1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:02,559 Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,879 Speaker 2: A woman claiming to be missing Cherry Mahon, eight years 3 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 2: old when she vanishes at a bus stop. 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: Has emerged. Is this real? 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 2: What happened to eight year old Cherry? I'm Nancy Grace. 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 2: This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: In the last days. 8 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 2: A woman claiming to be Cherry Mahon who goes missing 9 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 2: at just age eight has emerged. What happened in the case? 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 2: I want you to take a listen to this. 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 3: Janis and Leroy McKinney. Here Cherry's bus arriving to drop 12 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,279 Speaker 3: off Cherry, and Leroy wants to walk down the hill 13 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 3: to meet his daughter, but Janet says, wait, it's a 14 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 3: nice day. Let her walk. Ten minutes past and Cherry 15 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 3: hasn't made it up the driveway, so the McKinney's decide 16 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 3: to walk down the driveway. As they walk, they don't 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 3: see Cherry, nor did they see any of her footprints 18 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 3: in the snow leading up the driveway. On the driveway, 19 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 3: about fifty yards from the house, they see tire impressions 20 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 3: in the snow soil of the driveway. 21 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: Joy mean All Star panel. 22 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 2: But first I want to go to Molly Miller, crime 23 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 2: reporter at the Butler Eagle. 24 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: Mollie, thank you so much for being with us. 25 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 2: What exactly do we believe happened the morning Cherry went missing. 26 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 2: I'll get to the woman climbing to be Cherry in 27 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 2: just a moment, but I want to establish what happened. 28 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 4: All we know is that this bluish green van with 29 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 4: the mountain skier on the side was following the bus. 30 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 4: She exits the bus with three other kids and seemingly 31 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 4: starts to walk up the driveway, but at that point 32 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 4: people don't really know where she went after that. There's 33 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 4: no reported sighting from anyone. She's last seen wearing a 34 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 4: gray jacket, blue jean skirt, some leg warmers and some earmuffs, 35 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 4: and no clothing is ever found, and her stepdad reportedly 36 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 4: came down to check for her just ten minutes after 37 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 4: they heard the bus pull up. So really it seems 38 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 4: as if she's vanished into thin. 39 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: Air, you know, irv Brant, I actually think that's a 40 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 2: lot of information. 41 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: Why because we have a. 42 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 2: Date, and we have a very narrow window of time 43 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 2: in which Cherry disappears, or Brent, you and I have 44 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 2: talked about this many many times. 45 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: Did you know. 46 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 2: Over thirty percent of child kidnaps and disappearances have something 47 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 2: to do with the school route, either getting to the 48 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 2: bus stop, getting on the bus, getting off the bus, 49 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 2: walking to school, coming home from school. Do you know 50 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 2: over thirty percent of child kidnaps relate to the school bus. 51 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: Or getting to and from school. And I believe that 52 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: is exactly what happened here. 53 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 5: I agree, Nancy, when cases like this and it's obviously 54 00:02:55,200 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 5: this child was targeted. This was an kidnap of opportunity. 55 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:09,119 Speaker 5: This appears to be someone you know, researched this new 56 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 5: the route, you know, because other children got off the 57 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 5: bus at the same time, but she was targeted in particular, 58 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 5: and she disappears without a trace. That would lead you 59 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 5: to believe, you know, this was pre planned, and there's 60 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 5: no telling how much pre planning went into it. Obviously 61 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 5: quite a bit, because no viable leads were generated right 62 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 5: after the kidnapping. 63 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 2: There's a five thousand dollar reward in the search for Cherry. 64 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 2: I want to go back to Molly Miller, a crime 65 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 2: reporter at the Butler Eagle. Mollie, again, I think we've 66 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 2: got a lot of information, even though. 67 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: This case hasn't been solved yet. 68 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 2: For instance, very often when a child goes missing, you 69 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 2: look at the immediate family, right, you look at mommy, 70 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 2: you look at daddy, You look at step mommy stepdaddy. 71 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: In this case, you have the bio mom and the stepfather. 72 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 2: They hear the bus arrive, they're waiting for Cherry to 73 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 2: come up the driveway. They see each other, and I 74 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 2: have no reason to doubt what the biological mother is saying. Okay, 75 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 2: nothing suggests stepfather stole this child. And another thing regarding 76 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 2: the stepfather, who would immediately come under suspicion because the 77 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 2: male member of the family is always a suspect until 78 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 2: cleared the nine one one is made. The alarm is 79 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 2: raised so quickly after the school bus stops. As soon 80 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 2: as they go out and they see she's not there, 81 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 2: they contact police. That narrows the window of time stepdad 82 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 2: could have been involved. And this is why we know 83 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,719 Speaker 2: exactly what time that school bus was there. We have 84 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 2: the little friends that got off the school bus with her. 85 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 2: Other people saw the school bus. Then you compare that 86 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 2: to the time that she was reported missing. There's not 87 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 2: really time for stepdad to take the child. What molest 88 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 2: her and kill her. There's no time. If you look 89 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 2: at the timeline, Molly Miller. 