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NANCY GRACE

Police Awaiting Autopsy on Dead Baby Left in Trashcan

Aired September 1, 2011 - 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, North Carolina. A grocery store bag boy gets the shock of a lifetime when he goes to empty trash and finds the body of a beautiful baby girl in the dumpster. After police sift through reams of video surveillance, the perp is ID`d.

Bombshell tonight. Who dumped a perfect little newborn wrapped in a baptism blanket in a filthy dumpster? The perp is Mommy! And here`s the kicker. Tonight, Mommy walks free!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shocking discovery at a grocery store.

911 OPERATOR: Henderson County 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need a -- I need people down here at the Bi- Lo`s in (INAUDIBLE) quick. Our bag boy just found a baby in the trashcan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bathroom turned into a dumping ground for a tiny newborn baby girl

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies bathroom in a trashcan.

911 OPERATOR: And is it outside or inside?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s inside! It`s in our bathroom!

911 OPERATOR: Is the baby alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! They just told me to call the cops! It`s in the trashcan! I don`t know!

911 OPERATOR:

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A child that was just given birth to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re talking young teenagers who likely panicked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve identified the mother and the male in the video.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Possible charges against this mother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Bi-Lo`s on 120 (INAUDIBLE) Crossing Four Seasons. Oh, my God! Please hurry!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police release surveillance video that shows a woman walking into the bathroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Large bag so heavy it was nearly scraping the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) later wearing different clothes and carrying a lighter purse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could have been prevented.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This absolutely didn`t have to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Florida, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a gorgeous middle school science teacher, gone for weeks before even being reported missing. A bizarre twist when it`s reported Amy dies in a head-on collision, but then her SUV turns up 80 miles away without a scratch.

Breaking tonight. Police reveal even without a body, missing teacher Amy Patterson now presumed dead. Tonight, what happened to Amy?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 41-year-old Amy Patterson.

GRACE: Middle school science teacher.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At Mariner Middle reported missing...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she doesn`t show up, the school calls the husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daniel Proctor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now considered a suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four different stories. She died in a car crash in North Carolina, another time in Tennessee, another time in Texas. Oh, yes, well, her son was in a car crash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Proctor`s mother says her son drove from Florida to Alabama in Amy`s car without her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she didn`t show up with him and he was in her car that she had, I think anybody would have (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her disappearance is very suspicious. This is very unlike her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just have no idea where Amy Patterson is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight, live, North Carolina. A grocery store bag boy gets the shock of a lifetime when he goes to empty the trash and finds the body of a beautiful baby girl. Who dumped a perfect little newborn wrapped in a baptism blanket into a filthy dumpster? The perp is Mommy. And here`s the kicker. Tonight, Mommy walks free!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A baby has been found dead in the bathroom of a local grocery store, reportedly tossed in a garbage can like trash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hidden in the last stall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our bag boy just found a baby in a trashcan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Little girl without a name, left alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wrapped in a blanket with the words "My baptism" monogrammed in Spanish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gold ring also found on the baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police have actually found the mother and the man in the video.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators are not saying much about the teen mom or whether she knew the legal ways to abandon an infant.

911 OPERATOR: We`re sending them right now, OK? Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m fine!

911 OPERATOR: Is the baby alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! They just told me to call the cops! It`s in the trashcan! I don`t know!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say the baby appears to only be a few days old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother had other options, to leave it at a safe place like a hospital or fire station.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. There you see the video surveillance, just like cops found it. Cops on the scene going through reams and reams of video surveillance taken there in the grocery store.

Straight out to George Henry, morning news anchor at WTZQ. George, what happened?

GEORGE HENRY, WTZQ RADIO (via telephone): Well, it seems like we really don`t know what happened, other than she arrived at the store and left without the baby in the purse. That`s pretty much all that the district attorney is saying at this point.

GRACE: Well, what I don`t understand George Henry, is why Mommy`s walked free? Why is she out tonight? She`s admitted this is her baby. And there she is, for Pete`s sake, on video leaving the baby in the trash!

