Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - ALERT: MISSING PREGNANT GIRL WITH 40-YEAR-OLD SEX PREDATOR

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

Tonight, there is an active Amber Alert for 16-year-old Sophia Martin Franklin in Arkansas, more than 700 miles from her home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Sophia is 5’9”, 186 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. The teenager, now missing a week, is believed to be travelling in a black 2014 Buick Lacrosse with Pennsylvania plate number KGW5186. The driver is 40-year-old abductor, Gary Day, the father of Sophia’s unborn child, but how did Franklin come to be with Day?  The summer before Sophia’s junior year of high school, Sophia asks her parents if it would be okay if she stays with her best friend’s family. The girls have been close for years and do everything together. Sophia makes a lot of good points about saving time and gas, and promises to check in frequently, so her parents eventually agree, knowing how happy it would make their daughter. Sophia makes the move in late July and says she’s having the time of her life!  Meanwhile, Gary Day is four years into a 6-year probation sentence and is used to surprise visits from his probation officer, but in December, the 40-year-old seems extremely nervous when the officer stops by. The supervisor also catches a glimpse of a woman running out the back door! He immediately chases her down and after an intense line of questioning—gets out that she is just 16-years-old and from Wisconsin! The teen admits she’s been with Day since August, and her family has no idea.   Sophia Franklin is removed from Day’s home and taken for a medical examination while authorities contact her family. Her parents are shocked and horrified to learn their daughter has been three states away with a predator this whole time—and even more appalled to learn she’s pregnant. Sophia is returned to Wisconsin as quickly as possible, and her parents take every step possible to protect her from Day and help their daughter heal.   Joining Nancy Grace today: Darryl Cohen  - Former Assistant District Attorney,  Former Assistant State Attorney, Defense Attorney, Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC, CCEAlaw.com, Facebook: "Darryl B Cohen", Twitter: @DarrylBCohen Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker,"  featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock www.drbethanymarshall.com/ , Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, Twitter: @DrBethanyLive Brian Fitzgibbons  -  Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security,  www.uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security,  Dr. Stacy Vaughan  -  Vice President of Growth and Prevention at Childhelp; website: www.childhelp.org; Instagram and Facebook: @childhelp; YouTube: @Childhelporg Alexis Tereszcuk  - Crime Online investigative reporter  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Urgent Amber alert. A missing pregnant girl believed to be with a 40-year-old sex predator. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. A Wisconsin family desperately searching for answers as to the whereabouts of their missing teen. Where is Sophia Franklin? Like so many parents, they think everything's fine. Their

daughter making great grades in school, attending their little Baptist church with them every Sunday. Everything seems to be going along normally in their minds. And then this. Listen. Tonight, there's an active Amber Alert for 16-year-old Sophia Martin Franklin in Arkansas, more than 700 miles from her home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Sophia is 5'9", 186 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. The teenager, now missing a week, is believed to be traveling in a black 2014 Buick

LaCrosse with Pennsylvania plate number KGW5186. The driver, 40-year-old abductor Gary Day, the father of Sophia's unborn child. You were first hearing the Beaver Dam Police Chief, John Krusiger, from our friends at WSN 12. This is what we know at this hour. A teen girl pregnant by a 40-year-old sex predator with a rap sheet. Right now, we don't know what state they could be in. We don't know where they're headed. And we know that he has a history of changing his car tags. Let's see that 2014 Buick one more time. It's a Buick LaCrosse. This is the actual vehicle the two are traveling in unless he's changed it out. And I'd like to point out that this big loser is driving his mother's car.

That's right. I did a search on this car and it is actually registered to his mother. Joining me in All-Star panel to make sense of what we know right now, but to explain how serious this is. Joining me first is Shawna Burns out of North Carolina. This is the mother of a little girl named Haley Burns. Her daughter was also lured online by a much older sex predator when her daughter Haley had just turned 16. Shawna, what happened in Haley's case? Haley did not recognize the danger in the situation that she was getting herself into when she was going to stay with a friend and ended up being held against her will for 399 days.