90 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 4: There is some speculation because I mean, it all goes 91 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 4: back to that van following the school bus. There's a 92 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 4: lot of speculation actually that the van itself was just 93 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 4: a transport vehicle to another location. It's possible that she 94 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 4: was put in another vehicle. There was people seeing a 95 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 4: blue compact vehicle in that area at the same time, 96 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 4: so it's possible that number one, there were multiple people involved. 97 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 4: And I mean, FBI has done a profile on Cherry's 98 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 4: potential abductor and it all points back to it had 99 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 4: to have been someone she knows to have not raised alarm, 100 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 4: and again in such a short period of time, it's 101 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 4: very unlikely that she was afraid of going with this 102 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 4: person who did take. 103 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 2: Her to Lynshaw joining us, founder and executive director of 104 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 2: Lynn's Lawyers, an organization committed to ending human trafficking and 105 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 2: sex exploitation, specifically of children. Lynn, thank you so much 106 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 2: for being with us. The first thing I want to 107 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 2: do is try to rule out the parents. Okay, why 108 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 2: because statistically they or a family member is responsible for 109 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 2: missing children. Right, that's a given, that's a statistic, And 110 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 2: what I'm trying to say is that that's a huge 111 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 2: piece of this puzzle. 112 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: We know the answer. It's not the step dad, it's 113 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: not the mother. 114 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 2: Based on the timeline alone, that's very significant in Cherry's disappearance. 115 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 2: I can't stress it enough. Yes, it opens up a 116 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 2: whole nother avenue of inquiry, of investigation. 117 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: But that's the. 118 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 2: First hurdle is ruling out mom, dad, step mom, stepdad. 119 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:05,679 Speaker 1: That's the first thing you do, Liam. 120 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 6: It's the first thing Nancy you do. But the second 121 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 6: thing you always do immediate family members. Now the next 122 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 6: thing you have to look at the bus driver. Why 123 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 6: aren't we looking more? There have been some reports looking 124 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 6: at the bus driver? What about school school teachers. I 125 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 6: don't understand, Nancy. 126 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: You're a mom. I'm a mom. 127 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 6: The worst thing in the world as your child disappears, 128 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 6: and nobody seems to know anything. We do know from 129 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 6: law enforcement and from all our work at the Warriors, 130 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 6: it is most likely somebody that knows Cherry, a family member. 131 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 6: She was eight years old. She didn't scream. We don't 132 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 6: know anything. If the father could hear the school bus 133 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 6: up the drive driveway, he didn't hear anything else, cars 134 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 6: peeling off, the bus taking off. 135 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: I don't know. 136 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 6: I think we have a lot of information here and 137 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 6: for all the cherries out there. We cannot stop until 138 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 6: we explore every single aspect of this case. We have 139 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 6: to search for all these missing children. 140 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting you mentioned the bus driver, and 141 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 2: of course you got to look at the bus driver. 142 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 2: But by all accounts, the bus driver drove off. He 143 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 2: didn't take cherry. Although you have to look. When we 144 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 2: say someone she knows, that doesn't mean it's the uncle 145 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 2: or the grandpa. It could be, as you're saying, a 146 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 2: bus driver, a school teacher, a neighbor, a neighbor. How 147 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 2: easily could a neighbor have snatched her and taken her 148 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 2: into his home, raped her and murdered her very easily? 149 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: She was gone just like that. 150 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 2: So I know we're talking about the potential two car 151 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 2: theory that multiple people were involved in stealing cherry. But 152 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 2: I often think, or brand that the most obvious. 153 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: Answer is the answer. 154 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 2: Herb Brandt is joining me guys Senior Inspector US Marshall 155 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 2: Service International Investigations. He was also with DJ in international affairs. 156 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 2: He has worked all over the world with the US government, 157 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 2: including embassies abroad, trying to bring home and missing people 158 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 2: and catch perps that have absconded. 159 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: Is the author of a whole series of books about. 160 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,439 Speaker 2: Jack Solo, who I believe is IRV Brandt, specifically Flying Solo, 161 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 2: Top of the World and more. 162 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,439 Speaker 1: IRV way in on this. 163 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 2: And I'm not saying I always think it that walks 164 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 2: like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, 165 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 2: it's a duck, but very often it is. 166 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 5: You're exactly right, Nancy, and that's where you start an investigation. 167 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 5: You start an investigation with the most obvious it's Alkham's 168 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 5: raisor the simplest explanation is usually the correct explanation. So 169 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 5: when you're investigating the case, the first thing you look 170 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:02,959 Speaker 5: for is to fam members, and you're just going on 171 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 5: that by past history of cases where and missing persons 172 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 5: cases family members are usually somehow involved. Then you expand 173 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 5: it out to neighbors, to people that know it, like 174 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,319 Speaker 5: you were talking about bus driver, teacher, someone like that, 175 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 5: someone who knows the routes, and then you expand further, 176 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 5: and then eventually you're going to get into complex theories. 