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NANCY GRACE

Search for Missing 22-Year-Old Virginia Woman

Aired May 4, 2012 - 20:00   ET

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


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Virginia. A young mother asks her live-in boyfriend to bring home a Blizzard from the local DQ -- Dairy Queen -- around 10:00 PM. When he gets home, 22-year-old Heather Hodges gone, her 2-year-old toddler girl left behind.

Bombshell tonight. Did the missing mom warn her family she was in danger? All her personal belongings left behind. Tonight, where is 22- year-old Heather?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her live-in boyfriend allegedly left for Dairy Queen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To pick up a Blizzard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Mr. Jordan returned, Ms. Hodges was not at the residence and he`s not heard from her since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A vehicle and cell phone left behind, none of her personal belongings missing. Family extremely concerned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister has been a dedicated mother for the past two years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not making contact, abruptly leaving without letting anyone know that she was going anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has never gone without checking in with her child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a chilling twist, her sister reveals an eerie warning from Heather just days before she goes missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heather`s sister claims that just weeks ago, Heather said if anything happened, she`s not suicidal and to not stop looking for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. To Virginia, a young mother asks her live-in boyfriend to bring home a Blizzard from the local DQ, the Dairy Queen. That was around 10:00 o`clock. When he gets home, he says 22-year-old girlfriend Heather Hodges is gone, leaving behind her toddler girl and all her personal belongings.

Straight out to Carroll Sluss, anchor, Supertalk 1050 -- that`s WBRG - - joining me out of Lynchburg. Carroll, what do you know?

CARROLL SLUSS, SUPERTALK 1050 WBRG RADIO (via telephone): We know that the more answers we get, the more questions we have, Nancy. This is a case of a young lady who`s gone missing, and the questions just seem to lead us to more questions.

GRACE: OK, Dave Mack, give me something -- Dave Mack, morning talk show host, joining us out of Clear Channel. Dave, it`s 10:00 o`clock at night. First of all, was the Dairy Queen even still open?

DAVE MACK, CLEAR CHANNEL, WAAX RADIO: It was. And you know, Nancy, this story is so weird from every get-go that you look at. But according to her boyfriend, she wanted a Blizzard at 10:30 at night, so off he goes. Ten minutes later, she`s gone without a trace. There was a lot more leading up to it, though.

GRACE: What do you mean, "a lot more leading up to it"?

MACK: You know, they had been through...

GRACE: Dave Mack! Dave Mack! Put him up! Don`t just throw out some cryptic comment like that, all right? Don`t try to be all mysterious. What do you mean there`s a lot more leading up to it?

MACK: Well, that morning, I mean, she had been dropped off by her sister at 6:30 in the morning, and they were supposed to pick her up -- the sister was supposed to pick her back up a couple hours later. When they called to pick her up, the boyfriend says, No, she`s asleep.

Then flash forward 13 hours later, when he says that he had to go to get her an ice cream. Well, if there was all that arrangement ahead of time, don`t you think that in between 11:00 o`clock that morning and 10:00 that night, she would have called the sister to say, I`m not coming home? I mean, there`s just something not right about it.

GRACE: I agree. Dave Mack, what about cell phones? What about cell phones? What about telephone landlines? What about computers, text messages, anything?

MACK: Well, not since she has not been there. I mean, well, not -- since 6:30 in the morning, when her sister dropped her off, they`ve had no contact with her at all. And her cell phone was left with her purse, her car and everything. The only thing missing is Heather.

GRACE: OK, out to you Matt Zarrell. I got a lot of questions regarding what time she was last heard from, from anyone other than the boyfriend. I know family dropped her off at 6:30 in the morning. What else do you know?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, the family allegedly talked to her between 9:00 and 10:00 AM that morning. But again, as reports are saying, they went to -- they were arranging to pick her up in the afternoon, and when they called, she was asleep.

Now, what happens is that they said 13 hours later, he comes back from the Dairy Queen, she is not there. He calls the family that night and says, I came back, she`s gone, I don`t know where she is. That`s Monday night.

However, he does not report her missing to police until Wednesday morning. Now, police are saying he is cooperative. He is not a suspect or person of interest, but they are calling this disappearance very suspicious.

GRACE: Out to Carroll Sluss at Supertalk WBRG. Carroll, question. What do we know about the live-in? First of all, does he have a job?

