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NANCY GRACE

California Mom`s Body Found Burned, Infant Abandoned; Young Mom Murdered, Infant Son Put Up For Sale; Missing Coed Beauty Vanished Near Her Dorm Room

Aired December 15, 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, California. A gorgeous 26-year-old new mom heads to the doctor with her 2-month-old baby boy when they both mysteriously vanish into thin air. Within hours, Mommy found dead, her remains so badly burned, investigators used dental records for a positive ID. Five days later, missing newborn found abandoned on a doorstep of a nearby home, wrapped only in a blanket.

Bombshell tonight. In a bizarre twist, a witness comes forward claiming a mystery couple tries to sell the 2-month-old baby. Is Mommy`s brutal death linked to baby snatchers?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-six-year-old mom of two.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ana Diaz DeCeja.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Found dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ana`s body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her body.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Burning in this orchard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know words to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her 8-week old son gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is hard to hear this.

GRACE: Bombshell.

GRACE: Bombshell.

GRACE: Bombshell tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This intersection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone from the community.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A witness comes forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was actually approached by a man and woman asking if they wanted to buy a baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just days later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Naked baby boy on the doorstep of this Le Grand home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are these incidents related?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Family members are hoping the infant is Anthony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And who killed a 26-year-old mother of two?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And waiting for justice for Ana.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight, a beautiful Nebraska co-ed goes missing without a trace just steps from her own dorm room. Grainy surveillance cameras show 19-year-old freshman Tyler Thomas walking across campus just one block from her dormitory. But she never makes it. Tonight, where is 19-year-old Nebraska beauty Tyler Thomas?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nebraska police are desperately searching for Tyler "Therapy" Thomas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search for Therapy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Classmate missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Focusing on the Missouri River in the search -- 19-year-old co-ed beauty. Police arrested a fellow student, 29-year-old Joshua Quito (ph). Court documents reveal Quito at first told cops he only saw Ty and didn`t have any contact with her. Reportedly seen on surveillance camera about a block from her dorm. She never made it. And then later allegedly admitted he had sexual contact with her and had a verbal and physical altercation with her soon after. Not only that, but police say Quito allegedly admitted he then went home, where he took shower specifically to remove any physical DNA evidence linking him to Ty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Live to California. A gorgeous 26-year-old new mom heads to the doctor with her 2-month-old baby boy. Both mysteriously vanish into thin air. Within hours, Mommy found dead, burned, in an almond orchard, the missing newborn abandoned on a doorstep. But is Mommy`s brutal death linked to alleged baby snatchers?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ana Diaz DeCeja.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 26-year-old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Found badly burned in an almond orchard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two-month-old son Anthony Ceja Diaz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reported missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anybody knows anything (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And sheriff`s deputies now say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone from the community was actually approached.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A man and woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tried to sell an infant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man is a light-skinned Hispanic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tried to sell an infant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a heavyset Hispanic woman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This bombshell right in front of our eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A naked baby boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Naked on this welcome mat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that he`s very devastated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of this Le Grand home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He can only feel it in his heart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re all working on the assumption that this is the missing child. There is that chance that this is a baby from somewhere else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Is this woman`s death and then the burning of her body out in an orchard -- is it related to potential baby snatchers? A witness came forward to tell us that a couple was trying to sell a newborn baby boy, stunning similarities to the missing baby. And then, were they foiled? Tonight, we want answers! The death of Ana Diaz DeCeja hangs in the balance. Take a look at this mother. There`s her newborn baby.

Straight out to Michael Board, reporter with WOAI Newsradio joining us out of San Antonio. Michael, the evidence looks grim that this woman`s brutal murder is connected to someone trying to sell her baby.

MICHAEL BOARD, WOAI NEWSRADIO: Police have very, very strong evidence that the two cases, these parallel investigations, are linked. This couple who phoned in this tip to police, they gave a very distinct picture of the people who approached them looking to sell a baby. They even described the baby carrier that this couple was carrying the child in. They say it was the exact same description as the baby carrier that Ana Diaz was using.

What really makes this important is police never put out that information. They never told the public what that baby carrier looked like.

GRACE: OK, put up Board!

BOARD: So when this couple called in...

