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NANCY GRACE

Mom Arrested After Toddlers Found in Submerged Car

Aired August 16, 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, live, South Carolina, 6:00 AM, North Edisto River bank, police and emergency dive crews pull up a dark-colored Chrysler sedan, pulling it up out of the murky river waters. Trapped inside, 1 and 2-year-old little brothers, still strapped in their carseats. Bombshell tonight. Mommy says it was a horrible accident. But the car went down a boat ramp. It was found with the ignition still on, the car in neutral. And Mommy`s bone dry!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... sometime early this morning, around 6:40 AM...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the bodies of two young children...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... two young boys...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... have been found in a submerged car in a South Carolina river.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids were 1 and 2.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... still strapped in their child restraint seats when they were found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boys` mother walked almost a mile before calling for help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She described what happened as an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The car, sheriff`s investigators believe, went into the water here at this boat landing on the Edisto River.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother is now behind bars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have detained the mother presently with leaving the scene of an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police reportedly say there`s a possibility this was not an accident, with one witness reportedly overhearing police say the car`s ignition was still on when they opened the car door in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: And tonight, live, rural Indiana and the mystery surrounding the sudden disappearance of a young mother of two, vanishing without a trace from a crowded outdoor music festival. With thousands of witnesses, how could she just disappear? Tonight, where is 26-year-old Nina Keown?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the search for Nina Keown...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... telling them to keep looking until we find her!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a 26-year-old woman with blond hair, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighing about 100 pounds...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was last seen with an orange jacket with a hoodie...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her children are beginning to ask questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has two, a 3-year-old daughter and a 6-year- old son that want to know why they haven`t seen Mommy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her family reported her missing...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need some answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... after she did not come home from an outdoor music festival.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keown left with her ex-husband, Bobby Petty (ph). Petty told investigators they got into an argument. Keown decided to go back to the festival. Police say Keown got off the four-wheeler she was riding on with Petty and hasn`t been seen since that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Live, South Carolina, 6:00 AM, North Edisto River banks. Police and emergency dive crews pull up a dark-colored Chrysler sedan up out of the murky waters of the river. Trapped inside, 1- year-old and 2-year-old little brothers, still strapped in their carseats. Mommy`s bone dry. Come on, Mom! Couldn`t you just splash a little water on your face, give me something to believe in tonight?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are searching for answers after the bodies of two young boys, ages 1 and 2, were found in a Chrysler sedan in a South Carolina river.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheriff says that mother left the scene here because she did not have a way to call police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s described the incident as an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother walked almost a mile before calling for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But she`s being charged with leaving the scene of an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dive team from the Orangeburg County sheriff`s office came out, pulled those two bodies out of the water. Those two children, the sheriff says, are dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Officials believe there`s a possibility it was not an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A witness who lives here saw about three or four inches of the hood sticking out of the water, so the car was completely submerged.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, we were there to substantiate whether or not there was an accident or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The car floated down some 50 yards before it came to a stop. This is called Shillings Bridge Road. This is on the Edisto River.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We detained the mother, which was the driver of the vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a lot of questions here, aren`t there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the dive team got here, those kids, unfortunately, were still inside that car, strapped into their carseats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: Straight out to a special guest joining us tonight, Sheriff Larry Williams with the Orangeburg County sheriff`s office, joining us from South Carolina. Sheriff, thank you for being with us. Sheriff, what happened, whatever you can tell us tonight?

SHERIFF LARRY WILLIAMS, ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA (via telephone): Yes, Nancy. We had a call at 6:15 AM this day in regard to a reported accident that occurred on what is called the Shillings Bridge Road, a secondary road here in my county. The state patrol responded to what was reported to be an automobile accident. And of course, the driver, which was the mother, she met with the officers and indicated to them that her children was trapped in the car and that she had had an accident and she needed some assistance.

GRACE: Well, Sheriff, what kind of accident was it supposed to be? I mean, no other car was involved, so it would have been a single car pile- up, a single car smash. How was the accident supposed to have occurred?

WILLIAMS: Well, that was the evidence, Nancy, that was missing from the alleged scene there that she created. There was no physical evidence to indicate there was a skid into the -- the river or to the boat landing or anything to show, anything other than her statement that this car apparently had been involved in some type of accident. Of course, to add to that, it was an accident where she veered from the road, of course. But there was no physical evidence some 100 yards from that location to indicate that she landed (ph) off the road at any time.

