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NANCY GRACE

Newborn Abandoned 30 Miles From Where Pregnant Mother Disappeared

Aired June 19, 2007 - 20:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, breaking news. A young Ohio mom, nine months pregnant, just weeks from giving birth to a second child, vanishes from her own home, her 2-year-old son of hers found home alone in dirty diapers by his grandmother. Family and friends say she would never leave the little boy like that. The toddler tonight, a possible witness, tells police, "Mommy was crying," "Mommy broke the table," "Mommy was in the rug."
Headlines tonight, we know Jessie, just weeks from delivering a baby girl, already named Chloe. Tonight, we learn a newborn baby girl, umbilical cord still attached, found abandoned on the doorstep of a registered nurse just 30 miles from Jessie`s home. Is this Jessie`s baby? Also grainy surveillance images of Jessie shopping the night before she`s believed missing. And tonight, the biological dad of baby Chloe consents to a search of his home and car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five days, and still no sign of missing pregnant mom Jessie Davis. WKYC reporting that a newborn baby girl was found on the doorstep of a home just 30 miles from where Jessie Davis went missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jessie Marie Davis, a single mother who was also nine months pregnant, is missing.

PATTY PORTER, MISSING WOMAN`S MOTHER: I just want my daughter to come home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friday morning, Porter went to her daughter`s duplex just outside of North Canton after Jessie didn`t answer repeated calls to her cell phone. When she got inside through an unlocked patio door, she found Jessie`s 2-year-old son, Blake, in soiled diapers, home alone for possibly a day-and-a-half. Turns out Jessie didn`t show up for work Thursday. And as we were interviewing porter, Jessie`s son blurts out...

PORTER: The smell was really strong in the house...

BLAKE: Mommy`s in the rug.

PORTER: "Mommy`s in the rug," he keeps saying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No rugs missing from the apartment, and Jessie`s car is still in the garage. But the comforter from her bed and her cell phone are gone. Her purse was spilled out on the kitchen floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are some new developments in this case. Local authorities, along with FBI agents, searched the home of Bobby Cutts. He is the Canton, Ohio, police officer and also the father of Jessie Davis`s 2-year-old son, Blake, and possibly the father of her unborn child. It`s not clear what, if anything, was found at the home of Bobby Cutts. We did contact an attorney for the family of Jessie Davis, that attorney telling CNN that he does not know what to make of this new development in the investigation.

Police have stressed throughout the day and ever since this investigation got started that Cutts is not a suspect in this investigation, but we did learn from the Canton, Ohio, police department that Cutts has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Stunning developments in the case of a young Ohio mom just weeks from giving birth to a second child. She vanishes, her 2-year- old boy found home alone. Friends and family say no way would she ever have left her 2-year-old in this manner. Tonight those stunning developments

Out to Phil Trexler with "The Akron Beacon-Journal." Explain, Phil. What can you tell me about this newborn baby girl found abandoned?

PHIL TREXLER, "AKRON BEACON-JOURNAL": Well, it happened Monday night. It was a little girl about 12 hours old, and she was found on a doorstep in a wicker basket. Investigators are taking DNA samples to determine if, in fact, this is the baby of Jessie Marie Davis`s.

GRACE: To Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, forensic scientist. Dr. Kobilinsky, How can you determine the age of a newborn?

LARRY KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Well, I mean, that is a fairly simple matter. I mean, it has an umbilical cord that has not been tied off. So I mean, clearly, it`s a neonate. There`s no question about it. You don`t need X-rays or anything sophisticated.

GRACE: What`s a neonate?

KOBILINSKY: A newborn. A newborn. I mean, clearly, it`s got other signs...

GRACE: OK, well, how do you narrow it down? Trexler just said 12 hours. How do I know it`s 12 hours, not 36 hours, not 24 hours, not 72 hours?

KOBILINSKY: I don`t think you can tell the difference, at that point. Twelve hours, ten hours, I don`t think you`re going to be able to tell the difference.

GRACE: Well, how about 12 versus 72?

KOBILINSKY: Well, you know, examining the body of the child, you can guess, you know, because the blood vessels are going to close themselves down. There might be an inspection of the umbilical cord...

GRACE: You mean in the umbilical cord, the blood vessels naturally close themselves down...

KOBILINSKY: Yes.

