Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / 5 year old Lizzy disappears from her own bed, "uncle" draws map to her dead body

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5 year old Lizzy disappears from her own bed, "uncle" draws map to her dead body · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: Prime Stories with Nancy Grace. It's the outcome nobody wanted,
0:11
Speaker 1: but unfortunately, as the days went on, it became more
0:14
Speaker 1: and more expected. Five year old Elizabeth Shelley's body has
0:18
Speaker 1: been found. That's according to the attorney for Alex Whipple,
0:22
Speaker 1: who is her uncle, the man accused of killing her,
0:26
Speaker 1: supposedly with a knife. Now, if you look behind me,
0:29
Speaker 1: this is the area off of five hundred weston about
0:32
Speaker 1: fiftieth north where the body was reportedly located and where
0:37
Speaker 1: police are concentrating their efforts right now. Now this was
0:40
Speaker 1: the scene just moments after police cordoned off the area,
0:43
Speaker 1: which is just a few blocks from Lizzie's home. Neighbors
0:47
Speaker 1: who have been following this case with bated breath all
0:49
Speaker 1: week devastated by this news. Today, Alex Whipple's defense attorney
0:53
Speaker 1: saying his client told him where the body was located
0:57
Speaker 1: in an effort to provide closure for the family, but
0:59
Speaker 1: would not say why he allegedly killed the little girl.
1:02
Speaker 1: Alex has been homeless, I think suffering from some mental
1:06
Speaker 1: illness problems. Somebody had been covered up by some sticks,
1:11
Speaker 1: debrie dirt, things such as that it was not buried
1:16
Speaker 1: or anything such as that it was on the surface.
1:18
Speaker 1: We have Lizzie, the quote that is on the banner
1:24
Speaker 1: of practically every crime and justice news today. Lizzie is
1:30
Speaker 1: five year old Elizabeth Shelley. I'm Nancy Grace. This is
1:34
Speaker 1: Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. After searching
1:39
Speaker 1: with canines by air by land, the body of this
1:43
Speaker 1: five year old little girl has been found in a
1:45
Speaker 1: wooded area just one block from her own home there
1:52
Speaker 1: in Utah. Amazing to me how one block away from
1:57
Speaker 1: her home she wasn't sound. Now we're hearing reports that
2:03
Speaker 1: she was not buried, other reports that she was. It's
2:07
Speaker 1: a twist and turn at every angle in this story,
2:11
Speaker 1: starting with the disappearance of this five year old little
2:14
Speaker 1: girl from her own home. When mommy arises to find
2:19
Speaker 1: her little girl is gone. You were just hearing our
2:23
Speaker 1: friends over at ABC four News. That was Andrew Reesearch
2:29
Speaker 1: straight out to Ellen klaurin Crimealline dot Com investigated Reporter Eka.
2:34
Speaker 1: Let's start at the beginning. But I can tell you
2:37
Speaker 1: right now, this guy that they think maybe involved in
2:42
Speaker 1: her kidnap and murder apparently giving cops a map that
2:48
Speaker 1: leads to her body. You know, there's really nowhere for
2:51
Speaker 1: the defense to go with that. You hand over a
2:54
Speaker 1: map that leads police to a five year old little
2:58
Speaker 1: girl's body. We never skirt was missing because it was
3:01
Speaker 1: found bloody elsewhere. How are you going to say you
3:05
Speaker 1: didn't do it if you know where the body is
3:08
Speaker 1: and all this bs about he handed over the location
3:12
Speaker 1: of Lizzie's body to provide the family closure. Ohel, No,
3:18
Speaker 1: he didn't. He did it to save his own skin.
3:23
Speaker 1: Reports at this hour that he led police to little
3:27
Speaker 1: Lizzie's body in order to get the death penalty off
3:31
Speaker 1: the bargaining table. You know what, I believe I would
3:35
Speaker 1: have held out and found that body and not give
3:39
Speaker 1: away the opportunity for the death penalty, because I guarantee
3:43
Speaker 1: you in two weeks after sitting behind bars, he's going
3:46
Speaker 1: to fight this thing and say not guilty and put
3:50
Speaker 1: the parents through complete hell at a trial. Ellen klaurin
3:56
Speaker 1: crimeal one dot com, where you can find this and
3:59
Speaker 1: all other breaking crime and justice needs. Ellen's start at
4:02
Speaker 1: the beginning. What happened? Nancy Elizabeth was last seen at
4:06
Speaker 1: two am on Saturday morning at her home in Logan, Utah.
4:09
Speaker 1: Her mother saw her before she went to sleep, and
4:12
Speaker 1: then when she woke up the next morning a little
4:14
Speaker 1: after nine am. Lizzie, I say, call her was gone
4:18
Speaker 1: and so was her uncle. Alex Football. I want to
4:23
Speaker 1: first talk about the structure. Joining me right now in
4:26
Speaker 1: all Star panel Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics, Jacksonville State University,
4:30
Speaker 1: author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Also with me,
4:35
Speaker 1: Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family lawyer as you know, Ellen
4:40
Speaker 1: Colora with Crime Online and medical examiner, Joining us, author
4:45
Speaker 1: of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, doctor Michelle Dupree, Jessica Morgan.
