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JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Search Called Off for Missing Soldier

Aired April 19, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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


JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live from New York City.

The search for stunning Fort Bragg soldier Kelli Bordeaux leads cops to a registered sex offender. Now, he is speaking out on camera about the night that she vanished. I`m going to have all of the details, but we`ve got breaking news right off the top.

They have been searching for the past two days a pond, which is approximately nine miles away from the bar where she left shortly before she disappeared. They have just called that search off.

On the phone with me right now, Johnna Henson, the mother of this missing soldier. That is the pond they have been searching. Johnna, thank you for joining us. Our hearts go out to you. We want to help find your daughter, and we pray that she is found safe and sound.

What are you learning right now about the search being called off and why?

JOHNNA HENSON, MOTHER OF MISSING SOLDIER (via phone): I believe the search has been called off right now because there`s nothing to find there. The pond, I believe, has been cleared.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Can you describe what this has been like for you? I know that you flew in immediately to the Fort Bragg area when you found out that your daughter had vanished after spending a night at Froggy Bottoms and then getting a ride home from this man that we`re going to talk about in a second. How are you holding up and your other daughter?

HENSON: Really not very well at this point. I lost my husband. I`ve lost my mother recently. I need my daughter home safe and sound. I`m begging, begging whoever has her or knows anything to please -- I need my daughter.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our heart goes out to you. I have no words, Johnna except that we hope by showing your daughter`s photo, by covering every detail of this case that we will be part of the solution and maybe trigger somebody`s memory about the crucial events. Saturday, 1:20 a.m. is when she left the location, Froggy Bottoms, and she got a ride from this 25- year-old Nicholas Holbert.

Let`s take a look at this guy. And he`s got a past. He`s got a 2003 conviction. He was 16 years old when he was convicted of indecent liberties with a 5-year-old child. And also -- there he is. That`s Nicholas Holbert. He was also convicted of felony child abuse with serious bodily injury. Now, he apparently lives in a lean-to behind the bar and helps the bartenders. Basically, a bar hand.

Police say he`s not a suspect. And he does admit, though, that he gave a ride to your daughter, the last person to see Kelli before she vanished. Certainly his rap sheet is troubling. What are your thoughts about this individual, Johnna?

CALLER: I`m really not sure. Like I say, I`ve never heard Kelli talk of him in, you know, anyway. I don`t know what to think at this point. It`s a little confusing as how they would even become friends at all to me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He actually explained that on camera. We`re going to play that in a little bit. It`s an uneventful story, that he was playing pool with a friend and somehow he began talking to her.

But Kelli is married and her husband Mike has been married to Kelli for two years. Now was -- were they estranged? And I don`t ask that to embarrass. I ask that because this could be absolutely crucial, because this character, this man Nicholas, claims that she was texting very intently all night at the bar.

Is there somebody that she might have been in communication with other than her husband? What was the status of their marriage?

HENSON: No. I think that`s -- I think they`re fine. Like I said, they`ve had troubles in their marriage. Everyone does. But you know, I mean, she texts a lot of people. Kelli has a lot of friends.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Was he in the area the night she vanished?

HENSON: Was Mike in the area?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, yes.

HENSON: No, Mike was in Florida.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. So that`s been confirmed. He`s out of the picture and he was in Florida.

HENSON: Right. He was visiting his father in Florida.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What about anybody else? I mean, this man claims that she felt spooked and therefore that she asked him to drop her, not in front at her front door, but around the corner from her apartment, which was about a quarter mile away.

This is a dangerous area, I have to say. There`s been a number of crimes in the area, unsolved rapes and things of that nature. So it would be dangerous walking around at 1:20 in the morning or 1:30 in the morning in this area. She texted, or there was a text from her cell phone that said, "Got home safely." What are your thoughts about that? Do you think she was the one who typed it?

HENSON: I don`t think she sent that text. I don`t know that. I have no idea, but in my heart, I don`t think she sent that text.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So what are you saying there? Are you saying somebody got -- has her cell phone been recovered by law enforcement?