GRACE: With us, special guest Sheriff Larry Williams with the Orangeburg sheriff`s office. He`s joining us there in Orangeburg, South Carolina. His men and women have been there at the scene with emergency dive crews, you name it. They pull out of the water -- for those of you have just joining us -- a dark-colored Chrysler sedan. Strapped in the car, a 1-year-old and 2-year-old little boy. Mommy flags down motorists, it`s my understanding, Sheriff. Why didn`t she go to the houses that were closer to the scene?

WILLIAMS: Well, she walked about a -- maybe three quarter or a mile away from where the car had -- was plunged into the river. And so her report is there wasn`t any -- she found an individual supposedly that she borrowed his cell phone. Of course, we have investigators following up on that person to try to determine who that was. And supposedly, this phone call was made by an individual who was some distance away from the -- where the car had gone into the river.

GRACE: Well, Sheriff, how did she say the accident occurred? I mean, what kind of evidence do you have at the edge of a boat ramp where your car goes down the boat ramp with your children strapped in the back?

WILLIAMS: Well, you know, that was my thought. In fact, when the report was given to me -- and of course, we began our response into what had happened -- of course, one of the first things I wanted to know was, is there any physical evidence to support what was allegedly an accident. And of course, we found none. And then, of course, there was no physical evidence, by meaning any drippings or clothing on the water or anything on the mother to indicate that she had been in the water. So of course, there was some things there that caused some issues of concern of mine (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: But Sheriff, what I don`t understand is what kind of a crash - - what kind of an accident did she say landed her boys in the water?

WILLIAMS: An accident where she ran over -- she ran to the -- she was -- apparently, she said, going down the road and she lost control of her vehicle and it happened to be at that juncture where the boat landing was, which the car had plummeted into from the secondary highway. Of course...

GRACE: Were there any witnesses, Sheriff?

WILLIAMS: ... there were no vehicles there. She had report of a vehicle accident, but of course, another vehicle or a witness or anything other than what she was telling us, of course, was the only thing we had. But of course, I have -- we made a determination that it could be more to what she`s telling us, and then what apparently had been reported to us this morning.

GRACE: With us is a special guest, Sheriff Larry Williams of the Orangeburg County sheriff`s office. He is the sheriff of the jurisdiction. His people have been out there from the get-go. This all went down at 6:00 AM, according to sheriff`s reports. Police were called after motorists called them. Mommy did not call them. She comes out of it bone dry.

Out to Richard Walker, senior staff writer, "Times and Democrat," joining us also out of South Carolina. What more do you know, Richard?

RICHARD WALKER, "TIMES & DEMOCRAT" (via telephone): Nancy, what I can tell you about this area here is everyone`s concerned about this. They recall the 1994 Susan Smith case, where it was similar in that Susan Smith was later found guilty of pushing her car into a waterway, drowning her two sons. That`s the concern of the community this evening.

GRACE: To Jean Casarez. Jean, take us back to the very beginning. For those of you that are just joining us, 6:00 AM, South Carolina, police get a call of a car under. They race to the scene with emergency divers, and this is what happens. They pull up this dark-colored Chrysler sedan. Mommy walking along, flagging down motorists. There you see it being pulled out. Strapped inside that, helpless, two little boys, ages 1 and 2.

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Nancy, this is this morning. So this is just hours ago. And the car was in neutral. It went down the boat ramp -- operative word, boat ramp. The two little babies, 1 and 2 years old, were strapped into their carseats, so they couldn`t have gotten out even if they wanted to. And the mother, who is now unnamed, walked three fourths of a mile down the road. And there were some homes close the boat ramp, but that is where she flagged down a motorist and had a call made to 911 saying that there had been that accident. The divers came out, but they got there too late to save the children.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Nancy in Pennsylvania. Hi, Nancy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Good luck on your new book.