4:51
Speaker 1: I want you to analyze what we know about the
4:52
Speaker 1: home right now, Nancy. As you have previously mentioned, we
4:56
Speaker 1: talked about the windows, the access to this, to this
5:01
Speaker 1: wood frame home that this little girl lived in, and
5:05
Speaker 1: we talked about how disappeared, at least to the police
5:09
Speaker 1: that this was secure. There's no signs of forced entry.
5:12
Speaker 1: So what does this bring us back to. Whoever did this,
5:15
Speaker 1: in my humble opinion, had easy access to this little girl,
5:20
Speaker 1: who could come in in the middle of the night. Well,
5:22
Speaker 1: hold on, hold on, Joe Scott Morgan, There's more than
5:24
Speaker 1: one way to skin a cat. Just because you don't
5:26
Speaker 1: see the door rammed in with a battering ram does
5:28
Speaker 1: not mean there was not a break in. Yes, you
5:31
Speaker 1: would expect pri marks or I mean by the age
5:35
Speaker 1: of twelve, like a break in our back door with
5:36
Speaker 1: a credit card. It's a lot easier with a driver's license.
5:40
Speaker 1: But long story short, just because you don't see overt
5:43
Speaker 1: signs of a break in doesn't mean it's not true.
5:46
Speaker 1: Even with a screen on a window, you can tell
5:50
Speaker 1: if those screen was cut from the outside or the
5:52
Speaker 1: inside was it removed. There's a million ways to determine
5:56
Speaker 1: if there was a break in, a forced entry or not.
5:59
Speaker 1: But that said, I agree with you, Joe Scott Morgan continue, Yeah,
6:05
Speaker 1: and there's no signs at least divertly of forced entry.
6:10
Speaker 1: So who's going to be motivated? Who will have the
6:13
Speaker 1: access to her at this Remember they talked about how
6:16
Speaker 1: she was removed from the house at night. That's when
6:19
Speaker 1: she came up missing. So on just a moment. Here
6:21
Speaker 1: a few details you might want to hear. This is
6:24
Speaker 1: from our friend Laurence Steinbrecker at Katsu. Listen, police cars
6:29
Speaker 1: at every corner. A crowd of law enforcement going house
6:32
Speaker 1: to house doesn't searching everywhere in the grass. A Canal
6:36
Speaker 1: hoping to find five year old Elizabeth Shelley. There's not
6:39
Speaker 1: much to go, mom, so we don't even know where
6:41
Speaker 1: to start, where to go. Family is just as puzzled
6:44
Speaker 1: as police. Police say. Lizzie, as her family calls her,
6:47
Speaker 1: was seen sleeping at two am when mom went to bed.
6:50
Speaker 1: When mom woke up Saturday morning, Lizzie was gone. She's
6:53
Speaker 1: been hysterical all morning, all day. She's still bonged. It's
6:57
Speaker 1: her worst nightmare. It's the worst thing. She just makes
7:01
Speaker 1: wants it to go away. She wants her baby bat So,
7:04
Speaker 1: long story short, there was a massive search, a massive
7:08
Speaker 1: search for Lizzie, and you're telling me right at the
7:11
Speaker 1: beginning you could tell that was an inside job, so
7:15
Speaker 1: to speak. Joe Scott. Yeah, that's my feeling, Nancy. Anytime
7:19
Speaker 1: that I've been involved in cromps where someone is missing
7:24
Speaker 1: and deceased like this, I'm always going to look at
7:27
Speaker 1: the intimates in that individual's life. I'm not going to
7:30
Speaker 1: look for some you know, dark phantom that's out in
7:32
Speaker 1: the night. I'm going to look for who has access
7:35
Speaker 1: to this individual, who might have a beef with this person.
7:39
Speaker 1: So this is what we're looking for. Guys. For those
7:41
Speaker 1: of you just joining us, everything broke during the night
7:45
Speaker 1: last night. The body of five year old Lizzie Shelley
7:48
Speaker 1: has been found just one blot from her own home,
7:52
Speaker 1: and the location of her body in itself is a clue.
7:56
Speaker 1: Is a major clue. Think back to the Robert case
8:00
Speaker 1: where his wife Buddy Lee Bakeley was found dead behind
8:04
Speaker 1: Vitality's restaurant. Okay, think about it. Her body is found there,
8:09
Speaker 1: The murder weapon is found in a dumpster a block away. Essentially,
8:15
Speaker 1: that tells you that the killer really didn't leave the area,
8:21
Speaker 1: or they would have taken the murder weapon with them,
8:24
Speaker 1: broken the gun down, thrown part of it over a
8:26
Speaker 1: bridge in the other part, hopefully never the two would
8:30
Speaker 1: meet again. The killer did not leave the area. What
8:34
Speaker 1: does this tell you? Think about it in respect in
8:38
Speaker 1: comparison to top mom Casey anthony Kill's body to your
8:43
Speaker 1: old killes body was found just nine houses away from
8:47
Speaker 1: the Anthony home. The killer didn't go far. That gives
8:52
Speaker 1: you a major clue as to who the killer is.
8:55
Speaker 1: And in this case, Lizzie's body found just one block
9:02
Speaker 1: from home. Listen. At about noon, we received word from
9:10
Speaker 1: both Alex's defense attorney and the Cash County Attorney's office.
