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NANCY GRACE

Police Search Nearby Dumpsters in the Ayla Reynolds Case

Aired December 20, 2011 - 20:00   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 Maine. 8:00 PM, a 20- month-old baby girl goes to sleep in her own bed. 8:50 AM, baby Ayla gone, snatched from her own home. Just hours before the baby disappears, Mommy secretly goes to court to fight for full custody. She never sees the baby again.

Bombshell tonight. As cops focus on Daddy`s garage, search teams move their search from a local stream to dumpsters, and cops post 24-hour police guard outside Daddy`s house. Tonight, where is baby Ayla?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daughter Ayla, still missing without a trace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she OK? Is she (INAUDIBLE) dead? Is she (INAUDIBLE) Is she cold?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s still no sign of the 20-month-old toddler.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s something very strange about it all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she being fed? Is someone watching her? Is she somewhere?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Poor little thing. She`s so helpless, so defenseless (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The toddler vanished from her father`s Waterville home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They seem to think that all the evidence is right here in this home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why didn`t anyone check on her throughout the night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putting all these resources that we have in play, and making sure that we don`t miss anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI is now joining the investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Used this plane to search for Ayla. And also searched Methalonski (ph) stream near the home where Ayla went missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The focus obviously is to bring Ayla home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring her home! Just bring her home (INAUDIBLE) baby home!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live to the heartland. At the University of Kansas community branch, a young co-ed goes missing while studying right there on campus.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. It was so scary! My heart is, like, pounding. I`ve never got this scared in my life. And he left. He was so pissed! Pick up your phones. I am freaked out right now!

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Live, Maine, 8:00 PM, a baby girl goes sleep in her own bed. 8:50 AM, baby Ayla is gone. As cops seem to focus on Daddy`s garage, search teams move their efforts from a local stream to dumpsters.

We are taking your calls. Straight out to Ken Altshuler, WGAN "Morning News With Ken and Mike." Why are cops focusing on Daddy`s garage? Do you know if they brought cadaver dogs? And Ken, what can you tell me not only about Daddy`s vehicle but Daddy`s girlfriend`s vehicle being towed away?

KEN ALTSHULER, WGAN RADIO (via telephone): Nancy, that`s correct. Two vehicles were towed from his house. Police have not said why. They have focused in the garage. Dogs have been sniffing. They don`t say they`re cadaver dogs. But it looks like they`re looking for evidence while they are searching the dumpsters at the Champion Fitness nightclub and the Comfort Inn...

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Back it up, Ken! Back it up! One thing at a time here. I just heard you say Champion -- did you say sports club and fitness center? And you said something about -- what else is being searched?

ALTSHULER: That`s correct, Nancy. Champions Fitness -- it`s a combined fitness club and a nightclub on Elm Plaza in Waterbury.

GRACE: Good to know.

ALTSHULER: And the Comfort Inn on Main Street in Waterville, both dumpsters being searched.

GRACE: OK. Did not know about Comfort Inn. But I want to back it up to what we were saying. I want to go through this methodically. With me, Ken Altshuler from WGAN, joining us there in Maine.

For those of you just joining us, A 20-month-old baby girl wearing a sling in freezing temperatures goes missing out of her own bed. Unbeknownst to Daddy, Mommy had gone to court just hours before, seeking sole custody of the baby girl. Then suddenly, she`s gone. We have searched and searched for answers. Still no answer as to missing baby Ayla.

Now, Ken, you`re saying not only the sports bar and fitness center but the Comfort Inn both have dumpsters behind them. We learned Daddy`s car, the girlfriend`s car towed away. And also, we`re not sure whether it`s cadaver dogs or scent dogs searching Daddy`s garage. It seems to me that they`re focusing on the home.

What does that say to you? To Captain Paul Starks joining us, the PIO, Montgomery County Police Department. Captain, that they are searching, focusing on Daddy`s home -- to me, it sounds like a crime scene.

CAP. PAUL STARKS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD, POLICE DEPARTMENT: They have to treat it like a crime scene, although they`re still saying, according to some media reports, that it`s still a missing persons case. They don`t want to miss or not see any piece of evidence, should this investigation turn.

The sheriff has said -- and this is a good thing -- they`ll follow the evidence where it leads them. That`s what they have to do because evidence isn`t biased. It`s not colored by experience. It just speaks the truth.