HENSON: I`m not sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Supposedly, she sent two texts. Do you know what the other text was and who she sent these texts or who -- who those texts were sent to from her cell phone?

HENSON: No, I don`t.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What would you like to say? We want to be of service to you. We know you`re speaking to us, because you want to keep this case alive and you want to get answers. What would you like to say, Johnna?

HENSON: My daughter is a young, vibrant, gorgeous woman. A wonderful person that needs to come home, and please, if someone has her or has hurt her in any way, please let her come home.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: One last thing, and I don`t want to make too much of this, because we get false reports all the time, but I just want to ask you about this. Could she have had any kind of, let`s say, freak out about being in the army? You know, sometimes people join military organizations and then they realize oh, my gosh, it`s not for them.

Do you think there was any way possibly that she might have wanted to get away? We have -- we have a caller who claims that she saw somebody who looked very much like her in Charlotte. Now I have no idea whether -- we get these call, these false reports all of the time. We don`t know if it`s true or not, but it just sparked my mind, thinking could she have had any kind of like, "Oh, I`ve got to get away. The military isn`t for me. I need to go away and not tell anybody"?

HENSON: Absolutely not.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. All right. Johnna, please keep us updated. Is there anything that I`ve missed in terms of where they`re going to look now? And, if so, just let us know quickly, if you could.

HENSON: I will. They`re actively, actively looking. I appreciate everything that Fayetteville and the United States Army is doing. I think they`re doing an excellent job, and they`re doing their jobs.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, Johnna Henson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, the sex offender who`s the last person to have seen missing soldier Kelli Bordeaux speaks out as cops search a pond near where her cell phone last pinged.

The 25-year-old man questioned by police insists he had nothing to do with her disappearance. You`ll hear what else he had to say about the night she vanished.

Then, on the other side of the country, a race is on to find a 14- year-old girl. Her mother suspects the teen was kidnapped by her own uncle and says she has evidence of secret meetings between the pair.

And is it rage rants, the sequel for Mel Gibson? The actor`s primal screams are allegedly caught on tape again, this time by a powerful Hollywood screenwriter. We`ve got the secret tape, and we`re taking your calls for the hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister is missing. She is -- she`s the most amazing person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A dive team is searching a pond in North Carolina today for any sign of missing Fort Bragg soldier Kelli Bordeaux.

HENSON (via phone): I just can`t imagine anything happening right now. I just can barely function without knowing where my daughter is. At this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detectives have spoken with Nicholas Holbert. As reported by some media outlets, Mr. Holbert was one of the last persons that had contact with Mrs. Bordeaux.

NICHOLAS HOLBERT, GAVE MISSING SOLDIER A RIDE: Got out of the car and as soon as I pulled into Meadowbrook, she said, "You can stop right here."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please bring her back. Sorry. I just -- please just return my sister.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, the sex offender at the center of this search, ongoing right now as we speak, for that beautiful missing Fort Bragg soldier -- we just heard from her mom moments ago -- speaks out on camera.

Cops say 25-year-old Nicholas Holbert, the last person to have seen Private First Class Kelli Bordeaux before she vanished in the wee hours of Saturday morning from a local bar near Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Even admits he gave Kelli a ride to the bar, Froggy Bottoms, and took her home, but then she demanded to be let out of the car down the street from the apartment or about a quarter a mile away from her home. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLBERT: Around 1, 1:30 she told me, she said, "I`m tired. I want to go home."

OK, so we got in the car, and as soon as I pulled into Meadowbrook, she said, "You can stop right here and let me out. I`ll walk."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is he telling the truth?

Straight out to Joe Gomez, senior investigative reporter. What do you know? What is the status of this investigation right this second?

JOE GOMEZ, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, Jane, this is very distressing. Obviously, police searched a pond that was about nine miles away from Froggy Bottoms bar. They didn`t find anything.