HENRY: Well, I know they had a three-hour interview with the mother of the infant. And from what happened there, it just seems like they`re waiting on the autopsy results in order to find out how they`re going to proceed with the case.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, former prosecutor, WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer out of Orlando, defense attorney out of Atlanta Peter Odom, and defense attorney out of Miami Lorna Owens.

First to you, Bill Sheaffer. This much I know. I know that police have said the baby was not stillborn. Now, if the baby had been stillborn and the mom panicked, it`s still a crime to dispose of a dead body, but it would be a whole different scenario. That baby was not stillborn, Bill. So when a baby passes away, why would you go put it in a dumpster for any reason that`s not nefarious?

BILL SHEAFFER, WFTV LEGAL ANALYST: There`s no good reason to do that, Nancy. And you can bet the prosecutors are biding their time and they`re going too make a very tight case. In the end, this woman -- and she deserves to be charged. She`s going to be charged with some form of homicide because that baby was not stillborn.

But they`re not going to rush in and bring a charge until they have completed this investigation, and essential to complete that investigation is the completion of that autopsy.

GRACE: OK, Peter Odom, weigh in.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t see how anybody can be talking about homicide before an autopsy has even been done. Tragically, children die in this country every day from natural causes. It sounds to me as if this might be someone...

GRACE: Put him up, please!

ODOM: ... who`s living outside the law. Please put me up! Sounds to me like this might be someone who`s living outside of the law. The baby might well have died...

GRACE: What do you mean, outside of the law?

ODOM: The baby might well have died accidentally and she was scared...

GRACE: Are you saying an illegal immigrant?

ODOM: ... to go to the authorities. Well, the baptism blanket was in Spanish. This might well be someone who...

GRACE: Authorities?

ODOM: ... did not feel -- did not feel...

GRACE: You mean a hospital?

ODOM: ... comfortable going to the police.

GRACE: Are you trying to say, Peter, that hospitals don`t treat illegal immigrants? That`s ridiculous!

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: ... saying doesn`t even make sense!

ODOM: This very well is someone that -- she certainly did not feel comfortable going to the authorities. That does not mean that she...

GRACE: Well, I don`t care what makes her comfortable!

ODOM: ... killed anybody. Why are we talking about homicide?

GRACE: Her comfort is not my concern! Because of this. I`ll tell you why. Put the video up, Liz. Because she comes in, takes the baby to the trash, changes clothes -- she doesn`t want to be identified as the same person going in there to dump her baby -- and then leaves. If that baby had died of natural causes, she wouldn`t have done this, Lorna Owens!

LORNA OWENS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, we still don`t know how the baby died. It is very -- it is very normal -- it`s not normal, but sometimes, young women, young mothers panic. They don`t know...

GRACE: Panic?

OWENS: ... what to do. So let us first find...

GRACE: Well, hold on! Wait! Wait! Wa-wait!

OWENS: ... out how the baby...

GRACE: Wa-wait! Wa-wait! Wait, Lorna!

OWENS: ... died.

GRACE: Wait! Wait! Wait! Please, Liz, put up the video. Lorna, please look at the video. Does she look to you like she`s in a panic? To me, she looks very calm, strolling along -- there she goes -- not panicked, not upset, not shaking or jittery. She goes in dragging a bag. And whoa! There she is! That`s her! That`s her walking out with the bag much lighter and a different pair of clothes.

Doesn`t look panicked to me, Bethany Marshall!

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: I can say with certainty this mother is not panicked. The likelihood is she concealed the pregnancy for nine months from her mother, her boyfriend, her relatives, the people around her. She didn`t even want to attach to the baby. She thought of it as a thing inside of her.

This is what the research shows about mothers who dump their babies in trashcans. This poor baby, when it was born, this mother was deliberating on how to get rid of this child.

What horrors did this child suffer the first three days of its life? I can only hope and pray that however this mother killed this child, it was with mercy. That`s all I can hope for in this case. It makes me sick that people are using words like "panicked" and "fear." That is not what the research bears out. I`m certain that that was not her state of mind.