GRACE: Put him up!

BOARD: ... when this couple called in...

GRACE: OK, wait. Michael, are you telling me the couple approached the witness holding the baby in the baby -- is it a carrier...

BOARD: Yes.

GRACE: ... or a carseat or one of those carseats that turns into a carrier?

BOARD: It`s a carseat that turns into a carrier. The base of this carseat was found at Ana Diaz`s car. The carrier itself was taken from her truck. And when this couple approached the other couple, saying, I want to -- I mean, who says, I want to sell you a baby? But when they did this, this couple was able to describe the carrier, and it matches exactly the same as the carrier that Ana Diaz had in her truck.

Police say this is very important because they did not put out the information about what Ana Diaz`s carrier looked like. So the fact that...

GRACE: Hey, Michael...

BOARD: ... this couple was able to describe -- yes?

GRACE: You know what I`m thinking? I know that this woman was going to a doctor at a pediatric clinic. Do you think these baby snatchers were watching the clinic?

BOARD: It very well could be. I mean, you have to think about someone who would approach another couple to say, Do you want to buy a baby? These are sick and depraved people that will do anything for money. They`ll stalk a clinic. They`ll find a woman on the side of the road that they can con into money. They can murder a woman. These are sick people.

GRACE: And where were these witnesses when they were approached? Do we know?

BOARD: They were in a city area there in the same neighborhood where Ana Diaz lived. They`re in the same exact area, is all around the same area. There`s no way that they could be able to describe the baby carrier without, you know, actually seeing it (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: So it is -- it`s her baby. It`s her baby.

BOARD: It has to be. There`s no way that -- this couldn`t be a coincidence. They couldn`t be able to describe that carrier because police didn`t put out that information.

GRACE: Let`s go out to Margaret Carrero, reporter KMJ 580 joining us out of Fresno. Margaret, what more can you tell me about the description of this couple trying to sell the baby?

MARGARET CARRERO, KMJ 580 (via telephone): Well, I can tell you that it was a man and a woman. And the man was described as a light-complected either Hispanic or a Caucasian man believed to be in his early to mid-40s, about 5-7, 5-8, reported to be thin build, brown hair, full beard. He was last seen wearing a black beanie cap, brown pants and a black shirt. The woman was reported to be a heavyset Hispanic woman with her brown hair pulled back. She was wearing pink shirt and bluejeans. And yes, again, they did have the baby in that baby carrier when they approached this witness.

GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, do we know the cause of death on the young mother? Her name, Ana Diaz DeCeja, just 26 years old, absolutely stunning, on the way to a pediatric clinic with her 2-month-old baby boy. They vanish.

You know, Ellie, I don`t believe they ever made it to the clinic. And then the mother is found dead, her body set on fire to conceal its identity, obviously, the baby gone. Do we know cause of death yet, Ellie?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: No, we don`t. And Nancy, there`s another problem with this timeline. The workers at this orchard where she was seen, they saw a fire at about 9:30 in the morning. They just assumed it was somebody burning trash. They didn`t go investigate. It wasn`t until 3:00 o`clock in the afternoon that they got closer to the fire, they realized there was a body in there. So this body is burning all day long. Like you said earlier, they had to use dental records to identify her, so no cause of death yet.

GRACE: Joining us tonight, Dr. Joshua Perper, chief medical examiner and author -- his latest book, "When Doctors Kill," joining us out of Miami. Dr. Perper, for a female, a woman`s body -- and she was a very slight female, to my understanding -- to burn, that many hours, is there any way they`re going to be able to determine cause of death?

DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, in some cases, it`s possible because, usually, the people who do that crime, they spill some kind of accelerant, and sometimes only the outside of the body is burned severely, and inside you still can do an examination and see if there are any injuries to bones or to soft tissues.

GRACE: You know, I`m just trying to take this whole thing in. I remember how many times when I had both twins in one of those same carriers. It`s a carseat that turns into a carrier, carrying both of them in to the doctor, not really looking around me, not ever thinking that someone would come up and try to take a baby, take one of the babies away from me.

I want to go back to Michael Board. Well, hold on. Ellie, you said something interesting that caught my ear. You said the timeline is off. What did you mean by that?