And the person that took her was anything but a friend. What exactly happened to Haley Shawna? He took her and put her in a room first and then ultimately kept her in a dog cage. He starved her, did horrible things to her, things I can't go into because they're too graphic. But the worst things that you could imagine, those are what he did to my child. With me is a broken hearted mother, Shawna Burns, joining us out of North Carolina.

Her little girl, Haley, just 16, was abducted by a man, a predator, a sex predator that she met online. And to make matters worse, Shawna Burns, isn't it true that Haley met her kidnapper and rapist in a chat room where he was targeting young girls with eating disorders? Yes, yes. He preyed on a lot of women in that chat room. How long did he have your daughter? 399 days. And during that time, we did our best to help find Haley. And when she was found, how much weight had she lost, Shawna? She weighed about 86 to 87 pounds when she came back. And she was a, I cook. I cook every night. I cook every single night. So my kid was a healthy weight when she left.

And she came back skin and bones. And one of the hardest things was having to reintroduce food to her because he had not let her have meat or dairy or produce or anything like that on any regular basis. So she could not eat it. She had to very slowly. We had to do rice and then chicken. And that was the hardest part because she'd been starved for so long. When she came home, she just wanted to eat.

But she couldn't because then she would get sick. that Haley's kidnapper, who met her online, kept her locked up and would only give her food in exchange for enforced sex. Yes, and the more violent that the acts were, the more food she got. Guys, you're hearing Shawna Burns describing what happened to her daughter after she met a sex predator online.

Same thing here. This girl, now pregnant by the predator, has been kidnapped. Straight out to Alexis Tereschuk joining us, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. I want to go through what happened when Sophia goes missing. Listen. Sunday night, Sophia says her usual good nights and turns in around 9 p.m. Monday morning, around 8 a.m., Sophia's sister spots Gary Day's black Buick idling a block down the street. While she calls police, a family member goes to check on Sophia and finds her room empty. The family reviews surveillance footage and at 7.48 a.m., the camera catches Day walking up the driveway, then running up to the home.

The Franklins immediately report Sophia missing. Be on the lookout for this sex predator, a 40-year-old male traveling in a 2014 Buick LaCrosse. He has changed license plates. He started off with an Arkansas plate, B brother, B brother, R red,W5186, but is known to change plates. Alexis, let's go back to that Sunday evening when Sophia said goodnight to her family and goes to bed. What happened then? A regular Sunday night, cold winter night, she goes to sleep. It's 9 o'clock, nothing unusual. Her parents did nothing was unusual that night. They wake up the next morning.

They go into her room. She is not there. Everybody panics. Her sister notices about a block away from the house that there is a car that she thinks is very suspicious. So they go back. Sister's not in the house. They search the house. They look around the house. Her dad pulls up their security footage, whether they have cameras

outside the house and they see a man outside their house kind of running towards their backyard on their security footage that morning. They instantly are terrified for her and they call 9-1-1 and report her missing. And she is only 16 years old. Brian, it just turned, just turned 16. Brian Fitzgibbon's joining me, Director of Operations, USPA, Nationwide Security. He leads a team of investigators specializing in locating missing people. Brian, this guy had the whole thing planted.

By the way, he has a rap sheet. He is a sex predator. This guy was idling the sister. Sophia's sister noticed a black Butte lacrosse engine running about a block away from the home. When they pull up that morning's video, as Alexis Tereshchuk was describing, around seven-ish that morning, they see Day, the perp, walking up to the home. As he nears the home, he starts running toward the back of the home. The fact that he was lying in wait is very disturbing, Fitzgibbons. Absolutely, Nancy. And that leads me to believe

that he was in communication with Sophia prior to this pickup. We also know that he had an ankle monitoring bracelet that he had removed or allowed to the battery to die that day, earlier that day, within 24 hours. Brian, when I hear ankle monitor, my blood boils. Okay. Why? Because people disable them and trick them all the time. All the time. We hear about a discarded or cut off or disabled ankle monitor, yet we still continue to do it. And now Sophia is gone pregnant. Can I tell you, Brian, how many cases just like