GRACE: Thank you, dear. And I want to thank everyone that ho has supported the book, "Death on the D-List." Thank you so much, Nancy. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my question I have I think may have already been answered by the sheriff, but I would think that if she even tried to get the sons out, which any normal mother would try to do, she would have come out soaking wet, drenched, had debris, mud, something on her. I think the only accident she had was that she didn`t want the children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The call came in just after 6:30 Monday morning from a mother telling 911 that her car went into the Edisto River. The woman also told dispatchers that her two sons were in the car. Orangeburg County`s dive team responded and found the boys still strapped inside their carseats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bodies of two young boys have been recovered from a vehicle submerged in a river in South Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were children inside of the vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That car floated some 50 yards down the river with the bodies of a 1-year-old and 2-year-old...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Orangeburg County sheriff is saying the boys` mother walked almost a mile before calling for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have detained the mother with leaving the scene of an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was able to call for help. Rescue crews came to the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police reportedly say there`s a possibility this was not an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheriff says they do not believe that that car went into the water on account of an accident here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There wasn`t an accident or a vehicle accident that had occurred.

DAVID SMITH, HUSBAND OF SUSAN SMITH: It was just a shock. For many, money months, I didn`t have any, like, control over what I did. People would have to, you know, tell me when to get up, tell me to be at this place or be at that place because I just didn`t even know where I was. And then it went to, you know, I guess sadness, and then this -- then the very severe depression started coming and the suicidal thoughts and things like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Seemingly, history has repeated itself today. Only about 100 miles away from where Susan Smith plunged her little boys into the water in a desperate bid to hold onto some boyfriend she had, now, for those of you just joining us, the bodies of two little children found submerged in a car. Mommy -- her story doesn`t make sense. She said there was an accident, yet the car was found in neutral with the ignition on. She says she accidentally went down a boat ramp, losing control of the car. But no skid marks, nothing to suggest to local sheriffs any accident occurred.

And why -- why -- out to you, Matt Zarrell -- was she bone dry? She was out of that car before the children ever hit the water. She`s bone dry, Matt! Can`t she just splash a little water on her face to make me happy?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, it`s interesting, Nancy. She was bone dry, as police are telling us. They`re also telling us about the car was in neutral, which is making everyone suspicious. One thing that`s interesting. They are not releasing the name of the mother at this point. She was immediately detained once cops got on scene and saw what was going on. She is facing a charge of leaving the scene of the accident, which, Nancy, according to the statute, she could get 25 years in prison just for that.

GRACE: Joining me right now, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, Marc Klaas. Marc, weigh in.

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, you know, very much like the Susan Smith case, this was a lady who strapped two little children into their carseats and sent them down a boat ramp.

GRACE: What kind of freak is that, Marc? I mean...

KLAAS: Pardon me?

KLAAS: ... you and I have pretty much seen it all. What kind of freak does that? Who straps their children into a car and pushes it into the water?

KLAAS: Well, when you consider the slow, agonizing death that follows that kind of an action, you have to be looking at a cold-hearted monster. I`d be very interested in knowing...

GRACE: Hold on.

KLAAS: I`d be very interested in knowing the state of mind of this mother, who was apparently pristine clean.

GRACE: Marc, Marc -- unless, Marc, we finds out there is a different COD, a different cause of death. If those children don`t have water in their lungs, then this whole thing is a set-up.

KLAAS: Well, and quite frankly, she may have been doing what Susan Smith did, try to disappear her children because they don`t have a place in the life that she foresees for herself.

GRACE: Let`s go out to the lawyers, unleash them. Anne Bremner, high-profile lawyer out of Seattle, John Burris, defense attorney, San Francisco. Weigh in, Bremner.

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, we say deja vu all over again with Susan Smith, but there`s one big difference. There`s one child at home. So we have to look at whether the...

GRACE: Bring Bremner up.

BREMNER: We have to look at the type of motives you would attribute to a Susan Smith...

GRACE: So she didn`t drown all three? That`s your defense? OK, Anne...

BREMNER: Yes.

GRACE: ... I always -- I wait for your novel and unique look at cases. So your defense tonight is, Hey, she didn`t drown all three. OK.

BREMNER: Because what we just heard from Marc -- and Marc always does a wonderful job -- but the fact is, she wants to get rid of her kids. Well, she still has one at home. So maybe it`s a different case. We haven`t heard anything about her claim of an accident, and we haven`t heard what the reconstruction evidence is right now.

GRACE: John Burris, weigh in.

JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, this possibly could be an accident of some kind.

GRACE: Put him up!

BURRIS: I don`t know that it`s not.

GRACE: Put him up!

BURRIS: But...

GRACE: She`s bone dry, Burris! How could that happen?