9:15
Speaker 1: A negotiation took place, and the negotiation was for Alex
9:24
Speaker 1: to share information regarding the whereabouts of Lizzie's body. In fact,
9:30
Speaker 1: through Alex's attorney, we were provided a map of an
9:35
Speaker 1: area where we discovered human remains at about it was
9:41
Speaker 1: a little after two o'clock where we were actually able
9:44
Speaker 1: to find and confirm human remains. There's a process to
9:53
Speaker 1: go through as we deal with this situation. So this
9:57
Speaker 1: is obviously the break that we've been waiting for. This
9:59
Speaker 1: is the moment that we had hoped would come. Obviously
10:03
Speaker 1: not in the certainly not the way we wanted it
10:07
Speaker 1: to happen. We certainly would have wanted to bring Lizzie home.
10:11
Speaker 1: But this nevertheless is closure and it helps us be
10:18
Speaker 1: able to now deal with the investigation and help the
10:21
Speaker 1: family through their grief. There's a number of items that
10:26
Speaker 1: went into the decision to file charges, not the least
10:33
Speaker 1: of which include again this distant time that we're dealing
10:39
Speaker 1: with a knife with blood. This knife is broken, it
10:45
Speaker 1: is the brand of knife that's from the home, and
10:48
Speaker 1: there's a knife missing from the family's knife blood we
10:52
Speaker 1: have evidence a PBC pipe that has red substance in
10:57
Speaker 1: a partial poem print in the red substance matching Alex.
11:02
Speaker 1: There was a teal skirt with white lace that was
11:07
Speaker 1: hastily buried that had blood matching, and this particular piece
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Speaker 1: of clothing matches the description of Lizzie's skirting past blue
11:19
Speaker 1: ribbon beer can DNA positive to Alex. More personal to
11:25
Speaker 1: Alex is his wristwatch and his sweatshirt can contain blood
11:33
Speaker 1: that is DNA positive to match Lizzie's blood. The palm
11:39
Speaker 1: print on the pipe in the red substance palm print
11:45
Speaker 1: is positive for Alex's palm. You're hearing Logan Police Chief
11:53
Speaker 1: Gary Jensen speaking about evidence that led them to charge
11:58
Speaker 1: Alex Whipple in the disappearance and death of a five
12:03
Speaker 1: year old little girl, Lizzie Shelley. She's beautiful. She's absolutely beautiful.
12:09
Speaker 1: I've been looking at her photo for the last almost
12:13
Speaker 1: a week as the search went on for her. She
12:17
Speaker 1: looks like like the poster girl for everything good in
12:23
Speaker 1: our country. Her pretty brown hair comes down to her shoulders,
12:28
Speaker 1: big brown eyes, and a beautiful, beautiful smile with not
12:35
Speaker 1: a care in the world. How in the hell did
12:41
Speaker 1: this guy end up in that home that night? Climb
12:55
Speaker 1: stories with Nancy Grace. We never never thought that he
13:00
Speaker 1: would be a murderer. Over the phone bill, Whipple says
13:04
Speaker 1: his troubled grandson's criminal history rammed up in twenty seventeen,
13:09
Speaker 1: ramsacked my house, stole stuff from me and Hawk Good.
13:14
Speaker 1: Then he went across the street to my neighbors and
13:18
Speaker 1: stole their car. That led UHP troopers on a forty
13:22
Speaker 1: mile chase. He was sentenced to prison in March, but
13:25
Speaker 1: that sentence was suspended and Whipple was ordered to one
13:27
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty days in jail and five years probation.
13:31
Speaker 1: His grandpa saying he ended up in Brigham City and
13:33
Speaker 1: just two weeks ago reached out to his sister, Lizzie's
13:36
Speaker 1: mother for help. She picked him up, bringing him to Logan.
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Speaker 1: It was a faithful, faithful thing, and she herself. He
13:44
Speaker 1: says their relationship was fine, no red flanks there, but
13:48
Speaker 1: that his grandson was depressed and in denial. He would
13:52
Speaker 1: not accept any help. We tried, I told me many times.
13:57
Speaker 1: He looked at me one day and he said Grandpa,
14:01
Speaker 1: And I said, yes, I believe you have problems. You
14:05
Speaker 1: are hearing Bill Whipple, Alex's grandfather, Bill Whipple, talk about
14:12
Speaker 1: Alex Whipple's criminal history. Why in the hay was he
14:17
Speaker 1: on the sofa that night, that close to a five
14:21
Speaker 1: year old little girl. From what I understand, Lizzie's mom,
14:25
Speaker 1: who had not had very much contact with Alex Whipple,
14:29
Speaker 1: the twenty one year old uncle, but decided to help
14:31
Speaker 1: him out at the behest of the grandfather that one night.
14:36
Speaker 1: I don't know, is that right or is that wrong?
14:38
Speaker 1: To Ellen klaurin Crime online dot Com investigative reporter, how
14:42
Speaker 1: the hey do you end up letting this guy in
14:45
Speaker 1: your home, much less in your home? Just spend thine
14:48
Speaker 1: eye a few feet away from your little girl, Nancy,
14:51
Speaker 1: as we're hearing, as troubled as Alex Whipple obviously was,
14:56
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem like anyone who's in his family knew
14:59
Speaker 1: that he was key of something like this. It sounds
15:03
Speaker 1: like Lizzie's mother just wanted to do right by her
15:07
Speaker 1: family and wanted to open her home and her heart
15:10
Speaker 1: to her brother who asked for her help. So it's
15:12
Speaker 1: her brother, it's the mom's little brother, Alex Whipple. Yes,
15:17
Speaker 1: that's right. Tell me exactly what we know about his
15:19
Speaker 1: criminal history. We know that he has a violated probation before.
