Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / GIRL IN A DUFFEL BAG: 9-year-old girl’s body found stuffed in duffel

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GIRL IN A DUFFEL BAG: 9-year-old girl’s body found stuffed in duffel · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:04
Speaker 1: Breaking now an Amber alert. Imancy Grace, this is Crime
0:08
Speaker 1: Stories and now our crime news update. Charged and on
0:12
Speaker 1: the run. Police seeking Darius Higgins for killing a mom
0:18
Speaker 1: and abducting, kidnapping her baby, two year old little girl
0:24
Speaker 1: right now to Alan, Alan, what the mom's dead and
0:28
Speaker 1: the baby's gone? Do we even know the babies alive? Well,
0:31
Speaker 1: I'm going to assume and hope that the baby's alive
0:33
Speaker 1: because Darius Higgins, the man who is believed to have
0:37
Speaker 1: taken two year old Noelana, is the father and has
0:41
Speaker 1: been caring for this child for some time. In fact,
0:44
Speaker 1: the shooting allegedly happened when the mother, Sierra Robinson, twenty
0:48
Speaker 1: four years old, went to Milwaukee, flew there from Las
0:51
Speaker 1: Vegas in order to get the child back from the father.
0:55
Speaker 1: Why does she leave the baby there anyway? She had
0:58
Speaker 1: lived in Milwaukee, but decided that she couldn't care for
1:02
Speaker 1: the two year old, so she handed the child off
1:04
Speaker 1: to Darius Higgins while she went to Las Vegas, hoping
1:07
Speaker 1: to start a new life. She decided, according to an
1:09
Speaker 1: arrest Affidavid, she decided that she wanted the child back,
1:13
Speaker 1: and she flew back to Las Vegas and arranged for
1:16
Speaker 1: the handoff. She was going to meet Darius Higgins. In fact,
1:19
Speaker 1: they were in the car together, riding around and, according
1:21
Speaker 1: to a friend, reminiscing about old times and drinking. But
1:24
Speaker 1: he had another plan. Allegedly took them to a somewhat
1:29
Speaker 1: remote spot in Milwaukee, pulled out an AK rifle and
1:33
Speaker 1: began shooting. The complaint indicates that Sierra no longer wanted
1:38
Speaker 1: to be with him and moved to Vegas, leaving the
1:42
Speaker 1: child with him. Once in Vegas, she tried to get
1:45
Speaker 1: the baby back. No Lannie get him get the baby
1:49
Speaker 1: back from Higgins, and he agreed, So she flies back
1:53
Speaker 1: to Milwaukee as Alan Duke is telling us to get
1:56
Speaker 1: the baby now. According to the criminal complaint, they were
2:02
Speaker 1: set to meet there at twenty two Fondilac. The woman
2:08
Speaker 1: was wounded in his shooting. In the shooting, to police,
2:11
Speaker 1: she went along, but the child wasn't there. Instead, the
2:17
Speaker 1: mom ends up getting shot shot dead. Now what do
2:22
Speaker 1: we know about the possible whereabouts of baby and Noah
2:25
Speaker 1: Lannie Robinson, Well, we really don't know. We just know
2:28
Speaker 1: that Higgins, after the shooting disappeared. He apparently had the
2:32
Speaker 1: child at another place, went got the child and then disappeared.
2:35
Speaker 1: They initially put a lookout when this happened Monday afternoon
2:38
Speaker 1: for a Cadillac, but it turns out it wasn't that Cadillac.
2:41
Speaker 1: That Cadillac was found later in Miami. He's believed to
2:44
Speaker 1: be in another car. So there's an a wait a minute,
2:46
Speaker 1: wait a minute, So you're telling me that somehow the
2:48
Speaker 1: Cadillac he's driving and goes from Milwaukee to Miami. They
2:52
Speaker 1: thought he was in that car because he had had
2:55
Speaker 1: that car previously, weeks earlier. But it turns out, for
2:59
Speaker 1: some reason, the car was actually in Miami. It's not
3:01
Speaker 1: believed that he that quickly was here. So we don't
3:03
Speaker 1: have a clue. But we don't. We don't. But but
3:05
Speaker 1: keep in mind, he is the father of this child,
3:08
Speaker 1: but he allegedly murdered the mother when she came to
3:11
Speaker 1: get this child, and then he fled. Milwaukee PD Captain
3:15
Speaker 1: Thomas Casper is begging Higgins to take the baby Noahlannie,
3:20
Speaker 1: and drop her off at a safe place, a family
3:21
Speaker 1: member's home, a fire station, a hospital, just anything. Guys.
3:28
Speaker 1: Let's listen right now to this press conference regarding an
3:31
Speaker 1: amber alert and the search underway for a two year
3:34
Speaker 1: old little girl, Noelanie Robinson last scene in Milwaukee. Please
3:39
Speaker 1: help us, help us solve the Amber alert and bring
3:43
Speaker 1: Noah Lannie to safety. Her mother has been murdered. Listen. Yesterday,
3:49
Speaker 1: at about one pm, Milwaukee police squads were dispatched to
3:52
Speaker 1: a shooting in the sixty three hundred block of North
3:55
Speaker 1: ninety first Street. When they arrived, they found two out
3:59
Speaker 1: of mals lying on a driveway to an eight unit
4:02
Speaker 1: apartment building. The first female was twenty four years eight
4:06
Speaker 1: twenty four years of age, the resident of Nevada, and
4:10
Speaker 1: she was suffering from numerous gunshot wounds. Although medical attention
4:14
Speaker 1: arrived promptly, she was pronounced dead at the scene. The
4:18
Speaker 1: second female is a twenty eight year old Milwaukee resident.
4:21
Speaker 1: She was shot multiple times. She was transported to a
4:24
Speaker 1: local hospital where she's currently being treated. While at the scene,
4:29
Speaker 1: a third person was located. A thirty five year old
4:32
Speaker 1: Milwaukee man suffered a gray's wound to the left shoulder.