GRACE: And to you, Matt Zarrell. As far as panic -- out of control, fear, irrationality due to fear -- come on! They bought something in the store!

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy, you`re exactly right. And they bought something after Mom came out of the bathroom. It wasn`t until the mom changed her clothes, allegedly dumping the baby in the tiny trashcan, comes out of the bathroom, and then her and the male believed to be her boyfriend then buy something and then leave the store. They paid with cash. So we`re still trying to work on what did they purchase? Does it have any effect on this case?

GRACE: You know, Matt Zarrell, you and most of the staff were all with me during my pregnancy, going through all that, the illness, the wheelchair. I will never forget picking up John David and Lucy for the first time in the hospital in intensive care for them to have their first bath. They were so -- two pounds. I was trying to bathe them and hold their little neck up. And to think that this woman wrapped the baby in the baptismal blanket that said "My baptism" and dumped her in the trash!

Out to the lines. Lynn in West Virginia. Hi, Lynn. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Nancy. Oh, first of all, congratulations. You`re going to get to shake your booty!

GRACE: Well, you know, once you see it, I don`t know if you`re still going to be congratulating me, but thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you`ll do great, I`m sure. But I kind of agree and disagree. I know by her taking that baby into a store and putting it in the trash the way she did sounds horrible, which is a bad, bad thing.

But if they really wanted that baby never found, they could have went to a dumpster -- you know, the dumpsters out on the street, you know, it would have probably never been found. But that baby -- that dead baby was meant to be found. I don`t know what their reasons were, you know? And when she had that baby, she may have...

GRACE: You know, Lynn, whether they meant for the baby to be found or not, to me, putting it in a trashcan means you want it disposed of without it being found. I hear what you`re saying. What concerns me more is not so much the disposal but the death of the baby. How did the baby die?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. A baby has been found dead in the bathroom of a local grocery store, reportedly tossed in a garbage can like trash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A bag boy made the shocking discovery while cleaning a bathroom here, hidden in the last stall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police release surveillance video that shows a woman walking into a bathroom but leaving minutes later wearing different clothes and carrying a lighter purse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s obvious the baby was not born or birthed there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wrapped in this blanket. The words written on it, "Mi bautista (ph)," meaning "My baptism."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say the baby appears to only be a few days old.

911 OPERATOR: Henderson County 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need people down at Bi-Lo`s in (INAUDIBLE) quick. Our bag boy just found a baby in a trashcan.

911 OPERATOR: OK. You`re at Bi-Lo`s?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at Bi-Lo`s on 120 Henderson Crossing Four Season. Oh, my God! Please hurry!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. The shock of a lifetime when a grocery store bag boy finds the body of a beautiful baby girl in the trash, wrapped in pristine baptism blanket. And after going through reams and reams of video surveillance, police find the mommy. She admits that she`s the mommy. She`s the one that takes her baby girl, dressed in one outfit, dumps the baby in the trashcan, and leaves as if nothing happened.

Straight out to Paul Penzone, former sergeant, Phoenix PD, child advocate. What about it, Paul?

PAUL PENZONE, FORMER SGT., PHOENIX PD: It`s just tragic, and we hear these cases far too often. There are safe havens all over the country. And if you`re not competent or capable to care for a child, you can bring them there and it`ll be taken care of. How this baby died is going to be significant. And it`s just inexcusable. But we have to send a stronger message that these occurrences cannot be excused and we can`t look for justification in it.

GRACE: To Dr. Bill Manion, medical examiner from Burlington County, DNA consultant. Dr. Manion, how is it that they know the baby is not stillborn, but they don`t know cause of death?

DR. BILL MANION, MEDICAL EXAMINER, BURLINGTON CTY. NJ: Well, I`m not sure what the -- I haven`t seen the autopsy report, but if a child has taken a breath, then when we examine the lungs and put them in a liquid, put them in formalyn, the lungs will float because there`s air in the lungs. If an infant is born stillborn, there`s no air, no ventilation in the lungs. When we put those lungs in formalyn, they`ll sink right to the bottom.

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back it up, Dr. Bill Manion. Remember, you`re an MD, I`m just a JD. Are you saying you take the lungs out of the body and submerge them in something?