GRACE: ... and the umbilical cord falls off? Is that what you`re telling me?

KOBILINSKY: Yes. Yes.

GRACE: How long does that process take?

KOBILINSKY: A very, very short period of time. They`re not going to be able to tell if the baby is 12 hours or 5 hours. They just can`t...

GRACE: Well, how about 72 hours? That`s what I`m asking.

KOBILINSKY: They probably can tell that.

GRACE: Back to Phil Trexler with "The Akron Beacon-Journal." I believe you mentioned 12 hours old. Why do they think 12 hours old?

TREXLER: Well, the umbilical cord was wet and fresh and it was wrapped in a black rubber band. Just from the appearance of the person`s house it was dropped off at, it was a nurse who has some experience in this field -- it was her impression that the child was about 12 hours old.

GRACE: And to Jean Casarez, Court TV news correspondent. What do we know about how the baby was dropped off? This is about 30 miles away from Jessie`s home. We know it`s a baby girl. We know Jessie was carrying a baby girl. She had already decided to name it Chloe. What else do we know?

JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: We know there was some care and attention when it was dropped off. It was dropped off on a doorstep in a wicker basket. And I believe there was some formula and some other things to take care of the child. So somebody took some thought and attention before they dropped the child in the basket.

GRACE: Interesting. Phil Trexler, the care and attention that Jean Casarez was describing -- how was the baby dressed? What was in this wicker basket?

TREXLER: The baby was dressed in a yellow jumper, wrapped in a white blanket. And again, there was -- there was formula there, and again, workers had to remove mucous from the baby`s airways and the one-inch umbilical cord. So all indications are that this baby is at least no more than a day old.

GRACE: Dr. Kobilinsky, what does that mean, mucous in the baby`s airways?

KOBILINSKY: Well, you know, clearly, when a baby`s born, you`ve got to clear that mucous out so that the baby can breathe without any kind of respiratory problems. Apparently, whoever did this took enough care to make sure the baby was going to be safe.

GRACE: Joining us right now is a very special guest, the lady, the nurse who discovered this newborn baby girl -- Is it baby Chloe? -- on her doorstep. Hallie Redman is with us, joining us out of Wooster, Ohio. Ms. Redman, thank you for being with us.

HALLIE REDMAN, FOUND BABY ON DOORSTEP: Thank you.

GRACE: Ms. Redman, what happened?

REDMAN: Well, my husband and I came home from dinner last evening about 7:40, and we noticed a basket on our back step. We entered the house through the garage, and then I went to the back door and opened it to see what was in the basket. And much to my astonishment, there was a sleeping, beautiful little infant in that basket.

GRACE: Hallie, what did the baby look like?

REDMAN: She appeared to be a white infant with a moderate amount of black hair. She was quite small. I judged her not to be even 6 pounds. I undressed her at the request of the deputy sheriff and saw that she had a very fresh umbilical cord tied off with a black rubber band. She had meconium stool in her diaper, which is the very first stool that a baby passes after they`re born. Had areas of vernix caseosa on her, which is the white, cheesy, protective coat that babies are born with. So it had not been washed off entirely.

But the baby was very clean. The clothes were all new. And as you said, there was formula in the basket. There were diapers in the basket and the change of clothes for the baby.

GRACE: With us, everyone, is a very special guest. She may have saved the life of this little baby. In fact, she did save the life of this little baby. Is this baby Chloe? Jessie, now missing, was expecting a baby girl. She`d already picked out the name baby Chloe.

Luckily, Hallie Redman is a retired nurse. Ms. Redman, you`re using terms that a lot of the us are not familiar with. Please pardon me. I`m going to ask you a couple of nursing terms. But first of all, how do you get -- you say this was at your back door, correct?

REDMAN: Yes.

GRACE: From the street, can you see the back door?

REDMAN: No. No.

GRACE: How do you get to the back door from the street?

REDMAN: Well, we have a -- a driveway that comes up off of the road. This is a very rural area. And it`s probably about a 500-foot driveway that circles the front of the house. to the side of the house. Along the front of our house, between the house and the road, it is lined with trees. So it`s difficult to see our door, our back door, from the road.

So it appears that someone knew where we lived, what door we normally use. I feel that this is probably an acquaintance of mine from past associations, due to my work, that knew that they could leave their baby here and trusted that I would take care of it.