SLUSS: He has a history of unemployment. And what`s interesting is he describes himself as working at Short Bus (ph) Roofing, but other than that, there`s no history of employment. And he seems to kind of float through life.

GRACE: Well, what I was trying to get at, Carroll, is -- and you`ve answered my question -- did he log in anywhere that day? Did he have to be anywhere at all other than at his place?

SLUSS: No. He apparently had corresponded with Crystal (ph), Heather`s sister, and had some phone conversations, but had no place to be, no appointments, no job that he was scheduled to report for.

GRACE: What about the baby, Dave Mack? Where is the 2-year-old toddler right now?

MACK: She remains with family, Nancy, as she has been since Easter Sunday.

GRACE: So is she with the mom`s family?

MACK: Yes, ma`am. She`s with Crystal and the mother, Paula (ph).

GRACE: The baby is 2 years old?

MACK: Yes, ma`am. And she`s never been away...

GRACE: The bio dad? Who`s the father?

MACK: Oh, the father. The baby Daddy is Paula -- or Paul Jordan, their -- yes, Paul Jordan, the live-in. Or at least that`s on...

GRACE: OK, take a...

MACK: ... the baby pictures that are posted on FaceBook.

GRACE: Take a look, everyone. Tip line, 540-483-6620. Heather Hodges is just 22 years old. She`s the mom of a beautiful 2-year-old little girl. She`s 5-foot 1-inch, 100 pounds, blond, blue eyes. Her vehicle, her pocketbook, her cell phone all left behind. Her 2-year-old daughter now with her. (SIC)

And I`ve a question about that. Back to you, Dave Mack. Dave, if this is her father, why isn`t she with her father?

MACK: You know, Nancy, one of the many questions about this entire relationship is why. Why are they even together? I mean, and I know you`ll get into that later on, but I don`t know why the baby is not with the supposed daddy at this time.

GRACE: Back to you, Carroll Sluss, joining us from Supertalk WBRG. A lot has been mentioned about their prior relationship. Also, we learned that she stated two others, If I go missing, I`m not suicidal. To whom did she state that?

SLUSS: Heather apparently confided a great deal in her sister, Crystal. And she had told Crystal several days before her disappearance that, If I happen to not be found sometime, don`t treat it like me just being gone somewhere or I`ve left. Follow up everything because it may not just be coincidental, something may have happened.

And it`s ironic that she would mention that to Crystal just a few days before she turns up missing.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Kimberly, Tennessee. Hi, Kimberly. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Hi, there. I was just wondering, did she leave her phone behind or her wallet?

GRACE: You know, it`s my understanding, Pat Brown, that she left all of her personal items behind. What do you know, Pat?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, it`s never a good sign when that happens, and that did happen, which, of course, would allow the boyfriend to think something had happened to her, that she just vanished out of the house.

But on the other hand, the way she vanished doesn`t make sense to me, especially since the mother says he`s been in a relationship with her for 10 years. That makes her 12 years old when they started a relationship, a 12-year-old with a 30-year-old. So this man has a lot of control over the woman. A very bizarre relationship, and I just don`t believe the story.

GRACE: How old is he, Pat?

BROWN: Near 40 now. She`s 22. They`ve been in a relationship for 10 years. Do the numbers.

GRACE: So I`m looking at the DOB right now. I think you`re right. He`s 39. She is 22. So this started when she was 12 and he was 29?

BROWN: According to Mom, they`ve been around each other for that long. So this is a long history between the two of them. And that`s kind of concerning to me when I see a man that age have any kind of relationship other than a fatherly one with a girl that young.

GRACE: And it started when she was 12?

BROWN: Well, the mother indicated they had had a relationship since they`ve been -- since she was 12. I don`t know what she exactly meant by "relationship," but clearly, this man was in her life for a very long time.

And the mother was saying they have a concerning relationship, that the man was abusive toward her, very controlling, and had already gotten in an argument with him -- the mother got in an argument with him just a few days before that. So there`s something really going wrong between the two of those. And therefore, if she goes missing, that man is going to be looked at.

GRACE: Pat brown, are you aware of any statements made by the mother to him -- by Heather`s mother to the live-in -- at the time of that argument? The live-in, Jordan, Paul, Jr.?

BROWN: We haven`t heard about any statements that were made. The mother simply said that...

