrest. We`re trying to bring somebody to justice for this little girl right here and her family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: People are finally starting to talk, but are they telling the truth? Misty and Tommy were the ones who pointed to Cousin Joe and then pointed to the river. That, according to the grandmother of all three cousins.

I want to go back to T.J. Ward, who administered the layered voice analysis to Misty Croslin.

You were saying something about she said that there was deer blood in the van. Is the implication that perhaps whoever did this put deer blood on little Haleigh so that, when they threw her in the water, the alligators would eat her?

WARD: I`m not suggesting that. I`m just saying that there was a thing that came up about the van, about the blood in the van. And she`s claiming that the blood in the van was deer blood. I will tell you that I did directly ask her if she knew who was involved in this or if she was directly involved in this, which came up that she was not telling the truth. She does know who was involved in this.

And I turned this over to the Putnam County Sheriff`s Office after I administered the test and gave them all the results of the test. She does know who was involved. If not, she`s involved in it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, what do you make of this new story? Do you think this new story has credibility or, as Levi Page said, it`s a crock just invented by them to -- to just waste taxpayer money?

WARD: Well, I will tell you, she does not have a lot of credibility. But some of the things -- you know, the people that are involved in these type of cases like this turn the story around a little bit. But I can tell you that she`s directly involved in this, if not indirectly. And Tommy and Joe, there`s something about this puzzle to put together that all three may be involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And what`s really interesting, Art Harris, is that, according to Texas EquuSearch, Tim Miller, he told me on ISSUES that Ron, Haleigh`s dad, told him that this was the exact location where Joe, the cousin, liked to go fishing. What`s the significance of that?

HARRIS: Well, I walked down to the dock one day with Ronald when I was down there, Jane. And he told me that he and Joe used to go down to the dock, and Joe enjoyed throwing animals out into the river and meat and watching alligators feed on it. Now, I don`t know if that`s a true story or not, but it gives me chills. And it would certainly be somewhat consistent with what Tim Miller told you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, that is -- that is probably the most horrifying thing that I`ve heard. First of all, as an animal lover. Secondly, we know that people who abuse animals are capable of killing human beings. We know this statistically.

Mark Eiglarsh, what do you make of it?

EIGLARSH: I make of it that there`s one piece of this huge puzzle, and if that`s all they got, we`ve got problems here.

Who I give credit to are the investigators in the drug trafficking case. If there were any weaknesses at all in that case, Misty wouldn`t have opened up her mouth. She swore on videotape that she would never speak.

Now she`s not only speaking, but she`s hanging out on the dock with them, going on this field trip and clearly cooperating. So I give credit to them. They had a solid case. She was looking at decades in prison. She`s obviously speaking, and she obviously knows something.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, why not arrest them then? Because of no body?

BROOKS: Well, there`s a thing called probable cause, Jane.

EIGLARSH: Yes.

BROOKS: And that`s the big thing if they -- you just can`t go on reasonable suspicion. You have to have probable cause. And right now, it doesn`t look like they have it, or somebody would be locked up.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are staying on top of this one.

From one desperate search to another. The Kesse family talks next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A heart-breaking new twist in the war on women. Cops in Orlando have now called off their search for Jennifer Kesse. This beautiful young woman vanished without a trace four long years ago.

Tonight, I`ll talk to Jennifer`s desperate, frustrated parents as they vow to pick up where cops have left off.

Plus, Steven Seagal, from celebrity lawman to accused sex monster? Disturbing new allegations the Hollywood actor used his personal assistant as a sex toy and kept sex slaves on his personal staff.

But first, we are monitoring the situation down by the river less than five miles away from where this precious child you`re looking at, Haleigh Cummings, disappeared 14 long months ago. Law enforcement holding a news conference just a little while ago saying they now believe this child is dead. They are labeling this a homicide investigation. And they say people are starting to cooperate.

They seem to be referring to the woman in the circle right there in handcuffs and the blue jail jumpsuit, Misty Croslin, who was dragged from her jailhouse to the water`s edge where Art Harris of thebaldtruth.com tells us she pointed out where the murder weapon, which, according to Art, could be a rope might have been tossed.