this and in a shootout and badly when the sex predator realizes he's cornered, he's caught, he takes himself and the little girl down with him. Absolutely. This is an extremely perilous time for Sophia, especially with day being desperate, desperate enough to remove his ankle monitor. You know, I'm very surprised and I'm going to get off ankle monitor because got bigger fish to fry, Brian. But I'm very surprised when he removed his ankle monitor, it did not send some immediate alert to the monitor supervisor. Wouldn't that have happened? I mean, once you see the monitor doesn't move for a period of time and when it is taken off, it should send a disabling frequency to the monitor. In this case, I believe it did, Nancy. Within 48 hours, you can see in court

documents that his probation officer was already filing paperwork to that effect. So authorities in Arkansas definitely knew that he removed it. What? Stop. 48 hours. 48 hours. Brian, you and I know the stats backwards and forwards. The first three days, really the first 24 hours are crucial. 48 hours,

you might as well say 48 days as far as I'm concerned. Just think about it, Brian, 60 MPH, hour after hour after hour, they are on the run. 48 hours? Seriously? That's what you've got for me? Yeah, that radius gets bigger and bigger as you're saying, you know, 48 hours? Seriously? That's what you've got for me? Yeah, that radius gets bigger and bigger, as you're saying. You know, 48 hours is a massive amount of time here. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Can we talk about Brian Fitzgibbons very quickly before I tell you who this guy really is that has a 16 year old just turned 16 pregnant? We think three months pregnant by him and they're on the run. Can we talk about the vehicle?

Because I believe that's the best possibility, the best chance we've got of finding Sophia alive. Okay. Tell me what you know about this black Buick LaCrosse and what's the possibility of a navigation nav system in this? So these 2014 Buick LaCrosse are equipped with an IntelliLink navigation system. Now, the important piece here is that the IntelliLink, the brain behind it that communicates to both cellular and satellite data is driven by OnStar. That OnStar module, whether or not Day has an active subscription, can be located with a court order. So OnStar is able to track that. Brian, pause, pause. See, not everybody knows what you're talking about. But when you say court order, let me tell everybody, and I have SiriusXM.

SiriusXM and others can be forced to hand over their tracking information, including nav systems. We just saw this in the Alex Murdoch double murder trial, where his nav system and his Suburban told us everything we needed to know about the time he gunned down his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, and then took off to hide out at mommy's house. Really? You could even see when he opened the door to leave the crime scene, when he turned the car on, put it in drive, took off when he lowered the window on the passenger side to throw out his wife's cell phone, then let the window back up and took off. It's very advanced, but that was in a brand new Suburban. This is a 2014 Buick LaCrosse and you said IntelliLink. What? How old is IntelliLink? And isn't it true they have to be updated in order to remain current? What is IntelliLink and how does that

help me find this vehicle? So IntelliLink is effectively the interface that the driver is going to use to connect their phone, to use navigation systems. And just like you said, those maps would need to be updated. Now, driver behavior nowadays, not many people are actually using the navigation system on the dash. That being said, the IntelliLink system is driven by the GPS that on star is communicating out to the satellite or cellular networks to give that vehicle a brain, for lack of a better term. Sixteen year old Sophia Franklin's online chat with an unknown man makes Sophia's family's worst nightmare of reality. Where is Sophie? This girl just turned 16 and is already three to four months pregnant by this predator. That's right.

And you know what? For those of you just joining us, I want you to hear again about who is this 40-year-old perv. Listen. He's not a good dude. about who is this 40-year-old perv. Listen. He's not a good dude. He targets young females, uses the internet. As you see, he's traveled to Wisconsin and back once. Gary Day, 40, lives in Cabot, Arkansas,

and has been divorced four times, most recently from the mother of his two sons, ages three and four. Day is still serving probation for endangering the welfare of his oldest son and was three and four. Day is still serving probation for endangering the welfare of his oldest son and was recently charged with domestic battery against the child. Day is not permitted to leave the state of Arkansas without permission from his probation officer. Well, he did. That was from our friends at News 3 Now. And we're learning more. Listen. Law enforcement discovers the black Buick LaCrosse is registered to Day's mother