GRACE: Well, I have.

BROWN: ... that a chair was thrown and then he came after her with a baseball bat, and she filed charges against him. And yet the girl was still in the house with him.

GRACE: OK. Out to you, Matt Zarrell. I`ve got the criminal complaint in my hand right here. This is the complaint against the live- in, Heather Hodges` live-in, who goes out to get her a Blizzard at the DQ at 10:00 o`clock at night. And the mom says that he throws a chair at her, physically attacks her. She made a very damning statement to him at that time. Repeat.

ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy. She claimed that the boyfriend had been molesting Heather since she was 14. Now, one thing I want to make clear. He has not been arrested or charged. There have been no allegations filed. This is what is in the criminal complaint that the mother says started the attack just four days before Heather went missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We received a report from Mr. Paul Jordan, boyfriend of Heather Hodges, on Wednesday, April the 11th, reporting he had not seen Heather since Monday, April 9th, in the evening hours when he had left to go to the store.

When Mr. Jordan returned, Ms. Hodges was not at the residence and he`s not heard from her since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s only 22 years old and a mother to a 2-year- old girl, but tonight, Heather Hodges is missing, seemingly falling off the face of the earth in the timespan her 40-year-old boyfriend reportedly says it took him to go to Dairy Queen to buy some ice cream. When he allegedly returns, Heather is gone, but her vehicle, cell phone, and personal belongings remain. Heather`s sister is speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight out to Bobbie, Kentucky. Hi, Bobbie. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just wondering, it looks kind of (INAUDIBLE) to me, why the little girl would be still at the home with the mother missing. I kind of agree with the husband being a suspect because leaving the little girl there and all the mother`s belongings are still there, it looks a little odd.

GRACE: I think it does look bad, Bobbie in Kentucky. The live-in, Paul Jordan, Jr., has not been named a suspect. He has not been named by police as a suspect. He says he leaves at 10:00 PM to go get his girlfriend, Heather, the mother of his 2-year-old little girl, a Blizzard at DQ. When he gets back, she`s gone. Interesting the 2-year-old girl, his child, is with Heather`s family tonight, not with him.

I`m looking right now -- and I want to go out to you, Dave Mack with Clear Channel, joining us. I`m looking at a 2006 complaint. six years ago, over six years ago, six-and-a-half years ago. This is when she, Heather, is only about 15 years old, states that during a road check, the live-in pulls up with Heather Hodges in the passenger seat, who at that moment was listed as a runaway.

It states, "We have found Heather with Paul on other occasions." So this discussion about him being with her when she is a juvenile is, in fact, true. I`ve got the complaint right here in my hand.

MACK: It`s been established for a long time, Nancy, that this was a bad situation, controlling and abusive, that began when she was right around her teenage years, 12, 13 years old, because her family has said it`s been going on for 10 years. Again, you`re holding a document right now that shows you back to when she was 15, 16, somewhere in there.

There`s been a lot said about the age difference and everything else. I have to wonder, the fight that actually took place when Paula, the mother, went over to break it up, that led to the misdemeanor charges of assault and battery against the baby daddy here -- you know, you`ve got to wonder how long this has been festering and what actually led to everything that took place on April the 5th, when, in fact, you know, right before Easter weekend, she goes and stays with her family. She wasn`t with him.

She had just gotten back to the house that she shared with the baby daddy on that Monday morning at 6:30, and then the next time family tries to talk to her, she`s asleep.

GRACE: Sheryl McCollum, crime analyst, director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute -- Sheryl, we know that the most dangerous time for women that have ever been abused is when they try to leave the relationship.

SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST: Right.

GRACE: Again, the live-in is not named a formal suspect. Weigh in, Sheryl.

MCCOLLUM: My issue is he claims she was asleep. We don`t know that. Something could have already happened to her at that point. So you have Monday at 6:30, and that`s the last time anybody other than Mr. Jordan has seen her alive. He has 72 hours to clean up, hide, and discard whatever may have gone wrong in that home, if something, in fact, happened to her in that home.

GRACE: You know, Sheryl, this is not a fanciful or a frivolous discussion that he was with her when she was a juvenile. I also have in my hand his guilty plea, where he pled guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and actually did jail time for it, for not leaving this girl alone when she is a minor.

Now here we are all these years later, and she`s gone. She`s got a baby by him.