GRACE: To Becca Hanson. Everyone, just joining us, I`m hearing in my ear, and taking your calls and questions, is Ayla`s maternal grandmother. Ms. Hanson, thank you for being with us.

BECCA HANSON, MISSING CHILD`S MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER (via telephone): Thank you for having me on.

GRACE: Ms. Hanson, I don`t understand how this whole scenario unfolded. The father is visiting with the baby. She`s at his home. He has just recently moved back in with his parents. I think his girlfriend is there at the time.

What I don`t understand is this, Ms. Hanson. She`s with the daddy, she goes missing. She`s with the daddy last time, she gets a broken arm. And now I`m hearing that Daddy had her at a Chuck E. Cheese, where some things are just -- it`s up for grabs. It`s chaos in there. You`ve got a 2-year-old -- not even 2, 20-month-old baby girl standing there at Chuck E. Cheese, and he says older children run by and maul her, maul her, and she`s covered in bruises? What happens when Daddy gets the baby?

HANSON: I don`t know. He just wasn`t watching her.

GRACE: Well, it just sounds like all hell breaks loose every time he gets the baby. I want to remind the viewers, Daddy is not a suspect. Police have not named him a suspect.

To Alexis Tereszcuk, senior reporter, Radaronline.com. Alexis, at this point, we have to treat all this as just an unfortunate coincidence, that every time she`s with Daddy, you know, something hits the fan. But this time, it`s worse. Baby Ayla`s gone.

What can you tell me about that Comfort Inn? What do you know, Alexis?

ALEXIS TERESZCUK, RADARONLINE.COM: I know that it`s very close to the home, and that`s where the police have been searching. You know, they also have the FBI searching, as well. It`s not just local police. They`ve brought in the big guys. So they are really worried about this little girl, and they`re looking everywhere for her. There`s a dumpster behind this hotel. They`re searching that. And they`re also searching the other one behind the fitness club/nightclub.

GRACE: OK, I know they`re searching the dumpsters, Alexis. That I know. But what I`m trying to find out is why. Was there a tip? Did a cadaver dog lead them there? Did a scent dog lead them there? Was there surveillance there in the parking lot? Do we know Daddy or someone else, since Daddy`s not a suspect, went to the dumpster? Do we know when the dumpster was emptied? Has it already been compacted? Was there blood on the dumpster? Was there a baby shoe? I want to know why they`re at the dumpster, people! That`s what I want to know right now.

And I`m going back to you, Ken. Why the dumpsters? It`s not a good scenario when your child goes missing and you find the cops digging around in a dumpster.

ALTSHULER: Exactly right, Nancy. And the frustrating thing is the police are simply not talking about it. They`re not saying what they`re doing or why they`re doing it.

GRACE: You know, no offense, Ken, but do they -- do you really think the cops owe you or me an explanation? No, they don`t. So we can`t act all upset the cops aren`t telling us what`s happening.

But you know, Ken, when you say they`re going through a dumpster, did you see any -- do we have footage of dogs there? Do they have cadaver dogs at the dumpster?

ALTSHULER: No, Nancy, there are no dogs at the site. The game wardens...

GRACE: Well, there should be.

ALTSHULER: ... are searching the dumpsters without dogs.

GRACE: OK, no offense, Marc Klaas, once again, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, but where are the dogs? Where are the scent dogs? You remember, Marc, that a dog traced Laci Peterson and her unborn child, Conner, all the way from their Modesto home to San Francisco Bay? That`s how they knew to look at San Francisco Bay. And where did the bodies wash up? San Francisco Bay. Where are the cadaver dogs?

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, Nancy, I believe that the dogs are gravitating from the garage outward, and that, indeed, may be what led them to the dumpster.

Now, why are they in the dumpster? Because they don`t want to have to do a landfill search three weeks down the line. We see it time and time again, where -- well, just, I guess it was a week or so ago, when another case that we were covering, the little girl was found in the dumpster. They need to do this.

And I don`t know about bringing cadaver dogs to dumpsters because if you find -- if you find old tampons in a dumpster, if you find Band-Aids in a dumpster, it`s all going to lead to the same scent of decomposition and alert the dogs. Therefore, they methodically have to go through these bins to find any traces of the missing child.