JOSTAD: Well, what I mean is there`s a lack of time -- or there`s a big period of time between her husband leaving for work early in the morning -- he doesn`t notice she`s missing until he comes home that night. Also, the workers didn`t go investigate right away. When they arrived at work, they saw the fire at 9:30 in the morning, didn`t find the body until 3:00. So that`s what I meant by that gap in the timeline.

GRACE: So the timeline`s not off. You`re just saying there`s a gap in it.

JOSTAD: Right. Right. Took a while for the body to be discovered.

GRACE: Exactly. Which gravely hurts the evidence. Those workers had no reason to go over and look at the fire. They didn`t suspect anything was wrong.

We`re taking your calls. Out to Jessica in Maryland. Hi, Jessica.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I hope you and your family have a great holiday!

GRACE: You know what, Jessica? All of us just being alive and together, it`s more than I could ever have hoped to have in one lifetime. So it will be the best one ever. What`s your question, love?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is -- this -- it`s just -- this is sick, what they did to this mother. And could the people have known the mother that took this child?

GRACE: That is an excellent question. Unleash the lawyers. Joining us out of Seattle, high-profile lawyer Anne Bremner, defense attorney. Also joining us, New York, Alex Sanchez, defense attorney, practices in multiple jurisdictions.

Anne Bremner, Alex Sanchez -- first to you, Bremner. We both know that most attacks of this nature, you know the person. I don`t mean you`re their best friend. You could be the delivery boy. You could be the cable guy. But you know them in one way or another.

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s true. I want to first say, though, welcome back, Nancy. It`s just so glad that you`re healthy, speaking of being alive and being together. I speak for I think all of us guests and all our viewers. But it`s just great. And happy holidays.

GRACE: And Anne...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Anne...

BREMNER: It`s just wonderful.

GRACE: ... when I got out of the hospital, yours was one of the first e-mails I saw. Thank you. OK, Sanchez, weigh in.

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, I think -- believe it or not, Nancy, I think this case has nothing to do with some baby-snatching ring. When I see this case, I see drugs. I see gangs. And I see message sending.

GRACE: Sanchez...

SANCHEZ: And I believe...

GRACE: What? Wha-what! Just because they were Hispanic...

SANCHEZ: No.

GRACE: ... you want to drag drugs into it?

SANCHEZ: No, because the story doesn`t make...

GRACE: You of all people, Sanchez. Come on. Give me a break.

SANCHEZ: No, the story doesn`t make...

GRACE: This is a mom going to a clinic, and we`ve got a positive ID on the baby carrier. Nobody knew about that!

SANCHEZ: Well, I think that`s a cover story. I think that somebody did go and pretend they want to sell a baby. But that`s just designed to throw the police off. And you know what? Their plan is working.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was on the way to the doctor with her baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bizarre case that has baffled investigators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But a 26-year-old mom of two never makes it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Farm workers found Ana`s body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The remain of Ana Diaz DeCeja.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Burning in this orchard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Badly burned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But 8-week-old Anthony is missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nowhere to be found.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I don`t have no words to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just hours later.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couple tried to sell an infant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To a stranger. Police search for baby Anthony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, there`s a story behind this whole thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And word comes an abandoned baby is found on a doorstep.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to take us some time to put it all together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it the missing boy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone from the community was actually approached in the area of 27th and Midge (ph) Avenue by a man and woman carrying a baby in a carseat, asking if they wanted to buy a baby. The fact that we hadn`t put it out, that nobody knew that that was missing or the information had been out there, kind of validates this person`s story when he came forward saying that he was approached, especially when he was able to describe the carseat so specifically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Is the death of this young mom -- you`re seeing her in the top box, her name Ana Diaz DeCeja, just 26 years old, a married mother of two. Her other son, Luis, is only 5 years old. This baby just 2 months old. She heads out to a pediatric clinic with the baby. She`s never seen alive again. Next thing you know, a couple turns up trying to sell a baby boy, his carseat identically matching the carseat the couple had the baby in, the baby for sale.

Before I go to the calls, with me now a special guest, Sheriff Mark Pazin, the Merced County sheriff`s office. Sheriff, thank you for being with us. What more can you tell us about this case, Sheriff?