15:26
Speaker 1: We know that he has drug and driving under the
15:30
Speaker 1: influence violations, but we also know that he doesn't have
15:35
Speaker 1: anything yet at only twenty one years old that showed
15:39
Speaker 1: that he was capable of this level of violence. So
15:43
Speaker 1: really it sounds like a drug and alcohol problem. But
15:47
Speaker 1: he had to be on probation for something to have
15:49
Speaker 1: broken probation. Yes, we are bringing you the very latest
15:53
Speaker 1: in the search for a five year old little girl,
15:56
Speaker 1: Lizzie Shelley. She reminds me so much much of my
16:00
Speaker 1: daughter Lucy at age five, and it's really hard. I
16:05
Speaker 1: know a lot of people will be throwing stones at
16:07
Speaker 1: the mom today. Why did she let this guy stay over?
16:11
Speaker 1: Or why was he there? Why did she expose her
16:13
Speaker 1: children to this guy? You know, I can guarantee you
16:17
Speaker 1: she did not plan for this to happen. She never
16:21
Speaker 1: imagined he could do a thing like this. And I'll
16:25
Speaker 1: tell you what it reminds me of. I want to
16:27
Speaker 1: go out to Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family lawyer and
16:32
Speaker 1: veteran in this arena of family complications. It reminds me
16:37
Speaker 1: a lot of the Elizabeth Smart case where the mother,
16:41
Speaker 1: trying to do a good deed, picks up a day
16:44
Speaker 1: laborer to give him a job. A guy that looks
16:47
Speaker 1: like he's starving and needs help, what did he do?
16:50
Speaker 1: Bite the hand that fed him comes back and steals
16:53
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Smart. Thank god, Elizabeth has now triumphed over what
17:00
Speaker 1: happened to her. But it was an odyssey of pain,
17:04
Speaker 1: of rapes of mistreatment that went on for months and
17:08
Speaker 1: months and months. Today she is alive and well with
17:12
Speaker 1: a family of her own, and it's truly a miracle.
17:17
Speaker 1: But back to the mom, a lot of people would
17:20
Speaker 1: would throw stones at her, find fault on what she did.
17:23
Speaker 1: She's just trying to do a good thing. I think
17:26
Speaker 1: that's what happened here. I agree Nancy and I have
17:29
Speaker 1: four brothers, and I would never hesitate to have one
17:33
Speaker 1: of them come to my home if they needed help.
17:37
Speaker 1: But at the same time, if somebody is addicted to
17:40
Speaker 1: drugs and alcohol and they're not making good choices, you're
17:44
Speaker 1: gonna have to be more vigilant. Unfortunately, in this day
17:47
Speaker 1: and age. Well, I'm also concerned that the family encouraged
17:50
Speaker 1: his drinking. We know he's got a drinking problem, you know,
17:53
Speaker 1: he's had a dui. You know. I was just in
17:57
Speaker 1: a girl Scout class with my daughter last night and
18:02
Speaker 1: the woman stood up that was leading it for the
18:05
Speaker 1: evening and said, my mom has not had a sober
18:09
Speaker 1: day in twenty plus years. Every morning she starts off
18:14
Speaker 1: with a mimosa or a bloody Mary and it goes
18:16
Speaker 1: from there. Both grandfathers were literally the town drunk in
18:21
Speaker 1: small towns. And she detailed, you know, everything that had
18:24
Speaker 1: happened in her family. And she spouted out, correctly a
18:30
Speaker 1: statistic you have only a twelve percent chance of getting
18:35
Speaker 1: away from alcohol once you're addicted. Twelve percent. This guy,
18:41
Speaker 1: Alex Pippo. And this is no defense. A voluntary intoxication,
18:44
Speaker 1: as you know, Kathleen, is not a defense under the law. Bam,
18:50
Speaker 1: be it drugs or alcohol. But apparently the family went
18:54
Speaker 1: out and drinking the night before. To Ellen color and
18:57
Speaker 1: Crime online dot Com investigative reporter, is that correct the
19:00
Speaker 1: family had gone out drinking? Yes, Sancy, It's true that
19:04
Speaker 1: Alex and his sister and his sister's living boyfriend were
19:09
Speaker 1: all at the home drinking after Alex Swipple showed up
19:14
Speaker 1: on Friday night. It sounds like it was pretty late
19:17
Speaker 1: at night when he showed up there and they all
19:20
Speaker 1: had some drinks and his sister said, Oh no, I
19:25
Speaker 1: mean that's pouring gas onto a fire. This is what
19:29
Speaker 1: we know. Lizzie's mom allowed the brother, Alex Swipple, to
19:35
Speaker 1: stay over the night her daughter disappeared. And of course
19:40
Speaker 1: you can't prove a case by process of elimination. But
19:45
Speaker 1: when you go to a jury and you say this
19:47
Speaker 1: night of all nights Lizzie goes missing, it's the only
19:53
Speaker 1: night Alex Swipple had stayed there. Climb stories with Nancy Grace,
20:10
Speaker 1: So I know the question's going to be asked, what
20:12
Speaker 1: was the negotiation. And the negotiation was simply to take
20:17
Speaker 1: the death penalty off the table in trade for information
20:21
Speaker 1: that would lead us to Lizzie's body. It's been hard,
20:27
Speaker 1: a lot of phone calls have come in over the
20:29
Speaker 1: last everybody saw that the congregation of police around the
20:32
Speaker 1: four fifty four West Center Street area. This is about
20:36
Speaker 1: one half of a block away from Lizzie's home. This
20:40
Speaker 1: is the general area where we found several evidence pieces.