GRACE: Well, cadaver dogs led police to the dumpster in our last story, where the child`s body, as you correctly pointed out, Marc, had already been compacted. Not only is that an atrocity for the victim`s family to have to live through -- to even imagine that, but it also destroys forensic evidence that could be vital to a prosecution.

Everyone, we are learning tonight that the dumpsters behind the Comfort Inn just a couple of miles away from where the girl went missing, and behind a sports bar and fitness club, are being searched. This is not a good scenario for baby Ayla. What could be more defenseless than a 20- month-old baby girl in Maine weather, sub-freezing temperatures, her arm in a sling left over from her last visit with Daddy?

To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, what more can you tell me about the developments tonight?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, we`ve been trying to find out if there`s some sort of connection to either the father, his family, the mother or her family to these dumpsters at these businesses that are being searched. Now, so far, we haven`t been able to establish a connection, but it`s only about a mile-and-a-half, as the crow flies, north of the dad`s home where these dumpsters are located.

GRACE: Let`s see a map, Liz. You know, El, I`m not convinced there has to be a connection between a dumpster and a killer, other than the killer knows where the dumpster is. But yes, like in the last case that Marc has brought up, the maintenance man knew about the dumpster, and that was his connection to the dumpster. So you`re right on that point.

Out to the lines. Amy in Pennsylvania. Hi, Amy. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I wanted to know if the mother did any searching in all this.

GRACE: Good question. It`s my understanding, Amy in Pennsylvania, because I asked that very question a couple hours ago, that the mom has not done any searching, she says because cops have told her not to search.

To Becca Hanson. This is Ayla`s maternal grandmother. Has the mom done any searching for Ayla?

HANSON: No. We were informed by the Waterville Police Department not to go to Waterville. We were just here in Portland.

GRACE: Why?

HANSON: They said they didn`t need us there searching.

GRACE: OK. I`m just trying to just drink that in. What exactly are you and your daughter doing to find the baby?

HANSON: We are doing everything that we possibly can, hitting all the newspapers, the news stations. We`re trying to do a candlelight on Friday evening for Ayla.

Nancy, I just want my granddaughter brought home safe, where we can hug her and kiss her and let her know that we`re all here waiting for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So far, we have not located the young girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Through the woods and down the streets, search parties still looking for 20-month-old Ayla Reynolds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this were a stereotypical stranger abduction, I think the last thing somebody would want to do is take a baby with a broken arm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because first of all, if she did just walk out of the house on her own, it`s still negligence against the parent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a two-story house, and they`re looking everywhere. They think that there`s something in this home that could lead them to this baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she cold? Is she being fed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to look directly at the family. We have to look directly at whoever was in that house. And law enforcement`s holding it close to the vest, if, in fact, they have anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have been focused very intently on this home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are back, taking your calls in the search for this 20- month-old baby girl, baby Ayla. At the time she goes missing, she`s wearing a sling on her arm, we believe from a broken arm.

Out to the lines. Amy -- excuse me. Is it Amy or Holly?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Holly.

GRACE: Holly calling us from Waterville, Maine. Hi, Holly. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. Hi.

GRACE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is why is Trista, the mother, down in Portland, which is 80 miles away, sitting there waiting to hear news? Why is she there and not in Waterville, where her daughter was missing?

GRACE: You know, Holly, I don`t want this to be an attack on the mother because I know for a fact whatever we might think about the mother, she was not there when the baby goes missing. So she`s not implicated in this. But I have the same question, Holly.

All right, Becca Hanson is here with us. This is Trista`s mom. I don`t understand it, either. I don`t. Explain to me why the mom is sitting 80 miles away from where the baby disappeared? Because I got to tell you, ma`am, I would be laying in the streets screaming, Where`s my baby, trying to find the baby. What is she doing 80 miles away?

HANSON: She was told by the Waterville Police Department not to be in Waterville.

GRACE: I don`t understand.

HANSON: She`s with me and her dad and her brother and her sister, and we`re waiting patiently for something to come up with this child.

GRACE: All right, Holly, there`s your question.

Amy in Pennsylvania. Hi, Amy. What`s your question, dear? Oh, Andrea in Missouri. Hi, Andrea. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I was wondering if they have given anybody associated with this case a polygraph test.

GRACE: Good question. You know, I asked that yesterday, Andrea. I can`t get a straight answer out of anybody. Maybe it`s because the police are holding it close to the vest.