GRACE: As she did. Joining us tonight, a hero, is Hallie Redman, who found this baby girl on her back doorstep. Is this baby Chloe, the daughter of missing Jessie Marie Davis, just 26 years old? Here she is, we still don`t know what has become of Jessie, but we know that she was going to give birth in just a few days to a baby girl.

Now, let me ask you something. Everybody, Hallie also a retired nurse. You mentioned the meconium stool in the diaper. How many days does this -- how old would this baby be, in your estimation, Nurse?

REDMAN: Well, judging by the umbilical cord that was still damp, I would guess it was within 12 hours old.

GRACE: And someone had the forethought to get the formula, the baby outfit, the blanket, everything. Would it have been the correct formula for a newborn?

REDMAN: I did not even look at the type of formula that was provided. The baby had problems with heavy, thick mucous in its throat. And so four or five times, I had to pick up the baby, turn it over in an upside-down position and strike its back gently to loosen the mucous. After about the fourth time of this, I told the deputy sheriff that was still with me, We need to call a rescue squad, this baby needs to be taken to the hospital to be suctioned out. I did not have any kind of equipment at my house to do that.

GRACE: I just thank God, Ms. Redman, Hallie Redman with us, that you found the baby and you knew to do that. A lot of us would not -- we`d want to help the baby, but we wouldn`t even know how to help the baby.

Out to the lines. Rachel in Maryland. Hi, Rachel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I love you. I love your show.

GRACE: Thank you. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering if the father did consent to give a polygraph.

GRACE: Out to Phil Trexler. I know the father gave consent to have his home searched and to have his car searched. In fact, according to some reports, he was actually in the backyard cooking, like, on a grill, a barbecue, as they searched his home, was not concerned and allowed them in. But what about a polygraph, Phil?

TREXLER: Well, Nancy, as it`s been since the onset of the investigation, Bobby Cutts has been cooperative. The investigators asked today about the polygraph, and he said that Bobby Cutts has not taken or been offered or even refused a polygraph, at this point.

GRACE: And to Jean Casarez. A lot of people casting doubt on the biological father, Mr. Cutts. He is not a suspect. But OK, if this is -- if this baby is baby Chloe, do we know the whereabouts as to where Cutts was at the time the baby was left on Hallie`s doorstep? Does anybody know? Has he been under surveillance? Do we even know that?

CASAREZ: That would have been last night, right, when the baby was found.

GRACE: Yes.

CASAREZ: It was last night that they did a consensual search of his car, the Saturn, right?

GRACE: Yes. Yes.

CASAREZ: And I think he was close by. We don`t know that he wasn`t because they say he has been cooperative, allowing them to come in and do that search.

GRACE: If this is baby Chloe, that would put him elsewhere when Hallie Redman was out to dinner, coming home around 7:40 PM to find a newborn baby girl on her back doorstep. Luckily, she had the wherewithal and the training as a retired nurse to, in my estimation, save the baby`s life.

Out to Debbie in New York. Hi, Debbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`d like to find out if the police are focused at all on Cutts`s wife and where she`s living and her car because we know wives can be quite capable of violence when they`ve been cheated on.

GRACE: To Mike Brooks, former D.C. cop, former fed with the FBI. What do we know about the wife? I know they`re saying she`s not a suspect.

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: No, she`s not a suspect, Nancy. And apparently, she has been cooperating. I`ve heard they did a consent search also on her house. but don`t know exactly if the FBI evidence response team, like we see here, was also at her house, along with the local authorities. But, you know, we cannot call them anything, a person of interest, not a suspect. They`re apparently cooperating right now, but they have done search warrants on both houses. I should say consent search on both of these houses.

GRACE: And of course, there is the specter, and it is a far-fetched specter -- Elizabeth, do we have the pictures of the other moms that were specifically targeted because -- there`s Bobbie Jo Stinnett, I know for one, and I believe that there is another mom, as well -- targeted because they were pregnant. I believe it`s Theresa -- there we are. Bobbie Jo Stinnett, Lisa Montgomery, the perpetrator, Theresa Andrews, Michelle Bica as the perpetrator -- targeted these moms specifically because they were about to give birth, in order to get the baby. Of course, we all know that was one of the wacky defenses urged in the Scott Peterson case. The jury didn`t buy it.