4:36
Speaker 1: He was also transported to a local hospital, where he
4:38
Speaker 1: was treated and released. The shooter and suspect has been
4:42
Speaker 1: identified as days dr ia Z L. Higgins, twenty eight
4:48
Speaker 1: years of age. He has previous arrests in Nevada, Minnesota,
4:53
Speaker 1: and Florida. The Cadillac, which was originally described in the
4:58
Speaker 1: Amber alert, was located overnight in Miami, Florida. That was
5:04
Speaker 1: a vehicle that he had been arrested in Minnesota last month,
5:07
Speaker 1: and that vehicle has been accounted for. We are very
5:11
Speaker 1: concerned about the missing two year old Nolannie Robinson. Her
5:15
Speaker 1: whereabouts have not been accounted for, and we want to
5:19
Speaker 1: ensure her safety. We are asking mister Higgins to take
5:23
Speaker 1: her and drop her off someplace safe a family member's house,
5:28
Speaker 1: a fire station, a hospital, and he plays safe so
5:33
Speaker 1: that law enforcement can take custody effort. As the chief stated,
5:38
Speaker 1: mister Higgins is believed to be armed and dangerous and
5:41
Speaker 1: right now his whereabouts are unknown. If you have information
5:45
Speaker 1: about missing No Lannie Robinson, please call four one four
5:50
Speaker 1: nine three five seven zero two to repeat Milwaukee p
5:54
Speaker 1: D four one four nine three five seven O two two,
5:57
Speaker 1: of course, dial nine one one Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,
6:11
Speaker 1: We're here today discussed the incident. The case yesterday occurred
6:15
Speaker 1: on March fifth, twenty nineteen. Child's body was discovered about
6:19
Speaker 1: ten o'clock. Like the sheriff said, on Hacienda Boulevard, just
6:24
Speaker 1: down the embankment, just south of Klima Road. The location
6:28
Speaker 1: is just below the Buddhist temple in an equestrian walkway area.
6:33
Speaker 1: Investigators believe that the victim was dumped at the location
6:38
Speaker 1: sometime during the late evening hours of Sunday, March third,
6:44
Speaker 1: and discovered again on March fifth at ten o'clock in
6:47
Speaker 1: the morning. The victim was discovered by some county workers
6:51
Speaker 1: that were there clearing some brush and doing maintenance on
6:54
Speaker 1: the equestrian trail. You are hearing the Yella County Sheriff,
6:59
Speaker 1: Scott Hoagland telling reporters that La County workers doing maintenance
7:04
Speaker 1: on a trail find the body, a body in a
7:09
Speaker 1: duffel bag. How does a body fit in a little
7:12
Speaker 1: duffel bag? And then very disturbing news emerges that they
7:18
Speaker 1: believe it's the body of a nine year old little girl.
7:23
Speaker 1: At first, the big question was who is the girl
7:28
Speaker 1: in the duffel I'm Nancy, Grace, this is crime Stories.
7:32
Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. Listen to the sheriff.
7:35
Speaker 1: The victim was in fact found partially inside of a
7:40
Speaker 1: black rollaway type duffel bag. The upper portion of the
7:45
Speaker 1: victim was protruding from that bag. The victim is a
7:49
Speaker 1: female black Originally, yesterday we determined that the victim was
7:55
Speaker 1: roughly seven to ten years old, but after further investigation
7:59
Speaker 1: with our investigations in the corner's office, we now believe
8:02
Speaker 1: that our victim maybe anywhere between the ages of eight
8:05
Speaker 1: and thirteen years old. She's approximately four ft five inches tall,
8:11
Speaker 1: weighs about fifty five pounds, and as skinny in nature.
8:16
Speaker 1: The age just goes on and on. The search for
8:19
Speaker 1: the identity of the girl in the Duffel Joining me,
8:22
Speaker 1: forensics expert Karen Smith out of the Florida jurisdiction. Renowned
8:27
Speaker 1: psychologist out of Manhattan, Karen Start. You can find her
8:30
Speaker 1: at Karen Stark dot com and no stranger to a courtroom.
8:34
Speaker 1: North Carolina lawyer Kathleen Murphy. Joining me right now, Crime
8:38
Speaker 1: online dot Com investigative reporter John Limley. John Limley, Let's
8:42
Speaker 1: start with the discovery of a Duffel bag. What happened,
8:47
Speaker 1: Nancy was around ten thirty Pacific time last Tuesday morning,
8:51
Speaker 1: This is March fifth. County workers were clearing some brush
8:55
Speaker 1: along South Hacienda Boulevard in a Los Angeles suburb see
9:00
Speaker 1: Into Heights. The workers were cleaning an embankment along an
9:04
Speaker 1: equestrian trail that's just below a big Buddhist temple there.
9:09
Speaker 1: The crew all of a sudden stops dead in their tracks.
9:12
Speaker 1: They come upon a big, black rollaway type duple bag.
9:18
Speaker 1: And we were from the outset wondering how a body
9:23
Speaker 1: could fit in a duple bag. Well, it didn't really.
9:26
Speaker 1: There is a body sticking out of the bag, the
9:30
Speaker 1: upper portion of a body what appears to be a
9:33
Speaker 1: young girl wearing a pink t shirt. Now, when police
9:37
Speaker 1: arrive and examine the body, they estimate that it is
9:41
Speaker 1: indeed a young girl, as we've heard, probably between the
9:44
Speaker 1: ages of eight and thirteen. That long sleeve pink shirt
9:49
Speaker 1: has a graphic on the front. It's a cute graphic.