To Alexis Tereszcuk. Has anybody volunteered for a polygraph, or do the police have to beg them all?

TERESZCUK: Well, the mother, Trista, has said, I will take a polygraph now, I`ll take it in an hour, I will take it any time of day. They said that she doesn`t need to. They have not released whether or not the dad has taken one, or his family or anyone else that was in the home that night.

GRACE: And is it true, Ken Altshuler, that Dad isn`t speaking to anybody?

ALTSHULER: Not only is that true, Nancy, they don`t even know where he is right now.

GRACE: OK, you know what? I`m pretty sure I`m covered by the 1st Amendment on this, but that just makes me sick. I`m sick!

Unleash the lawyers, Joe Lawless, Renee Rockwell. Lawless, we don`t even know where Daddy is. Why isn`t he out handing out flyers and looking for his baby girl? What, am I the only one that cares where the baby is?

JOE LAWLESS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, that, to me, is the biggest issue. All these other -- the police playing it close to the vest I think is commendable...

GRACE: Don`t drag the police into this.

LAWLESS: No, I`m...

GRACE: Let`s get right down to it. Why isn`t he searching for his baby?

LAWLESS: Well, why isn`t he contacting the police? Why isn`t he there? Why isn`t he visible? That is not a good sign...

GRACE: Renee, how`s that...

LAWLESS: ... for this case.

GRACE: ... going to play at trial, if there ever is a trial? Daddy not a suspect.

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, regarding him not searching, Nancy, he has no obligation to search. I`m more concerned about what they`re doing with his phone records and whether or not...

GRACE: Yes. Right. Right.

ROCKWELL: ... they can (INAUDIBLE) to a dumpster.

GRACE: Just try to get me off the point. Did you hear that, Marc Klaas? Daddy doesn`t have a duty to search.

KLAAS: I don`t like the idea that Dad`s not searching and Mom is sitting 80 miles away, trashing Dad. I think they should both be involved...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a 20-month-year-old (SIC) again who was nowheres to be found. Very cold. She was only in a pair of pajamas.

GRACE: At the time baby Ayla goes missing, her arm was in a sling. Why?

TRISTA REYNOLDS, MISSING CHILD`S MOTHER (via telephone): Justin had given me a call and said that he was holding Ayla, and they fell up, like, two or three little steps. And he fell on top of her and her arm was broken. He waited almost 24 hours to go have her checked out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Where is baby Ayla? Straight out to the lines. Tony in Florida. Hi, Tony. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, there, Nancy. You`re looking swell. You know, if the father is not a suspect and can`t be found, maybe the police are surveilling him. You know, maybe they`re getting more information just trailing him in some way, huh?

GRACE: So is your question they are trailing him, or are you asking me do I know if they`re trailing him? I can tell you this. They got a 24- hour cop surveillance sitting outside his front yard. Is that what you`re asking me?

And another thing. In case you`re listening, Waterville PD, not that you asked, please put GPS locators on everybody`s car that you`re remotely interested in because I hate to bring back up Scott Peterson, may he rot in hell, but remember cops put a GPS locator on his car, Tony in Florida, and he went straight to San Francisco Bay an would get out of his car and look out on the water. Gee, I wonder what he was looking for? Maybe his dead wife and baby. So long story short, GPS surveillance.

You know, let me go to you on this, Captain Paul Starks. How much does one of those cost? How much do one of those cost?

STARKS: I don`t know the exact price. It`s very, very affordable. It`s just one of many tools that law enforcement can use. It just may not be the right timing right now.

GRACE: What -- put him up! What do you mean the right timing?

STARKS: Well, it depends on who`s running this investigation and the circumstances surrounding it.

GRACE: So the timing of the investigation changes depending on who runs the investigation? You got to talk straight with me because that does not make any sense, all right?

STARKS: Well, every investigation is a little different and circumstances change.

GRACE: Just -- no, GPS. Why not a GPS on the car? Please explain.

STARKS: They -- because we don`t know where the father is doesn`t mean that the police don`t know. He may be with them now being interviewed.

GRACE: He`s not with the cops. That does not even address my question about a GPS!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... only this. The family`s home the focal point of the investigation as K-9 units search inside the home and also inside the garage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: Welcome back. Where is 20-month-old baby Ayla? Tip line 207- 680-4700.