MANION: Yes, we will put the lungs in formalyn. That`s our fixative because --

GRACE: In what?

MANION: In formalyn. It`s fixative...

GRACE: Formalyn?

MANION: ... we use -- formalyn.

GRACE: Formalyn?

MANION: Yes. And if the lungs float, that indicates to us that this child has breathed. If the lungs sink, then there has been no breath and the child was stillborn, either died before delivery or died during delivery and yet never took a breath.

GRACE: So it`s that easy...

MANION: So we can tell.

GRACE: ... to determine? And what is formalyn? What is it, clear? Does it look like water?

MANION: It`s a fixative. But we have to put our tissues...

GRACE: What`s fixative?

MANION: A fixative means it`ll lock up the proteins in the tissue so that we can examine it microscopically. You know, we also want to make sure that this child didn`t aspirate gastric contents or this child doesn`t have pneumonia. It may be...

GRACE: You know what?

MANION: ... a natural death.

GRACE: Dr. Manion, you know what I was so afraid of when the twins were so tiny and they were so premature? If they threw up, I was afraid they`d suck it back down...

MANION: That`s right.

GRACE: ... and choke.

MANION: That`s right.

GRACE: And when Lucy would get sick and threw up, she would go -- and quit breathing. So I understand what you`re saying. But you`re saying you put it in a fixative. Is it like water, formalyn? Does it -- does it -- what does it look like?

MANION: Yes, it`s like water and it has a chemical in it, formaldehyde, and it allows us to examine the tissues, again, because remember, this is a -- this child may have died of myocarditis, of pneumonia, of meningitis. We -- I hope they can find the placenta also because that can give us information, too.

GRACE: So it makes sense to you that the police know the baby is not stillborn, but yet they still don`t know cause of death. That is consistent? That makes sense, Dr. Manion?

MANION: Well, they may be waiting for more information, toxicology, for instance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m fine!

911 OPERATOR: All right. Just be outside so you can meet with the officers, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right!

911 OPERATOR: All right. Bye-bye. Call me back if you need anything, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little girl without a name, left alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) to drop it off in the bathroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like trash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wondering why.

911 OPERATOR: OK. You`re at Bi-Lo`s?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at Bi-Lo`s on 120 Henderson Crossing Four Seasons. Oh, my God! Please hurry!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police release surveillance video that shows a woman walking into the bathroom and leaving minutes later wearing different clothes and carrying a lighter purse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The calls we received led us to these people.

911 OPERATOR: And is it an outside or inside trashcan?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s inside! it`s in our bathroom!

911 OPERATOR: Oh, it`s in your bathroom? All right. It`s OK. All right, we`re sending them right now, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The grocery store lady crying, sobbing into the phone after a bus boy, a bag boy gets the shock of a lifetime, a beautiful baby girl found still wrapped in her baptism blanket in the trash.

Out to the lines. Alisha in Rhode Island. Hi, Alisha. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The child that was found in a bag and the mother`s walking scot-free -- I`m a mother, and I`ve gone through a lot. I have a drug problem. God bless me, I`ve been clean for a long time now with the help of God. And I fought hard to have my daughter. It`s been a year-and-a-half that I`ve been straight and I`ve been doing the right thing. And I just -- to see a mother walking around after her child was found in a trash bag -- I mean, I would never hurt my child, ever.

GRACE: And you know another thing, Alisha? Another thing? This lady, this mom does not have a drug problem, does not have an alcohol problem, nothing. Nothing! And she did this!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s the thing that gets to me. I would never put my daughter in harm`s way. I`ve done everything -- I put one foot in front of the other. I try so hard. I do the next right thing, the next best thing that I know how to do. And I don`t have my daughter full-time. But my day is coming. My day is definitely coming. But to see this woman walking around, knowing that...

GRACE: You know what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... she`s hurt her child...

GRACE: You know what, Alisha? You are giving me chillbumps to hear you say, My day is coming. And I can tell it is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s the most...