20:46
Speaker 1: It's it's hard to believe. I mean, it's a wooded area,
20:50
Speaker 1: it's a very very overgrown area. It's hard to believe
20:56
Speaker 1: that we've been through that area and water unable to
20:59
Speaker 1: find her. The good news is now that we have
21:02
Speaker 1: found human human remains. You are hearing Logan Police Chief
21:06
Speaker 1: Gary Jensen for those of you just joining us, the
21:09
Speaker 1: body of five year old Elizabeth Shelley has been found.
21:13
Speaker 1: All the news breaking during the night to hear his
21:16
Speaker 1: lawyer tell it. Alex Whipple divulged via drawing a map
21:22
Speaker 1: the location of five year old Lizzie's body to give
21:26
Speaker 1: the family closure. B s he did it to get
21:30
Speaker 1: the death penalty off the table because this child apparently
21:35
Speaker 1: was stabbed dead. Her little till skirt found covered with blood,
21:39
Speaker 1: his clothing covered with blood, a knife found. And this
21:43
Speaker 1: is why I say this, when you don't know a horse.
21:45
Speaker 1: Look at his track record. When he first got there.
21:49
Speaker 1: He refused to divulge anything about who he was, about
21:54
Speaker 1: his criminal history, nothing, nothing, whatsoever. So why suddenly would
22:00
Speaker 1: he decide to explain where the body was even drawing
22:05
Speaker 1: a map. Whipple, twenty one years old, was located hours
22:08
Speaker 1: after Lizzie goes missing, walking along in the Highram area
22:12
Speaker 1: there near Logan, Utah, refusing to tell law enforcement his name,
22:17
Speaker 1: refusing to provide any information on its nieces, possible whereabouts. Cops, volunteers, dogs,
22:25
Speaker 1: the works go on an exhaustive search, searching homes, yards,
22:29
Speaker 1: brush canals looking for Lizzie. She remained missing. The search
22:34
Speaker 1: dragged on for five long days. Joining me right now
22:39
Speaker 1: renowned medical examiner doctor Michelle Dupree out of North Carolina Jurisdiction,
22:44
Speaker 1: author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, which is incredible. Doctor
22:50
Speaker 1: Dupree tell me this, I'm saying the child was murdered
22:56
Speaker 1: by knife. I don't know that. I'm basing that on
22:59
Speaker 1: circumstantial evidence of a knife being found, him being very bloody,
23:03
Speaker 1: her clothes being very bloody, her skirt having been buried.
23:08
Speaker 1: This child's body decomposed for five days, somewhat buried. Will
23:13
Speaker 1: they ever be able to determine cause of death? Dot
23:15
Speaker 1: to do pre and so if that may be difficult,
23:17
Speaker 1: but probably yes. Again, sharp force injuries are likely to
23:21
Speaker 1: hit bone. Would certainly be able to discover that. I
23:25
Speaker 1: believe there's also a PVC pipe sound nearby, so there
23:28
Speaker 1: may be other trauma as well, and we are likely
23:30
Speaker 1: to be able to discover that. Whoa, whoa, whoa Wait
23:33
Speaker 1: wait wait, I'm drinking out of a fire hydrant here.
23:35
Speaker 1: What did you just say, it's too much, too fast?
23:38
Speaker 1: A PVC pipe found? I know the pipe had blood
23:41
Speaker 1: on it. What do you mean other injuries as well?
23:44
Speaker 1: What kind of injuries are you talking about? There may
23:46
Speaker 1: be something like blunt trauma. There may be more than
23:48
Speaker 1: one modality. He may have done more than one thing. Well,
23:52
Speaker 1: wait a minute, a PVC pipe, just Scott Morgan and
23:55
Speaker 1: it's that's the hollow, white, heavy plastic pipe. That's PVC pipe.
24:03
Speaker 1: How would that be murder weapon? Well, I don't know
24:07
Speaker 1: that it would necessarily be a murder weapon, Nancy. But however,
24:10
Speaker 1: it could be used to beat this little girl into
24:12
Speaker 1: submission before he would use a knife on her. There's
24:16
Speaker 1: any number of things he could have done with his pipe,
24:19
Speaker 1: and our imagination can run wild without as sad as
24:21
Speaker 1: it is. Oh, hold on, just to say, I got
24:23
Speaker 1: another question. I'm trying to figure something out, Dr Jepree.
24:25
Speaker 1: I'm going to circle back to you about determining cod
24:28
Speaker 1: cause of death. Where was Lizzie in the home. Did
24:32
Speaker 1: she have her own room? I know that that evening
24:36
Speaker 1: after the little brother, Alex Whipple, he's twenty one, shows up,
24:41
Speaker 1: the mom ends up staying up with him, drinking and
24:46
Speaker 1: playing video games till two am. Hey, there's nothing wrong
24:50
Speaker 1: with that. That is not a felon. Unles you get
24:51
Speaker 1: in a car and crash for Pete's sake, we know this.