SHERIFF MARK PAZIN, MERCED COUNTY (via telephone): Well, Nancy, it looks like, as usual, you`ve got it all covered. You know, the bottom line here is that a lot of people believe we should have been immediately myopic (SIC) on the husband. But just want to make sure that everybody knows that we don`t get that tightly woven into a case. There`s a lot more to it. And you`ve been around the block, and we are spinning off on other investigative leads.

GRACE: You know what? I`m glad you said that. With me is special guest Sheriff Mark Pazin from the Merced County sheriff`s office. You know, Sheriff, of course, you always start with the people that knew the victim the best. That would be the husband, the boyfriend, the ex, the lover. That`s where you start. But then you go out. And it`s my understanding the husband really was at work the whole day long.

PAZIN: Well, you know, and that`s an interesting case. This isn`t -- I know this is good fodder for TV and all these cases get wrapped up in 60 minutes plus commercials. But this is a real-life scenario that has happened here in Merced County, as it does across our entire nation.

And the initial kneejerk reaction was, just as you adroitly pointed out, to go with those persons closest to Ana. But just like throwing a rock in the water, we start to make those circles get bigger and bigger and start to encompass where she had been and that she just really was on her way to a clinic with her little baby. And next thing you know, the farm workers, as was pointed out earlier in the TV broadcast, saw the smoke. But it`s not unusual here in a rural county about this time to go ahead and start burning rubbish and brush in these almond orchards.

Unfortunately, you know, it was a horrific discovery perpetrated by one, maybe more callous persons of the human system here. And this is what we`ve got right now. We`ve got poor Ana burned beyond recognition. And fortunately, though, the little baby boy is safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are these incidents related? Who killed a 26- year-old mother of two? Who tried to sell a baby? And where is baby Anthony tonight?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-six-year-old mom of two Ana Diaz DeCeja is found dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Badly burned in an almond orchard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her 8-week old son gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that he`s very devastated by what`s going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a break in the case?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff`s deputies now say a couple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Allegedly tried to sell a baby to a stranger. So are these incidents related?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This intersection near Our Lady of Mercy school in Merced is where sheriff`s deputies now say a couple tried to sell an infant Friday afternoon. Deputy Tom McKenzie (ph) says the person who reported the strange encounter clearly described the carseat the baby was in. It matched the carseat 2-month-old Anthony Ceja Diaz was in the day he and his mother, Ana Diaz DeCeja, disappeared from their Planada home. It`s also the same carseat a couple spotted as they walked along Bear Creek near Parsons in Merced late Friday afternoon. Authorities took the carseat into evidence but did not release that detail to protect the investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. And I want to remind you, Merced there in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, beautiful country, very rural. It`s not a huge metropolis, like New York City or San Francisco. It is full of bike trails, tree-lined streets, rolling country, farmland, a perfect place to grow up, to raise children. At least that`s what Ana Diaz DeCeja thought, a 26-year-old stunning mother of two. Her little 2-month-old boy and she head to the doctor, to the pediatric clinic. She`s never seen alive again.

Tonight, we are trying to determine what happened to baby Anthony. We do know that shortly thereafter, a couple trying to sell an infant child, a baby, the baby in a carseat carrier identical to baby Anthony`s. And mom`s car, the baby seat gone along with the baby.

Out to the lines. Mari Joe in California. Hi, Mari Joe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, how are you? And I prayed for you. And I have a question and a small comment real quick. Did the mother put a congratulations sign out there before the baby was born? A lot of parents do that. And I want to tell you, you`re really lucky with your breast tumor because my daughter-in-law, she survived cancer and fell down the stairs six weeks ago after having -- I have a year-and-a-half-old baby, a grandson. And they found tumors in her bones and her spine. And would you pray?

GRACE: You know what? Could you just give me her first name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her name is Dana. And my son is Tom.

GRACE: Yes, I can pray. And yes, I will pray. Because even from someone like me, I know those prayers are going to be heard.