GRACE: And out of all the things in the world, you have your family. You`re going to get your family back. And look what she did. And you said it in the very beginning, Alisha in Rhode Island. She is walking free tonight after leaving her baby in the trash, dead! It`s wrong!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK, calm down. It`s OK. Hold on one second. I need to get some information from you, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK!

911 OPERATOR: All right, what`s your name? Is the baby alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! They just told me to call the cops! She`s in the trashcan! I don`t know!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Henderson county 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need people down at bi-lo`s in Hendersonville quick. Our bag boy just found a baby in a trash can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. You`re at Bi-Lo?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at Bi-Lo`s 120 Henderson crossing Four Seasons. Oh my God, please hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, calm down it`s OK. Hold on one second, I need to get some information from you, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, what`s your name? Is the baby alive?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know, they just told me to call the cops. She`s in the trash can, I don`t know much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. What`s your phone number? And is it inside or outside?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Its inside, it`s in our bathroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s in your bathroom? It`s OK. OK, we`re sending them right now, OK? Are you going to be all right? Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m fine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be outside so you can meet with the officers, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye Bye. Call me back if you need anything, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Henderson county 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need people down at Bi-Lo`s in Hendersonville quick. Our bag boy just found a baby in a trash can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re at Bi-Lo`s?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at Bi-Lo`s 120 Henderson crossing Four Seasons. Oh my God, please hurry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Welcome back, we are taking your call.

A grocery store bag boy gets the shock of a lifetime when he discovers the body of a beautiful baby girl thrown away like she`s trash there at the grocery store. And, of course, cops go through reams and reams mounds of video surveillance. They catch mommy, she admits she`s the mommy. She changes clothes. She`s not in a panic. She`s not freaked out. She goes in with one outfit, dumps the baby girl still wrapped in her baptism blanket. Change her clothes so nobody knows, it`s her makes a purchase after leaving her baby in the trash, dead. Makes a purchase, and leaves and hey, I`m going to let the guy of Scott free. You don`t think he knew what was going on? Oh, yes he did.

OK, George Henry, WTZQ, who`s the guy?

GEORGE HENRY, NEWS ANCHOR, WTZQ RADIO (via telephone): Well, they don`t know, it could possibly be her boyfriend. And it could possibly be just a friend of hers. They haven`t said that they were a couple yet.

GRACE: Well, George, don`t you think he wondered why she changed clothes in the bathroom?

HENRY: I think he probably knew, but it`s just supposition right now. I mean, they were holding hands when they walked in.

GRACE: Well, this is what I do know, regardless of who he is or is not, she is the mommy, because she`s confessed to it. She went into the bathroom and left the baby, changed clothes, so I guess we wouldn`t recognize her when she came out? She goes in the bag`s nearly dragging on the ground. She comes out, she`s got it over her shoulder suddenly it`s very light. There`s no way.

HENRY: Well, I think - who knows if they`re going to make those decisions that an adult would make.

GRACE: You know what, that`s a good point. I want to go to Bethany Marshall psychoanalyst and author. Doctor Bethany, why is it when a mother commits a murder, everyone automatically assumes it must have been postpartum depression or she had, she had to be sick. There are - let me just - do any of these ring a bell, Doctor Bethany?

Melissa Drexler, I covered that trial live, "the Prom Mom", gave birth in the bathroom during the school prom, put the newborn in the trash, then went out and asked for the song "Unforgiven" by Metallica to be played and then proceeded to dance.

Then there`s Amy Grossberg, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, gave birth in a motel room, boyfriend threw the baby in a dumpster. And the autopsy showed baby dead of head fractures and shaken baby syndrome.

And yes, Mister Miss preppy Ivy League didn`t want anyone to know she was pregnant. They went right back to classes after the baby was beat in the head and put in the dumpster.

Then of course, there`s Jessica Blackham gave birth to a preemie in the toilet during a circus. Left the baby to drown and then told the cops she didn`t remember she gave birth. Oops, slipped in her mind.

Then Kate McCoy gave birth in a dorm room and wrapped it in a towel, put it in a gym bag and head it in the utility room. Thanks Mom, Christie Freeman denied ever being pregnant or delivering a baby. You know-

Out to the line, Louann in Pennsylvania. Hi, dear, what`s your question?