BURRIS: I said it could be.

GRACE: I want to hear this!

BURRIS: I`m not swaying that it did, but it could be.

GRACE: Just throw me a scenario!

BURRIS: I mean, we don`t really know. I mean, she could have been driving...

GRACE: Throw me a scenario!

BURRIS: ... made a mistake, went down a wrong place and jumped out of the car when she saw it was going down. She should have, obviously, tried to take care of her kids. I think that`s the thing that hurts her the most. I would say like that, you got to...

GRACE: The only accident...

BURRIS: ... look at this person`s mental state...

GRACE: ... she had is...

BURRIS: ... and find out more about her.

GRACE: ... she forgot to jump in the water before she got to police. She forgot to at least dampen herself...

BURRIS: We`ve got to find out about her mental status.

GRACE: ... behind the ears and the wrists with the river water. Everybody, we`re taking your calls...

BURRIS: Well, that would be contrived.

GRACE: Yes, like the whole thing wasn`t?

BURRIS: That would be contrived.

GRACE: Yes, I`m sure you would frown on that.

BURRIS: Well, we don`t know that.

GRACE: To tonight`s "Case Alert." The last person to see 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh Cummings alive, flunking four polygraphs, pleads no contest to seven counts of drug trafficking, Putnam County, Florida. Misty Croslin arrested in January after being caught on video after selling thousands of dollars in drugs to an undercover cop, Croslin facing 210 years in prison. Investigators still searching for 5-year-old Haleigh.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two young boys have been recovered from a vehicle submerged in a river in South Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two boys found dead here shocks the community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don`t deserve that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boys, only 1 and 2 years old, died still strapped in their carseats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boys` mother, who is now facing charges for leaving the scene, walked almost a mile before calling for help and described the incident as an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re charging her presently with leaving the scene of an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One witness reportedly overhearing police say the car`s ignition was still on when they opened the car door in the water.

SMITH: It took me many years to actually allow myself to think of how they drowned, you know, having to, you know, breathe in water and just the horrible way that they probably had to drown. It took many years for me to even start to deal with that and face that, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Starla in Kentucky. Hi, Starla.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about the husband? Or if she has a boyfriend?

GRACE: OK, to you, Jean Casarez. What do we know about the husband or boyfriend or the father of the children? That`s what I`m trying to find out about.

CASAREZ: Right. There is a father. He has been located. He has been questioned. But the mother, whose name is not released, she lives with her mother. And it`s right, there is a 5-year-old girl that survived, was at home at the time, and then the other two children that are deceased.

GRACE: To Sheriff Larry Williams, the Orangeburg County sheriff, joining us out of South Carolina. Sheriff, again, thank you for being with us. Why isn`t the mother`s name being released?

WILLIAMS: I can give you that name. The name of the mother is Shaquan (ph) -- I`m sorry -- Shaquan Duley.

GRACE: Shaquan Duley. Hereto -- before now, her name has been kept secret. And I was wondering why, Sheriff, because, you know, when we have a sex attack victim, we don`t release that name unless the victim comes forward and releases it herself. Very often, we don`t release juveniles` names. But Sheriff Williams joining us tonight, has confirmed it is Shaquan Duley. He had his people out there since before around 6:00 AM this morning working the scene, pulling a parent, a loving parent`s, worst nightmare, a car with your two children strapped inside, apparently drowned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometime early this morning around 6:40 a.m. --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The bodies of two young children --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Two young boys --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- have been found in a submerged car in a South Carolina river.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The kids were 1 and 2.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Still strapped in their child restraint seats when they were found.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The boys` mother walked almost a mile before calling for help.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She described what happened as an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The car sheriff investigators believe went into the water here in this boat landing on the Edisto River.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mother is now behind bars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have detained the mother presently with leaving the scene of an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police reportedly say there`s a possibility this was not an accident. With one witness reportedly overhearing police say the car`s ignition was still on when they opened the car door in the water.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: I can only pray the South Carolina death penalty is still in place by the time this trial is over.

For those of you just joining us, two little boys ages 1 and 2 pulled out of the murky river of the North Edisto River there in South Carolina, only about 100 miles away from where -- from where Susan Smith pulled the same stunt years ago with her children. She`s still behind bars living it up with girlfriends and Web sites and you name it.

These two little boys suffered a heinous death and possibly the last face they saw before they drowned was their own mother. She was surprisingly bone dry when she went for help.