9:52
Speaker 1: It's a play on the phrase future princess. Instead in
9:56
Speaker 1: this case, princess is crossed out and it looks like
9:59
Speaker 1: someone has written the word hero instead. The girl is
10:03
Speaker 1: also wearing a pair of black and white sweatpants or
10:06
Speaker 1: pajama bottoms with a panda print on them. Investigators at
10:10
Speaker 1: the scene are baffled on many different levels. Not only
10:14
Speaker 1: do they not know who the girl is, but there's
10:18
Speaker 1: also no obvious signs of trauma. It's going to be
10:21
Speaker 1: up to the medical examiner to figure that out. However,
10:24
Speaker 1: the La County Sheriff's Department feel that they do have
10:28
Speaker 1: enough evidence right there on the scene to call the
10:31
Speaker 1: child's death suspicious. Well, I guess, so she's in a
10:34
Speaker 1: duffel bag, John Limley. I mean, you don't need to
10:37
Speaker 1: tell me a whole lot more, but we do know
10:39
Speaker 1: the girl was not bound or tied up. And you
10:42
Speaker 1: may be wondering when you find remains, how do you
10:45
Speaker 1: determine the age of a skeleton or the age of
10:48
Speaker 1: a dead body. It has to do with the teeth,
10:53
Speaker 1: for instance, whether adult teeth are coming in, how many
10:57
Speaker 1: baby teeth are missing. It has to do with the
11:01
Speaker 1: length and the width of the skeleton of the femur,
11:07
Speaker 1: of the arms, of the pelvis region. On girls, there's
11:12
Speaker 1: many many ways that you can determine almost exactly the
11:16
Speaker 1: age of a dead body. When you're talking about children too.
11:23
Speaker 1: Forensics expert Karen Smith, there are other ways to determine
11:26
Speaker 1: the age of a skeleton or a body, Karen, Right.
11:29
Speaker 1: Besides the teeth and the length of the femur, the
11:32
Speaker 1: length of the ulma, some of the bones. We have
11:36
Speaker 1: plates in our skull, and when those plates grow together,
11:40
Speaker 1: there are they're called suitor marks, and those suitures as
11:43
Speaker 1: you age, they will calcify and they'll start to disappear,
11:46
Speaker 1: and that happens in your forties and your fifties. When
11:48
Speaker 1: you're very young like that, those suitures in the skull
11:52
Speaker 1: are very very prominent. And when you look at that,
11:55
Speaker 1: that is another way to tell the age of a skeleton,
11:58
Speaker 1: whether it's a five year old or a thirteen year old,
12:00
Speaker 1: because that is a very progressive thing. They have charts
12:03
Speaker 1: and they can look at that, and that's how they
12:05
Speaker 1: determined the age. But somewhere between eight and thirteen, there
12:08
Speaker 1: apparently were no obvious size of trauma to the body.
12:12
Speaker 1: Listen to the shearer of Lieutenant Scott Hoagland. Investigators did
12:15
Speaker 1: not observe any obvious signs of trauma to the victim's body.
12:20
Speaker 1: At this time. This incident is being ruled as a
12:24
Speaker 1: suspicious death investigation and the death cause of death will
12:28
Speaker 1: be determined at an autopsy that should be taking taking
12:32
Speaker 1: place the next day or two. The motive at this
12:37
Speaker 1: time is unknown. The purpose of this conference here today
12:40
Speaker 1: is to reach out to the public the community to
12:43
Speaker 1: find out if anybody saw anything suspicious in nature during
12:48
Speaker 1: those time frames on Hassi and the Boulevard. There is
12:51
Speaker 1: a turnout on Hassi and the Boulevard just south of
12:55
Speaker 1: Khalima Road where we're looking for any type of witnesses
13:00
Speaker 1: they've been traveling that area that may have seen a
13:02
Speaker 1: vehicle pulled over to the side. Anybody with information regarding
13:09
Speaker 1: our victim who are sketch artist at Homicide Bureau created
13:13
Speaker 1: a sketch. We are looking for anybody that recognizes this individual,
13:17
Speaker 1: recognizes the suitcase as well as the clothing that the
13:21
Speaker 1: victim was found in. Joining me Karen Stark, psychologist out
13:24
Speaker 1: of Manhattan. You can find her at Karen Stark dot com. Karen,
13:29
Speaker 1: what does it say to you that as they are
13:32
Speaker 1: searching to identify this nine year old girl stuffed in
13:35
Speaker 1: a duffel bag thrown off the side of a horse path,
13:41
Speaker 1: what does the mode of disposal of the body mean?
13:44
Speaker 1: That means that someone absolutely had no regard for this child.
13:49
Speaker 1: That's what strussed me, Nancy. The fact that he said
13:51
Speaker 1: she was dumped on the side of the road. There's
13:56
Speaker 1: no queuing. They're taking a body as person child and
14:01
Speaker 1: stuffing them in a suitcase. Think about that when we
14:05
Speaker 1: think about our children, the children that we know. Who
14:08
Speaker 1: would do that to a child? What's so unusual to
14:12
Speaker 1: Crime online dot Com investigative reporter John Linley. Is no
14:16
Speaker 1: one resembling this girl had even been reported missing? Is
14:21
Speaker 1: that correct? That is indeed the case. There was no
14:25
Speaker 1: missing person's report to match what investigators found. The emotional
14:30
Speaker 1: vigil tonight and Hassi and the Heights, dozens gathered to
14:33
Speaker 1: honor the young girl they never knew. Remains of that
14:36
Speaker 1: girl were found earlier this week and tonight she has
14:39
Speaker 1: still not been identified. Right. People gathered at the scene
14:42
Speaker 1: this evening to keep her story alive and Kate Hellen's
14:44
Speaker 1: richel Kim is live tonight in the Hassien the Heights
14:47
Speaker 1: or she spoke with some of the people at that vigil,
14:49
Speaker 1: Cuthie and Jeff. Here the entrance to the trail where
14:52
Speaker 1: the girl's body was found, you can see people have
14:55
Speaker 1: left their expressions of love. Well earlier tonight, not too
14:58
Speaker 1: far away, a sea of strangers became her family, a
15:08
Speaker 1: song of faith to help bring comfort, words to help
15:12
Speaker 1: bring understanding to faces of confusion, sorrow, and shock to
15:16
Speaker 1: night remembering a young girl whose death has outraged and
15:20
Speaker 1: saddened a community. It hurted me, but at first heard
15:24
Speaker 1: about it breaks my heart. It just breaks my heart.