177 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 5: When you start running out of leads or lack of leads, 178 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,239 Speaker 5: you're going to start venturing into complex theories of multiple 179 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 5: vehicles and multiple people and things. And it is possible, 180 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 5: but like you said before, it's not likely. And usually 181 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 5: the simplest explanation is the correct explanation. 182 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 2: I mean, it's really hard for me to believe that 183 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 2: there are multiple kidnappers going after this one little girl, 184 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 2: and after all. 185 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: This time, no one has blabbed. 186 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 2: It's possible, yes, probable, No, although I am very interested 187 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 2: in the van. To Mollie Miller, a crime reporter at 188 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 2: Butler Eagle, tell me about the van. We've referred to it, 189 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 2: but describe it for me. 190 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 4: So an initial sketch came out a few days after 191 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 4: Cherry was abducted. It was described by school children as 192 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 4: a blue or green van with a mountain scene and 193 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 4: skier or skiers painted on the side. There's some discrepancy there. 194 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 4: It also had porthole windows in the back. But less 195 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 4: than a week after her disappearance, people started speculating that 196 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 4: maybe it was a bush beer van given the similarity 197 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 4: of the landscape on the side. So people were searching 198 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 4: into that. Police were searching into it and they got 199 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 4: nearly I mean, over the years four hundred reports of 200 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 4: this one van being seen in West Virginia, all across 201 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 4: the county, even as close as Pittsburgh. But unfortunately nothing 202 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 4: has been really nailed down as far as the make 203 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 4: of the van. The closest speculation people have as it's 204 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 4: a nineteen seventy six Dodge style van. 205 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: And describe what is painted on the side of it. 206 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 4: Yes, so people are saying it's a mountain scene, specifically 207 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,199 Speaker 4: one peak of a mountain going up the center of 208 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,959 Speaker 4: the van, almost overlapping the windows, and this would be 209 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,319 Speaker 4: a white mountain blue background, and then a skier going 210 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 4: down the side. It appears to be the left side 211 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 4: of the slope. People are saying it's either painted on 212 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 4: or it was decaled on and stuck on. 213 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 2: Parents call police immediately, which even narrows the timeline more 214 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 2: the timeline in which this eight year old little girl 215 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 2: could be snatched off the bus. In the last days, 216 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 2: a woman claims she is Cherry Listen. 217 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 3: A woman logs onto the Memories of Cherry may And 218 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,320 Speaker 3: Facebook page claiming to be the little girl last seen 219 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 3: walking from her school bus to the driveway of her 220 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:05,439 Speaker 3: house Cherry's mother, Janice McKinney, sees the post and contacts 221 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 3: the Pennsylvania State Police. The State Police have their own 222 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 3: contact with a woman when she leaves them a voicemail 223 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 3: making the same claim she is Cherry Mayhon. Janis McKinney 224 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 3: knows better than to get her hopes up, as three 225 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 3: other women have come forward previously making the same claim. 226 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 2: Oh my stars, let's just put in the family through 227 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 2: more pure hell by a woman claiming to be Cherry 228 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 2: or is she? Mollie Miller joining us investigative reporter at 229 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 2: the Butler Eagle, Mollie tell me about this woman now 230 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 2: claiming she's Cherry. 231 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:43,320 Speaker 4: Well, as she said, she logs in to the public 232 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 4: Facebook forum Memories of Cherry Mayhan and the post literally 233 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 4: just reads I am Cherry Mayhan and has a phone 234 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 4: number that actually comes out from Tennessee. And then she, 235 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 4: I guess, has some back and forth with some people 236 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 4: in the forum and becomes fair aggressive. The posts have 237 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 4: since been taken down, but one of the administrators of 238 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 4: the page said that because of the aggression of the comments, 239 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 4: there was cause for suspicion. She did leave a voicemail 240 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 4: with police, but then wouldn't respond to any return at calls. 241 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 4: A couple days later, police actually said that they were 242 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 4: able to review fingerprints from this woman calling herself Cherry, 243 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 4: but it was not a match. 244 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 2: This has happened many times in the past and other 245 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:29,479 Speaker 2: missing child cases. 246 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 1: Isn't it a simple matter of DNA listen? 247 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 7: Investigating the recent online post in a voicemail message left 248 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 7: with the state Police from a woman claiming to be 249 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 7: Cherry Mahan, investigators go to work trying to verify the claim, 250 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 7: reaching out to the woman that the phone number and 251 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 7: address she left. Pennsylvania State Police investigators failed to make 252 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 7: contact with the woman at the phone number and address 253 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 7: provided by the person. However, investigators obtained fingerprints for the 254 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 7: name of the person left by the caller, and they 255 00:14:58,080 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 7: are not a match with Cherry Mahan. 