We are taking your calls. Out to Lisa in California. Hi, Lisa. Uh- oh, excuse me Charlene.

Hi, Charlene.

CHARLENE, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear.

CHARLENE: This just makes me want to hug my son even more. And what I don`t understand is earlier in the -- another show they said that there was just a house right across the other side of the river. Why didn`t she just go there to that old couple?

GRACE: You know, I don`t know. What do we know, Jean Casarez?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": We know that there were homes about 100 yards away from the boat ramp but that wasn`t the choice that this woman made that we now know is Shaouan Duley. She -- Shaouan.

She actually walked 3/4 of a mile, flagged down a motorist. But we are understanding when authorities finally got there just the top of the vehicle was apparent above the water.

GRACE: Joining us right now special guest Steve Kardian, former police detective, self-defense expert, lead instructor at Defend University.

Steve, explain to me how they`re going about conducting this investigation.

STEVE KARDIAN, FMR. POLICE DETECTIVE, SELF DEFENSE EXPERT, LEAD INSTRUCTOR AT DEFEND UNIVERSITY: Well, Nancy, an accident is an unforeseen event in which -- that usually causes damage and/or injury.

And there is no evidence at the scene to show that that vehicle was involved in any type of an accident. Even hitting the water at a significant speed would cause damage to the vehicle.

And, you know, that coupled with the vehicle being in neutral, her being bone dry, it`s a poorly planned-out event.

GRACE: Out to Dr. Glenn Kolansky, board certified physician joining us out of New York.

Doctor, thank you for being with us. Doctor, a drowning death. If that is the cause of death, what did the children suffer?

DR. GLENN KOLANSKY, M.D., BOARD CERTIFIED PHYSICIAN: Well, first of all, when someone drowns they actually find that they`re gasping for air. And sometimes actually their larynx actually closes off and their stomach can fill with water.

And then basically, what happens is that first, you know, the brain loses oxygen and then they actually go into cardiac arrest.

GRACE: So you die of cardiac arrest?

KOLANSKY: And basic hypoxia. The brain doesn`t get oxygen and basically your heart stops beating. However, the thing that we don`t know in this case, were these kids actually alive when they were, you know, the car went into the water.

GRACE: And how will they determine that, Doctor?

KOLANSKY: It`s actually by exclusion. Basically, they look at the body. Sometimes their eyes can have a glassy, life-like appearance, which means they were alive when they went down.

And they can also look at the vocal cords or larynx and actually take a look if there`s any kind of spasm which would also indicate that they were alive.

GRACE: Well, Doctor, wouldn`t they just look in the lungs to see if the child -- if the children had inhaled water?

KOLANSKY: Well, depending how long they were in the water. The two things that can happen, if they have two laryngospasm, it`s closes off the lungs, maybe dry, or if they`ve been in the water long enough they actually fill with water.

GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls live but now to Dr. Janet Taylor, psychiatrist, joining us out of New York.

Dr. Taylor, the list of murder moms is extensive. I made up a quick list on my own. Susan Smith, much the same MO. Drove car into lake with sons inside. Andrea Yates, drowned all her five children in a bathtub. Deanna Laney, rock mom, stoned her children to death. She beat them in the head with rocks until they were dead.

Diane Downs shoots her children to death. Darlie Routier stabs sons to death. And of course we`ve got tot mom Casey Anthony charged with murdering 2-year-old Caylee.

Why? What`s the thinking?

DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, Nancy, 60 percent of deaths of children under 5 are by their parents. And for mom, obviously, it`s hard to fathom. But typically most of these moms have a history of depression, maybe a history of substance abuse.

And in some cases they feel like they are delusional. They feel like they`re giving the kids a break by killing them. In other ways, it may be revenge.

So until in this case until we know what her mental state is, it`s really hard to examine exactly why she did it but it is awful and tragic.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Kathy in Florida. Hi, Kathy. Oh, Lisa, California. OK. Lisa, California, hi, dear.

LISA, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi, Nancy. Great to talk to you.

GRACE: Likewise.

LISA: My question is, does anyone know what she was doing on that road at that time of the morning? Did she have an appointment or going to work?

GRACE: Good question. Out to Sheriff Larry Williams joining us out of South Carolina.

Why was she on the road to start with?