and should have Arkansas plate number BBR20L. But 45 minutes later, the car is spotted heading south on Highway 151 near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, with Pennsylvania plate number KGW5186. Police advise that Day may continue to switch license plates and believe he may be traveling back to Arkansas because his mother lives there, but cannot say that with complete certainty. Drivers in Illinois and Missouri are asked to keep a close eye out for the 2014 La Crosse. We do know that he's switching plates right now and putting different plates on the vehicle, which makes it a little bit more difficult for law enforcement, but we're still working through the logistics of that.

Our friends news three now. Guys, that is Beaver Dam Police Chief John Kruziger. Okay, let me make sense of what I'm hearing. Straight out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, renowned psychoanalyst joining us from LA, author of Deal Breaker, and you can see her now on Peacock. Dr. Bethany, thank you for being with us. Dr. Bethany. Okay. You know, I might as well get comfortable for you to tell me everything that's going on up here right now, but just jumping out at me, he's 40, he's almost 41 years old and he's driving his mommy's car. Let's just start with that. I caught that too, Nancy. I mean, this is a guy, you know, I think he's probably so prolifically involved in his perversion and his sex addiction

and pursuing underage girls that he probably doesn't even, I know he has a job, he's an insurance home inspector, but I doubt he even functions very highly in society, Nancy. He probably lives off his mother. And the fact that he has child abuse charges against his own son and then he's gravitating towards minor women tells me that this guy likes to have a lot of power over his victims. He's probably all syrupy and sweet when he meets these girls. He probably tries to alienate them from their parents. He probably tells them that he understands them, that nobody else understands them. But the minute Sophia disagrees with him, I'm sure this is one menacing individual. This is a guy who looks nice on the outside, but is very cruel deep down. And the idling in front of the house, I mean,

that is so creepy to me, Nancy. His whole day is spent just canvassing for girls. I don't even know how he has time to do much else because his whole perversion, his whole obsession is wrapped around this. Speaking of, joining me is veteran trial lawyer, former felony prosecutor, now defense attorney, Daryl Cohen, a partner in Cohen, Cooper, Eastep, and Allen. Daryl, thank you for being with us. Daryl, how many times in a bond forfeiture calendar when somebody wouldn't show up for court would say, oh, go to his mom's house. I'm sure he's hiding under the bed or in the closet right now. I mean, another thing aside from his driving his mother's car, didn't his employer, I believe that he worked at an insurance company, correct me if I'm wrong, Alexis and Dr. Bethany, didn't they notice the big fat ankle monitor he was wearing? Why would you keep

someone employed, not just with a police arrest, but with a conviction, with a conviction and a big honking ankle monitor? Nancy, these things happen. You have an ankle monitor because you're not a terrible criminal as far as the system is concerned. You have an ankle monitor because you're not a terrible criminal as far as the system is concerned. You have an ankle monitor because they don't want to incarcerate you. You have an ankle monitor so you can be tracked. They have an ankle monitor that shouldn't come off, that shouldn't lose its battery. But if and when it does, that's when the company that owns those ankle monitors should immediately, immediately notify law enforcement. OK, see, we all know what you did right there. I know you got your law degree, but is there a magician hiding deep inside your soul because you I ask you this and you try to show me that it's like pulling a different rabbit out of the hat. That's not what I asked for.

You're talking about what a great person he is. And you're suddenly talking about it's the ankle monitors companies thought that they didn't catch him. Let's just hear who we're dealing with. Gary and Grace Day bring their four-year-old baby Carter to the emergency room with what they think is a broken leg. Doctors do not believe the parents' story that Carter's foot got caught in the sink drain during a bath and also discover bruising on Carter's cheeks and ears. Arkansas DCFS gets involved in the case and Gary Day claims he was not present when Carter sustained the injury, but admits it happened several days ago. Both parents are charged with endangering the welfare of a minor for not seeking medical attention for the baby earlier. Before Daryl Cohen, defense attorney, pipes in and tries to blame the baby for that, getting its foot caught in a drain, Joining me right now is special guest,