Around 9:00 in the evening the baby goes to sleep. Around 9:00 in the morning the baby is gone from her own bed. This child broke an arm wearing a sling, freezing temperatures outside. We understand cops now focusing on daddy`s garage.

And I want to get a better picture of what was going on in the home. PS, we`re taking your calls but right now, Ayla`s maternal grandmother is with me, Becca Hanson.

Miss Hanson, thanks for being with us. I understand that the father had just moved back into his mother`s home, is that correct?

BECCA HANSON, MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING 20-MONTH-OLD BABY AYLA: That is correct.

GRACE: So, up until that time who had been taking care of baby Ayla, the father or the grandmother?

HANSON: Me and my daughter Trista had been taking care of Ayla since the day she was born.

GRACE: Yes, I know that. During this particular visit who had been taking care of the child?

HANSON: She had been with her father since October.

GRACE: OK. And during all of that time was he or his mother taking care of the baby?

HANSON: From my understanding, it was supposed to be him taking care of Ayla.

GRACE: Do you believe that to be true, Miss Hanson, or do you believe the grandmother was taking care of the baby?

HANSON: I believe the grandmother was taking care of her.

GRACE: OK. Now, remember, I`m just a lawyer. I`m not a dentist. I don`t know how to pull teeth. Why do you believe the grandmother was taking care of the baby before daddy moved home?

HANSON: Because daddy really never had anything to do with the baby much before the June of this year.

GRACE: With me is Dr. Leslie Seppinni, a clinical psychologist, author of "Who is Casey Anthony."

Dr. Leslie, thanks for being with us. Just -- I`m giving you a scenario. Daddy takes the baby. His mother is taking care of the baby. Daddy moves back home with the mother. We know that the baby had a broken arm. The baby was in surroundings she didn`t grow up in. I imagined the baby cried frequently.

What do you think is going on in that home, Dr. Seppinni? That`s my concern.

LESLIE SEPPINNI, PSY.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, we know there`s obviously a cover-up. But what we also know is that there`s obviously some tips that the police have gotten or they wouldn`t be looking in trash bins. They have been very quiet about the tips but they said they`ve been very good tips.

In that home, though, there was another baby in the room with Ayla when she was asleep. Which was his sister`s baby who was two months younger. Now I want to know where was the sister checking on her baby during that 12 hours? Where was the grandmother checking on that baby?

So if they weren`t checking on Ayla, why weren`t they checking on the other baby in the same room?

GRACE: Good question. To Ken Altshuler, WGAN.

Ken, what do we know about the other child sleeping in the room with baby Ayla?

KAN ALTSHULER, RADIO HOST, WGAN MORNING NEWS WITH KEN AND MIKE: Very little, Nancy. They are talking very little about it. They -- in fact, we did not even know there was another child in the house until yesterday. And we don`t know where any of the family is. Nobody is talking. They said dad is cooperating but that`s all we`ve heard.

GRACE: Well then, Ken, if you`re saying daddy is cooperating, how can you also say we don`t know where he is?

ALTSHULER: That was -- when the investigation first started they said both parents were cooperating. Now we don`t know where dad is. They surrounded the house but we don`t know who is in the house and we`ve only seen no child. We`ve seen no girlfriend. And we`ve seen no Justin.

GRACE: Speaking of the girlfriend, what can you tell me about the cars that were towed away, Ken? To whom did they belong?

ALTSHULER: Both of the cars were registered to the father, Justin.

GRACE: Who drove them, do you know?

ALTSHULER: No. They have not revealed those details. But we do know that one -- the one that evidently had a bumper sticker saying "U.S. Marines" did belong to Justin and was registered to him.

GRACE: When did they get towed, Ken?

ALTSHULER: Yesterday.

GRACE: And are they still in police custody?

ALTSHULER: Yes, they are, Nancy.

GRACE: So that tells me, Joe Lawless, Renee Rockwell, that the cars have been impounded and they are being combed over for scientific evidence.

Evidence like what, Renee?

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Blood evidence, Nancy. And that`s not anything that you can clean up.

GRACE: I agree. No matter how hard you try, you can`t do it. Unless you use something like muriatic acid, Joe Lawless, that breaks down DNA and I -- you don`t have to make a special trip to go find something like Black Swan muriatic acid. You can`s just break it down with, for instance, even Clorox doesn`t always work.

So, Lawless, what exactly are they looking for in those two vehicles?