MCCOLLUM: Right.

GRACE: And she`s missing. Not only that -- unleash the lowers. Joining me tonight Holly Hughes, defense attorney, Atlanta, Ken Padowitz, former prosecutor, Miami, defense attorney Alex Sanchez from New York.

Apparently, this started when she was just 14 years old or younger and he is borderline 30 years old, Ken Padowitz.

KEN PADOWITZ, FORMER PROSECUTOR: And we don`t have to be a rocket scientist, Nancy, to recognize that there`s something very wrong with this picture. They don`t have to name him as a suspect, but clearly, this live- in boyfriend is somebody that the police need to be investigating. They need to be looking. They need to turn over every rock and every crevice to see what this man has done in this relationship and what led up to the events on that day that she went missing.

I agree we might not even know whether or not -- what happened to her after she was sleeping.

GRACE: Holly?

HOLLY HUGHES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, at this point, it`s important to remember she has gone missing before voluntarily on her own. So we cannot look at the boyfriend and say he`s, you know, done something to her because she has a pattern of disappearing.

GRACE: Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. If all these allegations are true about her claiming she`s not suicidal, she`s afraid in the home, why shouldn`t she go missing, Alex?

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, look, you do have to look at a person`s background. And when you look at a person`s background, it will interfere with what the current investigation. I think his background should be investigated. All parties should be investigated. But you know, her background needs to be investigated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seemingly falling off the face of the earth, not even checking on her 2-year-old daughter, Heather hasn`t been heard from since. What happened next, a mystery. Don`t stop looking until the person responsible is brought to justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That was the plea of this woman before she went missing. Tonight, we uncover that her relationship with her live-in has gone on since she was somewhere between 12 and 14 years old. At that time, he was nearly 30.

She now has a baby girl by this man, her live-in, who says he went to go get her a Blizzard at the local DQ that night at 10:00 PM. He comes home and she`s gone, leaving behind all of her personal items, pocketbook, cell phone, and oh, yes, her 2-year-old baby girl.

We are taking your calls. But very quickly -- he, the boyfriend, is not a suspect, but he`s been a suspect in other cases. Let`s see all those mug shots. Let`s see, we`ve got destroying property, grand larceny, petite larceny, brandishing a firearm -- oh, that was a not guilty -- assault, battery, destruction of property, a monument. What was that? Manufacture, sale, possession, distribution controlled substance, obstructing justice, contributing to delinquency of a minor, profanity or threat on a public airway. That was dismissed. Public swearing, intoxication, guilty, obstruction of justice, guilty.

That`s quite a resume, Alex Sanchez, quite a CV.

SANCHEZ: Yes, he`s got a record, and that`s exactly why he`s in the crosshairs of the police. I mean, people`s backgrounds do follow them and cause the police to conduct an investigation. But I would hope the police...

GRACE: Well, that`s ridiculous.

SANCHEZ: ... do not ignore her background. She has left in the past.

GRACE: That is not why he is in the crosshairs, as you put it. Marc Klaas, president, founder, Klaas Kids Foundation, you always start an investigation with those people most close to the victim and who saw the victim last. That`s SOP.

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, it`s SOP. And this guy`s in the crosshairs in this situation not because of his past but because of the increasing amount of red flags that are showing up in this Chinese new year parade.

On top of everything else -- and everybody`s been exactly correct -- and I must ask the question, why is this guy not a registered sex offender if he`s a 30-year-old having sex with a 12-year-old?

But that having been said, the thing that really galls me about the case is the fact that he comes home from the Dairy Queen. Within 10 minutes, he`s on the phone with her family blubbering and crying like a 6- year-old girl because he can`t find his girlfriend. That makes no sense to me at all. That is staged behavior.

GRACE: Explain.

KLAAS: Well, listen, you come in and you find somebody not where they`re supposed to be, you`re going to look around the house. You`re going to make an assessment. If they`re not there, you will start calling around to various family members. Ultimately, you`ll call law enforcement. But you don`t freak out and start crying immediately. That`s not what an adult does.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her live-in boyfriend allegedly left for dairy queen --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To pick up a blizzard --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Mr. Jordan returned Ms. Hodges was not it at the residence and he has not heard from her since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her vehicle and cell phone left behind. None of her personal belongings missing. Family extremely concerned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My sister has been a dedicated mother for the past two years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not making contact, abrupt leaving without letting thin know she was not going anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has never gone without checking in with her child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a chilling twist her sister reveals an eerie warning from Heather just days before she goes missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heather`s sister claims that just weeks ago Heather said, if anything happened, she`s not suicidal and to not stop looking for her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Tonight a 2-year-old little girl is waiting for mommy to come home. We are taking your calls.

