Return to Transcripts main page

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Isabel Celis Highest-Profile Missing Case in Nation

Aired April 24, 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 Tucson police calling this the most high-profile missing child case in the country. A news conference underway as we speak. It just got started seconds ago. Police yet to reveal any theory of how or why little Isabel Celis disappeared. Was the 6-year-old kidnapped in the dead of night from her bedroom, while her mom, dad, two brothers and their dogs all slept under the very same roof without waking up?

Again, this news conference, we`re going to bring it to you in just a moment. Stay right there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, the urgent search for a missing 6-year-old girl who disappeared from her own bedroom. Cops say they found a clue in Isabel Celis` home. What is it? We`re diving into this investigation and analyzing two other unsolved child disappearances with eerie similarities. We`re taking your calls.

Plus, NFL Hall of Famer and TV sportscaster Deion Sanders and his estranged wife`s feud gets ugly. Now Pilar is cuffed and hauled to jail as Deion takes to Twitter, claiming she broke into his room and attacked him in front of their kids. What both are saying about this bizarre incident.

Then cops arrest two men on unrelated charges in the case of missing soldier Kelli Bordeaux. The owner of the bar where she was last seen and the sex offender who says he dropped her off at her home both thrown behind bars. Do cops think they know more? I`ll talk to the missing woman`s brother live tonight.

And these elementary school kids are going to teach us a fun game that you can play with your kids that just might save the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six-thousand-dollar reward in the case of a missing Arizona girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isabel was last seen in this home by her parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have been interviewed extensively.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re labeling it as suspicious circumstances and a possible abduction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Checking each and every car that went in and out of this East Side neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was checked on this morning at about 8 a.m.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They woke up Saturday, and she was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Found that she was not in her room at that point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six-year-old Isabel Mercedes Celis was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators found, quote, "suspicious circumstances" in Isabel`s bedroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a window that was open and the screen removed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last seen by her parents at about 11 p.m. Next noticed missing at 8 a.m.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A window was open, and a screen was off. Isabel was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not ruling out anything in this investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s just no possible way that the family would have anything to do with this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We place everything in the hands of God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her father told police he went to her room to wake her up, and she was nowhere to be found.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re calling it a possible abduction. They are not ruling anything out, including homicide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: New developments in that terrifying mystery in Arizona, the sudden disappearance of 6-year-old Isabel Celis. Her parents say they put her to bed Friday night at 11 p.m. And when her dad went to wake her up at 8 a.m. she was gone.

But there are crucial details police have not divulged thus far, like who put Isabel to bed Friday night, mother or father?

Now, there is a news conference going on right now by law enforcement in the Tucson area. Let`s listen. Let`s go live to what they have to say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to try and find her and to follow up on these leads.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything being analyzed in the house or elsewhere that can point to a direction?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. When we get our forensic experts involved and also with the FBI`s assistance and the evidence recovery team, we do take things that need forensic analysis. So, yes, we do have some items that we`re looking at. But right now we don`t have any comment on what we`re looking at or what the status of that is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Is there a (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I`m going to -- as soon as we`re done here I`m heading over to where that briefing is occurring. And I want to listen in on what`s being suggested there. And I`ll have a better idea after that. And if it`s something that we can share at the next briefing, which I believe we`re going to do at 8 a.m., we`ll be able to share then.

But in reality I doubt that we will be able to share much. I mean, that doesn`t make much sense to come in and say exactly what we`re going to do when there are things we need to follow up on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven`t been there yet. I`m going there after this. So I can actually...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You are watching and listening to a live news conference by law enforcement. We have a reporter at that news conference. We`re going to ask her to bring us all of the headlines from that news conference in just a moment, but here are some questions.

Did Isabel`s mother check on her before she left for work? She`s a nurse. She left at 7:30 in the morning the very morning the little girl vanished. So if she did, for example, check in on her at the house -- we`re looking at the house there -- that could narrow the timeline of the child`s disappearance from nine hours to 30 minutes.

Police are calling this a possible kidnapping with the potential entry point being one of the home`s windows. The family says they found one window open, the screen removed.