15:28
Speaker 1: People from near and far gathered in Hacienda Heights to
15:31
Speaker 1: say every life matters, even the lives we don't know.
15:34
Speaker 1: They wanted to remember this little girl who remains unidentified
15:38
Speaker 1: after her body was found partially inside a devil bag
15:42
Speaker 1: dumped near the Skyline Trail at Kalima Road and Hacienda
15:46
Speaker 1: Boulevard Tuesday morning. You are hearing from our friends at
15:49
Speaker 1: WCA LTV. That was Jeff Vaughan, Susie Sue and also
15:55
Speaker 1: Rachel Kim and people attending a vigil for a little
16:00
Speaker 1: girl they don't know. As a matter of fact, nobody
16:03
Speaker 1: knows who she is. All we know is this is
16:07
Speaker 1: an unidentified nine year old girl stuffed in a duffle bag.
16:14
Speaker 1: Take a listen to this and things like this happened.
16:16
Speaker 1: We need to come together and be a voice for
16:18
Speaker 1: this little girl, especially that she doesn't have a family.
16:21
Speaker 1: And I think that that's important that you know she's
16:24
Speaker 1: everybody's child. This one feels like it's one of the
16:28
Speaker 1: worst ones I've ever heard about. That that this little
16:33
Speaker 1: girl was, you know, stuffed in a suitcase like bag
16:38
Speaker 1: was just devastating to me. Sheriff's investigators are trying to
16:42
Speaker 1: identify the girl. They say she's black, eight to thirteen
16:46
Speaker 1: years old. She was wearing a pink shirt with future
16:49
Speaker 1: Princess hero written on it, panda print pants, and no shoes.
16:53
Speaker 1: Authorities aren't sure how long the girl had been dead
16:56
Speaker 1: or how she was killed. Who is the girl in
17:00
Speaker 1: the Duffel, that's the big question. I'm listening to the
17:03
Speaker 1: heartbreak and everyone's voice at the vigil as they desperately
17:08
Speaker 1: try to find out who is this nine year old
17:10
Speaker 1: little girl. No one has reported her missing. There's not
17:14
Speaker 1: a clue, but they managed to make a sketch, a
17:18
Speaker 1: rough sketch. I'm looking at it right now. It's of
17:22
Speaker 1: her as they believe she looked in life where they're here,
17:25
Speaker 1: pulled back on top of her head in a bunch.
17:27
Speaker 1: She's wearing a pink kind of a crew neck collar,
17:32
Speaker 1: and it looks to me like she's got pierced ears.
17:36
Speaker 1: That sketch goes out, That sketch goes out on the airwaves.
17:41
Speaker 1: It's everywhere. And then, based on the sketch, a break
17:46
Speaker 1: in the case, John Lonely, what happened. A family member
17:49
Speaker 1: of a little girl has been watching the TV news
17:53
Speaker 1: about this case and has seen that sketch you just
17:56
Speaker 1: described Nancy, and they believed strongly enough that that could
18:01
Speaker 1: be a girl in their family, so they submit DNA.
18:06
Speaker 1: An investigation is underway, the DNA matches, and it's at
18:12
Speaker 1: that point that they discover that this is Trinity Love Jones.
18:18
Speaker 1: You know, I'm looking at the bulletin, special bulletin put
18:22
Speaker 1: out by La County and Karen Smith. It's very detailed.
18:27
Speaker 1: It has the little girl's T shirt future Princess Hero.
18:33
Speaker 1: It's pink, it's jewel neck, it's long sleeved, and they've
18:39
Speaker 1: even got it rolled up. She must have had it
18:42
Speaker 1: rolled up to her elbows, you know how you roll
18:44
Speaker 1: up a shirt that may be a little bit too
18:46
Speaker 1: long for you, up to the elbows. And she's gone
18:48
Speaker 1: on leggings that look like they're navy blue and white,
18:53
Speaker 1: are black and white and a little bit of a
18:56
Speaker 1: bell bottom. So they've got a sketch of her sitting
18:59
Speaker 1: there cross legged in this outfit with her hair pulled
19:03
Speaker 1: up on top of her head, and then they have
19:07
Speaker 1: a picture of the actual shirt she was wearing and
19:12
Speaker 1: the actual pants she was wearing, and all of that
19:17
Speaker 1: is on the special bulletin that is disseminated. Also the
19:21
Speaker 1: Duffel bag, the black Duffel in which she has found,
19:26
Speaker 1: and also a close up of the sketch by the
19:29
Speaker 1: sketch artist. And you know, I've had to do that
19:32
Speaker 1: at trial before when I had an unidentified body. Karen
19:36
Speaker 1: Smith and I worked very very closely with a sketch artist.
19:41
Speaker 1: And this is what was so amazing in that case.
19:44
Speaker 1: It was a serial killer. I got him on one
19:48
Speaker 1: murder of an unidentified Jane Doe. So her body had
19:54
Speaker 1: somewhat decomposed. The sketch artist did the recreation of her face.
19:58
Speaker 1: Can I tell you how important that I never got
20:01
Speaker 1: an idea on her? But okay, but when I got
20:07
Speaker 1: the killer, I went looking in his record and I
20:11
Speaker 1: found where he had been accused of and this Jane
20:15
Speaker 1: Day had been had died of strangulation where he had
20:18
Speaker 1: been accused of strangling his girlfriend. Okay, so I go
20:22
Speaker 1: find the girlfriend. I remember right now, it was raining
20:24
Speaker 1: outside and I was beating on her door. She came
20:27
Speaker 1: to the door. I told her what happened, and I
20:29
Speaker 1: looked at her and I could not believe my eyes,
20:32
Speaker 1: Karen Smith, because she looked just like the sketch of
20:37
Speaker 1: the dead girl. Okay wow. And as it turned out,
20:41
Speaker 1: and I argued it to the jury. Oh and I
20:44
Speaker 1: also found another strangulation rape victim. I was so upset
20:48
Speaker 1: by that I crashed my car on the way after
20:50
Speaker 1: talking to her. Anyway, long story short. In front of
20:54
Speaker 1: the jury at the end, I had them look at
20:58
Speaker 1: the rape victim, strange elation victim that lived in the courtroom,
21:02
Speaker 1: and I put up the picture of the dead Jane
21:05
Speaker 1: Doe sketch recreation beside a real life picture of the
21:11
Speaker 1: girlfriend that rejected him. They looked like twin sisters. And
21:18
Speaker 1: I went, who would have killed this girl? Except for
21:23
Speaker 1: the man that was rejected by this girl? And there
21:27
Speaker 1: was just like a dead I'm getting chills right now
21:29
Speaker 1: because I remember it so well. There was just a
21:32
Speaker 1: quiet in the courtroom and I turned around and looked
21:35
Speaker 1: at the defendant and he looked at me and just
21:38
Speaker 1: put his head down. I will never ever forget it.