So much dramatic development in this case as the grandmother of Misty and Misty`s brother and Misty`s cousin, Joe -- the grandmother of all three cousins, speaks out and says she believes cousin Joe Overstreet from Tennessee is the one responsible and says Tommy and Misty both called her from their jail cells and told her as much. However, Joe says he had nothing to do with it and that he`s being framed by Misty and Tommy.

We`re on it. If anything breaks in this hour, we`ll bring it to you ASAP.

Tonight, heartbreak and frustration as cops call off the search for Jennifer Kesse who was just 24 years old when she vanished more than four years ago. Orlando cops now say they have exhausted all credible leads in this case, but, oh, if they get a viable tip, they will pursue it. Probably cold comfort to Jennifer`s devastated parents after being told their daughter is now a cold case.

On Jennifer`s Web site, they wrote that the news, quote, "chipped another piece of our hearts away", end quote. Police say Jennifer is among more than a dozen missing persons cases they cannot solve in this area.

Yesterday, Orlando police said most of these cases involve a transient lifestyle, domestic violence or drugs and alcohol. I wonder how that sat with Jennifer`s parents.

We`re going to hear from Drew and Joyce Kesse exclusively in moments.

Cops believe Jennifer was abducted as she left work on the morning -- left for work on the morning of January 24th, 2006. Possibly by this mystery (AUDIO GAP) -- will these haunting images yield enough clues to find Jennifer? Or at least find out what happened to her.

By the way, ISSUES reached out to Orlando cops to ask specifically why Jennifer`s case has gone cold. We did not hear back.

I am taking your calls on this, 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877- 586-7297.

Straight out to my fantastic guests: Michelle Sigona, investigative reporter and founder of michellesigona.com; and two people who are really my heroes, Drew and Joyce Kesse, Jennifer`s parents who have never, never given up the search for their precious daughter over four long years, spending tens of thousands of their own dollars, creating Web sites, going door-to-door, doing everything, never for one day letting this go.

Drew, you`ve said that your frustration is at 200 percent. You reportedly said you met with cops and had some heated moments. Tell us about what you`re going through right now as they declare your daughter`s disappearance a cold case.

DREW KESSE, FATHER OF JENNIFER KESSE: Well, let me say that we wish they would make it a cold case. They are refusing to make it a cold case, although when you speak to them and ask them exactly what their plans of action are -- and we asked that directly to the chief three times in a row -- the response was we will wait for the next viable lead to be called in.

I personally responded that that is not a plan of action. And what is your plan of action? That was the exact response that I got. And we also got a response that we are no closer to finding Jennifer than day two.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I just want to clarify because it`s a semantic question. When we say they`ve basically said they`ve exhausted all leads, some might call that in layman`s terms a cold case. But you`re saying there`s a distinction.

Until they declare it a cold case, you can`t go to the FBI and bring in other resources and say, "Ok, well, you`ve let it go. Now we`re going to go somewhere else, so they`ve got you in limbo."

JOYCE KESSE, MOTHER OF JENNIFER KESSE: Right. Now, they have Jennifer in limbo.

D. KESSE: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: When Jennifer doesn`t show up for work on January 24th, 2006, cops go to her condo. Nothing is amiss. No sign of a break in or struggle. There`s a wet shower, wet towel, clothes on the bed, everything is normal. Then the trail grows cold.

Two days later, a break: video surveillance from a condo complex just over a mile away from hers shows Jennifer`s car being parked and then abandoned by a mystery person. Cops believe Jennifer was abducted somewhere between her condo and her job.

Was this shadowy figure, you see that guy there with the cap? And darn it there`s a pole obscuring his face. Is he the suspect? It looks like it.

As for her car, police found valuables inside so they don`t believe the motive was carjacking or robbery. There was also a report of a cell phone left in her condo by a friend of Jennifer`s brother. So was Jennifer abducted on her way to dropping the phone at a roadside mailbox?