Tonight, take a look at this little baby, speaking of needing prayers, his mommy dead. Where is he?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Twenty-six-year-old mom of two.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ana Diaz Deceja.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Found dead.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ana`s body --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her body --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- burning in this orchard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t have words to say.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her 8-week old son gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is hard to hear this.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Bombshell. Bombshell. Bombshell tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The next day --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This intersection --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Someone from the community --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- a witness come forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually approached by a man and woman asking if they wanted to buy a baby.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just days later --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Naked baby boy on the doorstep of this Le Grande home.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are these incidents related?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Family members hoping the infant is Anthony.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And who killed a 26-year-old mother of two?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And waiting for justice for Ana.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. I want to go to Sheriff Mark Pazin. He is the Merced -- from the Merced County Sheriff`s Office.

The question from Mary Jo in California regarding a congratulations sign or it`s a boy or a stork sign, it brings to mind a case -- I don`t know if you remember this, Sheriff, it was Stephanie Ochsenbine out of Missouri.

And some nut job in her own neighborhood, in her own communicate, saw these signs in her yard. She and her baby survived the attack but that crazy woman wanted her baby.

So do we know if Ana Diaz Deceja had any such congratulation signs or blue balloons or anything like that in her front yard?

SHERIFF MARK PAZIN, MERCED COUNTRY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Well, that`s a very good question for Mary Jo and I can`t answer that. We do not know. But suffice it to say that there had to be some type of planned scheme and design for what we believe, as you`ve cleverly put this, baby snatching.

And we are working all the leads, Nancy, even as we speak out here in California, 5:30 our major crime units, are all over it. And we will get to the bottom of it. I can promise you that.

GRACE: And you know, another problem you`ve got, Sheriff, as if you don`t already know -- with me, Sheriff Mark Pazin from the Merced County Sheriff`s Office -- is the fact that her body burned for so long. It`s going to be so hard to get physical evidence. But you`ve got her car, correct?

PAZIN: That`s correct. You know the forensic pathologist out of Miami, I believe, also had some good observations. We believe that there was little or no struggle at the crime scene. And I don`t want to get into it.

GRACE: What about --

PAZIN: Go ahead.

GRACE: What about on that car seat? Because, you know, when I struggle with the twins` car seats, and they`re supposed to be the easy kind, I mean, I don`t even bring them outside to the car with me when I`m fighting with those car seats.

Whoever took that car seat out had to have left prints, unless the mommy had already taken it out and was outside the car with the baby in the car seat carrier. Then you`re not going to get any prints from inside the car.

PAZIN: Well, obviously we`re not going to show our hand on national TV about some of the investigative leads that we`re working on right now. But again, you`re all over it. And we are in the course and scope of something that we believe is going to have some -- come to fruition for us.

So what I`m saying is this. That all the callers and yourself are very helpful and also very clever in putting all these things together. But again, suffice it to say --

GRACE: Let me ask you something, Sheriff.

PAZIN: Huh?

GRACE: Let me ask you something, Sheriff.

PAZIN: Sure.

GRACE: A baby turned up, not next door, but in the same general community. Of course, Merced, it`s about like my home town. It is not a huge metropolis like New York City or Philadelphia. But a baby boy turns up almost dead from hypothermia, naked except for being in a blanket on somebody`s front porch.

His body temperature down to 86 degrees. Doctors say one more hour, two more hours and that baby would have died.

Do we have a positive I.D. on baby Anthony yet? Is that the baby? Is baby Anthony safe?

PAZIN: You know, I`m just going to cut to the chase. I`m not going to duck that question. We are more than 98 percent sure that that baby is the one that belong to -- the baby male is Ana`s. But we always kind of --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Praise the lord.

PAZIN: Huh?

GRACE: I said praise the Lord. Even though I know there`s that 2 percent or 5 percent chance it`s not him, you know, how many other babies are missing in Merced? You know the odds are pretty strong that`s going to be him. And --

PAZIN: Yes, we`re not -- we`re not -- you know, Nancy, we`re not going to shrug our responsibility in making sure that we get the information out that`s correct. Again, we`re going to make sure that we cross T`s, dot I`s, regarding DNA. That`s a small component to what we believe already is the connectivity between the little baby male that was found in the Grand and unfortunately the deceased mother.

GRACE: You know, Sheriff Pazin, I`m on the outside looking in obviously but it sounds like baby snatchers were willing to murder the mom and this is precluding the husband, of course. That`s just a given that you look at him first. And then were somehow foiled and decided, you know what? I`m backing out of this deal and just leave the baby on somebody`s front doorstep.