Also a bit distressing. This registered sex offender was the last person who saw Kelli. However, this guy has a rap sheet involving kids, Jane. That leads me to believe that, you know -- I`ve covered these stories and any child molester usually, you know, sticks to that demographic.

Kelli is an early 20s soldier. She knows how to defend herself. She has gone through basic training. I`m not sure that this guy would target Kelli. I`m not defending the guy, but he would probably target a vulnerable person.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, look, she`s 99 pounds, OK? She`s 5`1", and this guy, 25-year-old Nicholas Holbert, we`ll show you his mug shot from 2003.

When he was 16 he was convicted of indecent liberties with a 5-year- old child and convicted of felony child abuse with serious bodily injury. Psychotherapist Robi Ludwig.

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, here`s the thing about people attracted to children. They can also be attracted to adults. We don`t know what happened here. One possible scenario is did he somehow come on to Kelli while driving her home and there was an altercation? Is that why she was asked to be let out when she did, further away from the destination.

It`s a lot of guessing at this point because we don`t have all the information, but I think it is important for people to know pedophiles can be attracted to adults, as well.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think you raise a very important point, because sometimes -- and I`m not saying he is lying. But when people do lie, they mix in the truth. Kind of rewrite the truth. Could there been some kind of altercation in the car, and she says, "Let me out."

We`re taking your calls: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 877-586-7297. He is not considered a suspect, however. Let`s keep that in mind. And he or his attorney, if he has one, is invited on our show any time.

Now, another story we`re also following. We`ll tell you about it a little later on. A 14-year-old, she`s missing. Was she kidnapped by her own uncle who allegedly gave her a secret cell phone? This is the guy -- but first more on the search for that beautiful missing soldier, and this guy drove her home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Supposedly when the guy that was giving her a guy home was taking her to her apartment, he got to her apartment and something spooked her. And she didn`t want -- or she said no, no, no, just let me out here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLBERT: I played pool with them, and the male friend that she was with said he was leaving that Monday. It was a Sunday night. He said he was leaving Monday morning to go back for Florida. And I was talking to Kelli and she said she would like to come up there Friday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. There you saw the man who drove Kelli home from the bar, he says, and dropped her off near her home. And what do you make of him? Cops questioned him at least twice about what happened that night and his relationship to Kelli, and they even searched his car with a fine-toothed comb. Listen to Nicholas describe it. Watch his affect. We`re going to analyze it in a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLBERT: They took everything out of it and took pictures and, like, fingerprinted the whole outside and just, like, took dirt underneath my car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops say he is not a suspect, rather a person with information.

Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, what do you make of this guy, because I do notice that he seems, like, quite direct and looking in the eye. Sometimes when people have done something untoward they look down; they look to the side. When he was talking he seemed very sort of open, which is kind of startling to me.

MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How about the fact that he`s talking at all. He`s not hiding behind a lawyer; he`s not hiding behind anyone else. The search of his car clearly was a consensual search. I don`t think we have more (ph) to mention here, but it looked like he give the OK for that.

The guy`s being very cooperative, but he`s got that yellow card, like Jean Valjean. Registered sex offender, and that`s so often an excuse to fish in an investigation. Whenever they lead off with, "We`ve got a registered sex offender," not all sex offenders are created equal. I`m not trying to be the national spokesperson for sex offenders, but by the same token, there are sex offenders and there are sex offenders.

And I agree with the other person that was on here earlier you don`t make the leap necessarily or even factually from the molesting of children to adults.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There`s sort of like 35 registered sex offenders in that county. Nobody`s pointing at them necessarily, but this is the guy who drove her home. Just happens to be a registered sex offender.

Tom Shamshack, let me discuss a little bit what police are saying, even though cops say Kelli is classified as a missing person. Homicide detectives are now on this case and the police chief explained. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Any time there`s a missing persons investigation, it`s usually worked by crimes against persons, people and homicide. In this manner, homicide investigators and our persons people are working this together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Tom Shamshack, former police chief?