21:43
Speaker 1: So these sketch artists can make or break a case.
21:50
Speaker 1: How do you go about how do you go about
21:53
Speaker 1: making a sketch like this from a dead body? Well,
21:56
Speaker 1: you know she had been, from all reports, ceased for
22:00
Speaker 1: about two days, and you know the decomposition process is
22:04
Speaker 1: going to start. And I don't know the weather conditions
22:07
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles at the time, but it's still wintertime
22:10
Speaker 1: in LA so you know you're going to deal with
22:13
Speaker 1: the facial features. And let me tell you something about
22:16
Speaker 1: sketch artists. Some of them are extraordinarily good, such as
22:19
Speaker 1: this case. I looked at the photos as well and
22:22
Speaker 1: saw the sketch next to a photograph of Trinity when
22:26
Speaker 1: she was alive, and they were spot on. And those
22:30
Speaker 1: sketch artists really can make or break a case. They
22:34
Speaker 1: deal with the facial features. You know a lot of
22:36
Speaker 1: times they have to make presumptions because of a little
22:39
Speaker 1: bit of the decomposition process. But in this case, they
22:42
Speaker 1: did an outstanding job. So, in an amazing turn of events,
22:46
Speaker 1: this special bulletin disseminated by the LA County Sheriff's actually
22:51
Speaker 1: got results. A family member sees it on TV says, wow,
22:57
Speaker 1: that looks like Trinity Love they go in, they do
23:01
Speaker 1: DNA testing from an extended family member. Then at the vigil,
23:06
Speaker 1: John Linley, what happens? Reporters were there at the scene
23:10
Speaker 1: of the vigil. They were interviewing the attendees, the organizers
23:14
Speaker 1: as we've heard, and they interview one man who shocks
23:20
Speaker 1: the reporter because he says that his name is Anthony
23:24
Speaker 1: Jones and that he is the father of this child,
23:29
Speaker 1: Trinity Love Jones. Take listen to a KTLA TV reporter
23:34
Speaker 1: at the vigil. It's been a week of heartache and
23:37
Speaker 1: uncertainty for a community trying to understand how someone could
23:42
Speaker 1: murder a child and discard her body to grow, and
23:45
Speaker 1: that they found with my daughter, my youngest daughter, and
23:50
Speaker 1: just one assers one justice. Antonio Jones says he never
23:55
Speaker 1: imagined the police sketches of the unidentified girl found at
23:58
Speaker 1: the bottom of an embankment last week would turn out
24:01
Speaker 1: to be his daughter, nine year old Trinity Love Jones.
24:06
Speaker 1: Words can't describe, but I just want justice for it.
24:11
Speaker 1: I want justice someone answers. Fun, loving, big heart, bubbly,
24:20
Speaker 1: many many characters, a little girl that could have been
24:27
Speaker 1: whatever she wanted to be in life. Crime Stories with
24:39
Speaker 1: Nancy Grace. You don't know what she went through before
24:46
Speaker 1: her life was taken. And this is what I thought
24:50
Speaker 1: about what they have done to her before they've taken
24:55
Speaker 1: her life. Right now, there's no motive or suspect information
24:59
Speaker 1: as invested gators search for answers. Parents and children here
25:03
Speaker 1: feel the loss. You look at your own children and
25:05
Speaker 1: you think like I could never do that to my child,
25:08
Speaker 1: and it just you can't wrap your head around something
25:12
Speaker 1: like that. Rebecca, why did you come here today? Because
25:15
Speaker 1: we will like to to care about other people, no
25:19
Speaker 1: matter who they are. I'm sorry that you have died,
25:23
Speaker 1: and I'm sorry, well have int you're hearing our friends
25:26
Speaker 1: at WCA LTV. That was Rachel Kim talking with people
25:30
Speaker 1: there at the vigil, Georgia Washington and Marline Contreras and
25:35
Speaker 1: a six year old little girl, Rebecca Estrata, about what
25:39
Speaker 1: the nine year old girls murder means to everyone. Then
25:44
Speaker 1: a break in the case. Listen to WCBSTVS Jeff Nun.
25:50
Speaker 1: Her body was found partially inside a Duffel bag. At
25:54
Speaker 1: this point, the Corner's office has ruled that this case
25:56
Speaker 1: is a homicide. Now, Antonio Jones, who claims to be
26:00
Speaker 1: the father says that he learned about the identification of
26:04
Speaker 1: his daughter through a family member who gave DNA samples
26:08
Speaker 1: to investigators. They also say that the body found has
26:12
Speaker 1: a chipped tooth similar to that of Trinity's, and at
26:15
Speaker 1: this point, investigators are not confirming the identity of the body.
26:20
Speaker 1: We are certainly giving the family a lot of space.
26:22
Speaker 1: At this point, they do not want to talk to
26:24
Speaker 1: us about who had custody of Trinity, but they do
26:28
Speaker 1: tell us that there is going to be a news
26:30
Speaker 1: conference by the Sheriff's apartment on Tuesday, And they also
26:35
Speaker 1: say at this point what they want to do is
26:37
Speaker 1: focus on their grief. Can you even imagine learning your
26:43
Speaker 1: daughter's body was stuffed in a duffel bag and found
26:46
Speaker 1: on a horse trail. That's exactly what happened to this dad.