PAZIN: There are some gutless people out there, Nancy. I mean hence you`ve got your TV show. And again, we`re not going to shy away from what happened here. You`ve got some callous persons in the human race. You`ve got persons that evidently were trying to sell that baby. Got cold feet. No pun intended. And really were going to commit another felony by just dumping the baby.

GRACE: Leaving the baby.

PAZIN: Well, he went from baby snatcher to baby dumping. And so again, our major crime unit is working right now on some leads and we`re hoping to bring a person or persons that were involved in this case to justice.

GRACE: To Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and contributor at Healthguru.com.

Doctor Jeff, thank you for being with us.

Doctor Jeff, you know, I don`t know if this is -- was a kidnapping gone wrong. As if there`s anything right about a kidnapping to start with. But the mom, a 26-year-old mom of two is dead. And it takes -- I don`t know what kind of make-up it takes to then set a body of a lady on fire, of a mother on fire out in an orchard. Then try to sell her baby. Sell her baby.

Then leave a baby at 2 months old. They`re just like a little kitten. They can`t do anything for themselves. The temperature on that child`s body was already down to 86 degrees. A guy heard what he thought was a kitty cat. It turned out it was this baby next door wedge in the between a screen door and the door. Just laying there on the front.

What kind of mindset is that, Dr. Gardere?

GARDERE: Well, it sounds to me like even though these individuals may have planned this, and that they were watching this woman. Perhaps they had seen her before coming into a clinic or coming out of a hospital, and therefore targeted her, I would have to think that because it is such a rural area. They didn`t think through what they were going to do with the baby. These are depraved individuals who wanted to get rid of the evidence, it seems.

GRACE: I`m just sick.

GARDERE: But at the same time -- at the same time, yes.

GRACE: It`s killing me.

GARDERE: Just sociopath. To kill the mother in that way and then dump the baby. I wonder, Nancy, and I think you`re thinking along the same way, if they had someone in mind that they were going to sell this baby to and when that didn`t work out, then they tried to just sell the baby to anyone and when they didn`t have a taker, they dumped the baby.

But the main point here, these are depraved individuals who were desperate, desperate for money. And I think possibly for drugs. They needed cash.

GRACE: OK, let me go back to Sheriff Mark Pazin.

Sheriff, can you tell us where the witness was when that witness was approached to buy a baby?

PAZIN: Near the bike path along bear creek in that same general vicinity as you`ve already pointed out, where the car seat was.

GRACE: So just like -- in a residential area?

PAZIN: Yes, yes. The city of Merced is about 80,000 people. And there`s -- you know, major thoroughfares. But there`s this beautiful bike path that you described on air. And people walk up and down that. And it is through another major intersection that goes north and south through the city of Merced and Merced County.

So the witness just happen to be in that same neck of the woods where the - - Our Lady of Mercy School is, where a lot of people get their exercise during that day -- during the day.

GRACE: You know, Sheriff, now that I`m analyzing this, of course, buying a baby is a felony. But I think if I were approached, now that I`m analyzing it, I would have to say yes, I want the baby. Get the baby and then go to police. I mean because --

PAZIN: Well, Nancy, I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: We don`t know what`s going to happen to that baby.

PAZIN: Well, Nancy, I think, you know, maybe in a perfect world at 20/20 hindsight. Can you imagine the shock of this -- someone approaching you that, hey, do you want this little 2-month-old? I`m just happy that the witness came forward as quickly as they did so we could get a good description, so we could get those leads so we could bring these two characters to justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that he`s very devastated about what`s going on. That he can only feel it in his heart. If anybody know anything, to let the authorities know.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She was on the way to the doctor with her baby.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A bizarre case that has baffled investigators.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But the 26-year-old mom of two never makes it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Burn markers found in Ana`s body.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The remains of Ana Diaz Deceja.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Burning in this orchard.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Badly burned.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But 8-week-old Anthony is missing. Nowhere to be found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I don`t have no words to say.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just hours later --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A couple tried to sell an infant.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: To a stranger. Police search for baby Anthony.