And what about the family dogs? If somebody tried to break in the home, wouldn`t the dogs -- apparently, several dogs there would have barked their heads off. Here`s what a neighbor told ABC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re saying you can`t walk up to their house without the dogs barking like crazy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they`re outside, yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did neighbors hear anything in the middle of the night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): I don`t want to comment on that. We do have some information, but that`s something I don`t want to put forward yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. That was the police chief on our show last night. He did not answer no, which makes me think, well, maybe somebody may have heard something the night the child disappeared.

Police kept Isabel`s family out of the home until today after bloodhounds alerted to something inside the home. And cops won`t say what caught the dog`s attention.

Also an hour`s long search of a nearby landfill turned up no new lead.

So where is this precious child? You can call me if you have a theory or question: 1-877-JVM-SAYS; 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to HLN`s Natisha Lance. She`s on the ground at the news conference that is in progress.

Natisha, I know you`ve got to speak softly, but give us the stage whisper and tell us what the headline are from the news conference that`s going on right now.

Natisha, can you hear us?

All right. Is Greg Paul, reporter of 550 KFYI radio, on the line?

GREG PAUL, REPORTER, KFYI RADIO (via phone): Yes, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. What do you know? What`s the latest? We understand there was a search warrant executed on this family in the dead of night, possibly, and also dogs hitting on something. What do you know?

PAUL: Yes, well, Jane, there were two search warrants served on the home; one served on the family car. Police won`t say what they found or what that information may have led to, but they are still following those leads, and then they were, as you said, allowed back into the home today.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, but I was told that they didn`t go to their home, that they were allowed back in, but they decided "We`re not going to go back in." I think one of -- go ahead.

PAUL: I was going to say, some people did say there were some security issues, but they were allowed to go home if they wanted to. If they didn`t, we -- we aren`t sure where exactly they went, but they were allowed to go back in the home if they wanted to today.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, I don`t know -- are you at the news conference? Do you know what`s going on, the very latest there?

PAUL: I am not at the news conference, though, but we are on top of the story and we do have people down there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Jon Lieberman, you`re jumping to get in.

JON LIEBERMAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Here`s what I can tell you. We found out earlier today that the FBI is sending a number of agents from their behavioral analysis unit. This is the unit that puts together a profile of unknown offenders when they don`t have a suspect in mind, but this unit puts together a profile. That`s what the police chief or the sheriff was talking about a little bit earlier.

Police do have a lot of information in this case. They have seized evidence from these search warrants, but now what they`re looking for are tips in order to corroborate or contradict what they already have.

That`s why they`re staying so close-lipped, because they don`t want to give out information and tip their hand when they`re still looking for that one piece of the puzzle from the public that`s going to help them here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, we do hear, Natisha Lance, what do you know from the news conference? What are they saying?

NATISHA LANCE, HLN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, Jane, they are continuing to work on tips and leads that are coming in.

And also as the sound just mentioned, the FBI behavioral analysis unit is coming in to interview various people involved in this case. They`re going to be interviewing the family, as well as neighbors, but right now they are leading with the commanders and the lead investigators with this case.

And what they`re looking for from them are suggestions of things that maybe they have overlooked or maybe that they have not thought of so far in their investigation.

The family is able to go back to the house. However, police are now saying that they will not go back to the house today. We don`t know the reason for that, but they also continue to say that the family is cooperating. However, Jane, no one has been ruled out in this case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Robyn Walensky, anchor, reporter, "The Blade (ph)." Your thoughts?

ROBYN WALENSKY, ANCHOR/REPORTER: You know, it reminds me, Jane, a couple things. It reminds me of Utah, Elizabeth Smart, who was snatched by an intruder. The window being broken into reminds me of the JonBenet Ramsey house in Boulder where there was always that unexplained window. Was there an intruder involved in that unsolved murder?

And then, of course, Baby Lisa, the most recent of the little girl, the baby who was apparently snatched from that home in Kansas City, Missouri.

So I think that nothing can be ruled out in this case, but you know, is it a copycat crime off the Baby Lisa thing? Did somebody literally break into that home, take this little girl without the dogs barking, and bring her somewhere?

I also want to point out, Jane, Tucson, Arizona, there`s been a lot of crime in Tucson with illegals and others, people going in and out of the Mexican border. We have a very porous border down there. So I also understand from some research that the Border Patrol people are also getting involved in this case.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yea, but any time somebody commits a crime in Tucson, we shouldn`t immediately point to illegals. I mean, that`s quite a leap.