24:54
Speaker 1: According to police reports, Lizzie's mother invite her brother, Alex
24:59
Speaker 1: Wwipple over Facebook messaging. When Whipple got to the home,
25:03
Speaker 1: Lizzie was already in bed. He didn't even see her,
25:07
Speaker 1: although he knew she existed. Whipple stays up drinking and
25:11
Speaker 1: playing video games with Lizzie's mom and her living boyfriend.
25:15
Speaker 1: They go to bed around two am, Whipple sleeping on
25:18
Speaker 1: the sofa. In the morning, when mom wakes up, he
25:22
Speaker 1: and Lizzie were both gone. Now we know that Whipple
25:28
Speaker 1: was seen by one witness prior to his arrest. Take
25:32
Speaker 1: a listen to this. Inside the Hiram shortstop bit looks
25:36
Speaker 1: like business as usual eight forty two, but outside something unusual.
25:40
Speaker 1: Search crews digging through the garbage, gathering around the dumpster,
25:43
Speaker 1: out back, combing the street. The little girl goes missing,
25:48
Speaker 1: and you know, something like this, and nobody can find it.
25:51
Speaker 1: No one can find five year old Lizzie Shelley, not
25:54
Speaker 1: here in Hiram not in Logan, where she disappeared from
25:56
Speaker 1: her home Saturday morning. Police say they and her uncle,
26:00
Speaker 1: Alex Whipple, knows what happened, but he won't say so
26:03
Speaker 1: they're trying to fill in the blanks. The Hiram Shortstop
26:06
Speaker 1: gave them some help. Ryan says he saw Whipple Saturday
26:10
Speaker 1: disheveled like he had been, like he had been on
26:14
Speaker 1: a binge of some kind. That was hours after Lizzie disappear.
26:18
Speaker 1: Hearing Ryan Lilonquist and he works at the High Shortstop
26:23
Speaker 1: gas station, and you're also hearing from KTSUTVS reporter Lawrence Dimbrecker.
26:30
Speaker 1: Everything points to this guy. There's no way he's going
26:33
Speaker 1: to get out of this or can he take a
26:37
Speaker 1: listen to this and the police presser tell us about
26:40
Speaker 1: the area where his body was found again center block,
26:43
Speaker 1: that four hundred West area, just north of Center Street.
26:49
Speaker 1: Again heavily wooded, overgrown, very overgrown area. Anything else found
26:57
Speaker 1: in that yard or once again this was in the
27:00
Speaker 1: general area that we'd found several of the evidence items,
27:03
Speaker 1: and we thought we'd searched that area hard um. You know,
27:07
Speaker 1: I'd love to share a picture of the area that
27:11
Speaker 1: her body was found just because it is. It's amazing
27:15
Speaker 1: the overgrowth and the difficulty of seeing. So yes, not disclosed. Well,
27:23
Speaker 1: it's been hard. We haven't found her, so we're grateful
27:26
Speaker 1: at this point to have haven't done that and to
27:28
Speaker 1: want to have a map. Chief once, once you did
27:32
Speaker 1: get a map, love to go to the area. That
27:36
Speaker 1: I mean Google being involved us find human renans. Uh No,
27:42
Speaker 1: we had to unearth. Yeah, unearth. That means she was
27:46
Speaker 1: very contrary to other conflicting reports. Now, if you're feeling
27:50
Speaker 1: that this guy, this twenty one year old uncle Alex Whipple,
27:53
Speaker 1: the mom's little brother, is trying to help out the family,
27:56
Speaker 1: I still say bs. His quote was that gave the map,
28:01
Speaker 1: drew the map to let the family know sheet Lizzie
28:03
Speaker 1: past a five year old little girl, not that he
28:06
Speaker 1: killed her. I mean, he's going to deny this to
28:10
Speaker 1: the end. I do not see a guilty plea in this.
28:14
Speaker 1: The DP is off the table, but he can still
28:17
Speaker 1: fight it. He did, his party drew the map. They
28:20
Speaker 1: took the death penalty off the table. But we don't
28:22
Speaker 1: have a guilty plea in this. I want to go
28:24
Speaker 1: back to doctor Michelle Dupree, renowned medical examiner out of
28:28
Speaker 1: North Carolina and author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide. So
28:32
Speaker 1: we're learning more and more about where the body of
28:34
Speaker 1: this little five year old girl was buried. Again, are
28:37
Speaker 1: we ever going to be able to determine cause of death?
28:39
Speaker 1: She had been there five days and in very I
28:45
Speaker 1: would say warm conditions for the area ns Yes, it's
28:49
Speaker 1: entirely possible. Again, if it was sharp force injuries such
28:53
Speaker 1: as a knife attack, typically that is going to help
28:55
Speaker 1: bone somewhere we will be able to discover that. And again,
28:59
Speaker 1: depending on the of the body, there may be other
29:01
Speaker 1: things that we may be able to tell as well.
29:04
Speaker 1: If there is any blunt force trauma, we can tell that.
29:08
Speaker 1: There may be other things that we might be able
29:10
Speaker 1: to tell. Climb stories with Nancy Grace. There are not
29:23
Speaker 1: words to express the sadness and the heartbreak we feel today.
29:28
Speaker 1: This did not end the way we wanted it too.
29:31
Speaker 1: But in this sadness, we are comforted that so many
29:34
Speaker 1: people put forth so much effort to help us find Lizy.