Let`s unleash the lawyers, Susan Moss, Randy Zelin, Anne Bremner out of the Seattle jurisdiction. To Susan Moss. That is a far-fetched theory.

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: It absolutely is. Whoever did this cared about this child, perhaps knew the family. They certainly cared enough to give formula and to give an outfit. Ninety percent of all crime victims know their assailant. That`s more than four out of five dentists (SIC). The focus still needs to be on the people who know this woman and her family, and certainly the cop daddy and his wife.

GRACE: To Randy Zelin, defense attorney. What would you advise Bobby Cutts, Jr., at this juncture?

RANDY ZELIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Keep your mouth shut. There`s a piece of paper called the Constitution. and it says that you have an absolute right to keep your mouth shut, not to incriminate yourself. Why give anybody the opportunity to compare what you say against the other evidence? You keep your mouth shut. Don`t make it easy for anybody.

GRACE: Well, Anne Bremner out of Seattle, how about if he`s telling the truth? Why shouldn`t he talk and possibly help in finding Jessie?

ANNE BREMNER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: You know, Nancy, I agree with you on that. He was questioned for 12 hours already. They`ve done the searches. You know, he`s a cop. He knows how they investigate. And he`s cooperating. But here`s the thing in terms of Cutts as a suspect. Do you remember -- do you know what your first word was, Nancy, as a little baby?

GRACE: Yes.

BREMNER: What was it?

GRACE: I`m sorry, could you repeat?

BREMNER: What was your first word as a baby? Da-da, Ma-ma?

GRACE: Yes.

BREMNER: Well, this baby, the 2-year-old, his son says, Mommy`s in a rug, Mommy broke the table, et cetera, didn`t say Da-da. Didn`t say, My dad. I mean, that is the best evidence right there that he didn`t do it.

GRACE: Well put. Tonight, again, Bobby Cutts not named a suspect or a person of interest in this case. Is the baby found on the back doorstep of retired nurse Hallie Redman baby Chloe? We are taking your calls live.

Very quickly, to tonight`s "Case Alert." Nine firefighters lose their lives in the line of duty, Charleston, South Carolina, the fire department battling an inferno at a furniture warehouse when the roof collapses. At least one trapped employee escapes unharmed. Nearby residents evacuated. The tragedy marks the biggest loss of firefighters in the line of duty since 9/11. Tonight, we honor these nine true heroes who gave their lives to save others.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

PORTER: He`s here alone, and she`s gone. Her car`s here.

911 OPERATOR: Who`s gone?

PORTER: My daughter!

911 OPERATOR: OK. How old is she?

PORTER: She`s 27 years old.

911 OPERATOR: OK. And how old is the child that was left alone?

PORTER: She didn`t leave him alone! My God, something`s wrong! She`s due in two weeks, and she`s just missing! Her car`s here, her purse. Her house is trashed, and she`s not here.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: A 26-year-old Ohio mom disappears from her own home. This just released. grainy surveillance images of Jessie Marie Davis shopping on Wednesday night. This is the last time she is known to be alive. This is from a local store. And there you see her very clearly. This is Wednesday night.

Phil Trexler, what time was this photo taken, do we know?

TREXLER: It was taken about 6:23 PM.

GRACE: And what -- but the mom talked to her after that, correct?

TREXLER: Yes, the mom talked to her about three hours later, and that`s the last anybody has apparently spoken to her.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Sarah in Nevada. Hi, Sarah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to know when are they going to have the results for the DNA test to actually prove that it was her baby?

GRACE: To Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, forensic scientist. It`s my understanding, as I recall from practicing, you can get a DNA test back in about three days. Can it be less?

KOBILINSKY: Yes, it can be less, Nancy. But also, remember that there is no exemplar of the mother. They`ve got to use a toothbrush -- .

GRACE: Can`t they get that from the home?

KOBILINSKY: Yes. They need a toothbrush, hairbrush, something of that sort. It`ll probably take a day-and-a-half to get results.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PORTER: I think I immediately thought someone had taken her. I was screaming, Not my daughter, not my daughter. I just -- it was just an unbelievable feeling, for her just -- not to find her there. She was taken. I know that. She would have never left. She would have never, ever left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: This is the just released surveillance image of Jessie Marie Davis, age 26. She went missing from her own home in Ohio. The grand mother, her mother, as she told me last night, found the 2-year-old son at home alone, she believes had been there at least a day, if not a day-and-a- half, due to the soiled nature of his diapers. The baby was thirsty and hungry. But where is Jessie? In addition to these grainy images released by a local store, we learn a newborn baby girl has been abandoned at the home of a retired nurse just 30 miles away.