26:51
Speaker 1: I still don't quite understand why no one had reported
26:55
Speaker 1: her missing to John Limley. I assume that the dad
27:00
Speaker 1: did not have custody of her and did not know
27:02
Speaker 1: she was missing. No, he did not have custody of
27:04
Speaker 1: the child. She actually lived with her mother and her boyfriend. Okay,
27:09
Speaker 1: so that lads me to the mother and the boyfriend.
27:13
Speaker 1: Why had they not reported her missing and in a coincidence.
27:19
Speaker 1: Take a listen to WCBSTV anchors Chris Holmestrum and Sarah Donkan.
27:25
Speaker 1: Mystery girl found dead in a Duffel bag you're a
27:27
Speaker 1: hiking trail last week has just been officially identified and
27:31
Speaker 1: we're now told too people have been detained in connection
27:34
Speaker 1: with her death. There's been a lot of new developments
27:36
Speaker 1: in this troubling mystery, especially in the last hours. CBS's
27:39
Speaker 1: Jeff ne Win he's live at a memorial for the
27:42
Speaker 1: girl in Hastenda Heights with the late breaking details. Good evening, Jeff,
27:45
Speaker 1: and good evening to you. This is the growing memorial
27:47
Speaker 1: for Trinity Jones. I'm going to step aside because I
27:50
Speaker 1: really want to draw your attention to the picture of
27:52
Speaker 1: the little girl with a bright smile. About an hour ago,
27:54
Speaker 1: the Sheriff's Department confirmed that she was the victim in
27:58
Speaker 1: a murder case, and they also tell that two people
28:00
Speaker 1: have been detained as persons of interest. While at this
28:04
Speaker 1: investigation is still fluid. So long story short, She's living
28:08
Speaker 1: with her mom and her boyfriend, and suddenly there are
28:13
Speaker 1: two persons of interest. You know what I always say,
28:18
Speaker 1: Kathleen Murphy, There is no coincidence in criminal law. Kathleen Murphy.
28:24
Speaker 1: Now we are learning the very latest too have been
28:27
Speaker 1: arrested after the body of a nine year old girl
28:30
Speaker 1: found stuffed in a duffel bag on a horse trail
28:33
Speaker 1: was identified by family and police in La County. This
28:37
Speaker 1: horrific discovery made by workers on a trail there in
28:41
Speaker 1: Hacienda Heights. It's been ruled a homicide. And Jackie Howard,
28:46
Speaker 1: which I say with a little bit of disdain right now,
28:50
Speaker 1: is here in the studio with me. Alan get wisely
28:53
Speaker 1: is keeping his mouth shut in La because she actually said,
28:57
Speaker 1: why do you keep saying murder? You know what, don't
29:00
Speaker 1: start with me, Jackie, Because if Kathleen, it's just like
29:04
Speaker 1: tot mom, if this isn't a murder, then why is
29:06
Speaker 1: she discarded by the side of the road. Why is
29:09
Speaker 1: this girl stuffed in a duffel and and thrown on
29:13
Speaker 1: a horse trail? If I hope nobody would find her
29:16
Speaker 1: egg just like in tot Mom a maintenance worker and
29:20
Speaker 1: there and tot Mom was utility worker and talking about
29:23
Speaker 1: Kelley Anthony, the two year old tot that was many people,
29:27
Speaker 1: including myself, believe murdered by her mother Kasey Anthony, mom
29:30
Speaker 1: from hell. So long story short of of course, it's
29:34
Speaker 1: a murder. She didn't just trip down the stairs and
29:37
Speaker 1: dine and they go, oh, you know what, instead of
29:39
Speaker 1: having a funeral, let's just stick her in a duffel
29:41
Speaker 1: bag and throw her on a horse on a horse trail. Kathleen, Please, Jack,
29:45
Speaker 1: I'm since you obviously don't know enough to be embarrassed,
29:48
Speaker 1: I'm embarrassed for you. Okay, go ahead, Kathleen. Yes, it's
29:53
Speaker 1: very similar. She wasn't reported missing. She's found in the woods.
29:57
Speaker 1: And this woman's gonna blame everybody but herself else. But
30:00
Speaker 1: she's the one that was living with a man that
30:05
Speaker 1: stopped this child's father. She's a convicted sex offender. The
30:09
Speaker 1: bad Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait right there, John Limley,
30:12
Speaker 1: you think you might have left out a major fat
30:14
Speaker 1: The mother is a registered sex offender. I have to
30:17
Speaker 1: find out from a lawyer in North Carolina. Well hello,
30:21
Speaker 1: And to go even further with that, it is claimed
30:25
Speaker 1: by family members, not police, that the persons of interest
30:30
Speaker 1: that the police are holding, they've been arrested and p asked.
30:35
Speaker 1: When you say the police are excuse me, John Limley,
30:38
Speaker 1: the police are holding. When police are holding somebody, they're arrested, John,
30:45
Speaker 1: They're not just holding them for a cup of tea
30:47
Speaker 1: in a crumpet. Okay, they're arrested. Correct for this, right?
30:52
Speaker 1: And the names are I have so much fun fussing
30:56
Speaker 1: it you. Okay, go ahead, but we have to get
31:00
Speaker 1: things right. We have to clarify. Yes, you do. And
31:03
Speaker 1: the people of interest, according to the family are the
31:06
Speaker 1: child's mother, to Questa Graham, and her boyfriend, Emil Hunt.
31:11
Speaker 1: Authorities have not confirmed this, however, jail records do show
31:15
Speaker 1: that Hunt is in custody. However, Graham is not listed
31:19
Speaker 1: in the jail's inmate database. Now, doing a little searching,
31:23
Speaker 1: we very quickly discovered that, according to California's Sex offender Registry,
31:29
Speaker 1: to Questa Graham is a registered sex offender. And this
31:34
Speaker 1: is a big point for you. Wait a minute, Wait
31:36
Speaker 1: a minute, you said the mom. Yes, not the boyfriend,
31:40
Speaker 1: No love Anne, the mom. This is the mom. Okay.