Jane, good evening. I disagree with Mickey Sherman`s perspective. This is more than coincidence, and I wonder when this individual will be subjected to a polygraph exam, and the question that should be asked is oh, she was spooked. Did you have anything with her being spooked and wanting to get out of that vehicle?

More on the other side. Just getting started.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More breaking news in a second, but first here is your "Viral Video of the Day."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say something for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please bring her back. Sorry. I just -- um, please just return my sister.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This family going through hell right now. Where is Kelli Bordeaux?

Another wrinkle, the area around Fort Bragg, a dangerous place. There is an unsolved rape from just a couple of weeks ago, just a couple of blocks away from the bar. Look at how close the bar is to the most recent alleged rape site. That`s less than a quarter mile away. There apparently have been a number of unsolved attempted rapes. Is there a rapist on the loose? Could he be responsible?

Let`s go back out to Tom Shamshack, former investigator and police chief. They have to look at that and they have to look at registered sex offenders. If the husband was indeed in Florida forget about him, he was out of the state and then you`ve got this guy that drove her home. Again, your thoughts, Tom?

SHAMSHACK: Well, I would say that this person of interest needs to be subjected to a polygraph and that investigative tool would clear things up.

But it`s more than a coincidence that we have a sex offender taking her home and she says she is spooked. He says that she was spooked. What was their relationship? How long had he known her? Do we have that information? This is very chilling and remember, being looking somebody straight in the eyes, I`ll offer two names and I think the average viewer in your audience will agree with me, Scott Peterson. Drew Peterson looked squarely in the eyes of their interviewers, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Once again, he is a person of information, that`s what police are calling him. Let`s go out to the phone lines, Steph, California, your question or thoughts, Steph?

CALLER: Hi, Jane. I just wanted to say I`m very proud of you. My thought is that, by her being in the military and having the extensive training that they have, I`m just wondering why she wasn`t able to use her abilities.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Robby Ludwig, psychotherapist, men are stronger than women, and even when they`re trained and especially if you`re 99 pounds and 5`1", you`re petite, you know that.

LUDWIG: We don`t know how much she was drinking. Maybe she wasn`t on her game. If you`re not expecting to be victimized in any way. Perhaps you`re just off your mark, but men are stronger, so they`re in a position to overpower a woman even if she is trained.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We don`t want to prejudge this guy. He`s speaking out and saying, yes, I`m being targeted because of my background. What should he do if indeed, he wants to clear himself and why not take a polygraph?

I don`t see any reason why he shouldn`t. He`s cooperating in every other fashion. He just looks creepy, and I know that sounds bizarre, but that goes a long way in letting the police -- the law enforcement authorities not look other places.

You know, he doesn`t look particularly creepy to me. He looks like an average guy to me. What`s creepy is his record of this conviction based on indecent liberties with a 5-year-old. That`s what`s creepy. Joe Gomez, final thoughts?

JOE GOMEZ: Well, Jane, you`re right. Why would she go home with this creepy guy? Why would she go home with a sex offender and this guy says that she was creeped out and that she wanted him to drop her off quite a distance away from where she lived. How would he know that? How would he know that he was creeped out?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She probably had absolutely no idea that he is a registered sex offender.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 14-year-old Carrie Lane was supposed to ride the bus home from Glover Middle School.

KIM SULLIVAN, MOTHER OF CARRIE LANE: A counselor overheard my daughter talking to her uncle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police think that Carrie has been kidnapped and her mom is terribly worried.

SULLIVAN: He started texting her more. He bought her a secret cell phone that I wasn`t supposed to know about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tofte started waiting for her here at school.

SULLIVAN: He`s 53 and she`s 14.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carrie`s mom thinks that Tofte has been trying to have a romantic relationship with her daughter.

SULLIVAN: And I just want my daughter home with me safe where she belongs instead of out with some psychotic guy who thinks that he`s going to make her his own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, toxic family secrets exposed as a 14-year- old girl vanishes. Was Carrie lane kidnapped by her jailbird uncle? Speaking of creepy, our panel here says this guy looks creepy.