Out to the lines. Jean in Ohio. Hi, Jean.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`d like to know if you can tell by looking at the baby whether it was a natural childbirth or a caesarian.

GRACE: Interesting. We`ll ask the specialist. Hallie Redman found the newborn baby girl on her back porch. What do you think, Hallie?

REDMAN: I could not make that judgment. I would assume...

GRACE: What was the shape of the head?

REDMAN: Pardon?

GRACE: What was the shape of the head?

REDMAN: It was pointed in the back, as if it had come down the birth canal. But I -- I cannot say with any certainty that it was a vaginal delivery or if it was a caesarian.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In her first frantic call alerting police that her daughter had vanished, Patty Porter makes it clear her grandson, Blake, was home alone.

DISPATCHER: OK, and how old is the child that was left alone?

PORTER: She didn`t leave him alone. My god, something`s wrong!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That makes this 2-year-old boy the only known witness in the disappearance of his 26-year-old mother, Jessie Davis, who`s just a few weeks from delivering her second child. Blake did see something. He`s been talking about it ever since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rug.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy`s in the rug, he keeps saying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Blake`s referring to, his grandmother says, is the comforter that`s now missing from Jessie`s home. Porter believes a stranger wrapped up Jessie in that comforter and carried her out of the house. But police are trying to learn more about people Jessie does know, including Bobby Cutts, the Canton police officer and father of her son and possibly her unborn child. Investigators searched Cutts` home, but there`s no word on what, if anything, was found.

DISPATCHER: Can I help you?

PORTER: Yes, we need -- we need help at 8686 Essex.

DISPATCHER: 8686, what street?

PORTER: Essex.

DISPATCHER: What`s the problem?

PORTER: My daughter`s gone. She`s due in two weeks, and my grandson`s here alone, and this whole house has been ransacked.

DISPATCHER: How old is your...

PORTER: My grandson is 2.

DISPATCHER: And he`s gone?

PORTER: He`s here alone!

DISPATCHER: OK, you need to calm down so I can understand you.

PORTER: I`m trying.

DISPATCHER: OK.

PORTER: He`s here alone, and she`s gone. Her car`s here.

DISPATCHER: Who`s gone?

PORTER: My daughter!

DISPATCHER: OK. How old is she?

PORTER: She`s 27 years old.

DISPATCHER: OK, and how old is the child that was left alone?

PORTER: She didn`t leave him alone. My god, something`s wrong! She`s due in two weeks, and she`s just missing. Her car is here, her purse. Her house is trashed, and she`s not here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: With me here on the set, Court TV`s Jean Casarez. You had an important observation, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: Nancy, this surveillance picture is so important, because look at the clothes that she is wearing, all right? Investigators are going to try to see if those clothes are at the home and if they can see what the baby has on, that could help, too, because let`s look at the time line. That`s what`s critical in this case is the time line.

If 6:23 p.m. is when she was at that store, she calls her mother at 9:20, all right? If those clothes are in the home, then possibly later on that evening or in the early morning hours she was taken from the home. If she still has those clothes on, then more likely than not it would be shortly after 9:20 p.m. when she talks with her mother.

GRACE: You know, the same issue came up in the case of Scott Peterson. Out to you, Mike Brooks, remember that? Laci Peterson was found wearing the same outfit her sister had last seen her in. The pants she had on, they believe, authorities believe were the same ones she had on when she was last seen, dating the time of her death, Mike Brooks.

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE: I remember that very, very much, Nancy. I was out there for almost the whole time and also during the search when they were looking for she and baby Conner. And you`re absolutely right. And it comes into play here. That`s a great observation.

I was thinking about what her parents, her sister and her mother, would probably know, you know, what clothes she would wear on a regular basis. She said yesterday when we had the mother on to show that apparently she had her clothes laid out to go to work. So, again, the time line is very important here. But there are so many gaps right now in the time line, Nancy.