Dr. Stacey Vaughn, a vice president of growth and prevention at ChildHelp.org, one of my favorite groups, ChildHelp.org. Dr. Stacey Vaughn, thank you for being with us. Did you hear that this incident occurred days before and they are just bringing him to the emergency room with what they believe is a broken leg. The child has been suffering. It's only four months old with a potential broken leg. And they try to say his foot got caught in the sink drain, the sink drain during a bath. Wow. I wonder if his ear and his face got caught in the drain too, because they're covered in bruises. But guess what? They get to take the baby home. Yeah, Nancy. And that's so typical of what happens when children are brought into emergency rooms with a cover story. And we learn, you know, through medical exams and tests that there are multiple injuries prior.

And but why this wasn't reported to DCFS in that state and why that child wasn't removed. I don't understand that. And you know what, Dr. Stacey Vaughn? It didn't end there. Listen. Four years later, Grace Day files a police report claiming her husband hurt Carter. Grace tells officers she found bruises on the four-year-old's arm and shoulder. And Gary Day admitted he lost it when he found Carter climbing on a piece of furniture after he cleaned up a mess Carter made in the bathroom with toothpaste. Carter tells cops his dad sometimes turns into the Hulk and says this isn't the first time Day has hurt him.

Gary Day is charged with domestic battery, but the state does not have enough evidence to prove the case and the charges are dismissed. I do not understand that at all. Daryl Cohen, can you just take your defense hat off for just one moment and go back to your glory days when you were on the right side of the law? Really? They didn't have enough evidence. You've got a child with a prior where he brought the child in with a potential broken leg. Now the same child is covered in bruises. The mom brings him in and they don't have enough evidence to go forward. Why? Maybe, maybe, Nancy, they felt like they had enough to push it enough to have him arrested and to give him D.A.'s time. Let him be on probation, which really means I am waiting trial.

Maybe they didn't feel that they could prove it was him who did it as opposed to mom. And maybe, just maybe, they were too lazy or didn't have enough forensic evidence to prove it was either one of them and they didn't want to take the child away. Okay, Darrell, do you have any facts supporting anything you just said? Are you just spinning out like Rumpelstiltskin? Right. You're spinning. No facts. Just basic knowledge of the law.

OK, Nancy, basic knowledge of the way the system works, whether we like it or not. Dr. Bethany Marshall, before Darrell can say something else, it's the same verse, second verse, same as the first. The child is brought in at four months. The child is covered in bruises with potential broken leg at four months with some cockamamie story that his foot got caught in the sink drain. The sink drain is about that big. OK, but he's got a potentially broken leg. Then four years later, targeting the same child out of the family. The child is covered in bruises and the state doesn't go forward with it.

He walks away. And now Sophia is pregnant and missing with a known predator. You know, Nancy, it made me wonder if he is impregnating women so that he can have access to children. I mean, the crime doesn't just stop with, you know, predating on underage women. It's also impregnating them so he can have more children around him so that he can abuse them and be cruel to them. You know, Nancy, we know of the two crimes against the four-year-old. Where are all the other underage girls that he's probably predating upon too? This is just the tip of the iceberg, Nancy. This is Sophia and this is a four-year-old. There are other girls out there. There are other heartbroken parents who he's

trying to alienate. They alienate their daughters from them. This story is going to grow and spread. This guy has a lot of time on his hands to take advantage of children. Trouble unfolds in Wisconsin when 16-year-old Sophia Franklin is lured from her home by an older man. Police plead for help in finding Sophia. What is he talking about? An older man? It makes it sound like maybe he's 21. He's going on 41 and she has just turned 16 and she is at least four months pregnant. So he started statutorily raping her when she was 15. 15. Guys, there were so many red flags.