SHERIFF LARRY WILLIAMS, ORANGEBURG COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE (via phone): She was allegedly going to visit someone. But of course their name hasn`t been provided by the mother yet.

GRACE: Sheriff. Sheriff, she was visiting at 6:00 a.m.?

WILLIAMS: Yes, well, I mean, she may have a strange routine or another. But that was her alleged statement. Of course, that`s what we base our investigation on until we can prove differently. We didn`t try to alter or change her statement at that time.

GRACE: Back to the lines. Kathy in Florida. Hi, Kathy.

KATHY, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. Nice to speak with you.

GRACE: Likewise. What`s your question, dear?

KATHY: I was wondering if the mother could swim.

GRACE: Good question. Out to you, Matt Zarrell, what if anything do we know about that?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Well, we don`t know if she could swim but what I can tell you is we have been looking. We have not found a criminal record for her at this point and we also do not know about any history of mental illness.

Police are still processing her. No murder charges charged filed yet. She`s only charged with leaving the scene of an accident as of now, Nancy.

GRACE: Everybody, we are taking your calls. For those of you just joining us, police arrive to a gruesome scene early this morning. The Orangeburg County sheriffs converge on a scene to pull this dark-colored Chrysler sedan out of the water.

Mommy bone dry, says she had an accident. Both her little boys, ages 1 and 2, strapped into car seats.

Didn`t she see the Susan Smith coverage? Didn`t she have the sense to at least dunk her head in the water?

Everybody, I want to thank you for many things tonight. First of all, I want to thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I made it here on crutches tonight after breaking my foot today. It was in the line of duty. Of course, mommy duty that is. But I made it here.

I also want to thank you for all of your help and your support on our new book, "Death on the D-List." It`s on the stands now. My proceeds going to Wesley Glen, home for the handicapped.

And tonight, what star do you choose to play the role of heroine Hailey Dean. To vote or order the book go to CNN.com/NancyGrace. Win an autographed copy of "Death on the D-List." Come meet us all here on the set.

Tonight`s winner Texas friend Cynthia. Her vote Holly Hunter.

And a special hello to Georgia friends, Keith Everett, and his mother who were both at our book signing this weekend. They drove hours to get there.

And I am so grateful to them and everyone who came to support the book.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They want to find Nina Keown, 26-year-old woman with blond hair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven`t found her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keown was at a musical festival and left with her ex-husband Bobby Petty.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She did not come home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re searching.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Some densely wooded areas, for example.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody knows.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Volunteers searching for Keown by air, ATVs and on foot. Combing through corn fields.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And then there are the cornfields that have grown so tall and so thick.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t want to hear this. I`m trying. I wanted something done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve been up and down the area here on Plymouth Road where she was last seen and it`s been a little discouraging not being able to find anything.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They have no other clues of where to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t have information on where she went to.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: How can a 26-year-old woman just disappear at an outdoor music festival surrounded by thousands of people?

Out to Gage Lutes, news director, WBIW 1340AM. Hi, Gage, what happened?

GAGE LUTES, NEWS DIRECTOR, WBIW 1340AM (via phone): Hi, Nancy. Well, basically a candlelight vigil was held Saturday night in honor of 26-year- old Nina Keown and she was there with her on again/off again boyfriend and ex-husband Bobby Petty. And they were riding home. It`s a very rural community out there in (INAUDIBLE) County.

They were riding home on a four-wheeler when the two got into an argument and she hopped off the four-wheeler and she hasn`t been seen since.

GRACE: To Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." What more do we know, Jean?

CASAREZ: You know, Nancy, this is so perplexing because the music festival that the two of them went to that night was at one end of Plymouth Road. He -- her ex-husband/boyfriend -- lived at the other end of Plymouth Road. And so when they drove from the music festival going back toward his home, they went about halfway.

She was angry. They were arguing. She jumped out, said she was going back to the music festival but that was it. And it`s a rural area. It`s not an area of high crime.

GRACE: Says who? Who -- who gives that version?

CASAREZ: The people that your producers have spoken with -- law enforcement. They say that there are not abductions in the area. It`s not an area where a lot of crime like this occurs.

GRACE: Really? Put Jean up.

Jean, what about the mailbox mom? In a rural area, goes to her mailbox, 7:00 a.m. --

CASAREZ: Is that in this city right here?