LOUANN, CALLER, PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Nancy. Was the baby - do they know yet whether the baby was born alive?

GRACE: Yes, yes, Louann. Keep Louann on the phone. Louann, the baby was not stillborn. The baby was alive when it was born. So what is your question?

LOUANN: What was the reasoning for the mother, her reasoning for disposing of her child?

GRACE: I don`t know that we have that information. I don`t think she`s told that yet. Matt Zarrell, has she?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Nancy, if she has told that information, it`s only to the police, the police have not revealed her name, her age or any details about her. Another thing too, they have questioned the male seen on that video as well. And are working to figure out what role he`s played in is.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Janet in New York. Hi Janet, what`s your question?

JANET, CALLER, NEW YORK: Hi Nancy. First, I just want to say congrats on "Dancing with the Stars". I`m so excited to watch you.

GRACE: Hey, you know what? I don`t know if you heard this earlier, but I had to take five bandages, five, three on one foot, two on the other, of my feet in order to wedge my feet into shoes to come to work.

JANET: Oh my, gosh!

GRACE: Go ahead, what`s your question.

JANET: I want to know if they found anything else in the trash can where the baby was discovered.

GRACE: Yes. Wasn`t there a ring in there to Matt Zarell?

ZARELL: Well Nancy, there was a gold female ring with some stones in it that may or may not be diamonds. Nancy, the cops believe that the ring did belong to the mother, and they also say that the baby was dead when the mom allegedly put her in the trash can. Being put in the trash can is not what killed the baby.

GRACE: Exactly. I want to go to special guest, Michael Morrisi, co- founder of baby safe haven in New England. Michael, break it down. How simple is it if you don`t want your baby, what she could have done?

MICHAEL MORRISI, CO-FOUNDER, SAFE HAVEN, NEW ENGLAND: Within about a mile to a mile and a half of the location of the bi-lo, there was a hospital, two or three fire stations, EMT stations, those are all safe havens as well as hospital police fire stations, EMT stations, social service agencies, are also baby safe havens in North Carolina up to seven days old for the age of the baby. Wish we could have got the information to this young woman. She had the presence of mind to do what she did. With that information, she probably would have the presence of mind.

GRACE: I got an idea Michel. It may already be implemented, but have you ever thought of making signs that don`t have words on them that are not English? For instance how you have a sign for a pedestrians walking across the street and it`s just a picture? Or you know there are pictures for all sorts of things, there are pictures for red, green, yellow lights coming up. A sign including a baby and then I don`t know, a picture of a church, I don`t know. A way to communicate to people that may not understand the writing?

MORRISI: Yes, they`re in English and Spanish and then some places other languages, right on the fire stations. It`s already being done much not done enough we don`t do enough to promote these laws, that`s the one thing I know.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Bill Scheaffer, Peter Odom, Lauren Owens. Now, that you heard more of the facts, Bill Schaffer, what about it?

BILL SHEAFFER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, WFTV LEGAL ANALYST: I think the circumstantial evidence in this case is pointing toward a homicide, that`s why the investigators are taking their time, being so closed mouth. I see a bad result coming from this investigation.

GRACE: Peter Odom.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t know where that comes from, with all due respect to Mister Schaffer. The circumstantial evidence points to the fact that she disposed of a body. How the child died is very much in question. And that`s probably why she has never been charged and she may never be charged with a homicide.

GRACE: You don`t think Lorna Owens in a disposing of a dead body in a trash can is a crime?

LORNA OWENS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It is a crime. But certainly it`s a lesser crime than homicide.

GRACE: I know, but it`s still a crime. And she`s walking free.

OWENS: It is still a crime, Nancy. There`s time yet, let us find out how this child died. It could have been natural causes, it could have been infection. It could have been asphyxiation. So many things.

GRACE: I`m sure. I`m sure it wasn`t an accident or natural causes, because everybody just throws their baby in the trash when there`s a tragic accident. Nobody calls 911.