31:44
Speaker 1: I'm just letting that just sink in for a moment,
31:46
Speaker 1: because normally hear about the boyfriend, the dad, the ex,
31:49
Speaker 1: they're all registered sex offenders. Who's not a registered sex offender?
31:54
Speaker 1: The mom is a registered sex offender. That's true to Questa.
31:58
Speaker 1: Graham is registered for the offense of enticing a minor
32:04
Speaker 1: female for prostitution, and that was from nineteen rather two
32:08
Speaker 1: thousand and nine. So what I'm understanding is that that
32:12
Speaker 1: could not have been who she was getting a girl.
32:15
Speaker 1: She's convicted and as a registered sex offender getting a
32:18
Speaker 1: young girl, a minor to prostitute. Now I know that
32:23
Speaker 1: that's not this little girl Sherinity loved johns her daughter,
32:28
Speaker 1: because Trinity's not old enough to have been that little girl. Wow,
32:33
Speaker 1: thanks mom. So why was she in the home John Lily?
32:36
Speaker 1: Why was she living with the mom and not the dad.
32:39
Speaker 1: The mom and her live in well of San Bernardino County.
32:42
Speaker 1: Court records say she received a suspended prison term, time
32:48
Speaker 1: served in jail, and probation, and then there was a
32:51
Speaker 1: hearing to revoke her probation. And all of these charges
32:56
Speaker 1: involved a minor under the age of sixteen, And is
32:59
Speaker 1: you've did there's no way that this could be Trinity,
33:02
Speaker 1: that she was enticing the female for a prostitution, because
33:06
Speaker 1: two thousand and nine would have been roughly around the
33:09
Speaker 1: time she was probably pregnant with Trinity. John Lemley, you
33:13
Speaker 1: do not answer my question, so I will move on
33:16
Speaker 1: to Kathleen Murphy, who seemingly has a very firm grasp
33:19
Speaker 1: of the facts. John, Kathleen Murphy, Why one day you'll
33:25
Speaker 1: look back and laugh, Kathleen Murphy. Kathleen Murphy, why was
33:29
Speaker 1: she living with the sex offender mom? And to live
33:33
Speaker 1: in because nobody cares in the social services community. If
33:40
Speaker 1: something like this is not reported and somebody doesn't follow up,
33:46
Speaker 1: it is very easy for a child to get lost
33:50
Speaker 1: in the system. Where were the grandparents, Where was the father?
33:55
Speaker 1: Where were the aunts? Where were the uncles? Where was
33:57
Speaker 1: the child support agency or the child services agency? I
34:03
Speaker 1: am so upset to hear about this situation. Questions tonight.
34:07
Speaker 1: They want to know why Trinity's mother, to quest A Graham,
34:10
Speaker 1: who's a registered sex offender, had Trinity in her custody.
34:14
Speaker 1: And two is Trinity's mother's boyfriend, Emil Hunt. It's more
34:18
Speaker 1: than just a mother and in the boyfriend. We have
34:24
Speaker 1: to get to the bottom of it. Family members say.
34:26
Speaker 1: Both are in custody for Trinity's murder and being held
34:29
Speaker 1: on a two million dollar bail. In justice. We need
34:33
Speaker 1: to figure it out. It wasn't supposed to happen like
34:36
Speaker 1: this and to no one and everybody deserves an answer. Meantime,
34:43
Speaker 1: Trinity's father posted an emotional message on Facebook about being
34:48
Speaker 1: kept from seeing Trinity by some family members and now
34:51
Speaker 1: he's distraught he'll never see his little girl again. I
34:55
Speaker 1: have a nine year old daughter now who would never
34:59
Speaker 1: ever ever walked. That is KTLA reporter Mary Beth McDade,
35:09
Speaker 1: And you're hearing Hinney loves dad. That's the big question
35:13
Speaker 1: right now. Why was this a little girl with her
35:16
Speaker 1: sex offender mother and her boyfriend and what did this
35:22
Speaker 1: girl endure before her death? Right now, we don't even
35:26
Speaker 1: know how the little girl died. There's no obvious signs
35:31
Speaker 1: of trauma on her body. Karen Smith, forensics expert, how
35:34
Speaker 1: will they determined? That? A great question. You know they
35:37
Speaker 1: have a manner of death, which is homicide, but the
35:40
Speaker 1: cause of death is actually the mechanism that facilitated the death.
35:43
Speaker 1: Was it strangulation, was it a smothering? You know, things
35:47
Speaker 1: like that is what they're going to start looking at us.
35:49
Speaker 1: There's no obvious trauma to the body. And Nancy going
35:52
Speaker 1: back to breaking this down like you do as a
35:55
Speaker 1: fabulous prosecutor. No, this child was murdered and then, according
36:01
Speaker 1: to the maintenance worker who found her body, was wrapped
36:04
Speaker 1: in a blanket, and then the child in the blanket
36:07
Speaker 1: were stuffed in this duffel bag, which was then hurled
36:10
Speaker 1: over the side of a highway into a dirt embankment.
36:13
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of forensic evidence that they can
36:15
Speaker 1: glean from that, from the child's clothing, from her body,
36:19
Speaker 1: from the duffel bag, from the blanket. They're going to
36:22
Speaker 1: have to do a crime scene search of the mother
36:24
Speaker 1: and boyfriend's place of residence, the vehicle that was used
36:28
Speaker 1: to transport the body. They have a lot of work
36:31
Speaker 1: on their hands, and I'm really hoping that some of
36:33
Speaker 1: that forensic evidence will lead right back to the person
36:36
Speaker 1: or persons that committed this murder. Two. John Linley Crime
36:40
Speaker 1: online dot Com investigative reporter who I love to argue with.