GRACE: Never seen alive again.

CASAREZ: Same city?

GRACE: No. But that`s exactly what they said about that city. My point is, cops are getting their information from the ex. He`s the one giving them the story. The story doesn`t seem true to me.

CASAREZ: That`s right. But they`ve taken searchers out. They`ve got dogs out, everything. And they can`t find any trace of her.

GRACE: Ellie Jostad, what more can you tell me?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, yes. They were apparently at this music festival. They got in an argument. They decided to go home. They get part way there and she says, I`m going to go back. So she jumps off the ATV. She heads off on her own.

Now he says that she was intoxicated at the time, that he just let her wander into the dark because she said she wanted to go back to the festival.

Now nobody at the festival -- and police have questioned people there -- report seeing her come back. Her family reported her missing when she didn`t show up the next day and they say she would never be out of touch with her small children for this long.

GRACE: There`s two children, right?

JOSTAD: Two kids, 3 and 6.

GRACE: You are taking a look at Nina Keown. She`s only 26 years old, mom of two, a daughter 3, a son 6. She is 5`6", 100 pounds, blonde, blue eyes. She was wearing an orange hoody. She`s got a history of seizures and heart problems.

Tip line tonight, 812-752-7898. We`re taking your calls.

I just don`t understand how a woman disappears in the middle of all the people at an outdoor music festival. The last to have seen her, her ex.

Out to the lines, Laura in Tennessee.

LAURA, CALLER FROM TENNESSEE: Hi, Nancy.

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

LAURA: My question is, has the ex-husband taken a polygraph?

GRACE: Good question.

Ellie Jostad, weren`t they asking him to take a polygraph? Has he taken it?

JOSTAD: Yes. Well, the sheriff says that they have asked the ex- husband who they say isn`t a suspect to take a polygraph but they still -- they say they`re still waiting for an answer back.

GRACE: Jean, what do we know about whether he`s got a rap sheet?

CASAREZ: Well, yes, we do know that. They are saying that he`s cooperative, that he actually gave them the car and they were processing it. But yes, there is a rap sheet.

All right, first of all --

GRACE: Wait, wait. It was an ATV, right? All-terrain vehicle?

CASAREZ: Yes. ATV. That`s right. And they are processing it. He`s been very cooperative.

GRACE: Jean. Jean. Unless she was run over by the ATV, what are they going to find on an ATV that he`s not admitting to? Maybe a fingerprint?

CASAREZ: Yes.

GRACE: I mean it`s not like it`s a car.

CASAREZ: Yes. Yes, that`s true. That`s true. But you never know. Forensically you can discover a lot of things.

GRACE: You`re right. Right.

CASAREZ: Right? Some blood, you don`t know. Forensically you can find things.

As far as his rap sheet there`s a charge of domestic violence against him. We don`t know who the victim is but the trial is set, Nancy. Listen to this, August 2010, just days from now. The domestic violence trial is set.

We can also confirm that in 1999 Bobby Petty -- that`s his name. He was actually charged with armed robbery. He was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to eight years in prison.

GRACE: Armed robbery? Jean, wasn`t he tried in two different jurisdictions?

CASAREZ: That`s right. Because the second charge was in 2001 for armed robbery, was convicted of that. The two sentences were served concurrently.

GRACE: Out to Steve Kardian, former police detective. What do you make of it, Steve?

KARDIAN: Nancy, this is -- this is bad. We look at -- number one, law enforcement is looking at an ex-husband, fight, alcohol. They`re looking at it with two things. We know that one-third of all women killed in the United States are killed by their significant others or their husbands. And that two-thirds of the time alcohol is involved.

So coupled with his criminal activity, his criminal history, and these statements -- this is not good. And we always look at the last person to see someone alive. Highly suspicious.

GRACE: I`m going to go back to Gage Lutes, WBIW, 1340AM. Where are cops getting their information as to what really happened that -- where are they getting the scenario that the two were at the music festival, they were leaving, they had an argument on the ATV, so he just drops her off and she walks into the darkness? Whose story is that?

LUTES: Well, family members and friends that went to the festival with them.

GRACE: So they were there on the ATV along with them? They were behind them? They witnessed the argument?

LUTES: I would say that they all rode in the group. It`s a very rural area so they would all ride the four-wheeler from one residence to the music festival.