Greg Paul, reporter 550 KFYI. We heard about a dog hitting. Do we know where the dog hit? Inside the house, or in the yard or in the neighborhood?

PAUL: Well, police are saying the dog did hit, but they really won`t say what it hit on. They`re being tight-lipped with a lot of these details. But they did say that the dog did hit on something, that they had to follow up on it, but they just wouldn`t say what that was.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, on the other side, we`re going to talk about the dogs in the home and what their role might be. Did they bark? And if not, why not? And that`s the dog right there. You just saw a picture of the dog.

We`re taking your calls on this, too: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Coming up, cops arrest two men connected to the case of a missing soldier, beautiful Kelli Bordeaux. But the cops say they`ve arrested these men on unrelated charges, even though there is a link to the case with these two men. We`ll have the very latest on that developing story.

But first, more on this frantic search for this missing 6-year-old, Isabel Celis, straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, we haven`t focused on anyone. We`re still trying to determine where Isabel is. That`s the primary concern, both is to try to find her and bring her home safely.

Obviously, we`re following up on all the leads that we received. We received over 100 leads. And we`re making sure that our investigators check each and every one of those.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have talked to several within the area -- the surrounding area of the home. And we do have knowledge of speaking to them. And we have a firsthand information of what that they were doing and where they were at that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Where is 6-year-old Isabel Celis who disappeared from her home?

To try and answer that question I want to welcome one of my heroes, Diena Thompson. She`s the founder of the Somer Thompson Foundation.

Diena, I`m honored to have you back on our show, and as I think our viewers well know, your precious daughter, Somer Thompson, was just 7, just a year older than little Isabel, when she was abducted and murdered in 2009 while innocently walking home from school, getting just a little bit ahead of her siblings.

Her killer, Jarred Harrell, pled guilty and is serving a life sentence. He turned out to be a neighbor with a sick history of child porn.

Diena, what did your gut tell you about little Isabel`s disappearance?

DIENA THOMPSON, FOUNDER, SOMER THOMPSON FOUNDATION: That`s a tough one. I`m not really sure. It -- first of all, it`s a shame that we have to look in landfills for our children.

As far as who did this, your guess is as good as mine. I`m not there. I don`t know all the insights of the case, so I don`t want to speculate on anything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But what would you like to say? Nobody knows the horror behind a situation like this better, unfortunately, than you.

THOMPSON: I mean, it`s sad, sad thing. But I`m afraid, you know, obviously when a child goes missing, we`re all afraid that the child isn`t going to come home safe. But we`re going to pray that she does get to come home. And that her family and friends are not involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, we certainly pray that her family is not involved. At this point, police have to look at everybody, and this is procedure. They have to look at the family first. They have to ask tough questions, like several of the Celis family dogs were reportedly in or around the home that night.

Now, I have a bunch of little rescues, Chihuahua mixes. They`re small, but if somebody is lurking around my home or apartment, whoa, my dogs bark like crazy. So did the Celis family dogs alert to anything that night? Listen to this.

All right. Well we had a neighbor say essentially that they did bark like crazy.

Is it possible a kidnapper could have been so quick, so quiet, not to mention keeping Isabel quiet, that there were no dogs barking? In other words, the neighbor said that the dogs do bark normally. My understanding is that nobody necessarily heard the dogs barking that night.

So I`ll bring Steve Moore, former FBI agent, into this. What are your thoughts on the significance of the dogs being in the home that night?

STEVE MOORE, FORMER FBI AGENT: I think it`s pretty surprising that the dogs didn`t put up a ruckus. You would have to kind of explain that in your own minds to get around the -- around that part of the case.

Something that`s bothering me and the way I`m seeing this investigated, though, is that they got search warrants for the house, at least one, possibly two. The only reasons you would get a search warrant is if you`re afraid that you might have the results contested or that consent would be withdrawn at a later time. And the only two people you would be are about worried about with are the occupants of the home. So...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I asked the police chief last night why they got search warrants and whether that was if the parents didn`t want to let them in, and he said that they preferred to do it by the book. So continue on, Steve. Whatever that means.