And hopefully the analysis of her cell phone, which I think took a little bit too long to get going to begin with, hopefully the analysis of her cell phone is back or will be back shortly, and maybe they can try to fill in some of those gaps with the analysis of her phone. And I`d also be taking a look at Bobby Cutts` phone, the estranged wife, and see exactly who they were talking to at that same time frame.

GRACE: Hey, Mike Brooks, question. I know you`ve informed us all and educated us all about getting pings off cell phone. If the cell phone is still turned on, you can find out the general area, sometimes down to the half block where the cell phone is. But if you want to find out if she made phone calls from the home after her mother talked to her around 9:30 or so Wednesday evening, how do you do that?

BROOKS: That`s very easy to do. You don`t even need that much of an analysis for that. You just go ahead and subpoena the phone carrier for that particular area of the country, and you have an agent or an officer go over and pick it up. They can print it right out instantly. And they can go over, pick it up, and they`ll take a look at all the outgoing calls. And they might be able to get some of the incoming calls, also, and the duration of how long those calls lasted.

GRACE: And also we know that the biological father of the 2-year-old and baby Chloe, yet to be born, is not a suspect. He does say that he was supposed to pick the 2-year-old up on Thursday for visitation and that he called and called and called, nobody ever answered. Can we get his home calls, who he called, and his cell phone, as well, Mike Brooks?

BROOKS: Absolutely, Nancy. All you need is the subpoena, and the FBI, who`s involved here in this case, the domestic police cooperation case, or the local sheriff`s department, they can go over, pick them up. Now, it will take an analysis of the cell phone a little bit longer than it would for just the regular hard line.

GRACE: I don`t understand that because they certainly have it broken down on your cell bill. Out to the lines, Sarah in Ohio. Hi, Sarah.

CALLER: Hi, my question is -- I`m from Akron, and we had heard on the local news that they did another search of the crime scene yesterday, after they had already released the crime scene. Down the road, if this has to go to trial, is that going to make a difference?

GRACE: What about it, Phil Trexler? Was there a second search on the home?

PHIL TREXLER, REPORTER: Well, there was some misreporting on that. The chief deputy, Rick Perez, clarified that this afternoon, saying that Bobby Cutts` home was not searched yesterday. His car was, in fact, searched yesterday, with his cooperation, and the car belonging to his wife.

GRACE: The caller, Sarah in Ohio, asked about the crime scene, where Jessie was taken. Was there another search on Jessie`s home?

TREXLER: Yes, there was another search. The FBI evidence response team visited the home yesterday night.

GRACE: And let`s go out to the lawyers, Susan Moss, Randy Zelin, Anne Bremner, Anne, very often there are subsequent searches. If the crime scene has not been disturbed, I don`t think there will be a problem at trial. Can you foresee a problem?

ANNE BREMNER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: No, except anytime there`s any question raised about the sanctity of a crime scene, Nancy. You know that a defense attorney can come in and make a lot of hay with it, like we saw in the O.J. Simpson case, for example. And so it`s just something to be careful about.

GRACE: Zelin?

RANDY ZELIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely, it would be a primary thrust of my argument. I`m going to look for anything that I can to put doubt in the minds of those jurors. You compromise a crime scene, you leave it unattended, hey, who knows what could go on in there? It creates reasonable doubt.

GRACE: So basically you just make something up. Susan Moss, agree or disagree?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: I disagree. As long as that crime scene was guarded and no one was able to get in there, you should be OK.

GRACE: To psychotherapist Dr. Mark Hillman, Dr. Hillman, according to a recent AMA study -- well, it`s about four years ago -- the highest cause, the single greatest cause of death amongst pregnant women is homicide. Why?

MARK HILLMAN, CLINICAL PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, because a lot of unwanted pregnancies, a lot of women don`t want to go for termination of pregnancy, and so what happens is there`s a lot of drama centered around that. And there`s an ego conflict between a man and a woman, so the easiest way to alleviate that situation, unfortunately, is homicide, which is a real tragedy.

But going back to something Anne Bremner said earlier, the key witness in this is going to be Blake, the 2-year-old. Mommy did this, Mommy did that. I think with play therapy techniques, with videotaping the child in a safe environment, that can be the real key to breaking this situation wide open.