GRACE: And so all of these people left at the same time and they saw her walk off into the distance as the ex is saying? There are witnesses to that?

LUTES: Yes.

GRACE: You sure?

LUTES: As far as I know.

GRACE: Well, when you say as far as you know, what do you mean by that, Gage? Are you telling me the cops have told you there are witnesses to corroborate his story?

LUTES: Well, what I`ve heard from police is that the family members and friends that were at the music festival, they were together. And the friends are the people that had told the police that she had gotten off of the four-wheeler.

GRACE: But do we know if they witnessed it or he told them that?

LUTES: That they witnessed it.

GRACE: To Dr. Glenn Kolansky, board certified physician. Dr. Kolansky, what if anything can they get off the ATV? What kinds of evidence?

KOLANSKY: Basically, they can probably try some -- if there`s any kind of violence, they could -- any blood specimens, hair, to see if there`s any kind of, you know, violence that took place to indicate her death.

I mean, or if she -- or if something actually happened to her. I think they would actually -- they would obviously have fingerprints on there but they could see if there`s any kind of, I guess, hair or blood specimens.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Judy of Tennessee. Hi, Judy.

JUDY, CALLER FROM TENNESSEE: Good evening, Nancy. I basically had the same question. Did not somebody else from the music festival see her hop off and take off back to the festival? Maybe she`s laying in a ditch somewhere from having a seizure.

GRACE: Well, you know, I agree with you, Judy.

Did anybody see her, Jean Casarez, that we know of other than the ex or his family?

CASAREZ: You know, I think that`s really spotty. I think that they`re -- the facts are inconsistent. I don`t think there`s any definitive answers on that because the story is really coming from the ex- husband/boyfriend.

And, you know, Nancy, back to this rural area that a lot of crime doesn`t happen in? Well, maybe that`s significant in this case. Because maybe that means someone else didn`t abduct her and take her and do harm to her. Maybe it was a personal situation.

GRACE: You are seeing a shot of Nina Keown. She`s a 26-year-old mother of two. A daughter 3, a son 6. She`s 5`6", 100 pounds, blond, blue-eyed.

Everybody, after being rushed to the E.R. today with a broken foot, broken in the line of duty -- mommy duty -- I want to say thank you to Kyle Smith, Tamrat Kasa (ph) and Allison Weebly (ph) at Northside emergency room.

Thanks to them I`m on crutches and on the move. Thank you, Northside E.R.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I wrote the prologue to "Death on the D-List" before I finished "Eleventh Victim." It was an idea I had and I know this is crazy, but a lot of the ideas I have for "Death on the D-List" came to me in my sleep.

The title for "Death on the D-List" -- I was racking my mind for just the right title -- came to me one night in the complete dark. And I got it, "Death on the d-List." And that was it.

There are carryover characters to be looking for from "Eleventh Victim" that pop up again in "Death on the D-List."

First of all of course, Hailey Dean herself. Her doorman in New York, Ricky. Also Lieutenant Caulker, who stalked Hailey Dean and wrongfully arrested her for the murder of two of her patients in "Eleventh Victim", reappears in a very dynamic manner.

And, of course, what book would be complete without a drunk photographer? Frank LaGrange Haddon III reappears in "Death on the D-List" in a big way.

There`s a talk show in the book. It`s a daytime talk show. And the star of the talk show is named Harry Dodd. And he is actually modeled after Fred Willard`s role in "For Your Consideration."

Hailey Dean, the star of "Death on the D-List", is not autobiographical. She is a much better person and a much braver person than I could ever be.

I always wanted to name a little girl Hailey after Halley`s Comet. I never thought I could have a little girl. So instead I became this wonderful brave person that grew into Hailey Dean.

I`m thinking back to all those years that I practiced law and prosecuted violent felonies. A lot of those characters that I met in that 10-year parade in the courthouse come to life on the pages of this book.

For a summer read, I would pick a book that I stayed up until about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning so I could read it. So I could find out what happened at the end. To me that`s a great summer read.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Everybody, let`s stop and remember Army Captain Christopher Petty, 33, Vienna, Virginia, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Hart. A family man. Loved cooking, rock climbing, fly fishing, woodworking, doing chores with his oldest son.

Leaves behind grieving parents Kathleen and Paul, sister Lisa, widow Deb, sons Owen and Oliver.

Christopher Petty, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END