MOORE: Well, I think -- yes. Doing it by the book means doing it carefully in case they don`t want to lose the evidence. There`s more to that than he`s actually admitting to.

So the dogs and the search warrant make me concerned. It doesn`t mean that the parents are suspect, but it does mean that the police are not ruling that out as a future direction they have to go.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Absolutely. And let`s face it, the first place investigators have to look for suspects is inside the family.

And inside the family home Friday night were Isabel, her mother, her father and two older brothers. But what do we know about this family?

On the other side of the break we`re going to tell you what Isabel`s mom and dad do for a living. But I can tell you, they have absolutely no criminal record. And people were saying they were not in the midst of any kind of messy divorce. We`ll have more on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRYSTAL CRUZ, REPORTER, KTVK: Like I said, there is some information between what the cadaver dog found and what the police department has. And they are keeping very tight-lipped.

But like you said, the window was open in the little girl`s house, and the screen was off. We are not sure if this was the little girl`s window or if this was a kitchen window. And it`s something we are...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. At the home Friday night Isabel, her mom, her dad, two older brothers and the dogs. Isabel`s mom a nurse, her dad a dental hygienist. Police say they are not suspects, but they haven`t been ruled out. Nobody has.

Early on, investigators separated them, interviewed them for hours. And family friends say there was no way the parent his anything to do with their child`s disappearance. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s just not a possibility. If you knew this family these two have -- they`ve been married. They`ve been together since they were teenagers. There`s no separation going on. There`s just no possible way that the family would have anything to do with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Steve Moore, they weren`t in a breakup. They don`t have criminal records. They`ve been together since they were teenagers. Does that count for anything?

MOORE: Yes, it counts for a lot. I think that`s why they`re probably bringing in the behavioral sciences unit to help come up with some kind of profile for the person who might take Isabel.

And if the parents don`t match it, it helps the police refocus the investigation. If the parents do match it, it helps them focus it in a different place.

But yes, it is very troubling. They`re not showing signs.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but we haven`t seen them out and about either, maybe because they`ve been interviewed by cops. We haven`t seen them out begging and pleading. So that`s also interesting.

Now, this case reminds me of two other missing children, cases that remain unsolved as we speak and we covered both on the show.

The Missouri missing girl, Baby Lisa Irwin, that one girl vanished from her home last October. Her mom was at the house. Her parents insist she was kidnapped from her bedroom while her mom and her brothers were sleeping.

And you remember her mom became a focal point of the case because her timeline changed, and it turned out that she admitted getting drunk and passing out, and she was caught on surveillance video, here, buying a box of wine. We remember this case, unsolved.

Now, another case, Ayla Reynolds. She`s been missing since December. Investigators say that they actually ruled out the possibility this child was abducted. They found blood inside her father`s home in Maine, the last place little Ayla was known to have been alive.

But the fact is that, despite all this, no arrests in these case, no nothing. Because -- and I hate to say it -- but Jon Lieberman, there`s an old saying, "No body, no case."

LIEBERMAN: Well, that right. That`s why these cases are so difficult and such a small percentage are stranger abduction cases.

And that`s why Steve had a great point that they had to have a wide- ranging investigation at this point, including sex offenders, Jane, and keep your eyes on this. As they work out from that inner circle, the parents, family friends, they`re going to look at sex offenders.

Seventeen live in just this three-mile radius around their house, and Tucson has a much higher rate of sex offenders than the state of Arizona as a whole.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Natisha, very quickly, why haven`t the parents been out talking?

LANCE: That`s a question that people keep asking, Jane. They did release a statement. They said that are cooperating and that they will never stop looking for their daughter.

And they want people to send in their tips or send in their questions to Tucson police department. But they haven`t been out, and police did say earlier today that there have been moments when the parents have been extremely emotional and times where they have spoken to them. But yet, they continue to say that they are cooperating, as well.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you, panel.