Tip line, 828-697-3025.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is Amy Patterson?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can provide us information on where Miss Patterson`s whereabouts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I talked to say, what really going on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A 41-year-old Amy Patterson, a science teacher at Mariner Middle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She didn`t show up for the first day of work on July 25th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She hasn`t been seen since.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened? Where, when, what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies are looking for Daniel Proctor.

GRACE: A suspect in the disappearance of Amy Patterson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her son drove from Florida to Alabama in Amy`s car without her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just asked him where Amy was. He said she had gone to Texas, to see her son.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: We are taking your calls.

Breaking tonight, even though there is no body, police are now saying they believe the missing science teacher is dead. Why? Straight out to Ellie Jostad, what has changed?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, police say that they are investigating this as a homicide case. They believe that Amy Patterson is the victim of a domestic homicide, and that her ex-husband who is her current boyfriend, they reconciled is their chief suspect. He is still on the run, still armed and dangerous tonight.

GRACE: To Lieutenant Ryan Bell, the Lee County Sheriff`s office. Lieutenant, thank you for being with us. Have you gotten any leads since we reported on this last night?

LIEUTENANT RYAN BELL, LEE COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE (via telephone): Thanks, Nancy. We have got a ton of leads as a result of your show. We really appreciate it; we`ve gotten calls all night long. They started 15 minutes into the show last night. So, it`s been outstanding, the public has been a great help. We`ve been following up on each and every one of those?

GRACE: You know, Lieutenant, it pains me to hear that even without a body, police now believe that Amy Patterson is dead. Why do you believe that?

BELL: Even without the body, the investigation is progressing nicely, and we`re confident based on the evidence we gathered so far, and unfortunately, that`s what we`re looking at.

GRACE: Everybody, Bolo, armed and dangerous, Daniel Ray Proctor. Let`s show his photo, Liz. Joining me right now is a special guest. This is Amy`s mother, Ladonna Salehi. Miss Salehi, Thank you for being with us?

LADONNA SALEHI, AMY PATTERSON`S MOTHER (via telephone): Thank for taking the time in getting this out. I don`t think if it hadn`t been for you all you know we would have the opportunity for him to be caught.

GRACE: When was the last time you spoke with Amy? And is it true that you found, you would only get to talk to her when she was at work? She would not call you when she was at home with him?

SALEHI: Right. Well, she would tell me that there wasn`t a tower out there where they lived. Well, the sheriff told me that was a lie. There was a tower within eight feet of her home. Danny was just controlling her in using the phone. So, we would only talk to her when she came in to her work line. And I spoke to her on the 17th or 18th. It was the following Saturday after the 9th of July. The 9th was my birthday. And she called to see if I had gotten the present yet that she sent me.

And we started talking about you know I`m retired. I work for the school system here Huntsville. And I know how it is. You have to get your room ready. And you know I`ve done all of that and we were just talking about and she was laughing, talking about some of the new students that will be coming back. And she was all excited.

I mean she had nigh ideas she worked on some lesson plans this summer to make it more creative and more enjoyable for the kids. She really wanted them to learn, because that`s her passion is environmental engineering. She graduated from the University of Athens State University as an environmental engineer, and that was her dream to bring an understanding how important our ocean is and how important our environment is.

GRACE: You know, Miss Salehi, is it true that she actually had to have some type of reconstructive surgery after an alleged beating by Daniel Ray Proctor?

SALEHI: Yes, the first time in `95, 94, `95. She had the surgery in `95. He crushed her cheekbone and broke her nose. He left marks on her back.

GRACE: At that time Miss Salehi, did she tell you how she was really injured?

SALEHI: I saw her. They called me, I was working at school. And they called me at school to come to the emergency room. And she was there, really beaten up. But she had divorced him by then. But he had broken into her apartment and yelling you know "nobody can have you"; "you`re mine, that`s it. That`s it." She`s only 5`1", at that time she probably only weighed 98 pounds.

The worst part is that my grandson, who was only 1 year old, was in the same room at the time he was beating her. Luckily people in the apartment heard him and they called the police. He was so high on cocaine it took four of them to pull him down and getting mob.

