Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Mother Suspected Of Murder After Body Of 9-Year-Old Melodee Buzzard Found: Crime Alert Recap Saturday 12.27.2025

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Mother Suspected Of Murder After Body Of 9-Year-Old Melodee Buzzard Found: Crime Alert Recap Saturday 12.27.2025 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime al Art Hourly update, Breaking Crime News Now.
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  Speaker 2: Crime Alart Hourly update, Breaking Crime News Now.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Nicole Parton. Ashley Buzzard appeared in the Department nine
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  Speaker 1: of the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria
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  Speaker 1: today for her arraignment after her daughter's body was discovered
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  Speaker 1: in Utah. Represented by a public defender, Adrian Galvin, Ashley
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  Speaker 1: pleaded not guilty and rejected all additional allegations, which elicited
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  Speaker 1: a strong reaction from those in the audience, with obvious
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  Speaker 1: gasp and crying from the attendees. Galvin also requested a
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  Speaker 1: gag order to prevent the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
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  Speaker 1: from disclosing any evidence or materials that are not publicly available.
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  Speaker 1: Judge John McGregor approved the motion and scheduled Ashley's trial
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  Speaker 1: for January seventh. Melody's paternal grandmother, Lily Dinas, expressed her
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  Speaker 1: deep distress over the situation, but said she will wait
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  Speaker 1: patiently for the legal process to unfold. Dennis is also
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  Speaker 1: cautioning the public about donating to any GoFundMe campaign, saying
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  Speaker 1: the family has not asked for any financial support. Residents
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  Speaker 1: of Ashley's Vanderberg Village neighborhood have voiced their confusion and
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  Speaker 1: frustration over the not guilty plea and said they were
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  Speaker 1: feeling like Ashley was receiving preferred treatment. However, they are
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  Speaker 1: relieved that now the mother is behind bars. A man
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  Speaker 1: and a woman discovered Melody's body on December six while
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  Speaker 1: taking pictures in Wayne County, Utah. Santa Barbara County Sheriff
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  Speaker 1: Bill Brown said at a Tuesday news conference it was
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  Speaker 1: clear that she died from gunshot wounds to the head.
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  Speaker 1: Brown said an FBI analysis of DNA confirmed the body
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  Speaker 1: was Melody's. He said investigators have uncovered a significant amount
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  Speaker 1: of evidence that indicates Buzzard killed her daughter. Detective search
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  Speaker 1: Buzzard's home, a rental car, and a rented locker storage
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  Speaker 1: and found an expended cartridge case and a live round
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  Speaker 1: of similar ammunition. Officials said the murder weapon has not
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  Speaker 1: been found. The sheriff's office previously said that the mother
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  Speaker 1: had not been cooperating during the search for Melody, who
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  Speaker 1: was last seen on a security video on October seven.
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  Speaker 1: She was wearing a wig at a rental car business
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  Speaker 1: where Buzzard picked up a Chevy. Malibu detective said they
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  Speaker 1: believe Buzzard tried to alter her daughter's appearance with the wig,
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  Speaker 1: and she also is known to wear wigs herself. The
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  Speaker 1: pair took a three day road trip from California to Nebraska,
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  Speaker 1: with the return trip including the state of Kansas. The
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  Speaker 1: sheriff said Melody was last seen on the return leg
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  Speaker 1: of the trip on October nine near the Utah Colorado border.
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  Speaker 1: Officials say she wasn't with Buzzard when she returned home
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  Speaker 1: on October ten.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Jennifer Gould, a sixty five year old grandmother browsing
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  Speaker 3: magazines at a Barnes and Noble, was slaughtered in cold
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  Speaker 3: blood when a homeless drifter allegedly plunged a knife into
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  Speaker 3: her back for no reason other than she was quote
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  Speaker 3: the closest person to him end quote.
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  Speaker 2: Her first premeditated currently an innocent.
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  Speaker 3: Victive who was killed this incident, Rita Launcherich was peacefully
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  Speaker 3: shopping for Christmas presents at the Legacy Avenue bookstore around
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  Speaker 3: seven fifty three PM when forty year old Antonio Moore
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  Speaker 3: allegedly emerged from a phone charging station to commit an
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  Speaker 3: act of pure savagery in a heart wrenching twist of faith.