JOE LAWLESS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT": Well, I think what they`re going to have to do first is get a search warrant to get into the vehicles but I think they`re looking for trace --

GRACE: Well, obviously they`ve got that if they towed the cars, hello?

LAWLESS: They can tow the car without a search warrant.

GRACE: OK.

LAWLESS: It`s a question of entering the car. And I think that`s why they`ve secured the car because they`re going to get a search warrant.

GRACE: So since they`ve had the car overnight --

LAWLESS: Hair samples, fiber samples, blood.

GRACE: Do you think they got a search warrant and they`re searching the car, and if so for what?

LAWLESS: I guess they are. And I think they`re probably searching for hair, fiber, blood, tissue, cloth, anything that would link that car to the disappearance of a child, obviously.

GRACE: You know you said something interesting, you`re right there, Lawless, is fiber. Fiber. Fiber. The baby still wore diapers. If particles of fiber, microscopic, obviously not visible to the naked eye were on the child from the bed, you can clearly see the line of events. A lot is going to be determined by what, if any, forensic evidence is found in that car.

LAWLESS: Absolutely.

GRACE: Now, here`s the kicker to that as you and Renee both know very well from trying so many cases. The girl, the baby, would have rightfully been in the vehicle so a lot of evidence could easily and innocently be explained away. Because she`s probably been in that vehicle on many occasions for innocent reasons. Nothing nefarious whatsoever, Lawless.

LAWLESS: Absolutely. And I think that`s the reason nobody has been named a suspect yet. I think the police are playing it close to the vest because they said it, they want to see where the evidence leads them without engaging in speculation and I think that`s pretty responsible of them.

GRACE: To Dr. Bill Lloyd, board certified surgeon and pathologist.

Dr. Lloyd, thank you for being with us. Lloyd joining us today from Sacramento.

Doctor, when you look at an x-ray of a broken arm, how is it possible to determine if there are pre-existing injuries on that arm or other parts of the body?

DR. BILL LLOYD, M.D., BOARD CERTIFIED SURGEON AND PATHOLOGIST: Good evening, Nancy. Fractures heal. And it`s those changes from healing that show up in the x-rays. So when they go back and look at the x-rays from little Ayla`s arm fracture earlier this year they can also look elsewhere on that x-ray for evidence of any previous injuries.

GRACE: Dr. Lloyd, how do you look at a fracture on an x-ray and determine that it`s healing and if you can determine it`s healing can you also determine how long ago the fracture was based on the degree or the way that it`s healing?

LLOYD: The answer to both questions is yes. Healing bones form a callous which is a bump on the bone where new bone is being replaced where the fracture was, to bring the healed edges together. A callous identifies a fracture taking place and a callous will mature over time. An expert radiologist, forensic radiologist, can very accurately identify the timeline when the fracture occurred.

GRACE: Doctor, have you ever heard of nurse maid`s arm that children often get where when parents pull the child by the arm they don`t necessarily mean to but they can actually pull the arm, not loose but it can hurt the child. Have you ever heard of that?

LLOYD: Yes. And usually that`s an elbow dislocation from yanking the child. You notice they`ve said that the child is wearing a soft cast. This suggests that actually the fracture has taken place in the wrist and one of the small bones of the wrist. So we have this story of the fall.

Fractures are reproducible. They have a specific mechanical pattern. And you can marry a fracture to the behavior that caused that fracture. So it`s very important to tie together dad`s story to what really happened when that fracture occurred and the changes on the x-ray.

GRACE: Dr. Lloyd, brilliant as usual.

Everyone, the "Nancy Grace Family Album" is back. Showcasing your photos from the iReport. Now here are photos of my twins, John David and Lucy. Look who we ran into the other day? John David wants one thing, a remote controlled car. They go super fast, he says. Lucy wants one thing, a ballet outfit.

Now for your family photos. Ohio friends the Hickmans. Single man Susan raising her son Matthew, born with down syndrome. After graduating high school and vocational school he`s got two jobs at the local YMCA and working at his mom`s Pet Kennel. He also speaks Spanish. After a lot of people told Susan he wouldn`t be able to do anything. She and God proved them all wrong.

And let`s give Matthew more credit for that.

Everyone share your favorite family photos with us through our iReport family album. Go to hlnTV.com/Nancygrace and click on "Nancy`s Family Album."