Michelle Sigona, can all of these leads be dead ends? How is that possible?

MICHELLE SIGONA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, I just got off the phone with the lead detective in the case. And we have been speaking on and off now for the last 20 minutes. And he says 1,080 leads today he entered the very last one into the computer. Right now he`s at a point where he`s in the office and he is going back over all the leads. He`s entering them by hand into the system.

And if he gets a call in tonight, Jane, in the middle of the night, he will get in his car and drive to wherever he needs to go to be able to track it down. He told me that just last month actually in February, 2010, that they got in a pretty good lead and they weren`t able to get a flight out. So he and his partner jumped in their car and they drove down to Georgia to be able to check out that particular -- to Georgia.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. You tell that detective that we`re going to stay on top of it, too. We`re not going to let this become a forgotten case.

J. KESSE: Thank you.

D. KESSE: Thank you.

SIGONA: And that`s what they need. That`s really what the Kesses need right now. Drew and I spoke on the phone earlier as well. And as much as they do for their daughter and for this case and spending their own money and they even go out and educate other departments across the country on missing child cases and giving a $1 million reward and really just kind of pounding the pavement. And with you taking time to do this, Jane, these are the kinds of things that really drum up those tips that the detective and his team can go out and follow.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Now, let me ask you this. I was very perturbed when I read that they had issued a statement, well, most of these missing cases that aren`t solved involve drugs and domestic violence and alcohol abuse.

Your daughter was a graduate of college. She had a responsible job in finance and she was extraordinarily responsible. She didn`t have any of those problems, and she was going to work that day to a very high- powered job, Joyce.

J. KESSE: Exactly. Exactly. And she is the safest young woman that you would ever want to meet and yet she still became a victim of a heinous crime and to us, continues at this point to be victimized by inadequacies and some shortcomings of law enforcement.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now Jennifer`s case has been linked to the case of another woman, missing since last summer, 27-year-old Tracy Ocasio. Surveillance video captured Tracy leaving an Orlando bar called the Tap Room with 28-year-old James Hataway.

Cops consider Hataway a person of interest in Tracy Ocasio`s disappearance. Drew, you had thought perhaps since this was near where your daughter lived that he might be connected. What happened with that?

D. KESSE: Actually, after looking at everything combined, I think it`s coincidental. But you don`t know. In fact, Mr. Hataway was in court today again.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What would you like the police to do, Drew?

D. KESSE: I would like -- right now I would like for the police to become proactive instead of reactive as they have been. Otherwise, let them bring in more people to take fresh-eye look at this. And I know that -- I know that they`ve had a couple of what we called the smart panels come in, but I -- I say at this point, it`s really time to say, "Ok, we have tried everything we can do. Let`s really bring in some heavy hitters and let`s really solve this crime because it`s true vanishment."

It`s not -- I mean, even to go further, they`ve tested Jennifer`s hair for drugs. She`d never taken a drug.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the hell that you two are going through --

D. KESSE: We don`t mind. It doesn`t --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know what? I think of you all the time. How many times have we interviewed you and everyday you wake up not knowing? Closure is so important for you and your son.

J. KESSE: Oh, absolutely, absolutely, because you can`t heal. We grieve the loss of Jennifer in our lives, but -- other than that, how -- how can true healing begin without any answer?

D. KESSE: But the real problem, Jane, honestly is how can a law enforcement leader sit there and say, we are going to wait? Especially, you know, it`s not a car. It`s not money. It`s not a wallet. It`s not a credit card. It`s a human being.

J. KESSE: It`s a person.

D. KESSE: And that`s where our --

J. KESSE: Frustration really lies.

D. KESSE: -- frustration lies.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are not letting your story go, Drew and Joyce. Thank you so much. Come back soon.

D. KESSE: We thank you.

J. KESSE: Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to stay on it.

J. KESSE: Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: If we have to send investigators down there.

A teenage girl bullied to the point of suicide, now parents want answers. Tempers flaring at school -- you won`t believe this -- a shouting match unfolds.