Listen. Days before her disappearance, Sophia's parents discover a strange Google account on her phone and give Beaverdam PD permission to investigate it. They find disturbing messages between Sophia and Day. Day repeatedly threatens suicide and Sophia attempts to console him, telling Day he needs to live for their daughter, who she has preemptively named Ava. Quote, I know how much you wanted a girl, and I know how much you care for your children. Day simply responds, tell her I'm dead. Okay, wait, tell the unborn baby girl that the just turned 16-year-old little girl is carrying.

He says, tell her I'm dead. Threats of suicide are common amongst child sex predators. And here it is again. Joining me right now, a special guest in addition to Dr. Bethany Marshall and Shawna Burns, Titania Jordan joining us. She is the chief parent officer at Bark Parental Controls, author of Parenting in a Tech World. The parents noticed strange Google accounts that couldn't break in. So they bring in the sheriff and what they find is very distressing.

It's not a new story, Titania. It's not a new story, Nancy. Unfortunately, so many children are being harmed by predators online in places and spaces that parents have no idea exist. So the reason that we know about the rate at which children are harmed online on places like Gmail, etc., is because at BARC, we help to protect over 7.4 million children across the nation. And just over the course of 2024, we analyzed almost 8 billion activities across places like Gmail, Google Docs, text, email, YouTube, over 30 apps. And children are being harmed and groomed in places that parents might think are perfectly safe. Straight out to Shawna Burns joining us. Shawna's daughter, Haley, was lured online.

She was missing approximately a year. She was kept in a cage, starved, sex abused, beaten. Shawna, before your daughter was kidnapped, her perp was lying about who he was and contacting her online. And you had no idea. No, we had absolutely no idea. It's exactly what your prosecutor friend was saying earlier. he presented it to her that we would never understand her. We would never be able to just accept her the way that she was and that he could and that he could help her with her anorexia and that he could help her to get to her ideal weight and that we were always going to want to put her in a hospital. Her ideal weight. She's just a little girl.

She doesn't need to be worried about her ideal weight. He preyed upon her finding her in a chat room. She was actually, as I recall, using a computer at school. Isn't that right, Shauna? Yep. Every bit of communication happened with them at school. So you had no way of knowing. And in your mind, Haley was perfectly fine.

No indication that this was happening. Guys, same thing here with Sophia. Listen. Sophia Franklin, 16, is raised in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, in a large, loving family. She's the second oldest of her six siblings, a proud golden beaver at Beaver Dam High, sings in choir, and attends church with her family at Bible Baptist every Sunday. Alexis Tereszczuk joining me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. This little girl, Sophia, who is now probably being held in some interstate motel with the car hidden somewhere and being brought an egg

McMuffin from McDonald's in exchange for statutory rapes all day long. That's what's happening to her right now. That's true. She has been missing. She was taken from her home. She is pregnant by this man who is, as you said, he's almost 41 years old. This has been ongoing for months. Her parents have tried to stop this. They contacted the police immediately. They showed the police their phone. They said, she is still talking to this predator. Nothing is stopping him. Nothing. He has an ankle monitor. He is able to drive. He's able to go out in public. He is able to get to her. He's crossed state lines, violated every bit of probation and still was able to get her. And she left her home. And

she is not old enough to, according to law, to be able to be making these decisions on her own. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace a missing teen girl we believe about four months pregnant by a known child predator he has kidnapped her and they are on the run in a 2014 black buick LaCrosse. Joining me, an all-star panel, but let me just tell you all the warnings were there and there's a backstory. Listen. Gary Day is four years into a six-year probation sentence and is used to surprise visits from his probation officer, but in December, the 40-year-old seems extremely nervous when the officer stops by. The supervisor also catches a glimpse of a woman running out the back door. He immediately chases her down and after an intense line of questioning, gets out that she is

just 16 years old and from Wisconsin. This is what happened. By the way, when you are on probation or parole, you are subject to surprise visits from probation or parole officers. That's what happened here. And the perp acted very nervous when the probation parole came to the door. And then a little girl runs out the back. Who? Sophia. Listen. When they went to check on him, somebody ran out the back door. And that turned out to be a 16-year-old female from Wisconsin. Sophia Franklin is removed from Day's home and taken for a medical examination while authorities contact her family. Her parents are shocked and horrified to learn their daughter has been with a predator and even more appalled to learn she's pregnant.