29:38
Speaker 1: You made the difference, and we are so very thankful.
29:41
Speaker 1: We would never have expected this outpouring of help and support.
29:44
Speaker 1: We could not have gone through this by ourselves. We
29:47
Speaker 1: were able to feel the love of so many people,
29:49
Speaker 1: most of who we had never met. You all didn't stop.
29:52
Speaker 1: We have never seen so many people trying so hard,
29:55
Speaker 1: and it was beautiful. You're hearing Jill Perker, the family spokesperson,
29:59
Speaker 1: trying to speak for the family, in complete shock today
30:05
Speaker 1: after the body a five year old Lizzie Shelley has
30:09
Speaker 1: been found straight out to Crime online dot Com investigative
30:12
Speaker 1: reporter Ellen Colauren, Ellen, I'm trying to figure out why
30:16
Speaker 1: they didn't find the body already. They found several other
30:20
Speaker 1: items in that very same area. It was just one
30:22
Speaker 1: block away from the home. The reality is, had they
30:26
Speaker 1: found her earlier, it would not make any difference about
30:29
Speaker 1: what happened, And I'm grateful that they found her when
30:32
Speaker 1: they did. Of course, they had to have a map
30:34
Speaker 1: drawn for them by the perp. But I'm surprised they
30:37
Speaker 1: had already found several items, including her bloody skirt there.
30:42
Speaker 1: What else do you know, Ellen, Nancy, That's the question
30:44
Speaker 1: a lot of people are asking. We know for sure
30:47
Speaker 1: that police had been in that area in the immediate
30:52
Speaker 1: hours after the disappearance, that they did take evidence from
30:56
Speaker 1: there they received in the very same place, but We
30:58
Speaker 1: also know that the remains and we don't know the
31:02
Speaker 1: condition or the cause of death yet, but we know
31:05
Speaker 1: that the remains were under something. It's there, it was
31:09
Speaker 1: there was a lot of fresh there was a lot
31:11
Speaker 1: of debris, and they were not exposed. We know that,
31:14
Speaker 1: but we don't know how far they were buried. One
31:18
Speaker 1: of the things that I feel like we should know
31:20
Speaker 1: is this lawyer, Alexabel lawyer claiming that he's coming forward
31:25
Speaker 1: because he wants to help the family. He wants to
31:27
Speaker 1: do right by them. If he wanted to help the family,
31:31
Speaker 1: first of all, don't commit a violent crime. Second of all,
31:34
Speaker 1: don't wait until after you have been charged with murder
31:38
Speaker 1: to come forward with these details. He has been in
31:41
Speaker 1: custody since Saturday. He lied to police about his whereabouts.
31:44
Speaker 1: He didn't disclose who he was. He knew that the
31:47
Speaker 1: entire community and multiple law enforcement agencies were putting all
31:53
Speaker 1: of their resources into this search, day after day after day.
31:56
Speaker 1: And then only after he's charged and he's worried about
31:59
Speaker 1: death penalty does he come forward and given them the
32:02
Speaker 1: information they need to find her. I agree with you
32:04
Speaker 1: three aka three hundred percent. As a matter of fact,
32:08
Speaker 1: when they first see him after speaking to the guy
32:11
Speaker 1: at the high Room gas station. They find him. They
32:15
Speaker 1: tell him to put his hands behind his head. They
32:16
Speaker 1: don't know if he's got a gun or a weapon
32:18
Speaker 1: with him. He refused to do that and a deputy
32:21
Speaker 1: had to take each arm to cuff him. He tried
32:25
Speaker 1: to pull his arms away and actually tried to get
32:28
Speaker 1: away from the deputies. He was combative and Quote was
32:33
Speaker 1: assisted to the ground, I tackled and handcuffed. He was
32:39
Speaker 1: later identified as Alex Whipple. He had a metal baseball
32:43
Speaker 1: bat tucked in his back pocket and hidden in his
32:47
Speaker 1: jacket along his back. A metal baseball bat. Now that
32:55
Speaker 1: makes me wonder what will be the cause of death?
32:58
Speaker 1: Did he beat this child to death? In his wallet
33:04
Speaker 1: they find a picture ID identifying him as Alex Whipple,
33:08
Speaker 1: and he began telling us that, telling police that he
33:12
Speaker 1: had paraphernalia and drugs on him, and he was in
33:16
Speaker 1: fact carrying a pipe consistent with drug use and a
33:19
Speaker 1: silver container of what appeared to be marijuana. Also found
33:24
Speaker 1: was a can of beer with his DNA on it.
33:28
Speaker 1: We know he had a lot of previous arrests, some
33:31
Speaker 1: not so serious joy riding. That's class A misdemeanors by
33:35
Speaker 1: receiving stell on property. That's a felony failure to stop
33:39
Speaker 1: at command of a police officer. It sounds minor, but
33:42
Speaker 1: think about what that means. A cops telling you, giving
33:45
Speaker 1: you an order and you refuse to do it, Dui
33:49
Speaker 1: I to complete deal in that case. I mean it
33:53
Speaker 1: goes on and on and on, and I agree this
33:56
Speaker 1: is nothing that would indicate to the mother he had
33:57
Speaker 1: a violent nature, but still a five year old little
34:01
Speaker 1: girl in the home. To doctor Michelle Dupree medical exam
34:05
Speaker 1: rejoining us out of North Carolina and author doctor Dupree,
34:09
Speaker 1: could a brutal beating cause the same amount of blood? Nancy, Absolutely,
34:15
Speaker 1: It depends on you know, the location of those injuries.