The missing girl`s mom was supposed to be my guest tonight, but minutes ago police said they got a new lead. They asked her not to talk. We are totally respecting that. We want to find this child. That`s the main thing.

The mom is convinced Carrie`s great uncle 53-year-old Steve Tofte -- you can see him right here -- wants a sexual relationship with the girl. Did I mention she`s 14?

Carrie`s mom reported her missing Friday when she did not ride home from school on the bus. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: The counselor overheard my daughter talking to her uncle asking him if they`re still going to meet in their secret meeting place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL All right. Kimberly Sullivan recently stopped allowing her daughter to see her Uncle Steve and it`s Tofte -- that`s how it`s pronounced -- Steve Tofte. That after she found out Uncle Steve had given Carrie a secret cell phone mom wasn`t supposed to know about.

Police believe this suspect is armed with a 12-gauge shotgun. They say this past weekend Steve Tofte broke into a relative`s home. He allegedly stole camping gear and $300 in cash.

So I`m asking: Are Steve Tofte and his niece hiding out in some remote camp site somewhere? Police think he may be driving a maroon Dodge Durango from the late `90s with either a Washington or Idaho plates. Carrie`s family urgently, urgently asking the public, hey, please help find this beautiful 14-year-old girl.

Call me 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Investigative reporter, Joe Gomez, does this uncle, not by blood, but by marriage fit the profile in terms of his background? I`m talking rap sheet here.

JOE GOMEZ, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yes. That`s right. He spent some time in jail, didn`t he, Jane, and he probably got his degree in criminology. Now this is -- the facts surrounding this case are truly terrifying. For one this 53-year-old uncle gives his 14-year-old niece a cell phone. They have a, quote, "secret meeting place"? That`s horrifying. Then he apparently steals camping gear and $300 from a nearby relative. Oh, my goodness. I mean if I was her mother I would be beside myself at this point, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And listen, we are just getting information in as we speak. I`m taking some notes here. This Tofte has served time for burglary before and police say he was back at it this weekend as we mentioned, allegedly breaking into a relative`s home.

This is what`s interesting. It`s near Eloika Lake, Washington. And yes, he stole camping gear and $300 in cash. Now Eloika Lake happens to be 22 miles away from the young lady`s home, the 14-year-old girl`s home. So I`ve got to ask Tom Shamshak, private investigator, former police chief, is your guess hey, they`re out camping in some remote area?

TOM SHAMSHAK, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Jane, I imagine that the local camping authorities have been alerted to this. They will be checking all of the normal camp sites looking for that vehicle. I`m sure her photograph has been distributed through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And the key here now will be to identify the whereabouts of that automobile. That will be what`s going to break this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now this guy is a career criminal. His latest conviction: attempted robbery for which he served eight long years. He`s been in and out of prison for burglary, for robbery, for attempted robbery, for forgery, for drug possession, for check fraud and escaping. Carrie`s mom tried to cut off communication between Carrie and her uncle two months ago.

But when you look at that guy`s past, Mickey Sherman, isn`t this exactly the kind of guy who knows how to live on the run? I mean, forging checks, he`s an escape artist.

MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Let`s forget about the past. It`s the present and the future. This whole deal where he got her a secret cell phone -- that to me is the lynchpin in this case, that clearly shows intent on his part to do God knows what with this woman. Whether or not they`re working together now or not, it`s like a low-rent Bonnie and Clyde scenario.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, yes. But at least Bonnie and Clyde were adults. This is a 14-year-old. Everybody at home, think of what 14-year- old children are like -- the idea that he would get her a cell phone.