Joining me right now Dr. John Salinas. He is joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction.

Dr. Salinas, what types of are forensics clues could be found in the home or the car?

DOCTOR JOHN SALINAS, M.D., PHYSICIAN: Well, aside from fibers, hair fibers, and also blood, you know, specimens like that, those are all relevant to the case. So that`s something we`d be looking for.

GRACE: Question, if there had been a struggle in the home, what forensic science might point to that?

SALINAS: Well, you`re looking for signs of trauma or actual damage to any of the structures in the home, of course. But, you know, when you find the victim, you want to correlate those two together, instruments in the house that might have some evidence of bodily fluids are also relevant.

GRACE: Dr. Salinas, Heather and the live-in reportedly had a, quote, "rocky relationship." When you see in your practice women who have been victims of abuse, domestic abuse, do they typically tell you how they sustained their injuries or do they typically make up a reason?

SALINAS: Well, when a patient comes in usually with an injury, it`s forefront in the doctor`s mind there may be another cause for it. You try to open up to the patient, let them bring that information to you, but if there is a high suspicion, we are basically recommending, you know, that we turn this over to authorities when there`s a suspicious finding. We`ve had quite many patients reported abuse at home but it starts out very big.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Brenda, Indiana. Hi, Brenda. What`s your question?

BRENDA, CALLER, INDIANA: Hi, Nancy. The Hoosier state just loves you.

GRACE: Thank you. Thank you very much.

BRENDA: My question is, was the child acting funny in any way towards her father? Was it hurt mentally or physically? And I have a question about the dairy queen. How late are they open and did he actually come home with a blizzard, and has she ever left -- I heard them talking about her leaving all the time. Was that prior to her child or had she done that to her child before?

GRACE: Let`s address both of those. First of all, to you, Carroll Sluss. What do we know about the hours of the DQ, and did he ever show up -- do they have surveillance video?

CARROLL SLUSS, ANCHOR, SUPERTALK TOSO WBRC RADIO (via telephone): The Dairy Queen in Rocky Mount has surveillance video and the police in Rocky Mount have confirmed there`s video but they won`t make comments other than the fact video is available.

GRACE: What about it, Matt Zarrell?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: I think, Nancy, we`re still trying to happen, the time line there, because there`s conflicting reports about what time he arrived, how long he was gone going to the Dairy Queen and coming back and also his demeanor on the tape. How did he act when he walked into the dairy queen? What did he walk out with? We`re still waiting to answer those questions.

GRACE: Matt, are you sure that he was ever there?

ZARRELL: Nancy, we have not confirmed that he was there. Police are only telling us they have surveillance video and that is what the boyfriend has told them. Further than that, we cannot confirm it at this point.

GRACE: All right. We are taking your calls. A woman goes missing from her own home after sending her live-in out for a blizzard at the Dairy Queen.

Back to the little girl. Dave Mack, morning talk show host clear channel.

Dave, what do we know about the 2-year-old`s relationship with daddy? Everyone is asking why is the 2-year-old taken out of the home and gone to the missing mom`s family? Well, if he had been having a relationship with Heather Hodges when she was 12 to 14, I would not let a little girl stay in the home with him.

DAVE MACK, MORNING TALK SHOW HOST, CLEAR CHANNEL WALT RADIO: And that kind of makes sense, Nancy, when you look at the dynamic here. They`ve been a couple for ten years. They`re not married. They have a child together. So the baby is staying with her family, whether it`s by his choice or whatever, we don`t know.

But what we do know about their relationship and the type of man he is, there`s major issues between this family. You mentioned earlier about him being caught at a roadblock with her in the car and being charged and everything. According to her mother they tried to press charges but Heather would not help them. Heather would not cooperate in pressing charges when she was 14 or 15.

GRACE: Well, you know what, that doesn`t make sense, Sheryl McCollum, a lot of times you can`t get young girls or crime victims not to cooperate. That doesn`t mean you don`t go forward with the case.

SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST, POLYGRAPH ANALYSIS EXPERT: Domestic violence, Nancy is, she could have disappeared for days at a time waiting for injuries to heal on her face so her family would not know the extent of the violence.

GRACE: We are taking your calls, everyone.

I want to go back to Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "only the truth" and, also, with her Ramani Durvasula, a clinical psychologist joining us out of L.A.

First to you, Pat. I want to hear your thoughts.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR, ONLY THE TRUTH: One thing I think is very interesting which I agree with Mark, that man was blubbering and crying on the phone. Not only is that a staged thing but it`s abnormal for a guy whose woman has gone missing before. In other words, if she has run off before he should be angry not freaked out. He should be calling up the family going, where did she go this time? Is she staying over there with you? Are you harboring her is this he should be mad. He shouldn`t be crying. So I agree with mark entirely. Very, very staged.

GRACE: To Ramani Durvasula. Ramani, everyone says this woman, 22- year-old mom Heather Hodges, has run off. And I don`t like that because from what I am learning she and the live-in had a very, let me say you`ve mystically, rocky relationship. I know that the mother-in-law filed a complaint of him attacking her physically, attacking her, the mother-in- law. So, I don`t know what would go on behind closed doors.

But when a woman is a victim of domestic violence and, come on, she was in a relationship since she was at least 14 with a grown man, all of that plays in together in how she responds. If she has left the home or tried to leave the home before to escape that situation, I don`t think we should somehow turn the table on her and make it her fault she`s run off before. I don`t like that kind of talk.

RAMANI DURVASULA, PH.D., CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: No. We do this to women all the time. It is horrifying to be a battered woman at any age but this started for her when she was a girl. She didn`t have the vocabulary or the ability to get out of this relationship. And if she did, may call it for a few days at the time, it could have been to heal injuries. It could have because she felt helpless. But she kept going back because she didn`t know anything else.

And so, to put the spotlight on her, to blame her for being in an abusive relationship especially one that started when she was a child, I have a problem with that.

GRACE: OK, Matt Zarrell, I`m hearing there`s been a change-up. Where is the daughter now, the 2-year-old little girl?

ZARRELL: OK. According to Heather`s sister, the 2-year-old daughter is with Jordan`s family, the boyfriend`s family.

GRACE: But I`m getting a report right now that police are saying the child is with her, Heather Hodges` family. So, has the child gone back and forth, Dave Mack? Do we know is this because police are saying right now that the baby girl is back with her, Heather Hodges` family.

MACK: That`s what I was seeing right before the show, and so I don`t know whether they`re bouncing the child back and forth or not. I don`t know what that dynamic is.

GRACE: Well, I know this. I know this, Dave Mack. That 2-year-old little girl may be the only witness as to what happened to her mother.

MACK: Could be but actually, Nancy, she wasn`t with Heather the morning that she was dropped off. She remained with Heather`s family, is what my understanding was, and they dropped heather off at 6:30.

Heather was supposed to join her sister, Crystal, at 9:00 to go to a doctor`s appointment because Crystal is pregnant, and that`s when she called and the boyfriend said, no, she`s asleep.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heather Hodges is missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reported missing by her live-in boyfriend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want you home as soon as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her live-in boyfriend allegedly left for Dairy Queen to pick up some ice cream. When he returns, she`s gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheriff`s office says it has received few leads in the case, and the ones that have come in, mostly possible sightings, have turned up nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No tip or possible sighting is too small for us to follow up on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re diligently searching for her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Checking records, talking to people, anything we can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That anyone with any information please come forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. The desperate search for this woman. Heather Hodges, just 22-years-old, the mother of a 2-year-old little girl. Where is she? Last seen by her live-in who says he leaves the home as well 10:00 p.m. at night to get her a blizzard at the local DQ.

Matt Zarrell, what clues, if any, have we learned from heather`s own facebook page?

ZARRELL: Well, Nancy, that`s the thing. We can`t find it. It`s been taken down. We believe it`s been delete d. We do not know how deleted the facebook page. But, we know that the live-in boyfriend continued to post on facebook as recently as last week saying, I miss you, please come home. But, we don`t know how it got deleted but her facebook page is nonexistent anymore.

GRACE: What about activity on her cell phone, her ATM, any credit cards? Do we know anything, Dave Mack?