34:18
Speaker 1: There could also be some internal bleating, of course, but yes,
34:21
Speaker 1: it could absolutely cost that much blood. I want you
34:23
Speaker 1: take a listen to what we learned from our friends
34:25
Speaker 1: at KATSUTV. It was walking this way from the townhouses
34:29
Speaker 1: over there that come in here to buy something. Ryan
34:31
Speaker 1: the Linquist says Whipple was by himself wearing an odd outfit.
34:35
Speaker 1: He was wearing a gray hoodie and underneath that hoodie
34:37
Speaker 1: was a kind of a little suit. And tie. Something
34:41
Speaker 1: really weird. That was at one thirty PM, Ryan says,
34:44
Speaker 1: even captured on their surveillance. Less than two hours later,
34:48
Speaker 1: authorities caught up to Whipple near some corrals on a
34:50
Speaker 1: dirt country road a few miles away. Two hundred searchers
34:53
Speaker 1: a ten mile span, two days and still nothing. Something
34:59
Speaker 1: that's bothering Ryan in this entire valley. All Right. I
35:03
Speaker 1: feel terrible for the family. This is something that doesn't
35:07
Speaker 1: deserve to happen. Things like this shouldn't go this way,
35:11
Speaker 1: and I fear the worst. What it's interesting about that
35:14
Speaker 1: is underneath his hoodie, who was wearing a kind of
35:17
Speaker 1: a suit and tie. What's that about? Ellen Klauren with
35:20
Speaker 1: me Crime online dot Com investigative reporter Nancy. That's one
35:23
Speaker 1: of the many strange details that we've heard about this
35:26
Speaker 1: case that have not been explained yet. That witness account
35:30
Speaker 1: was appears to have been corroborated by video surveillance studio
35:34
Speaker 1: evidence that shows Alex Apple walking along the road and
35:38
Speaker 1: logan at about six forty five on Saturday morning, and
35:43
Speaker 1: he does seem to be wearing a hoodie or some
35:46
Speaker 1: kind of a sweatshirt over what looks like a suit.
35:49
Speaker 1: Whether he went to an interview or who knows why
35:53
Speaker 1: he was wearing that. We don't know that yet, but
35:55
Speaker 1: we do know that he was seen alone at six
35:58
Speaker 1: forty five Saturday morning, and that's several our rescuer and
36:02
Speaker 1: he was apprehended by police leader in the afternoon. Jesse's
36:05
Speaker 1: Got Morgan, professor of forensics at jacksonvill State University, author
36:09
Speaker 1: of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Joe Scott, how
36:12
Speaker 1: will they be processing multiple crime scenes. Well, they're gonna
36:15
Speaker 1: have to take it step by step, Nancy. Keep in mind,
36:18
Speaker 1: this knife and this hoodie are found in a separate area,
36:23
Speaker 1: and they claimed that they were buried in a dirt bank,
36:26
Speaker 1: so that could that could complicate matters, but they'll still
36:29
Speaker 1: be able to get to the heart of the matter
36:30
Speaker 1: with this. She is another in another location. This all
36:35
Speaker 1: sounds very hasty to me, the shallow, depressed area that
36:41
Speaker 1: she's in. Whether or not it's a grave, we know
36:43
Speaker 1: that there was probably debris covering her. I don't know
36:45
Speaker 1: how much dirt was on her, even though that has
36:48
Speaker 1: been alluded to, so they'll have to take their time.
36:52
Speaker 1: I'd be fascinated to know if they could come up
36:54
Speaker 1: with what kind of instruments used in order to dig
36:57
Speaker 1: this area out? Did he do this by hand? For instance?
37:00
Speaker 1: You know, when I've seen the images of him, he looks, uh,
37:04
Speaker 1: you know, kind of dirty, disheveled, disoriented, this sort of thing. Wait,
37:10
Speaker 1: wait a minute, Wait a minute, don't even start with
37:14
Speaker 1: me about disheveled and disoriented. Okay, disoriented sounds to me
37:18
Speaker 1: like you're heading down a mental defense. Hmmm. He knew
37:22
Speaker 1: to take this child out in the cover of darkness.
37:24
Speaker 1: He knew to lie about her whereabouts. He was wearing
37:27
Speaker 1: two outfits, concealing a suit and tie under a hoodie.
37:32
Speaker 1: He knew to hide evidence, to bury evidence in different locations,
37:36
Speaker 1: to somewhat bury her body, to lie about everything until
37:41
Speaker 1: somebody said death penalty. And suddenly he wants to help
37:45
Speaker 1: out the family, to give them closure, to give them closure.
37:52
Speaker 1: They will never have closure for the rest of their likes,
37:57
Speaker 1: they will never have closure. There's no such thing for
38:04
Speaker 1: victims families of violent crime. They will hurt and ache
38:09
Speaker 1: and say would have, could have, should have for the
38:11
Speaker 1: rest of their lives and their dying breath. On her
38:16
Speaker 1: dying breath, that mother will say, Lizzie, may he rot
38:23
Speaker 1: in hell with his buddy Satan. Nancy Grace Crime Story
38:30
Speaker 1: signing off goodbye friend,