And the latest on the Steven Seagal case, unbelievable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- continues to track the situation less than five miles from where little Haleigh disappeared.

A frantic search, day three, teams of divers going through the St. John`s River searching for any signs of a skeleton or a murder weapon. And they actually dragged Misty Croslin down to the water`s edge in handcuffs.

And according to ArtHarris.com, she told them where the murder weapon might have been tossed and that murder weapon is, according to Art Harris, a rope.

What does that mean? Well, cops are now saying they believe little Haleigh is dead. They are calling this a homicide investigation. They say the principals are starting to cooperate. And it`s only a matter of time before this case is solved.

But can we have a case with no body? And will there still be a body there 14 long months later?

All right, we`re staying on top of it. Any developments, we`ll bring them right to you.

Meantime, a beautiful teenage girl bullied to death. Phoebe Prince killed herself after constant harassment and abuse. She was only 15 years old.

Now parents are demanding answers. Did officials ignore this bullying? Anger and emotion violently erupt at a school meeting in South Hadley, Massachusetts last night. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB CRACK, SOUTH HADLEY RESIDENT: I don`t know what -- who you guys are -- why you`re trying to cover up this. Everybody knows that --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on, hold on. Cover up, cover up what?

CRACK: You know they dropped the ball, they blew it. And everybody knows they blew it. All right? You`ve got to get rid of them. All they are is just a noose on the neck of this town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on, hold on. You`re done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just cut it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Police had to break up fights and parents, two of them were actually escorted out of the building. But these parents have had enough. They want teachers fired if they witnessed bullying and did nothing about it.

I don`t blame them. Ok? It is about time that parents stand up and say enough, enough, enough; no more bullying.

Fast-breaking details emerging about actor Steven Seagal and a woman who was accusing him of keeping her as a sex slave and it`s not the first time we`ve heard allegations like this about Seagal.

Here is the latest accuser courtesy of TMZ. Kayden Nguyen reportedly answered a Craigslist ad to be Seagal`s personal assistant.

She says the actor -- get this, kept her locked up in a house for four days or actually, I think it was more than that, it was like six days forcing her to perform sex acts. Seagal`s attorney denies it all, calls it ridiculous and outrageous. But it`s caused enough heat to stop production of Seagal`s reality show on A&E.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CLIP FROM STEVEN SEAGAL`S REALITY SHOW)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- reality show, I don`t think we`re missing much. At least 11 women have complained about Seagal`s inappropriate comments and action over the years.

Former Playboy Playmate, Jenny McCarthy is one of them. She said he asked her to strip during an audition and she cried. Steven Seagal, really under siege tonight.

I`m taking your calls on this one. 1-877-JVM-SAYS. 1-877-586- 7297.

Straight out to my fantastic panel: HLN law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks; Stacey Honowitz, supervisor of the sex crimes unit in the Florida prosecutor`s office. And we begin with Maxine Page, senior editor with RadarOnline.

Maxine, what is the very latest? And I`m almost afraid to ask on this one.

MAXINE PAGE, SENIOR EDITOR, RADARONLINE: The very latest is that Nguyen`s attorney has come through, come forward and said that he`s been approached by up to five more women who used to work for Seagal and have similar accusations.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, let me say this. Marty Singer, who is one of the nation`s top celebrity lawyers, is representing Steven Seagal and he wrote a letter to Nguyen lawyer saying her lawsuit is in direct violation of a confidentiality agreement she signed on February 22nd, 2010. He also says that the complaint isn`t true.

Stacy Honowitz, can you be compelled to keep something confidential when there`s criminality alleged?

STACEY HONOWITZ, SUPERVISOR SEX CRIMES UNIT FLORIDA PROSECUTORS OFFICE: No. I mean, certainly that`s an exemption to the confidentiality agreement. The fact that if there`s criminal conduct on behalf of the person that`s forcing you to sign that contract certainly you can go into court and say, "I`m not in violation of it. I was the victim of a crime."