Up next, missing soldier Kelli Bordeaux. We`re going to talk live to her brother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re getting word that a Fort Bragg soldier is missing.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New developments in the case of missing Fort Bragg soldier Kelli Bordeaux. The man who gave her a ride on the night she disappeared turned himself in to police on an unrelated charge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detectives have spoken with Nicholas Holbert. He was one of the last people that had seen Miss Bordeaux.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Divers searched the pond looking for evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They found a white plastic bag with khaki shorts and T-shirt and there was blood on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got to her apartment and something spooked her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the question that should be asked is, she was spooked, did you have anything to do with her being spooked and wanting to get out of that vehicle?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just can`t imagine anything happening right now -- I just can barely function without knowing where my daughter is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Tonight, huge developments in the case of that missing soldier. Beautiful young woman, two men connected to the bar where Private 1st Class Kelli Bordeaux was last seen have now been arrested.

Jane Velez-Mitchell back with you live from New York City.

Kelli vanished more than a week ago from a bar near Fort Bragg North Carolina and she was karaokeing and having a good time Friday night when she left the bar with a man you`re about to see at about 1:20 Saturday morning. There he is. His name is Nicholas Holbert. He`s a barkeep there.

What Kelli may not have known is he has a criminal record as a sex offender. This past Friday he was picked up by police for failing to register as a sex offender in Cumberland County. Now back in 2003, he was convicted of indecent liberties with a five-year-old and felony child abuse with serious bodily injury.

Nicholas Holbert, living in a lean-to behind this, the Froggy Bottoms Bar where Kelli was last seen. Police have named him a person of information in her disappearance. I don`t know exactly what that means. We`ll talk about that in a second. But he claims he just gave her a ride and dropped her off.

Listen to him.

NICHOLAS HOLBERT, ONE OF THE LAST PEOPLE TO SEE KELLI BORDEAUX: The investigator told me that they found a white plastic bag with khaki shorts and a T-shirt and there was blood on it. And they asked me -- he asked me if it was going come back as mine, I told him no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill her?

HOLBERT: I did not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you have anything to do with her disappearance?

HOLBERT: I have nothing to do with it. I picked her up and took her home that night. That`s it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. That guy, right now in jail for not registering as a sex offender. He says he dropped her off at the entrance of her apartment complex seen here. The big question is did she then walk in her front door?

What you`re seeing is new video that we just shot a little while ago, the actual route that she was supposed to take, but the last anybody really saw of her was at the bar leaving. Just yesterday police also arrested the owner of that bar, the Froggy Bottoms Bar. There he is being led out of the bar by police in handcuffs.

His name, Stephen Cantrell. His crime -- he allegedly owes $400,000 in child support payments to several women and he failed to appear in court for a 2001 DWI charge.

Straight out to my very special guest, Matt Henson, the brother of missing soldier Kelli Bordeaux. Matt, thank you for being here, I know this is hellish for you. And I want you to know we`re doing everything we can to help find your sister. We want to get the word out and we want to get her face out possibly to jog somebody`s memory.

You`re in North Carolina right now and I understand you`re actually in front of your sister`s apartment. First of all, tell me what was your reaction to the news that the last person to see Kelli before she vanished is a sex offender who didn`t register meaning essentially he`d been living in hiding and he has now been arrested?

MATT HENSON, BROTHER OF KELLI BORDEAUX: Very unsettling, to say the least, you know. For that to be the last person to see her with that kind of a background really just leaves a bad feeling in your stomach, you know?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m sure.

You`re down there. What have you been able to ascertain? Have police talked to you? Have they said anything? I mean we`ve had so many questions like was her cell phone recovered? Her purse? Presumably, she didn`t use her car that night. She got to the Froggy Bottoms and back from. What do you know?

HENSON: The cops have kept us really well-informed. You know, we`re -- I speak to them every day, every morning.

The -- the only problem really has been that we just haven`t found anything, you know, since this all began. We really just don`t have anything to go on.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did they find her cell phone?

HENSON: No, ma`am.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: They did not find her cell phone? And that`s significant because --

HENSON: We haven`t found a shred of anything.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s significant because according to the guy, Nicholas Holbert, he claims that she was texting a lot that evening and also she purportedly sent a text saying "got home safely" which, Matt, your mom doesn`t believe was sent by Kelli.

So you`ve been in her apartment, was there any signs in her apartment of any kind of struggle or was everything just pretty much normal?

HENSON: No. It looked exactly -- I mean exactly as if you had left it and would expect to come back a few hours later. I mean s0he had homework sitting out, you know. It`s exactly, just like if you or me were to leave our house and come back and, you know -- there was definitely no struggle.