256 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 2: The search continues, so that match or mismatch in this 257 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 2: case is made from taking the woman claiming to be 258 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 2: Cherry Man and comparing it to known prince A little girl, Cherry, 259 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 2: your fingerprints don't change. Your fingertips may grow from childhood, obviously, 260 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 2: but the sworld patterns on your fingertips never change. No 261 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 2: one has a perfect match to your fingerprints. Even if 262 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 2: you're an identical twin. As I said, this has happened 263 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 2: so many times in the past, people coming forward claiming 264 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 2: their high profile missing child. 265 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: I guess one of the most famous. 266 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 2: Of those cases would be that a little girl, Mattie mckinn. 267 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 3: Listen, The search for Mattie McCann seems to be over 268 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 3: as a woman on Facebook claims to be the little 269 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 3: girl who disappears from a hotel room while on vacation 270 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 3: with her parents. Julia Wendell a DNA test that proves 271 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 3: she is one hundred percent Polish and not Mattie McCann, 272 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 3: But that doesn't stop Wendell from showing up at a 273 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 3: memorial service to commemorate the anniversary of Mattie's disappearance, hoping 274 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 3: to get Kate and Jerry McCann to provide a DNA 275 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 3: sample that the hoaxer claims will prove she is their 276 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 3: missing daughter. Wendall has done this before, claiming to be 277 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 3: a missing German schoolgirl and a missing American toddler. 278 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 1: Oh my stars, what a fake you know? 279 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 2: Er Bryant joining us, you have traveled the world, finding 280 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 2: missing people and apprehending convicts and fugitives. 281 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: The Mattie McCann case blew. 282 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 2: Up when Mattie was taken from a vacation rental and 283 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 2: her parents have led us search for Maddie for years, 284 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 2: and then this woman jumps up claiming she's Mattie McCann. 285 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: Do you recall this? 286 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 5: That's correct, Nancy the uh as you know, and I 287 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 5: know in these high profile cases, you've get a lot 288 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 5: of disturbed people calling in and their need for attention, 289 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 5: and it has unfortunately you have well not unfortunately, but 290 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,199 Speaker 5: you have to follow every lead and you've got to 291 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 5: disprove this and it's part of the job, and it's 292 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 5: a waste of time and it's a waste of resources, 293 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 5: but it's something that has to be done every single time. 294 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 2: Yes, Mattie McCann's faker, the impersonator pretending to be Maddie, 295 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 2: causing all sorts of pain to Mattie's parents. 296 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: That happened straight back. 297 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 2: To Lynn Shaw joining us, founder and director of Lynn's Warriors. 298 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: I wonder what. 299 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 2: Motivates people to pretend they're the missing child. 300 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: All these years later. 301 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 2: And it breaks my heart that Cherry's mom tries to 302 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 2: quote not get her hopes up when she hears that 303 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 2: someone has emerged claiming to be Cherry. 304 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,919 Speaker 1: That means that she is so at the end of. 305 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 2: Her rope, so beaten down, she doesn't even dare to 306 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:12,400 Speaker 2: hope anymore. 307 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 6: I have so many questions, Nancy. First of all, people 308 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 6: seek attention, especially in the last two decades with the Internet. 309 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 6: Everybody wants their fifteen minutes of fame. 310 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 1: I have so many. 311 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 6: Questions, such as, there's the Cherry Mayhan Facebook group. There's 312 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 6: lots of Facebook groups with missing children. I want to 313 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 6: know why this particular woman, as far as we know 314 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 6: it's a woman, is claiming to be Cherry. Why is 315 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 6: she on that Facebook group? I also want to know, 316 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 6: what if this woman claiming to be Cherry, who gave 317 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 6: the name to the police, the phone number to the police. 318 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,679 Speaker 6: What if she just gave it another person's name, So 319 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:53,120 Speaker 6: of course the fingerprints aren't going to match at all. 320 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:55,359 Speaker 6: I have so many questions. I go back to even 321 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:57,879 Speaker 6: the van. The first thing I do is pull in 322 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 6: a garage somewhere and get rid of the very locally 323 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 6: nearby and switch off. It has to be in this 324 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 6: circle of somebody Cherry knows. And the other thing is 325 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,160 Speaker 6: the internet. The Internet we have to keep talking about 326 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 6: it as great at it as it is, and it's 327 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 6: not going away. It is fueling these people to come 328 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 6: forward just to say and get their kicks. And that's 329 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 6: the way I have to put it. 330 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:22,159 Speaker 1: Kicks. 331 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 6: We have a well documented mental health crisis in the 332 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 6: United States and now people have found a new avenue 333 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 6: of tormenting, tormenting parents and family members of missing kids. 334 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 6: And there are a lot of Cherry's stories out there 335 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,680 Speaker 6: and it has to be more well vetted. The other 336 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,439 Speaker 6: thing I want to leave you with, we have so 337 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 6: much advances in DNA. As everybody knows. What about the advances. 338 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 6: We work with a lot of great tech people. If 339 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 6: this person was on that Facebook page, they should be 340 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 6: able to go back and track that URL where she 341 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 6: was communicating from. So I have lots of questions, Nancy 342 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 6: that need answers. 