You know Carrie`s mom says that this didn`t happen out of the blue. She saw a pattern of behavior and she tried to cut her daughter off from Uncle Steve. Let`s listen to the mom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: Things just started getting worse. He started texting her more. He bought her a secret cell phone that I wasn`t supposed to know about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Here`s a fast fact for you. Nearly 80 percent of all kids who are kidnapped in the U.S. are taken by not a stranger, but a family member. This guy, I believe, Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist, fits the profile to a tee. It is the uncle, the friendly uncle who is always giving you tons of gifts that you`ve got to worry about.

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, absolutely. It sounds like perhaps he was grooming her and the mother just caught on when she found the secret cell phone, but God knows how long this has been going on. And I treat adults, who has been incestuously molested by a family member -- it doesn`t need to be a blood family member. It could be via marriage or via law.

And so yes, it sounds like this guy is molesting this girl, grooming here and perhaps abducted her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And I always parents out there, if an uncle, a friend of the family starts showing up with gifts -- frankly when I was kid there was an uncle. You know, Uncle Jack, who used to show up with all sorts of gifts for me. Nothing ever happened, thank God. But it was creepy. You know, it`s like why is he showing up with an archery set? Why is he showing up with a pogo stick? These are expensive gifts and there was something creepy about it.

Ludwig: Yes, well, there is because any adult who shows too much interest in children or wants to hang out with only children in private places -- that`s a danger sign that they`re not in the right place emotionally and they are potentially dangerous for young kids.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Basically they`re afraid of interacting with adults their own age. I mean look at this guy. He`s large -- he`s huge. What possible reason does he have to be spending time or giving a secret cell phone or having secret --

LUDWIG: He`s attracted to this beautiful young girl. I mean just because he`s a 53-year-old guy -- Mickey you can speak to this -- just because he`s an older guy -- well no, not you.

(CROSSTALK)

LUDWIG: But it doesn`t mean that they`re not attracted to young women.

SHERMAN: It`s a smell test. It`s very simple. Parents should use common sense. Just because the guy is a valued member of their family -- that means garbage. If it doesn`t seem right, it`s probably not right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Trust your gut. Absolutely.

SHERMAN: Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brenda, Ohio -- your question or thought Brenda.

BRENDA, OHIO (via telephone): Well, I`d just like to say I love your show. And for this man to have gone to so much trouble to abduct this little girl -- I was molested by my uncle. And if he`s that sick then I think he is doing something to her. I don`t think this little girl is dead. I think he`s holding her captive somewhere and you know, performing sexual abuse to the little girl.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen, I hope that they are seen in a coffee shop somewhere and watching the show to which I say, "Dude, just leave her there and leave. Leave her there and leave. Drop her off anywhere at a way station, at a rest stop, at a 7-Eleven and leave."

And you know, this is a horrible mess but it`s only going to get worse the longer it goes on. And I have to say I have to wonder if some relatives on his side of the family might have been in denial or even unconsciously enabling.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: Mother-in-law ensured me that nothing was going on between the two of them being that he`s 53 and she`s 14.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Nothing going on because of their age difference; you know Tom Shamshak, this has got to be a cautionary tale. Criminals and people with serious problems, they`re often surrounded by people who think they love them but they`re actually functioning as enablers. They`re in denial. They`re afraid to confront. They want to just sanitize, minimize, justify and that`s exactly why problems like this can occur.

SHAMSHAK: That`s right. I agree with everything that Dr. Ludwig said earlier. In addition to stealing a relative`s camping gear, this man is in the active state of stealing this child`s innocence -- Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Listen, this man if you happen to be watching or listening to us -- maybe you`ve got HLN on satellite radio. You can get out of this by simply leaving this child at the nearest hospital down the street from a police station. I don`t really care about you so much. What I care about is the child right now.

Let that child go home to her mom immediately. Even if she left willingly there`s a very, very good chance that right now she is being held against her will. Our hearts go out to her mother.

Oh, my gosh.

Next, it`s a little bit of turn, but will Mel Gibson ever learn? The actor was allegedly -- allegedly caught on tape again and this time if it is him -- you can`t say it is -- boy, you`re going to hear next the screams. I`m talking about primal screams and hollering like you`ve never heard before. It makes the last take, if you remember that, sound like a tea party. We`ll play it for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEL GIBSON, ACTOR: What happened before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The remarks that were attributed to you.