I really, honestly don`t think that -- I mean she ever made it back to the apartment and nobody thinks that the last text message that came from her phone is from her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And can I ask you to who was that text sent?

HENSON: A friend of hers down in Florida.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s interesting.

Let`s play again this sex offender, possibly the last person to see Kelli. Here`s what happened. According to him, this is his claim the night she vanished. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLBERT: Around 1:00, 1:30 she told me I`m tired, I want to go home. I said ok. So we got in the car and as soon as I pulled into Meadow Brook she said you can stop right here. Let me out. I`ll walk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, a lot of questions there, Matt. Why would she walk? The neighborhood around Fort Bragg is by all accounts dangerous and that`s no secret. There was, in fact, an unsolved rape case in the area a few weeks ago. In fact, you could look at how close the bar was to that alleged rape less than a quarter of a mile away.

Your thoughts on that -- I mean, your sister is married.

HENSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I know that the husband was not there. Was he in town that night because your mom says he was in Florida, but --

HENSON: Right. He was actually in Florida visiting his side -- his family and also buying a vehicle.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to bring in --

HENSON: Yes -- well, I mean the family supports -- we support Mike 100 percent. We really do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. If he`s in Florida he has nothing to do with this.

I have two experts here so very quickly, Steve Moore, former FBI agent. What do you make of these two men being arrested on unrelated charges? But they`re connected to this bar where she was last seen?

STEVE MOORE, FORMER FBI AGENT: Well, that`s obviously, I believe that the police don`t want these guys to go anywhere especially Holbert or Hobart. I think they`ve got something that they want to investigate. They`re afraid they`re going to leave. They want them where they can put their hands on them at any given time. It`s very telling that this guy`s still in jail over a non-registration thing.

Cantrell, I`m just not sure. Maybe they just found something that they couldn`t ignore. But again, it seems a lot to put him in custody, too. There`s something here that they`re not telling us about these two guys.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Jon Leiberman, investigative reporter.

JON LEIBERMAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Yes. This is called jamming these guys up. I mean police were looking for a reason to keep these two guys behind bars because they clearly believe that they have answers that they`re not being forthcoming with.

You said what is a person of information? Police strongly believe that both of these men have information that they`re not sharing. And just like Steve just said, I mean to be put in jail for this long for a failure to register your new address is almost unheard of.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Police did focus their attention on a pond about eight miles away from the Froggy Bottoms Bar. They searched for two days, stopped without success.

Matt, what are they doing to search for your sister right now?

HENSON: Really -- it`s a really good thing between the police, the army, you know, volunteers. I mean there`s really a lot of resources being poured into finding her. So I`m really thankful for that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did she have any enemies or any problems --

(CROSSTALK)

HENSON: I mean, you know, helicopters, dogs, boats -- everything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did she have any problems with anybody? A fight with anybody? Did you hear -- did you know about this guy that she had apparently met playing pool? You meet people socially, did you hear anything about this Nicholas Holbert?

HENSON: No, I didn`t -- I didn`t know anything about him. Until the incident happened, I didn`t know anything about him. And she has never really had any kind of enemies, you know. I mean she`s pretty much happy go lucky kind of person.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And very petite, very beautiful. Leaving a bar at 1:20 in the morning in a very dangerous area with a convicted sex offender; it is a chilling, Matt. And I have to say our hearts go out to you. We will do everything we can to keep this story alive.

And you`re telling us police are saying nothing, absolutely nothing in terms of they didn`t find her cell phone and they haven`t found her purse. Is her purse missing with her ID and all that?

HENSON: She wouldn`t have been carrying her purse. She wouldn`t have had her purse on here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Her purse was at home?

HENSON: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So it`s the cell phone that`s missing. And did they tell you anything about --

(CROSSTALK)

HENSON: Right. That`s really that -- if we could find the cell phone I think that would really be a big key, you know, to really helping make some progress in the case to find her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And I know that the pings were last near the bar.

Matt, again, stay strong, we`re rooting for you. We`re rooting for your sister. We pray that she is found safe and sound.