PAZIN: Obviously there is a story behind this whole thing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Word comes an abandoned baby is found on a doorstep.

PAZIN: It`s going to take us some time to put it all together.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is it the missing boy?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. The death of a beautiful 26-year-old mom. There you see her in the top box. Ana Diaz Deceja. The mother of two. Her murder and the burning of her body to hide the evidence. The little baby boy kidnapped.

Is it all the scheme of baby snatchers?

We are taking your call live. Back to you, Margaret Carrero, reporter, KMJ 580.

Margaret, clearly the witness saw the two people, a man and a woman, trying to sell the baby. Obviously, they could take a look at the father and say, no, that`s not him or he`d be under arrest tonight.

So I`m pretty confident he wasn`t out peddling his baby up and down on the street. Or I can tell you this much. Sheriff Mark Pazin would have him behind bars right now. All right? He`s not coming out and saying it, but I could figure that much out.

MARGARET CARRERO, REPORTER, KMJ 580: Right. No. For sure. In fact, you know, Nancy, the dad -- I asked immediately when I heard about this story of course. One of the first things I even asked was what about dad? What do we know about dad?

And all I was told immediately was that he along with the rest of the family were following up with this investigation, very cooperative, and as Sheriff Pazin mentioned, you know, his alibi checked out completely.

But again, you know, they`re also not ruling anybody out as well at this point still. I mean I`m sure as you thought, as I thought, you know, this did not sound right the minute that I heard it. Because we have not only a missing mother and her infant baby but on the same exact day, we have that burning body in this field.

I just -- you know, gut instinct. You know something isn`t right.

GRACE: Michael Board, reporters, WOAI Newsradio, the couple selling the baby, what did the man look like? Let me see a picture of her daddy.

MICHAEL BOARD, REPORTER, WOAI NEWSRADIO: The dad is about 5 1/2 feet tall, dark hair, big brown beard. The woman is a larger Mexican woman. Hair, brown hair, pulled back. Jeans, a pink t-shirt.

And Nancy, you have to think. If these people need money so badly that they`re willing to sell a baby, what are they going to do next for money? You know you`ve got to find these people quickly.

GRACE: OK. Yes. The husband is not light complected. He is not white. I don`t think that that is going to be confused. Plus, he`s got this lady in tow.

To Sheriff Mark Pazin, what kind of job does the dad have?

PAZIN: He`s a laborer at a trucking company here in Merced County. And again, his -- as already mentioned, the -- all the stories that -- actually I shouldn`t even say story. All the -- it`s all been corroborated where he was. He was putting up Christmas lights and he was at work.

So again, we have not discounted but we`re moving our investigation in another direction so we don`t get myopic on the knee-jerk reaction of the husband.

GRACE: Exactly.

We are taking your calls.

Heather, South Carolina. Hi, Heather. What`s your question?

HEATHER, CALLER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA: Hey, yes. I`ve waited so long to get through. But I was just wondering if there was any surveillance cameras in the area. I know they said that there was a school around and most of the time they have surveillance areas outside.

GRACE: You know, I was told there was no surveillance.

What do we know, Ellie Jostad?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Yes, that`s right, Nancy. We asked that question, too. Unfortunately the sheriff is telling us that there is not a camera outside Our Lady of Mercy School. Didn`t get this on video, apparently.

GRACE: And Sheriff, did she ever make it to the clinic?

PAZIN: Nancy, that`s a residential area also where that was. So it would be, you know, a highly unlikely that somebody had a camera poised at their house --

GRACE: Right.

PAZIN: You know, residential burglaries.

GRACE: Did she ever make it to the clinic that morning, Sheriff Pazin?

PAZIN: We don`t believe so. We don`t believe so. Somewhere along the line, we are theorizing she was intercepted through some either -- maybe she did have an acquaintance or through some ruse. I think --

GRACE: I mean because she had to be getting in or out of her car or she had to know these people. Because if she`s driving along, they`re not going to be able to get her. She had to be getting in or out, going into that clinic, somewhere where she --

PAZIN: Yes. That`s accurate also. We`re backtracking to see if she may have stopped someplace. Was she waved down? I mean you`ve got to understand, it is about eight to 10 miles from where she lives in Planada (ph) into the clinic. So we`re -- from what we understand, OK? So we`re putting all these things together.