GRACE: And I don`t know about you, Dr. Hillman, but I`ve had many cases where, when a child could not articulate what had happened, they can draw or show to a jury with dolls, and that is more powerful than any spoken word, if you can crack the code.

To Pam in Arkansas, hi, Pam.

CALLER: Hi, friend.

GRACE: Thank you. What`s your question, dear?

CALLER: My question is, can the police or are the police going to take fingerprints off of the formula or anything that was left in the basket?

GRACE: What about it, Jean, do we know?

CASAREZ: I think that`s such an important question. I think forensics is a big key to this case, and I think definitely they will look at all of those things that were in the wicker basket. But you know the important thing in the home that I think they need to do forensics on? The bleach bottle itself.

GRACE: You`re right.

CASAREZ: Because bleach is all over the house.

GRACE: They poured bleach all over the carpet in the bedroom. Very quickly, Lawrence Kobilinsky, we`re down to a few seconds in this block. How difficult will it be to get fingerprints off a woven basket that was holding the baby?

LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Could be very hard. You might be able to get a partial print at best. It`s not going to be easy. It depends on the surface and how much area has been exposed.

GRACE: Right. Hallie Redman found the newborn baby, retired nurse. Before you leave us, Hallie, what did you think when you handed that baby over to police?

REDMAN: Well, I -- it was such a beautiful baby, I hated to see it leave me. But, nevertheless, I felt that the mother, whoever the mother of this child was, had made a very mature decision, and that was to give the baby to someone who could care for the child better than she could. I`m sure the baby will now be adopted and hopefully go into a loving, nurturing home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PORTER: We`re trying to get her boyfriend on the phone, because he had to have dropped the baby off yesterday, because he had him.

DISPATCHER: OK, dropped what baby off?

PORTER: There`s a 2-year-old. He`s been here -- he`s by himself and my daughter`s gone.

DISPATCHER: The 2-year-old is there by himself?

PORTER: Yes, my daughter`s due in two weeks. She`s pregnant, and the house is trashed.

DISPATCHER: OK, does the house look like it`s messed up or like she just walked away?

PORTER: Everything`s just everywhere. She would never walk away.

DISPATCHER: OK. Say that again. I need you to slow down.

PORTER: I don`t know. There`s stuff everywhere. Her purse is dumped out.

GRACE: OK, has anybody been in contact with the father recently?

PORTER: No.

GRACE: No?

PORTER: He was supposed to have had him all day yesterday. That`s why we didn`t talk to her. And then he was supposed to have brought him home last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Twenty-six-year-old Jessie Marie Davis, two weeks away from giving birth, that was last week, still not found. Headline: A baby girl found abandoned just 30 miles away from Jessie`s home on a retired nurse`s doorstep.

Also tonight, these videos, this grainy image just released from a local grocery store. This is Jessie on Wednesday night. We know she was gone by Thursday. Was she gone after this photo?

And we learn tonight the biological father of her unborn child and 2- year-old has consented to police searching his home and car. Out to the lines, Caroline in Alabama, hi, Caroline.

CALLER: Hello.

GRACE: Hi, dear, what`s your question?

CALLER: Well, I made an observation. When the baby was found, it was obviously taken care of...

GRACE: Yes.

CALLER: ... you know, with the clothing and such. To make it brief, why would someone care so much about the baby as to take such good care of it and leave a 2-year-old alone in a house without food or water? And also, with the 2-year-old, did it sleep in the baby bed?

GRACE: Excellent question. Let`s unleash the lawyers for analysis. What about it, Susan Moss? That would certainly be a dichotomy of treatment of the two children.

MOSS: Absolutely, but it seems like whoever did this did know these two children. Remember, the spotlight is still on dad. We recently learned that he was convicted of criminally trespassing in the home of his first child`s mother. Maybe history repeated itself; maybe they had a fight about child support. The only thing we know for sure is that mommy is in a rug and daddy`s child support obligation might be a lot less heavy.

GRACE: That biological dad, again, not named a suspect or person of interest. Out to Kathy in North Carolina, Kathy?

CALLER: Hey, Nancy. The lady before me just touched on this, the baby in the crib. My question is, if a time line is so important, the baby, if the baby was put into the crib that night before, was the baby -- some babies are able to crawl out of their cribs. I don`t know how old this child was, 2-plus. But they can sometimes get out.