GIBSON: That were attributed to me they didn`t necessarily make, but -- and I gather you have a dog in this fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pardon me?

GIBSON: Do you have a dog in this fight or are you being impartial?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m trying to be impartial, I guess.

GIBSON: Ok. Well, I`m back. And I hope it works out and I hope people will graciously accept me back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does Mel Gibson want to kill his former girlfriend, a screenwriter? He`s making some very strong allegations against her in a very public way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mel Gibson`s new meltdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mel Gibson is accused of making anti-Semitic and other hate-filled comments including talk of killing his former girlfriend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn`t the first time that Mel Gibson`s been embroiled in some sort of major controversy, particularly involving anti- Semitism, violence against women.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are you ready? Tonight we have the secret recordings, allegedly, of superstar Mel Gibson on another expletive-filled rant. The audio reportedly recorded by the 15-year-old son of "Basic Instinct" screenwriter Joe Ezterhas in Costa Rica back in December and reportedly followed an argument over a screen play that the two were working together on. We bleeped the profanity -- we bleeped the profanity, but this is nasty. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don`t I have a first draft of "The Maccabees"?.

What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) have you been doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: CNN can`t confirm that is Mel Gibson and he won`t comment on the recording. TMZ reports Mel might (inaudible) over the recordings.

Straight out to editor-in-chief of thewrap.com, Sharon Waxman -- you broke this story. What was your -- honestly, I was drinking coffee, I spit it out when I heard these recordings. What was your reaction to these recordings?

SHARON WAXMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THEWRAP.COM: I think I had the same reaction as most people. Oh, my God. What the hell? It`s a show stopper. And then you hear it and you hear it echoing from people`s offices around the office. It`s really -- there`s just bellowing going and last night in my house from various rooms in the house -- people, my kids, unfortunately listening to it. Yes, it`s something.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, it`s mesmerizing, you can`t stop listening to it. Here`s another portion of that audio from the person alleged to be Mel Gibson.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I go to work. You`re getting paid. I`m not (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I am earning money for a filthy little (EXPLETIVE DELETED) who takes advantage of me. Just like every mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED). So hurry the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up. (EXPLETIVE DELETED). God.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my gosh, Mel Gibson (AUDIO GAP) comment on a related letter written by Joe Ezterhas that claims that Gibson made anti- Semitic remarks and threatened to harm his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

Gibson says any statement attributed to him are utter fabrication, but again, Robi Ludwig, on the rage. The rage is just extraordinary.

LUDWIG: Yes. Yes. Clearly, he has anger management issues.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You think?

LUDWIG: Yes. And impulse control problems, and you know, one wonders is he an alcoholic?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: He is saying that he is an alcoholic.

LUDWIG: Ok.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: After his DUI arrest in 2006 he says that he battles alcoholism and said he was going into an ongoing recovery program.

LUDWIG: Ok. So either it didn`t work, either he drank too much or didn`t drink, and he`s getting in touch with all those rage issues where he has an untreated mood disorder. And also on top of that he`s a very powerful, wealthy man and who knows how that adds to his rage issues.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think he feels also humiliated because of everything that`s happened with the other tape, alleged to be him.

Let`s play one more for you. Alleged to be Mel Gibson screaming about how everyone should eat. Check this one out.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who wants to eat? Who the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) wants to eat? Go have something to eat. Hooray. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t think I`m going to be able to have dinner tonight. That just scared the wits out of me, Mickey Sherman.

SHERMAN: Jane, breaking news. That`s not Mel Gibson, that`s Ron Howard. Just kidding. Just kidding.

But you know, here`s the thing. They recorded him in Costa Rica. God knows what the laws were down there and it was invasion of his privacy. And everybody has a God-given right to be a schmuck.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are we allowed to say that on TV?