GRACE: OK. Everybody, I`ve got a tip line for you. 209-385-7472. Help us.

Very quickly. I want to take you to our next story. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Missing college co-ed last seen a block from her dorm.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tyler Thomas.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Reportedly seen on surveillance video at 1:30 a.m. as she was walking on campus. That was the last time anyone saw Ty.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ty Thomas.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls on this story. A beautiful college co-ed just feet from her own dorm goes missing.

Matt Zarrell, what happened?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Thomas was last seen walking just a block from her dorm room. She was at an off-campus party. Was returning home. We have various reports that was surveillance cameras that are from a water tower on campus that shows she was just a block there. She never made it, Nancy. Police are now focusing on the Missouri River just a couple of miles away, looking for any sign of her.

GRACE: To Ron Martinelli, Ph.D., forensic criminologist, Martinelli Associates, joining us out of L.A.

Ron, I already know about the 29-year-old perv that lived in the dormitories. Police are looking at him. Apparently another woman has come forward, I believe, a co-ed who says he took her down to these riverbanks and forced her into sex acts.

I don`t know if it had been reported prior to this. So he`s under scrutiny. Where do we go from here, Ron?

RON MARTINELLI, FORENSIC CRIMINOLOGIST, MARTINELLI & ASSOCIATES, JUSTICE & FORENSIC CONSULTANTS, INC.: What`s going to happen is that people that are rapists -- and we don`t know yet if this person is a rapist -- but people that are rapists follow a protocol. They tend to be very superstitious.

There are different types of rapists, an anger rapists, control rapists. And so with this prior rape, three counts back on the 31st of October, they`re going to re-interview the suspect and try to determine if there`s any correlation between what happened on the 31st and what he`s doing now.

GRACE: Tip line, 402-274-3139.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Joshua Keadle is hurried out of the Nemaha County courtroom where he just learned the exact charges he was facing. Among them three counts of first-degree sexual assault for an October 31st crime involving a woman known as KJ. He`s also facing one count of terroristic threats and another of false imprisonment.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police arrested 29-year-old Joshua Keadle, accusing him of lying to police and tampering with evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The crimes connected with the disappearance of Tyler Thomas.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Keadle remains behind bars.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Where is a missing college co-ed? Take a look. Tyler Ty Thomas, just 19 years old. On surveillance video clearly about a block from her own dormitory room.

Out to Leslie Reed, reporter with the "Omaha World Herald." Leslie, what can you tell us?

LESLIE REED, REPORTER, OMAHA WORLD HERALD: Well, after an extensive search of the Missouri River and the hills and ravines surrounding Peru, with dogs, hundreds of volunteers and even the Missouri Water Patrol, authorities still haven`t found her.

They have arrested this Joshua Keadle, and he`s described as a person of interest. He remains in the Nemaha County jail. And today or yesterday prosecutors unveiled they were going to charge him yet another sexual assault case. And today we got new details of what the grounds for those charges were.

GRACE: What I don`t understand is why a 29-year-old man with sex assault incidents in his past is allowed to live in the dorm. That`s a good question for the authorities at Peru State College.

Let`s stop --

REED: That`s what we`ve asked them --

GRACE: -- and remember Army Sergeant Matthew Bohling, 22, Eagle River, Alaska, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, Alaska Decoration of Honor. Loved fishing Alaska`s salmon rivers and streams. Cowboy action shooting, reading video -- reading, video games and military history.

With a personality that lit up a room. Leaves behind grieving parents, Sandra and Charles, a retired master sergeant, grandmothers, Rosa Leah and Charlotte. Brother Joshua, serving the army, sister, Sara.

Matthew Bohling, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. And thank you again to Lamar`s donuts, Alabama, for their famous treats. And PS, I don`t like jelly-filled donuts but yours were an exception.

And good night tonight to tiny crime fighter just joining this world, James Alexander. One month old, he`s already seeking justice watching our show every night.

And we ask for your prayers for Jack. Just 9 years old. This beautiful boy battling cancer. To send well wishes or donate go to caringbridge.org/visit/campjack.

See you tomorrow night. Until then, good night friend.

END