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  Speaker 3: The mortally wounded woman managed to call her husband on
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  Speaker 3: her cell phone to tell him she had been attacked.
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  Speaker 3: The scene inside the Palm Beach Garden shop was a
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  Speaker 3: picture of holiday horror. Responding officers found Launcherich unresponsive on
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  Speaker 3: the floor with the weapons still buried in her body
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  Speaker 3: as shocked shoppers looked on. Witnesses heard the woman's scream
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  Speaker 3: quote he stabbed me end quote before Moore bolted from
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  Speaker 3: the store. Despite being rushed to surgery at Saint Mary's
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  Speaker 3: Medical Center, the victim died of her wounds at nine
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  Speaker 3: twenty two pm. Aaron Johnson lives in the area and
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  Speaker 3: spoke to News twelve.
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  Speaker 1: I was shocked, to be honest, like I've never heard
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  Speaker 1: of that before, like around here, especially.
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  Speaker 3: The alleged killer is reportedly a homeless drifter with a
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  Speaker 3: disturbing history. Moore had also arrived from Georgia by bus
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  Speaker 3: just one week prior to the Slang records indicated prior
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  Speaker 3: rap sheet in Georgia, including a twenty seventeen arrest for
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  Speaker 3: battery and obstruction of law enforcement, alongside a twenty eighteen
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  Speaker 3: arrest per simple battery. Moore was apprehended in the nearby
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  Speaker 3: woods shortly after the bloodbath. The cold blooded suspect allegedly
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  Speaker 3: confessed to the killing, telling detectives he felt a quote
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  Speaker 3: internal build up end quote and a fight or flight
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  Speaker 3: impulse while charging his phone. He admitted he had no
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  Speaker 3: prior interaction with the woman he chose to execute and
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  Speaker 3: targeted her simply because of her proximity. Moore was charged
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  Speaker 3: with first degree premeditated murder and is being held without
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  Speaker 3: bond in the Palm Beach County Jail. Palm Beach Gardens
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  Speaker 3: Police Department is asking anyone with information to call them
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  Speaker 3: at five six one, seven nine nine forty five eighty four.
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  Speaker 3: Barnes and Nobles said they do not comment on ongoing investigations.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Drew Nelson. A state trooper in Delaware is killed
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  Speaker 2: while working an overtime shift at the DMV after stepping
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  Speaker 2: into gunfire to protect others. Corporal Grade one Matthew T. Snook,
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  Speaker 2: better known as Tye, was thirty four years old, a
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  Speaker 2: ten year veteran of the Delaware State Police. SNUK was
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  Speaker 2: shot and killed on Tuesday while assigned to the Karen L.
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  Speaker 2: Johnson Division of Motor Vehicles On Hesler Boulevard near Wilmington.
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  Speaker 2: Police say a forty four year old man entered the
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  Speaker 2: DMV as a customer shortly after two pm. Investigators say
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  Speaker 2: the man approached Snook at the reception desk and opened fire.
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  Speaker 2: Snuk was hit. Police say he shoved a DMV employee
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  Speaker 2: out of harm's way as the shooter fired again. A
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  Speaker 2: responding officer confronted the gunman and shot him. The suspect died.
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  Speaker 2: Witnesses inside the building described chaos and fear. Vasty Albino
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  Speaker 2: Vallez returned to the DMV the next day to retrieve
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  Speaker 2: her belongings. She told WCAU she was inside with her
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  Speaker 2: parents and son when the shooting began.
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  Speaker 4: I looked to my left and I see everybody running
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  Speaker 4: towards us.
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  Speaker 2: Philez says her family hit the floor. Her mother had
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  Speaker 2: recently undergone surgery.
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  Speaker 4: The son and my dad got a hold of my mom.
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  Speaker 4: I got ahold of her jacket and we kind of
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  Speaker 4: like dragged her out and we limped out of the building.
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  Speaker 2: Bulz describes the moments after escaping through a side.
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  Speaker 4: We leaned up against the brick try to stay away
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  Speaker 4: from glass, and then we heard more shots. We heard
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  Speaker 4: about three or four more shots, and then we heard
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  Speaker 4: another two shots, and then it was over.