Up next. Wow. NFL great Deion Sanders takes to Twitter after a huge battle with his estranged wife Pilar. She allegedly attacked him in front of the kids. She gets arrested and we`ll show you her mug shot. It`s an unbelievable drama next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Guess who`s on a divorce collision course and it`s getting ugly. And gee, Deion Sanders and his wife looked so happy on their reality show, "Primetime Love", on Oxygen.

PILAR SANDERS, WIFE OF DEION SANDERS: Deion could you please get up and help me?

DEION SANDERS, FORMER NFL PLAYER: That isn`t happening. I`m sorry.

P. SANDERS: You see I`m cleaning up and you can`t just get up and get some tea?

D. SANDERS: We ought to play our roles man.

P. SANDERS: I do this for you all the time, Deion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is already a very bitter, very public divorce just took another nasty turn.

The estranged wife of former NFL star, Deion Sanders was arrested last night on domestic violence charges. Deion claims she broke into their home and attacked him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight the ugly, bitter divorce battle between football hall of famer, Deion Sanders and his wife Pilar, just got uglier. Pilar Sanders got thrown to jail on assault charges for allegedly attacking Sanders in front of their two young sons.

I think that`s her mug shot right there. Wow. That`s a pretty mug shot. I thought it was a headshot and somebody said no, that`s not a headshot. That`s a mug shot.

Here`s what Deion Sanders told KXAS in Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D. SANDERS: My kids just saw that. I mean, they`re scarred for life. They just saw their mom jump their dad in his own house, in his room. In my room. It`s sad, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Deion filed for divorce in December. But it didn`t take long for Pilar to file a counter suit demanding $200 million in damages. Pilar Sanders bonded out of jail this afternoon and she had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

P. SANDERS: I`m a full-time mom. 100 percent there for my children and I just haven`t been given a fair shake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Pilar has been banned from Deion`s mansion for the next 61 days and, guess what? That`s where they were still living together. She cannot go near Deion.

How did things get so bad between these two? Straight out to Dylan Howard, editor in chief of CelebBuzz. First of all I think it`s a very bad idea for two people who are splitting up to remain in the same house under the same roof. I don`t care how big that roof is. I don`t care how big that mansion is. Bad idea.

But give us the play-by-play here as it were of what this alleged attack was?

DYLAN HOWARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, CELEBBUZZ: Well, we don`t actually know, Jane, what took place inside that Dallas mansion, some 20,000 square foot mansion. What we do know though, is that Deion Sanders tweeted yesterday, and I want to quote for you, Jane, this is what the former Dallas Cowboys star said, "Pray for me and my kids now. They just witnessed their mother and a friend jump in my room. She`s going to jail and I`m pressing charges."

Now the controversy about this tweet is that moments after Deion actually tweeted a photo of his children filling out police reports. And now at the center of this very bitter battle is indeed their children and those children being subjected to this allegation of domestic violence and also the law enforcement investigation by having to sign this police reports.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. In fact, we have that photo that he tweeted. And as we (inaudible) that photo up I have to go to Simone Bienne, co-host of "Loveline", relationship therapist. There it is, take a look at this photo.

You know what; even if you`re right, you`re wrong in my opinion if you`re actually showing a photo, tweeting a photo of your two kids filling out a report on their mom, who allegedly scratched, bit, whatever. Aren`t they both wrong at this point?

SIMONE BIENNE, RELATIONSHIP THERAPIST: Absolutely. And there`s one who is being passive aggressive, the other one is being aggressive. And they are not acting like adults and any couple, any parent -- that is your undertaking. As soon as you have children you have a role not to be children yourself and act out all of this stuff, Jane. You have a role to protect your children. This isn`t protecting them; this is dragging them into your mess.

And of course, we all know what kind of psychological impact that can have. It is incredibly traumatic.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dylan, quickly, is he jeopardizing his career with the NFL Network?

HOWARD: Well, certainly this scandal is not going to help his cause. Incidentally thought, there is a gag order in this case. So the fact that Deion is tweeting, all the more perplexing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s unbelievable, and I`ve got to say who`s behaving like the kids now -- the parents or the kids?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A game you can play with your kids to save the world in a second. But first here`s a little laugh break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGH BREAK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: For Jane`s adventure, here`s a game to play with your kids. This week, our executive producer and working mom Philippa Holland went to her son`s school to play a fun game about lunch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILIPPA HOLLAND, HLN PRODUCER: At the home school in Darrion (ph), Connecticut, kindergartners are hard at work, mastering the basics. And it`s more than just the three Rs. On Tuesdays, there`s an e for environmentalism.