My question is, if the baby did not get out of the crib, the little 2- year-old -- the grandparents probably know that, the grandmother probably knows that -- that might help with the time line, because she said the baby was wandering around. So if he was wandering around, he may have never been put to bed the night before.

GRACE: What about that, Mike Brooks, as you take a look at the time line?

BROOKS: That`s exactly right, Nancy. And the grandma would be able to tell, you know, when she walked in -- yesterday, she gave a lot of great information about trying to put together some of the gaps in this time line, especially because of the dirty diaper. And she said downstairs the house smelled very, very badly. So, apparently, the child had been left alone for quite some time.

The other question was, did he have his night clothes on? Or was he still dressed like he was there during the daytime, like he was also at the store? That`s going to play a big role in trying to put some of these gaps together in this time line, Nancy.

GRACE: Very quickly, to the safety director for the city of Canton, Ohio, Bernie Hunt is joining us. He sent the letter putting cuts on administrative leave. Sir, is that standard operating procedure, and why?

BERNIE HUNT, SAFETY DIRECTOR, CANTON, OHIO: Yes, it is standard operating procedure. When we have an officer that is involved in stressful situations, we want to make sure that any officer who works for the city of Canton has a clear mind and is not concerned with personal issues that might cloud his judgment.

GRACE: So Bernie Hunt with us, reemphasizing that Cutts was not put on leave because he`s a suspect or a person of interest.

Very quickly tonight, "CNN Heroes."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUGENE RUTAGARAMA, "DEFENDING THE PLANET": When you approach a group of gorillas, the first feeling that you are approaching a relative, a human being. In this region, we have been able to bring conservationists from the three governments together to sign an agreement to protect these mountain gorillas. Having rangers to cover the park with their patrol means that we keep the poaching at the lowest level, but the poaching is still there.

My name is Eugene Rutagarama. My work is to protect mountain gorillas in their habitat.

When I came back from Burundi, Rwanda was devastated by the genocide. You would see the bodies of dead people, thousands of people. The whole country had to resume from scratch.

My attention went to the national parks. If these parks were not protected, it means that we`ll have lost the mountain gorillas, which is a hobby for many tourists. It brings foreign currency for this country which helps to conserve this park.

Gorillas can`t really do much if a human being has decided to decimate or to kill the gorillas. They need to be defended; they need to be protected by human beings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PORTER: He`s here alone, and she`s gone. Her car`s here.

DISPATCHER: Who`s gone?

PORTER: My daughter!

DISPATCHER: OK. How old is she?

PORTER: She`s 27 years old.

DISPATCHER: OK, and how old is the child that was left alone?

PORTER: She didn`t leave him alone. My god, something`s wrong! She`s due in two weeks, and she`s just missing. Her car is here, her purse. Her house is trashed, and she`s not here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Where is 26-year-old Jessie, two weeks away from delivering her second child? Out to the lines, Kate in Wisconsin, hi, Kate.

CALLER: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

CALLER: I`m calling because, does Jessie Davis have a neighbor in the duplex? And if she does, didn`t they hear the baby crying or anything like that?

GRACE: What do we know, Phil Trexler?

TREXLER: We know that she does have a neighbor and with thin walls. However, the neighbor was on vacation when all this went down.

GRACE: No help. And what was that conviction on for Bobby Cutts, Jean?

CASAREZ: He was charged originally with criminal trespass, but he pled guilty to disorderly conduct, domestic issue.

GRACE: And, Dr. Kobilinsky, what forensics will crack the case?

KOBILINSKY: Well, I think there are two crime scenes. One is where the baby was dropped off, in the wicker basket. The contents of that basket may reveal important information, perhaps DNA, perhaps fingerprints, perhaps other trace evidence. They might be able to trace where this stuff was coming from. And, of course, the bleach in the house.

GRACE: Absolutely. Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky joining us tonight.

Let`s stop to remember Army Private First Class Robert Liggett, 23, Urbana, Illinois, killed, Iraq. A combat engineer on a first tour, he dreamed of enlisting since high school. Loved bowling, big brother and big sister mentoring program, leaving behind dad, Dean, mom, Roxanne, sister, Elizabeth, fiancee, Ashley. Robert Liggett, American hero.

Thank you for being with us and to our guests. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp, Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END

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