36:44
Speaker 1: John Emley. I understand that police so far have not
36:49
Speaker 1: stated who is in custody, but we know who's in
36:53
Speaker 1: custody because of the family members, right all right, police
36:56
Speaker 1: are still not releasing that nation it is through family members,
37:02
Speaker 1: including family members posting on Facebook that we know that
37:07
Speaker 1: it's the mother and the boyfriend that have been arrested.
37:10
Speaker 1: What do we know about the mom other than she's
37:12
Speaker 1: a sex offender. Trinity's mom to Questa, Graham has filled
37:16
Speaker 1: her Facebook page with a lot of selfies of herself.
37:20
Speaker 1: There are two pictures of Trinity on her page as well.
37:23
Speaker 1: In one, she says that they were at the zoo.
37:26
Speaker 1: She said she lived in Long Beach, she was from Hollywood.
37:30
Speaker 1: Her cover photo shows her kissing the boyfriend Emil Hunt.
37:36
Speaker 1: One photo showed her head her in a head covering.
37:40
Speaker 1: Although her publicly visible posts are not religious in any nature,
37:47
Speaker 1: from the Facebook page, she seems to be a loving mom.
37:51
Speaker 1: We have no reason to believe otherwise. You know, John Limley,
37:55
Speaker 1: you don't you always say a loving mom. You always
37:58
Speaker 1: say that, John Limley. You know she has a record
38:03
Speaker 1: for prostituting a little girl, and you keep You've said
38:07
Speaker 1: this more than once. A loving mom. She's not a
38:10
Speaker 1: loving mom. Her child she worked on that image. Yeah,
38:14
Speaker 1: you know what's interesting. Let me quit yelling at poor
38:16
Speaker 1: John Limley for a moment. Karen start. You know, you know,
38:19
Speaker 1: always posting pictures of the twins and we're here and
38:22
Speaker 1: we're there, and I mean the pictures, do you know
38:25
Speaker 1: how many people are outraged that David is never in
38:28
Speaker 1: the pictures and who do they think is taking the picture? Yes,
38:35
Speaker 1: you do, so, Karen start. I mean when you look
38:38
Speaker 1: at Facebook or you know, your social media, a lot
38:42
Speaker 1: of times you don't see the whole picture because you've
38:46
Speaker 1: got this mom posting all these you know, family perfect
38:50
Speaker 1: photos of her with her daughter who was now stuffed
38:53
Speaker 1: in a Duffel bag on the side of a horse trail.
38:56
Speaker 1: But she was never reported missing. So what does that mean?
39:00
Speaker 1: Do people do with social media? They portray something that's
39:04
Speaker 1: not real. It's a story. It paints a picture of
39:08
Speaker 1: something that we really have to question and never believe
39:12
Speaker 1: what you see in social media, Nancy, because that is
39:16
Speaker 1: the salient point. She was never reported missing. What kind
39:21
Speaker 1: of loving mother doesn't immediately panic if he she doesn't
39:26
Speaker 1: know where her child is and inform the authorities. So
39:30
Speaker 1: you know immediately that something is very wrong if this
39:34
Speaker 1: girl is not reported missing. The mom, approximately thirty years old,
39:37
Speaker 1: we know is in a relationship with a guy named
39:40
Speaker 1: Emil Hunt. We also know he's being held at the
39:44
Speaker 1: La County gl want a two million dollar bail, We'll
39:47
Speaker 1: let me tell you something that ain't for shoplifting. I
39:49
Speaker 1: notice online on his Facebook the boyfriend to live in
39:54
Speaker 1: Emil Hunt says he is in a relationship. Do your
39:59
Speaker 1: rack which is the name to Kesta Graham uses on
40:04
Speaker 1: social media. Hm, we know that they're in a relationship
40:10
Speaker 1: because she posted it. Long story short. You find out
40:15
Speaker 1: so much from people by what they post on social media.
40:19
Speaker 1: Karen Smith, forensics expert. You know, as I was saying,
40:22
Speaker 1: you can learn so much from people's social media. For instance,
40:26
Speaker 1: which Cherney love Jones mother Graham. Her Facebook is full
40:33
Speaker 1: of almost nothing but selfies. It's only a couple of
40:37
Speaker 1: pictures of the little girl. Karen Smith. What does that
40:41
Speaker 1: mean to you? Forensically? Well, forensically, it tells me a
40:45
Speaker 1: lot about the mom and her mindset, very self self absorbed.
40:50
Speaker 1: If you're not posting pictures of your kids and you're
40:53
Speaker 1: a mom, that that is a red flag to me.
40:56
Speaker 1: That's a very distant way. Social media is a very
41:00
Speaker 1: distant way of putting yourself away from that child, Like
41:03
Speaker 1: did you care about her? Did you care about her
41:05
Speaker 1: school work? Did she get good grades? Did you post
41:08
Speaker 1: pictures of the drawings she made you yesterday? Things like
41:11
Speaker 1: that is what I see on social media from my
41:13
Speaker 1: friends with kids all the time. And when you have
41:16
Speaker 1: selfie after selfie after selfie and no pictures of the child,
41:20
Speaker 1: where is that child in your life? And that could
41:22
Speaker 1: be a little bit of circumstantial evidence for the police
41:25
Speaker 1: and prosecutors to go forward. You know, I'm looking at
41:28
Speaker 1: what is on her the mom's Facebook. One post that
41:33
Speaker 1: she has quote my mama didn't raise a fool. An
41:37
Speaker 1: effing psycho maybe, but not a fool. Then another my
41:43
Speaker 1: kids saved me from doing a life in prison all
41:46
Speaker 1: the time. Okay, that's not exactly what you want your
41:50
Speaker 1: children to read, mommy writing on Facebook. If you have information,
41:54
Speaker 1: please three two three eight nine zero fifty five repeat,
42:00
Speaker 1: please call three two three eight nine zero fifty five hundred.
42:05
Speaker 1: We do not want a killer to slip through the
42:08
Speaker 1: cracks of justice like toddmom Casey Anthony did in a
42:13
Speaker 1: case eerily similar to the murder of little Kelly. Nancy
42:19
Speaker 1: Grace crime story, signing off goodbye friend,