SHERMAN: Yes. I think we just did.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Sharon Waxman, editor-in-chief of thewrap.com, good scoop. Congratulations. Sorry that we don`t have more time, but come back if you ever get another one of those tapes. We`re going to have you on again for sure.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our show gets honored for helping the monkeys. Tell you about it in a second but first, this laugh break.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Those are the incredibly sensitive and beautiful stars of Disney Nature`s "Chimpanzee" which opens tomorrow in theaters. Chimps, highly intelligent social creatures, they need to be free and not in cages. I`m proud to say that this show just got an award from PETA for breaking the story about a plan to import and breed thousands of monkeys for painful, cruel experimentation in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican residents had no idea this was in the works.

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CINDY BADANO, PUERTO RICO BAR ASSOCIATION: Many on the island including ourselves found out that this is being built in the southern part of the area in a coastal town because we saw it on your show. We live here. We didn`t even know this was going on.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: This week PETA also honored Puerto Rican Senator Melinda Romero who spearheaded the successful campaign to shut down this monkey breeding facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MELINDA ROMERO-CONNELLY, PUERTO RICO: We need to treat each and every species the right way in order to survive as a whole.

JOANNA KRUPA, SUPERMODEL/ANIMAL ACTIVIST: It`s amazing that a woman like her is stopping the breeding of so many monkeys and I wish people like her all over the world because it takes somebody in her position to make a difference.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Straight out to Lisa Lange from PETA; first of all thank you for this amazing award. Why was this such an important victory for the animals?

LISA LANGE, PETA: Well, thank you for all of the exposure you gave this. And it`s a very important victory because it shows that companies like this cannot try to sneak into a country like Puerto Rico. They were going to go to a little tiny island off the coast of Africa and capture -- violently capture -- 4,000 monkeys, bring them into Puerto Rico and breed them to ship them out for painful experiments in the United States.

And because of your show and because of the efforts of Senator Romero, the people of Puerto Rico spoke out and stopped it. And the Supreme Court ruled in our favor.

So it really sends a very strong message. People are against hurting, poisoning, burning animals in laboratories. They don`t want it. And so I think it sets a wonderful precedent.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I can tell you as a Puerto Rican, my mom was born in (inaudible), Puerto Rico, that there is a sizable animal rights contingent there in Puerto Rico that do a lot of work for animals.

Now we have breaking news stateside right here about secret military testing on live goats. We can only show you a snippet of this underground PETA video. It is that horrific. It allegedly shows the coast guard doing trauma training on harmless goats. They weren`t even fully sedated and it is so grotesque you can only hear their agony. We can`t show it to you.

The Coast Guard told us they are quote, "investigating the allegations made by PETA" but they confirm that this training is a requirement for a small number Coast Guard deployable specialized forces. But why does it have to be on live goats? What`s wrong with specialized simulation dummies like the ones seen here on YouTube? They didn`t answer that question.

Lisa Lange, what`s going on here?

LANGE: Yes. I mean the Department of Defense requires that non- animal methods be used in place of animal methods but it`s not enforced. So what we found in our video which I know you couldn`t show much of, is you see a bunch of people standing around. They walk over and with tree trimmers they cut the limbs off of goats. Some of whom are coming out of the anesthesia and fully conscious and able to feel that pain.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the other side. It`s disgusting.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our tax dollars being used to torture goats. The Coast Guard is doing this literally severing the limbs of these animals and they`re coming out of anesthesia in torturous pain. There are alternatives. There are human dummies that bleed and spurt and everything. This is absolutely unnecessary.

Lisa Lange of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, what can people do who find this outrageous that their tax dollars are being used in this manner.

LANGE: Well, there`s a bill right now HR 1417 that has 49 co- sponsors. Please write your house of representatives right now, your congressman. And tell them to support that bill. 10,000 animals a year are killed in this manner and we need it stopped.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t want my tax dollars going to that. I want to be able to sleep at night. Coast Guard, if you are watching, there`s a better way.

Nancy Grace next.

END