MACK: There`s been no activity, Nancy. Ever since, you know, from 6:30 Monday, there`s been nothing on it since is then.

GRACE: OK. Back to you, Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaaskids foundation, where do we go now?

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT, FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, that`s a really good question, Nancy. I mean, this is obviously a timid prosecutor and timid law enforcement. This guy has a history of crime that extends back a long, long time, that e extends back more than a decade. Yet he`s able to skirt the law and stay out of prison.

If he`s not being looked at as a person of interest in this case, then there`s no person of interest in any case in any jurisdiction in America. There are too many red flags. He`s implicated in too many ways for the authorities to ignore this and not completely focus in on this character and what he`s done to this young woman.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Ken Padowitz, Miami. Alex Sanchez, New York. Holly Hughes, Atlanta.

Kick off with you, Holly Hughes. What now?

HOLLY HUGHES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They`re going to continue to do what they`re doing, interview all the witnesses, keep an eye on everybody that`s been involved in her life. Look and see if there were other people she was in contact with.

She disappears in a very short window of time but we though, and I`m not blaming her as a victim, Nancy. I`m not saying it`s her fault she`s gone missing, but I`m saying her own pattern of behavior will inform how the investigation goes forward.

GRACE: Yes. You know what, I don`t even know what you are talking about, her pattern of behavior will inform how the investigation goes forward. I`m not sure that`s really even a correct sentence.

HUGHES: Well, Nancy, of course it is. She has gone missing on her own. She has voluntarily gone away for several days before. The police are going to be looking at who she was with at that time because maybe she went back and they did something.

GRACE: Holly, holly, before you were a defense attorney, as you are now, you were a prosecutor, were you not?

HUGHES: Yes.

GRACE: Did you deal with domestic violence cases?

HUGHES: Absolutely.

GRACE: Did women in domestic violence situations ever try to leave the home unsuccessfully and have to return?

HUGHES: Sometimes.

GRACE: To you, Ken Padowitz, do you think it would be helpful it if the police were tracking down the pings on the live-ins phone right now?

KEN PADOWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely. They should be tracking down the live-ins phone, everything about this non-suspect as the police are calling him right now. He is potentially the key as to where and what happened to this young woman. All of his background suggests there`s something very, very problematic with this man and they need to look very, very closely at everything associated with him and this woman.

GRACE: So, Alex Sanchez, I`m just getting a wire right now that at this hour police are searching a river right near their home.

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know I think --

GRACE: I guess you`re going to say she went and flung her seven in the river?

SANCHEZ: No. I don`t know that she is there and I think that`s good police action that they`re searching the place.

GRACE: Sheryl, Pat, why is everybody around me screaming she has disappeared in the past. Of course she has.

BROWN: Right.

GRACE: She is obviously in a domestic violence situation. Come on. She`s been with this guy who was 30 years old when she was 12. Now she`s got a baby by him. She tells her friends, don`t stop looking for me if I go missing. I am not suicidal. Come on. What do I have to do, take out a billboard on Broadway?

BROWN: Nancy, I think the thing is, there`s one little issue where law enforcement always has to keep in mind she could have possibly left the home on her own, maybe become a victim of somebody else while she was trying to escape. They have to look at that.

But what fascinates me the most is that if she left for any reason, even to hide interest him, his response is incorrect because he`s a control freak. She`s been with him forever and ever and ever. She is his woman and yet he`s not angry. He`s crying into the phone. That`s a big telltale for me. But, yes, she could have left for many, many reasons. We shouldn`t be overly focused on that.

GRACE: Sheryl McCollum, you have two children. I have two children.

MCCOLLUM: Yes.

GRACE: When you get home and your husband is not there, do you immediate l immediately pick up the phone and start blubbering into the phone? No, you assume your husband is at the grocery store, he`s getting the gas in the car. He had to go back to the office, something. Why would within 10, 15, 20 minutes of coming home telling everybody she is missing? Why?

MCCOLLUM: This entire scene is staged, Nancy. And again, what police need to do is go back to his home and figure out what`s not there that should be. He`s been arrested for drugs. Are there think drugs in the home? If there`s not, why not? Are there any weapons in the home? If not, why not?