343 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 2: Speaking of DNA, I wonder if Cherry's da has been 344 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,199 Speaker 2: added into the DNA database. 345 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: It's not hard to do. 346 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,880 Speaker 2: You don't have to have a bugle swab or give 347 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 2: your blood in order for there to be a DNA. 348 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: Profile of you. 349 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 2: It's simply a matter of parents using her hair brush 350 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,119 Speaker 2: or her toothbrush or items of. 351 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: Her clothing or sheets. 352 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 2: It may have her hair or skin follicles or skin 353 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 2: on that you know to herv brand. That would be 354 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,959 Speaker 2: a major step forward to find out if her DNA 355 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 2: is in a DNA databank. 356 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 5: I agree, Nancy, scientific evidence, it's some of the best 357 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 5: evidence you know. When we're talking about fingerprints. Fingerprints are 358 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 5: one reliable if you have someone claiming to be or 359 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 5: someone you think to be, the missing person can be 360 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,360 Speaker 5: done through fingerprints in the same way with DNA. So 361 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 5: if you can put the DNA into the database and 362 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:08,360 Speaker 5: you could possibly get hits and it just generates more 363 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 5: leads for the ball. 364 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 8: Six year old Timothy Pittson, picked up by mom at school, 365 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 8: vanishes a whirlwind destinationless journey ensues ended by his mom's 366 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 8: hotels suicide. But where is Timothy? 367 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:31,399 Speaker 1: By all accounts, Mommy would never have hurt her child, 368 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: and now these years later, Timothy's family living in fear. 369 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 2: In f you're of what an impostor posing as Timothy? 370 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: What do we know? First of all, take a. 371 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 9: Listen to this will was the last time you saw 372 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 9: your son alive? 373 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 10: I dropped him off kindergarten that morning. She usually drops 374 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 10: him off at kindergarten, I pick him up after kindergarten, 375 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 10: take him a daycare, and I get out for work 376 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 10: and I pick them up at daycare and take him home. 377 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 9: But the school knows you and your wife both Yes, 378 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 9: what was the last thing he said to you? And 379 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 9: you said to him? 380 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 10: He said, love your dad and goalsia after school, buddy, 381 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 10: and I watched him run off the class. 382 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 2: That's Timothy's dad speaking out to our friend, doctor Field. 383 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: So what else do we know happened? Listen? 384 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 11: Timothy lived in Aurora, Illinois with his mother Amy and 385 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,959 Speaker 11: father Jim. On May eleventh, twenty eleven, Amy picked up 386 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 11: Timothy from school. Cameras there captured the pair together that morning. 387 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 11: Later that day, when Timothy's father realized that they were gone, 388 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 11: he reported them missing. Investigators say Amy and Timothy traveled 389 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 11: more than five hundred miles over two days and were 390 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 11: captured together on surveillance video several times. This is the 391 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 11: last known sighting of Timothy ten ten am May thirteenth, 392 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 11: twenty eleven. They are seen checking out of a Wisconsin resort. 393 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:01,920 Speaker 1: Now. 394 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 2: The mom leaves behind a note stating that Timothy is 395 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 2: with a family that will keep him safe and where 396 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 2: he will never be found. But after she signs him 397 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 2: out of school minutes. 398 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: To the dad. 399 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 2: Oh, by the way, you were seeing that from our 400 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,400 Speaker 2: friends at NIKMA National Center Missing Exploited Children. 401 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: After she signs him out from school. 402 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,720 Speaker 2: Let me go to our panel, Alexis Terreschik, joining me 403 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,880 Speaker 2: crime online dot Com investigative reporter. She takes him, first 404 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,919 Speaker 2: of all, taking him out of school to take him 405 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 2: to a water park and on a very circuitous route 406 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 2: to fun adventures. 407 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: That's all well and good. 408 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 2: You know, I used to take John David out of 409 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,200 Speaker 2: play school and then real school to go bowling. 410 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: Okay, is that right? Probably not? 411 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 2: Okay, So when I first heard that, I wasn't disturbed. 412 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: But wait a minute. 413 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 2: They go from correct me if I'm wrong, Alexis to 414 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 2: the Brookville Zoo and then they go to a water 415 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 2: park Wisconsin, Dell's Kalahari Resort. 416 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: Then they check. 417 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 2: Out of a hotel and head back to Illinois that morning. 418 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 2: Now in the car, isn't this true, alexis that Amy? 419 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 2: The mom makes multiple phone calls to family and they 420 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 2: can hear Timothy in the background. In fact, at one 421 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 2: point he's saying, hey, Mom, I'm hungry. 422 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: Nothing is a miss. 423 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 12: Alexis nothing at all. She called her mom. Her mom 424 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 12: heard the little boy in the background they were talking. 