The assignment: pack a lunch that generates the least amount of trash possible.

Everybody tell me all together, what day is it?

CHILDREN: Tuesday.

HOLLAND: This is my son Tommy. Here`s what we brought for him. We brought a special sandwich wrapper, it`s an envelope, so on Tuesdays, and actually I do it some other days of the week, too, wrap it up just like that. It`s like a present, right? Put it in your box, and we have a cookie -- don`t tell his dad -- and we had strawberries -- those are good for you, right.

And we put your drink and the Darth Vader thermos. The Darth Vader thermos is a key piece of equipment to go along with the Star Wars lunch box, right? Got to have the Star Wars lunch box, right? What else do we have? A pretty pink and green lunch box over here and Kiera had princesses on her Tupperware.

So everybody knows how to do trash-free Tuesdays, right? The advantage to this is I can check and see what he ate for lunch. Finish that sandwich, young man.

Everyone wanted to show us their lunches. What did you bring? Let`s see.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: French fries.

HOLLAND: French fries and some grapes, I see.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have tortellina.

HOLLAND: You have some pasta in there. Well, that was a good idea. And then you bring it all home and your mom washes it out for you? That`s so nice of her, isn`t it?

Chicken nuggets. Carrots --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carrots and grapes.

HOLLAND: And you put them all in your containers, right? And then you`re going to bring them home and you give them to your mom and she washes them out for you? That`s awesome.

So you have nothing to throw them out, right?

And they know why it`s important.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re not trying to throw our trash to make the world cleaner.

HOLLAND: That`s such a good idea. How did you do that today, Fiona?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To not throw away our trash and use all containers.

HOLLAND: There you go. And you have these special little containers. Can you show me how your sandwich fits in there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You put this right here in the middle. And then you put this side right here and then you see this, how it meets. And then it tapes like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trash-free Tuesday.

HOLLAND: Yes. And what do we do on trash-free Tuesday?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t bring any trash.

HOLLAND: Why do we do that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To make the world more cleaner.

HOLLAND: That`s a good idea. Taylor, what do you think? Why do we do trash-free Tuesdays?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To make the world a better place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t want to leave any trash or litter.

HOLLAND: What do we do on trash-free Tuesdays?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make the world a better place.

HOLLAND: Yes. And how do we do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no trash, because the world needs no trash.

HOLLAND: Cool.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it`s a wrap that you could use over and over again.

HOLLAND: You`re having the cafeteria lunch. So you have a little bit of trash. And you`re going to eat all that so there`s no trash? Are you having breakfast for lunch?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HOLLAND: Get out of town. So when you finish, are you going to have reusable paper, right? And you`re going to recycle your container.

PAULA BLEAKLY, PRINCIPAL, HOLMES SCHOOL: They`re really into it. I think the parents are into it, too, because the kids get the incentives related to it, so they educate their parents, which is really nice. It gets all of us as a community thinking about what`s important.

HOLLAND: And just as important to the kindergartners, the rewards.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There we go. Did I get everybody else? Everybody has a pack?

HOLLAND: That`s awesome. How is your hamburger, good?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Parents, if you go trash-free, you save money. You don`t buy things over and over again, the plastic, the paper, the wax paper. You buy it once. And you use it over and over again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLAND: On trash-free Tuesdays, there`s a 30 percent difference in the amount of trash at the end of lunch. It`s also a competition among the grades.

ANN NOVOTNIK, HOLMES SCHOOL KINDERGARTEN TEACHER: Kindergarten was actually the group that created the least amount of trash. Got a surprise with a book read by a mom, and they`re excited about it.

HOLLAND: And those kindergartners are planning on retaining their title.

You think kindergarten is going to win again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe.

HOLLAND: Maybe? Not sure? I bet you guys will.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think yes.

HOLLAND: You think yes? I bet the kindergartners win again, too. What do you think, Chloe, are kindergartners going to win again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HOLLAND: Trash-free Tuesdays. Try it at your school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLAND: Great job, Flip, we love you. And it`s a great game to play with your kids.

Nancy is next.

END