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AISHA KHAN, MISSING 19-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE STUDENT: Oh, my gosh, it was so scary. My heart is like pounding. I`ve never got this scared in my life. And he left. He was so pissed. Pick up your phone. I am freaked out right now. OK. Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: End of message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: A family devastated. A 19-year-old college co-ed quietly studying on her own there on campus goes missing.

Out to Joe Gomez, news director, KTRH, what happened?

JOE GOMEZ, REPORTER, KTRH RADIO: Nancy, this beautiful 19-year-old college girl, police believe she was abducted from her college campus as she was studying for a final when she apparently smacked an intoxicated man who was harassing her. Moments later Aisha apparently left a broad curdling voicemail on her sister`s phone screaming for help. Her sister tried to call Aisha back, but she went to campus to find Aisha but she -- there was no trace. She was gone. Now police are trying to piece together this mystery, Nancy.

GRACE: Take a look at Aisha. She`s just 19 years old. Studying quietly there by herself on campus. Apparently she was approached by someone.

Joining me right now is her cousin, Aisha Khan`s cousin, Sana.

Hi, Sana. Thank you for being with us. What happened to your knowledge?

SANA HABIB, COUSIN OF MISSING 19-YEAR-OLD GIRL, AISHA KHAN: Hi. I`m sorry?

GRACE: What happened?

HABIB: She -- we got a voicemail from her saying that some guy harassed her. She got mad. She slapped him. He was very mad after and that was the end it. That`s all we heard.

GRACE: So, Clark Goldband, she`s sitting out study, minding her own business and someone approaches her. We know that for a fact because she left this voice mail. What do we know, Clark?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, also what`s interesting is when the sister heard this voicemail she tried to return Aisha`s call and could not get Aisha. She then drove to the campus where Aisha was at the bench studying and found some of Aisha`s personal belongings including her backpack and an iPod.

GRACE: Let`s take a listen to the voicemail again. This is our only clue.

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KHAN: Oh, my gosh. It was so scary. My heart is like pounding. I`ve never got this scared in my life. And he left. He was so pissed. Pick up your phone. I am freaked out right now. OK. Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: End of message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Joining us, Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation. His specialty missing people.

Piece it together, Marc Klaas.

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, law enforcement should have been notified immediately but they now have a contained crime scene. They know that something bad happened there and they`re going to methodically go through all of the evidence and hopefully it will bring them some leads.

Also, anybody within the community that might have any knowledge of some-odd individual stalking pretty young girls there has to come forward as well. They will be able to piece this together but people have to realize, Nancy, that college campuses in America are where the brightest and the most beautiful young kids are and they have a real sense of security that oftentimes can be a false sense and lead to these kinds of situations.

GRACE: You know what? Liz, let me hear that voicemail one more time.

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KHAN: Oh, my gosh. It was so scary. My heart is like pounding. I`ve never got this scared in my life. And he left. He was so pissed. Pick up your phone. I am freaked out right now. OK. Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: End of message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Clark, when they go back to the scene where she was studying - - first of all she was not in a structure. Wasn`t she sitting at a picnic table outdoors studying?

GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy.

GRACE: OK. So when cops go back to the scene or was it the family? What do they find at the picnic table?

GOLDBAND: Well, when the sister went there she found the cell phone, the backpack and she found an iPod just laying there and she knew they were her sister`s.

Now, Nancy, also important to point out here, some construction workers according to some reports claim they saw her walking away. However, according to reports, that has not been verified by law enforcement. They`re also scouring surveillance to help them piece this thing together.

GRACE: I mean you think at a college, Clark, that there`d be surveillance cameras every where.

GOLDBAND: Well, exactly. And I know law enforcement has been combing through those tapes but they have not shared with us at this point what if anything that has been found.

GRACE: Liz, let me see that picnic bench again. Because it`s not the way I really envisioned it at all. When -- I was told a picnic bench outdoors. Look, look, it`s right by a structure, Clark. Look at that. You`d think that someone in the building would have seen what was going on if there was confrontation.

GOLDBAND: Well, Nancy, you know, just traveling around college campuses you see a lot of them now have these blue light phones or these blue light push buttons that when something does happen, if there is an emergency you can just smack the button and security or law enforcement would be dispatched right away.

GRACE: Yes, Clark, if you can get to it.

GOLDBAND: That`s a good point.