425 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 12: He did say he was hungry. They stopped at gas 426 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 12: stations and bought snacks and food. They stayed in hotels 427 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 12: where there was food. There was nothing that anybody was 428 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 12: worried about because they heard that he was alive. They 429 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 12: could hear him in the car, and that's what mom did. 430 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 12: She picked him up. 431 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 13: They went to a zoo was about forty five miles away, 432 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 13: forty five minute drive. Then they head up to the 433 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 13: Wisconsin mails where I've actually been on vacation. It is 434 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 13: like Vegas for water parks. The entire town is just 435 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 13: full of different water park resorts. It is heaven for 436 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 13: children and families. And she went there with him. They 437 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 13: went to water park. They had a great time. Security 438 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 13: footage caught them leaving there. The husband, though, is the 439 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,919 Speaker 13: one that said something's amiss. I've spoken to her, but 440 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,640 Speaker 13: now she's not coming back. And that was not something 441 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 13: that they planned. She'd never said, you know, I'm going 442 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,160 Speaker 13: to take a three day vacation with him, and we're 443 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:24,880 Speaker 13: going to go do these things. He started to get 444 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 13: very worried about where his son. 445 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,440 Speaker 2: You know, Karen started joining me where now it's psychologists 446 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,640 Speaker 2: joining us out of Manhattan, TV radio trauma expert at 447 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 2: Karenstark dot com. 448 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: That's Karen with a sea. 449 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 2: Karen, I've taken both twins out of what they were 450 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 2: supposed to be doing and spent time with them doing 451 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 2: something fun. 452 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,400 Speaker 1: So that's not unusual. 453 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 2: However, in this case, mom had never done that before, 454 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 2: and she didn't tell the dad like say, for instance, 455 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,479 Speaker 2: I'm going to take Lucy somewhere and We're not going 456 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 2: to be where we're supposed to be. I tell David, hey, 457 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 2: I'm doing so and so. Or when I would take 458 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,959 Speaker 2: John David to the foot doctor, I e. 459 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 1: Bowling. 460 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 2: It wasn't a secret, It wasn't a big surreptitious activity 461 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,120 Speaker 2: the way it is here. Plus what this mom did 462 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,959 Speaker 2: was out of the ordinary, Karen Stark. 463 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 14: Which these are all signs that something is really a 464 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 14: miss Nancy, just like you said, because why would the 465 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,879 Speaker 14: father or not know. As a matter of fact, this 466 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 14: dad went to the school to pick him up at 467 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 14: the end of the day and had no idea that 468 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 14: he had been checked out by the mom. She was 469 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,360 Speaker 14: not in touch with him and an Initially she wasn't 470 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,840 Speaker 14: in touch with anyone, so of course it's highly suspicious 471 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 14: behavior and nothing that you would expect from a parent. 472 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 8: Timothy Pittson's mom leaves a bizarre suicide note claiming the 473 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 8: six year old is safe but will be seen again. 474 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 8: Is the boy dead or stashed with a cult like commune? 475 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 2: Mommy found dead? No sign of Timothy. This is how 476 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 2: Timothy Pittson goes missing. In the last months, this case 477 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,439 Speaker 2: has bubbled back up to the surface because the Pitson 478 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 2: family living in fear because of an impostor posing as Timothy. 479 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: But back to the time he disappears. 480 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 15: Listen, Amy fry Pittson's cell phone was not in her 481 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 15: hotel room or car. Two years later, her cell phone 482 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 15: is found discarded behind a silo on a remote road 483 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 15: in Mount Carroll, Illinois, from Sterling, Illinois, where fry Pittson 484 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,160 Speaker 15: made several phone calls. Mount Carroll is on the way 485 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,439 Speaker 15: to Dubukee, Iowa. In her childhood, fry Pittson spent several 486 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 15: years living with her grandparents in Dubuque. Fry Pittson's sister, 487 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 15: Kara Jacobs, believes Amy still has connections in the area 488 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 15: and pass blue left Timothy with a family there. 489 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: Joining me in All Star panel. 490 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 2: But now to IRV Brandt, renowned US Marshall Service, International 491 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 2: Investigations Branch, Chief Inspector Dog, Office of International Affair, author 492 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 2: of a string of books about a guy named Jack 493 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 2: Solo who bears an amazing similarity to IRV Brandt. Author 494 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 2: Solo Shot Curse of the Bluestone on Amazon and many more. 495 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 2: IRV Brant, You've spent your whole career figuring out where 496 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 2: is somebody? Now think about this. This mom had never 497 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 2: displayed any violence at all to Timothy Pittson, ever, very loving. 498 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 2: A divorce was pending. She was very distraught about that. 499 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 2: So we find her dead in hotel room. I note 500 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 2: this says, Timothy's alive, but I've given him to a 501 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 2: family that will take care of him and love him. 502 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: You'll never find him. And then her cell phone. 503 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 2: Turns up up out of town full of good memories 504 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 2: for her. She spent time a lot of time with 505 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 2: her grandparents there and was very happy. 506 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: So what do you make of this? 507 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 5: Well, Nancy, the circumstances evolving the disappearance of this case 508 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 5: would lead investigators to believe. 