GRACE: And wasn`t it that episode Miss Salehi where he allegedly came in and he had those thick work boots with the steel toe in them and proceed to start kicking her?

SALEHI: Yes. Yes.

GRACE: To Robin Wolf, News Anchor at FOX News radio. Robin, what more can you tells me?

ROBIN WOLF, NEWS ANCHOR, FOX NEWS RADIO: What more I can tell you, the crime scene, her house, her vehicle are now being considered crime scenes. Of course there`s conflicting stories leading police to say she`s dead. And regarding his criminal background, the worst is the beating he did where she had plastic surgery. It was very, very bad, very brutal. He had some prior burglary arrests, check fraud, weapons charges. So, he`s had the criminal element and a criminal background, very, very dangerous man, according to the police.

GRACE: Back To Ellie Jostad, police are faced with the daunting prospect of about 800 miles. He had a meandering out through several states to get to where he dropped her car off. Her body, if she is dead, could be anywhere along that route.

JOSTAD: Yes, that`s right, Nancy. And police won`t confirm exactly where he went. That they say they have tracked him. We`ve been told by our sources that he actually drove through Florida, through Georgia, through North Carolina and Tennessee before he showed up at his mother`s in Alabama. So, there could be evidence in any of those states.

GRACE: The tip line. He is considered armed and dangerous, Daniel Ray Proctor. 1-800-780-tips. Look for a white `97 ford explorer with an Alabama tag.

To Ladonna Salehi. Please know our prayers are with you.

Everyone, as we go to break, I want to thank you again for all your support, your e-mails, your letters, your calls. After the announcement, I`m one of the lucky contestants on season 13 "Dancing with the Stars."

And tonight, they told me not to let it out, but I`ve got exclusive video of me and my dance partners. There we are this afternoon, me and Lucy. And then there`s more exclusive video of me with John David at Nancygrace.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 41-year-old Amy Patterson. Parents were shocked at the news of the teacher`s disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is Amy Patterson?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now Lee County Deputies are looking for Amy`s ex-husband Daniel Proctor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neighbors say Proctor tearfully told them Amy died in a car accident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My heart goes out to her family. It`s very sad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Joining me right now is Genevieve Judge with CNN affiliate "Wink TV". Genevieve thank you for being with us, I understand that breaking tonight the police now believe that she`s dead. But how have they reached that opinion?

GENEVIEVE JUDGE, CNN AFFILIATE "WEEK TV": Well, Nancy, police have been in out here in Lee County at Amy Patterson`s house. They`ve had this house sealed off for several days since this news broke here in Lee County. And all day that they have been pulling evidence from her house, things are try to apiece this case together.

And unfortunately, Daniel Proctor has a former criminal history of battery against her. So, piecing those together late last night, it broke here in Lee County and then this morning they said that they do believe, indeed, that she is dead. They are treating this as a domestic homicide.

GRACE: You know, I noticed that you said a domestic homicide. Let`s just hope, Genevieve, that if this is a domestic homicide that the same penalties will apply.

Genevieve Judge, joining us from "Wink TV" in Fort Myers. Thank you, Genevieve.

Let`s stop and remember Army Private First Class Joshua Burrows, Bossier City, Louisiana, killed Iraq. Awarded Bronze star Purple Heart, trained in Ballistic. The boy that would dress up in army camouflage lost his license one month into battle. Loved outdoors, camping, riding bikes, collecting things. Leaves behind parents Charlie and Donna, sister Riann (ph), and Rianne (ph) and son Alenta (ph). Joshua Burrrows, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you.

And two special happy birthdays to Florida sisters 1-year-old Maya and 6-year-old Amelia. They love swimming, the beach, playing with each other. Happy birthday Maya and Amelia.

Happy 8th birthday to Pennsylvania Crime Fighter, Rachal (ph). Loves gymnastics, soccer, performing church solos and ballet. She says she wants to give me dance lessons. Boy, do I need them. Happy birthday to Rachal (ph).

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night. 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then. Good night, friend.

END