He has stage this had whole thing. If the house is too clean. If he`s too cooperative. If he`s too upset. It`s the too theory. If he`s to anything it doesn`t make sense for him, we have an issue. Domestic violence is all about power and control. If she was going to leave him and he was losing control, he was going to lose control, he was going to stop that from happening.

GRACE: To Ramani Durvasula, clinical psychologist joining us out of L.A. Dr. Ramani, question, how difficult is it to have a 2-year-old witness?

DURVASULA: In the situation she was in to be so young, to be a mom and to be in a potential domestic violence situation, I mean, again, she didn`t have the resources and was in, again, this situation where she was completely un-empowered and had no control.

GRACE: Very quickly, CNN heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Living in Iraq during the war was pretty hard with the explosions, the kidnappings. We wanted to come to the U.S. it was like a dream, you know.

MARK KABBAN, CNN HERO: The United States has the most refugees in the world, many of them are from Iraq, and they`re being resettled in San Diego in large numbers.

When they get here, they`re learning a new language. They have to find employment. Really, in a loft ways, the struggle is just beginning.

For my family to come from Beirut, I was 9 years old. Working as a refugee case manager, I saw a lot of kids just idle, alienated, having a normal childhood is something is they deserve is.

My name is Mark Kabban and I use soccer to motivate refugees to succeed in the United States.

(INAUDIBLE) is an Arabic word which means, let`s go. It`s what we`re trying to do with the kids.

We have 200 refugees in our program. These kids come from all over Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Their families endured the same struggle. When they realize it, they become like brothers and sisters.

KIDS: One, two, three.

KABBAN: Soccer is an escape. It`s confidence. It`s making them feel like they belong and it`s just fun. We use soccer as a hook, and then, we have them in our education program.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was it an s.? A "c."

KABBAN: Try to get them on college.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They help me find friends and they teach me how to speak English. Now with Coach Mark, it`s a fun life.

KABBAN: Their families have sacrificed everything for their kids to have a better life. If we can do anything to help them, it`s my honor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s only 22 years old and a mother to a 2-year- old girl. But tonight, Heather Hodges is missing. But her vehicle, cell phone and personal belongings remain. Family extremely concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Where is 22-year-old Heather Hodges? Matt Zarrell, two things. The search of the river. What did it entail? Where is the river in relation to Heather`s home? And number two, what can you tell me about these misdemeanor assault charges by her mother, Heather`s mother, against the live-in?

ZARRELL: OK, Nancy. Now, the search of the river, the river is very close to the home. They had scent dogs out. They had a helicopter in the air. They`re actually dragging the floor of the river to see if there`s any evidence down there.

As far as the misdemeanor assault, just four days before heather goes missing, the live-in boyfriend allegedly assaults Heather`s mother. Throws a metal chair -- throws a chair at her and a metal on and chases after her with a baseball bat. He has a court hearing for that, Nancy, next month.

GRACE: Question, was Heather going to be a witness in any way in that case, Matt Zarrell?

ZARRELL: Nancy, I`m poring over the documents to see if heather was in the home when this attack happened. We are still trying to determine that. He was sleeping on the couch when the mother got to the home. So, we are trying to determine if there were witnesses including the 2-year-old and Heather.

GRACE: So the assault, the alleged assault on mother-in-law, Heather`s mother, happened in heather`s home?

ZARRELL: Correct, Nancy.

GRACE: So, obviously she and the little girl would likely be, if they were home, witnesses to it. And this is coming to court next week?

ZARRELL: Yes. He`s got a court hearing on this next month and we`re waiting to hear what`s going to happen with that. We don`t know more details. We`re still trying to learn more learn more.

GRACE: Everyone, take a look at Heather Hodges. She`s just 22 years old. Apparently no one ever took up for her in her life and now she`s missing. Tonight, we need your help. Tip line, 540-483-6620. Her mother tried to help her at age 12 to 14. It didn`t work. Now she`s left a 2- year-old little girl behind.

Let`s stop and remember marine staff sergeant Javier Ortiz Rivera, 26, Rochester, New York, killed Afghanistan. On a fourth tour. Served Iraq. Bronze star, purple heart, combat action ribbon.

Loved church, golf, home repairs, time with family. Leaves behind parents Orlando sr. and Gloria, brother Orlando jr., sister, Glory. Widow, Veronica. Children, Alyssa, Andrew, and Anthony.

Javier Ortiz Rivera. American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.

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