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  Speaker 2: Snoke was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead. Investigators
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  Speaker 2: say several people suffered minor injuries not related to gunfire.
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  Speaker 2: Another trooper was also treated and released. Outside Troops six
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  Speaker 2: and Wilmington, mourners gathered throughout the day. Flowers line the entrance.
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  Speaker 2: A squad car sits with its lights flashing in Snook's honor.
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  Speaker 2: A shirt left at the scene says heroes need saving two.
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  Speaker 2: A close friend of Snoke shared a statement with WCAU
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  Speaker 2: quote he was the kind of man who lived to
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  Speaker 2: protect others. Learning it was him didn't surprise me, but
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  Speaker 2: losing my friend is a pain I can't put into words.
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  Speaker 2: He was a devoted husband, a new father, and a
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  Speaker 2: true hero. He will never be forgotten. Snook is survived
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  Speaker 2: by his wife and their one year old daughter. Delaware's
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  Speaker 2: governor ordered state flags lowered to half staff in his honor.
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  Speaker 2: Authorities have not released the motive for the shooting.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Nicole Pardon. In Kentucky, a man from Michigan has
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  Speaker 1: been arrested after security footage revealed him trying to persuade
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  Speaker 1: children at a residence in North Scott County to open
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  Speaker 1: the door, falsely claiming that the children's parents were injured outside.
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  Speaker 1: Everything caught on the ring doorbell cam Anthony Britten, thirty five,
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  Speaker 1: from Southfield, Michigan, faces charges of making false report and
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  Speaker 1: second degree burglary following the incident. As stated by Sheriff
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  Speaker 1: Jeremy Nettles, the video shows Britain knocking on the door
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  Speaker 1: around six forty five pm, telling the children that their
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  Speaker 1: parents were hurt and outside lying on the ground.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, come open the over come open the door.
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  Speaker 3: You can't answer the door right now, but if you'd
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  Speaker 3: like to leave a message, you can do it now.
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  Speaker 2: Your mom and dad are out there hurt. They're lay
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  Speaker 2: on the ground right here. I promise you. I was
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  Speaker 2: walking through the neighborhood.
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  Speaker 1: I promise you.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not hurt here. Anybody they are.
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  Speaker 1: Hurt, hey sir. At the time, the children were with
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  Speaker 1: a babysitter. No one opened the door. The babysitter reported
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  Speaker 1: the man, though she did not fully grasp the extent
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  Speaker 1: of his claims. Initially, according to the sheriff, this evening
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  Speaker 1: could have turned out dangerous based on the individual's behavior
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  Speaker 1: and his attempts to lure someone outside, or at least
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  Speaker 1: to open the door, said the sheriff. Authorities reported that
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  Speaker 1: Britain had left a nearby recovery center prior to the incident.
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  Speaker 1: That same night, he called nine to one one, claiming
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  Speaker 1: that people were chasing him in the woods. Deputies responded
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  Speaker 1: and transported him to another location, but did not link
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  Speaker 1: the two events together at that time. It wasn't until
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  Speaker 1: several days later that the parents viewed this video and
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  Speaker 1: shared the footage with law enforcement, prompting them to recognize
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  Speaker 1: the situation. This led the Sheriff's office to identify Britain
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  Speaker 1: as the man captured on the camera, realizing officers had
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  Speaker 1: picked him up on that night and given him a ride.
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  Speaker 1: It's truly alarming to think that this could have transpired.
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  Speaker 1: Wonder what could have happened, the sheriff reported. I'm relieved
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  Speaker 1: that no one opened the door, that he didn't attempt
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  Speaker 1: to force his way in, said Sheriff Nettles. Deputies indicated
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  Speaker 1: that Britain appeared to be under the influence of something
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  Speaker 1: during the encounter. The sheriff mentioned that Britain expressed remorse,
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  Speaker 1: but said he didn't really know why he did it.
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  Speaker 1: We can't ascertain what his intentions were that night or
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  Speaker 1: what would have happened if they opened the door, said
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  Speaker 1: Sheriff Nettles. He emphasized that this case serves as an
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  Speaker 1: important reminder for everyone to keep their doors locked at
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  Speaker 1: all times. Or Crime and Justice News after this six