509 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: Number one, just. 510 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 5: The state of mind that she must have been in 511 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 5: when she committed suicide is just so unusual. The manner 512 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,959 Speaker 5: that she did, then the places that she chose to 513 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 5: go to. You would imagine that the first thing that 514 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 5: they would investigate it as a suicide homicide. But given 515 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 5: the information, the family background, you have to consider the 516 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:59,360 Speaker 5: possibility that she did indeed give Timothy to someone from 517 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 5: her past that she still had a connection with, who 518 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 5: would care for the child. That's a possibility that the 519 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 5: investigators have to check out and have to focus on. 520 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 5: They have to focus on the child being alive first 521 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 5: and foremost. 522 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 2: Well, wait a minute, wait a minute, or Brandt, She's 523 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 2: not a master criminal. She's a mom who has always 524 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 2: shown nothing but love for this child. She's distraught about 525 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 2: a divorce. Yes, she had to be beside herself to 526 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 2: commit suicide by slashing. 527 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: Her wrists and her own neck. 528 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,959 Speaker 2: She writes this note Timothy is alive and well and 529 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 2: with someone that will love him, inferring the father wouldn't 530 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 2: and maybe she felt that way because she felt rejected 531 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 2: in the marriage he was divorcing her. She also writes, 532 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 2: you'll never find him my point er Brandt, again, she's 533 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,360 Speaker 2: not a master criminal. She's not some French arts or 534 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 2: a cat burglar. You really think she could have hidden 535 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 2: his body and it would be never found. 536 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 5: Nancy, I understand what you're saying that she's not a 537 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 5: career criminal or a criminal at all. She's someone obviously 538 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 5: with mental health problems and has a history of mental 539 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 5: health problems. But is she capable of it? I would 540 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 5: say yes. But does the possibility exist that she did 541 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:35,200 Speaker 5: turn this child over that she did know? Of course, 542 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:37,479 Speaker 5: she loved her child and she wanted to see her 543 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 5: child safe. Did she give this child to someone who 544 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 5: would care for him? Yes, there is that possibility. 545 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 2: Well, especially IRV Brandt, the fact that we know she 546 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 2: was back in this area that she loved. We know 547 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 2: that because her phone was found behind a silo in 548 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 2: a rural area where she grew up with her grandparents. 549 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 2: So the child there, we've got her cell phone there, 550 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 2: we know she was there. And then suddenly when she's 551 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 2: back at this motel where she killed herself, there was 552 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 2: no sign of him. Remember she was spotted out in 553 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 2: about We saw that video from NICKMA National Center Missing 554 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 2: Exploited Children. We saw that video, and that was the 555 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:23,480 Speaker 2: last time she was seen with Timothy Okay. 556 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:25,440 Speaker 1: The next time. 557 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 2: She's spotted no Timothy Okay, one hundred miles away shaking 558 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 2: into the motel. It says, if she stashed him somewhere 559 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,200 Speaker 2: and then come back to this motel to kill herself 560 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 2: or Brant. 561 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 5: I agree, Nancy, when you watch the videos and you 562 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 5: look how she's acting when she comes in, she doesn't 563 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 5: seem distraught. She doesn't seem like babe, I mean, someone 564 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 5: who just killed their own child. She seems you could 565 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,800 Speaker 5: even describe her as maybe even being relieved coming in 566 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 5: because she knows this episode is going to be close 567 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 5: to finish, because she obviously planned this out. 568 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 3: Just as the Pittson family starts to believe that beloved 569 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 3: Timothy may finally be found, their hopes are dashed. A 570 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 3: DNA test reveals that the mystery team is really twenty 571 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,959 Speaker 3: three year old Brian Reeney. Reenie was released from prison 572 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 3: for burglary in vandalism the month before, and finds himself 573 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 3: in more legal trouble. Rene is charged with two counts 574 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 3: of falsifying statements and aggravated identity theft. Renee takes a 575 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 3: plea deal and serves a total of two years in prison. 576 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 2: Joining me now founder director of Lynn's Warriors, dedicated to 577 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:52,800 Speaker 2: protecting children Lynn Shaw. Lynn Rennie is not the only 578 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,479 Speaker 2: one that pretended to be Timothy Pittson, and the family 579 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 2: has stated every time an apostle comes forward is quote 580 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 2: like ripping off a scab, making them real live the 581 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 2: pain all over again. 582 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:10,160 Speaker 6: Nancy, we work extensively with trying to find missing children. 583 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 6: We work on murder children. This is the case and 584 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:16,920 Speaker 6: it's been escalating over the years that people step forward 585 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 6: pretending for their fifteen minutes of fame or whatever we're 586 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,719 Speaker 6: calling it. In today's world, there are so many I'm 587 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,040 Speaker 6: surprised there are not more people stepping forward about this. 588 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:27,840 Speaker 6: But I want to circle back on something if I 589 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 6: might to. I was doing digging in and doing research 590 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 6: and in a lot of cases we work on law 591 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 6: enforcement with us as our partners tell us, if we 592 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,000 Speaker 6: don't find an actual body or a child alive within 593 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 6: forty eight hours, we usually assume that they are not alive. 594 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,800 Speaker 6: And I ask you, if her cell phone was found 595 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,000 Speaker 6: two years later behind a silo wherever they found it 596 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 6: in the field, what was the investigation like for the 597 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 6: body because I have to ask he was at that 598 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:59,720 Speaker 6: impressurable age of six, or he could have been handed 599 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 6: off and his mind sort of brainwashed into another environment 600 00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:06,120 Speaker 6: where he forgot about his family. 