GRACE: Clark, explain to me, we`re hearing part of the voicemail. What do we know about whoever approached her? I know it was a guy. That`s all I know.

GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy. Apparently it might have been a homeless person who approached her. He was saying inappropriate things, some reports also claimed that he tried to kiss her. She then tried to remove herself from the situation, including allegedly smacking him and then he supposedly leaves as you heard in that voicemail but the big question here is what happens after that phone hangs up?

GRACE: You know I don`t understand it. I don`t understand it at all.

To you, Marc Klaas. She`d had to be dragged away from that location physically. I mean she did not just walk to this guy`s car. That tells me wherever she is, is close by. Very close by.

KLAAS: Well, it also tells you that something terrible has happened. She would not leave her personal effects, her cell phone and her iPod behind if she willingly walked away from a scene. Something probably pretty terrible has happened to this girl and you`re right. They probably are very close by. There should be surveillance. They should be able to solve this crime.

As they are unable to solve so many of the other crimes in the Midwest involving young college girls, young co-eds.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. To Linda in Mississippi. Hi, Linda. What`s your question?

LINDA, CALLER FROM MISSISSIPPI: Hi, Nancy. I want to say merry Christmas to you and your lovely family.

GRACE: Thank you. I really appreciate that.

LINDA: And I also want to know, have they brought in tracking dogs?

GRACE: Good question. To Joe Gomez, KTRH, tracking dogs?

GOMEZ: Well, Nancy I`m not sure about tracking dogs. And the police are pulling out all the stops and trying to find Aisha by interviewing witnesses and trying to find -- they`re trying to find a witness rather. Just trying to call somebody that might have seen something off putting. I mean we do know the construction workers on campus did see somebody matching Aisha`s features walking away from the area.

GRACE: Whoa, tracking dogs, yes, no, maybe. I didn`t hear that, Gomez.

GOMEZ: At this -- no. They took (INAUDIBLE), Nancy.

GRACE: Clark, what do we know about tracking dogs? Do we know?

GOLDBAND: No, we don`t know. I know that a golf course nearby has also been searched. Authorities are pounding the pavement on trying to find Aisha.

GRACE: There is a $10,000 reward set up in the search for Aisha. Take a look.

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KHAN: Oh, my gosh. It was so scary. My heart is like pounding. I`ve never got this scared in my life. And he left. He was so pissed. Pick up your phones. I am freaked out right now. OK. Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: End of message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHAN: Oh, my gosh. It was so scary. My heart is like pounding. I`ve never got this scared in my life. And he left. He was so pissed. Pick up your phones. I am freaked out right now. OK. Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: End of message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That tip line 816-474-TIPS, T-I-P-S.

Gomez, I didn`t know she had just gotten married. Did you know that?

GOMEZ: Yes, I know she had just gotten married. Police are talking to her new husband trying to find out if he knew anything about this attack. Did she try to call him? You know? Was he also looking for her? But that`s an interesting new developments to the story.

GRACE: Sana, who exactly did Aisha call?

HABIB: She started off calling (INAUDIBLE) first, then she gave me a missed call -- she has -- I`ve had three missed calls and two missed calls. The last one on (INAUDIBLE) missed call she left a voicemail on her phone.

GRACE: OK. And certainly I`m not in any way suggesting the new husband is part of this disappearance. Not at all. I`m just learning this as a new fact.

To Leslie Seppinni, this opens up to a wide, wide possibility. A random stranger is what it sounds like to me with her sitting on campus. But typically, cops start their investigation right there within the family. Husband, boyfriend, ex-lover. Then they move out. Delivery boy, maintenance worker, mail delivery. Then they move out. What do you think, Leslie?

SEPPINNI: You know what? In this case, I don`t think it has anything to do with the family because she calls. And she says a drunken man approached her. She says she slapped him. So we have on record her saying exactly what led up to her disappearance. So we know the family has nothing to do with it.

GRACE: Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Private Joseph Blake, 34, Portland, Oregon. Killed in Afghanistan. Awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Expert Infantryman Badge. Loved music, movies, working out. Leaves behind parents Doug and Joanne, sister Tina.

Joseph Blake. American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us. And a special thank you to New Hampshire friend Norma for these four hand-knit Christmas stockings for my family. She said she made these while she was watching "Dancing with the Stars." Can you believe that?

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern.

Norma, thank you.

And until then, good night, friend.

END