And so that`s what they`re going to allege. She might have signed an agreement with regard to things going on, on the set where they`re at, other personal issues, but not to the confidentiality of -- if she`s an actual victim of a crime by him.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Jefferson Parish Sheriff says he can`t investigate complaint until Kayden Nguyen file`s a criminal complaint with the sheriff`s office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF NEWELL NORMAND, JEFFERSON PARISH: Miss Nguyen actually called one of my officers and asked one of my officers to call her a cab. I spoke to that officer. That officer indicated that there was not any sense of distress at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So what do you make of it, Maxine Page? What about these other women? What`s the back story here?

PAGE: Well, her attorney at the moment is not handing out any details other than there`s up to five of them. And that they have similar accusations and they were all in his employment at one point. But other than that, he won`t give up names at this point, won`t give up details.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why didn`t she just call the cops? I mean, these are very serious allegations she`s making.

PAGE: Well, you know, that is the question. I mean, she says it went on over a period of days, but she said was in a very remote location. She was frightened. She felt trapped in this house.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.

PAGE: And literally couldn`t escape.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NORMAND: I will treat Mr. Seagal no different than any other employee of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff`s Office. I`m not moved one iota by virtue of his being a movie star or the fact that the national media has an interest in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The reality show "Steven Seagal: Lawman" on hold after a woman accuses the actor of keeping her as a sex slave. Radar Online reporting more women are about to come forward to accuse the star of sexual harassment.

Cindy in Louisiana, your question or thought, ma`am.

CINDY, LOUISIANA: Hi, Joan, I love your show.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.

CINDY: To me this is -- I don`t know, it`s kind of suspicious. If he held her for four days and he`s always had deputies in and out of his house, wouldn`t one of the deputies have gotten suspicious?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you bring to my big issue tonight, ma`am -- a good question.

Pretend cops? Listen as Steven Seagal describes his credentials on the A&E show, "Steven Seagal: Lawman".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN SEAGAL, ACTOR: When I was in Asia I worked with a bunch of different people during special security operations, rescue missions and bodyguarding of heads of state and kings and queens. So I got a great education from some nasty shooters who were very, very brave with what they did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, this has got to be so embarrassing for the law enforcement that teamed up with this guy. Did they not Google his name and see he has a history of women accusing him of inappropriate behavior including a lawsuit?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know Jane, it makes me want to puke. I spent 26 years with a reputable law enforcement agency with the Metropolitan Police Department. And you know what, you can be a sheriff`s deputy, you can be -- not a deputy, but a reserve officer on different departments. But what kind of training is he going through? A master shooter does not make a law enforcement officer, Jane.

Look, I paid my dues. I earned this, ok?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you know your stuff.

BROOKS: Did he earn his? Hell no.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He`s an actor.

BROOKS: Exactly. He`s a wannabe. He`s a wannabe.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. He`s playing cop.

BROOKS: Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Seagal`s accuser Kayden Nguyen, however, has her own issues. This is not just your ordinary housewife here. Here she is on the "Tyra Banks Show" courtesy of TMZ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYDEN NGUYEN, STEVEN SEAGAL`S ACCUSER: I`m Kayden and I`m a lipstick lesbian. I should be at the top of the community because I can use my sex appeal to get any girl that I want and trick any guy to getting what I want.

I don`t buy the bisexual business. I think that you`re either on one team or you`re on the other.

I think you should be the top because I think just like me, we know what we want. We`re straightforward and we take advantage of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This woman is giving lesbians a bad name, I think.

Maxine Page, what do we know about her? Maxine -- what do we know about her?

All right, I`ll tell you what I know about her. She went on Craigslist and she got this job about a personal assistant, and she arrived. And that`s when she made these accusations, Stacey Honowitz, that she thought she was going to be a personal assistant and she became this alleged sex slave.

HONOWITZ: Listen, whenever you have a case like this, where you have a he said and a she said, there aren`t going to be any strength in numbers. If there are other women that have been at his beck and call or, you know, sex slaves to him and have been victims of his sexual conduct, someone is going to help her --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ll learn about it. Got to leave it right there.

You`re watching ISSUES on HLN.

END