601 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:07,399 Speaker 1: But I ask you, this. 602 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 6: Whole thing sounds like she's going through a divorce. They 603 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:14,719 Speaker 6: had money problems. We have dealt with cases where one 604 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 6: of the mother, the father, one of them will say 605 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:19,680 Speaker 6: in a divorce, if I can have my child full time, 606 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 6: nobody's going to have my child, and it doesn't matter 607 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 6: if they're a loving mother, they have no criminal history, 608 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 6: they will take the life of that child. And that 609 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,240 Speaker 6: is what concerns me here. So I think more work. 610 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 6: We can never give up on looking for these missing 611 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:34,239 Speaker 6: children at all. 612 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 2: And for all we know, Timothy Pittson is alive and well, 613 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 2: living right under our noses with another family that he's 614 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 2: convinced is his own now. According to those closest to 615 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:50,600 Speaker 2: mom Amy, she would never have hurt Timothy no matter what. 616 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 2: Listen to her sister. 617 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 16: My nephew Timothy has been missing since May thirteenth, twenty eleven. 618 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 11: Timothy Pittson was six years old when he vanished. 619 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,279 Speaker 16: We just believe with every fiber of our being that 620 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 16: he's alive. So without any kind of logic to give you, 621 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,200 Speaker 16: I can just tell you I know that he's alive. 622 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 16: Amy would never hurt her child, And I know that 623 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,880 Speaker 16: maybe that's hard for some people to grasp given what 624 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:23,120 Speaker 16: she did to herself, but she just wouldn't have. She 625 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,920 Speaker 16: had nothing but kindness and consideration for other people in 626 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:28,480 Speaker 16: her life. 627 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 2: A body has never been found, and again, this mom 628 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,760 Speaker 2: is a criminal mastermind. Where would she have hidden the body? 629 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,960 Speaker 2: Now you were hearing Timothy's aunt, Kara Jacobs from our 630 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 2: friends at NIKMA National Center Missing and Exploited Children, who 631 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 2: have also been working on this case. So those around 632 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:51,600 Speaker 2: her are convinced Mom did not kill Timothy. So now 633 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:56,200 Speaker 2: all these years later, we have people appearing, one after 634 00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:58,480 Speaker 2: the mix, pretending to be Timothy. 635 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: Now a quality of blos blood was found. 636 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,600 Speaker 2: It was Timothy's, but guess what it was proven to 637 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:08,239 Speaker 2: have been from a previous nose bleed he had in 638 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:08,760 Speaker 2: the car. 639 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:11,200 Speaker 1: So another dead end. 640 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:16,480 Speaker 2: It's not the first time a seemingly normal person pretends 641 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:21,960 Speaker 2: to be a missing child. Remember earlier we mentioned Maddie McCann. 642 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:22,759 Speaker 2: Listen to this. 643 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:28,279 Speaker 9: She says that she believes she is Madeline McCann. But 644 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:33,960 Speaker 9: many have speculated that Julia may not be telling the 645 00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 9: truth her own parents. I think she's an attention seeker, 646 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,480 Speaker 9: and they say no for certain that she's their daughter, 647 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:45,440 Speaker 9: because the mother says she delivered her. You just have 648 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 9: to take their DNA and your DNA. 649 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:51,640 Speaker 7: And I tried to do it many times. As I said, 650 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 7: I called many authorities. 651 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:55,759 Speaker 1: Nobody asked for it, right. 652 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,400 Speaker 2: I'm sure Scotland Yard just wouldn't pick up the phone 653 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:02,120 Speaker 2: the DNA didn't match. That's not Maddy McCann bottom line, Karen, 654 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:07,080 Speaker 2: start with me, renounced psychologist, Karen. Why would someone torture 655 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 2: Timothy Pittson's family this way, pretending to be Timothy. 656 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:12,000 Speaker 1: They need to have. 657 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:16,359 Speaker 14: The attention, Nancy. They're looking to be noticed, and of 658 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:20,040 Speaker 14: course they will get this little bit of attention. Exactly 659 00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:22,640 Speaker 14: what was said. But I also want to say something. 660 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:26,600 Speaker 14: This is a mother who said that she was terrified 661 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:30,319 Speaker 14: if something happened to her and they got divorced, that 662 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,840 Speaker 14: her son would be taken away from her. So I 663 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 14: just want everybody to consider, how does it make sense 664 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 14: if she was that frightened he would be taken away, 665 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,680 Speaker 14: that she would give him to another family. I don't 666 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:47,760 Speaker 14: understand that, and I'm afraid that that really didn't happen 667 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:51,400 Speaker 14: because it doesn't fit. They were supposedly like two peas 668 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,879 Speaker 14: in a pot, so that scenario I just I hear 669 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 14: a lot of anger even in the suicide. I know 670 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:04,840 Speaker 14: desper but people do kill themselves because they are so angry. 671 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:11,320 Speaker 2: Is Timothy Pittson alive? Is he hiding right under our noses? 672 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 2: If you know or you think you know the answer 673 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:20,280 Speaker 2: to this riddle, dial six three zero two five six 674 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:24,520 Speaker 2: five five one six repeat six three zero two. 675 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:27,160 Speaker 1: Five six five five one six. 676 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:34,280 Speaker 2: Prayers continue for the families of these missing children. Nancy 677 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,160 Speaker 2: Gray signing off, good night friend,