Sophia is returned to Wisconsin as quickly as possible, and her parents take every step possible to protect her from day and help their daughter heal. That brought my friends at CBS Chicago, Alexis Tereszczuk, joining us, CrimeOnline.com. Alexis, how did she end up in his home before the kidnap? They started talking to each other online. She then convinced her parents that she wanted to go stay with a friend. It was summertime. She wanted to go visit and stay with his friend. So they said, okay, they believe she was going to stay with his friend.

In the meantime, he had been telling her that he was going to come get her. He did. He came and got her. She went and stayed at his house. He crossed state lines to get her. He took her back to Arkansas from Wisconsin. And that's where she was staying. And her friend was helping her lie to her parents. They were all lying and saying that she was with a friend. Nobody knew that she was with this old man predator. Oh, my stars, Dr. Bethany Marshall. One little week or two sleep away during the summer turns into this. And when his parole probation officer knocks on the door, they see a girl running out the back. It's her. He has been targeting her and statutorily raping her for so long. That's how she got pregnant. He was grooming her. He was alienating her from her parents. He was making her feel special and unique and desirable and understood in ways that she imagines nobody else can. He made her feel

that the family going to the Baptist church was sort of all wrong and a perverse kind of life, and that the life he could offer her was great. Little does he know, little does she know, he's driving his mother's car. He probably has no money, nothing to offer her. He's a pervert. He's abusive. He doesn't even treat his own children kindly. He probably has other girls he's grooming. So when she ages out, he can move on to the next victim, Nancy, because that's what they do. They only victimize for a certain period of time until the control slips. Then they lose interest in the victim and they go on to another one. It's not like stalkers who stay in love with the victim maybe for years at a time. These predators

only want the children as long as they can have power over them and alienate them from the parents. And then when that power slips, Nancy, they are not interested anymore. That's what I'm worried about. When she wakes up in that roadside motel and realizes she wants to go home. He's already threatened to commit suicide. What will happen then? To Tanya Jordan, joining us, Chief Parent Office at BART Parental Controls, author of Parenting in a Tech World. To Tonya, it's always lies. And these predators actually target the child online. They find things out about them like, oh, she goes to Bible Baptist Church. Oh, she plays soccer. Oh, she goes to Beaver Dam High School. They find out things by looking up the child's profile online. then they start befriending the child.

Oh, I play soccer too. Oh, I was a beaver. My cousin goes to that high school. Oh, she graduated last year. You probably don't know her. Blah, blah, blah. And they start spinning the tail to Tanya. Nancy, it is so important for every parent and every caregiver to realize that there's over half a million predators online at any given time that we know of. And that's according to the FBI. So please don't think not my child. It's not a matter of if, but when they're going to encounter somebody trying to message them online to groom them, befriend them and worse. And that's why we've got to have these conversations proactively. Please don't think not my kid.

There's a very famous quote that says, if that is the law, then the law is an ass. Truer words were never spoken. Listen to this. Unfortunately, law enforcement has a hard time holding Day accountable. The age of consent in Arkansas is 16, so Day has not committed a chargeable sex crime. Day is charged with violating his probation, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and interfering with custody.

The Franklins push for more serious charges in Wisconsin, but for now are only able to obtain a no-contact order with Day. It's an antiquated law, rule. We're going to work on changing that. I'm going to work with some of our legislators and we'll reach out to them and let them know that that's something we probably should change, especially with all the trafficking and issues that we have. Probably should change. Okay, that's the Arkansas Sheriff John Steele.

And that's my friends at 5 News. An antiquated law. Daryl Cohen, an antiquated law, Daryl Cohen and antiquated law that, you know what that says to me, it's been around so long. You should know you have to fix it, but nobody's done anything. And now Sophia is with a 41 soon to be 41 year old predator and some motel

getting statutorily raped in exchange for an egg mac muffin. That's what's happening. And see, in Arkansas, it is not statutorily raped, whether we like it or not. And I don't. She has the right as a 16 year old to engage in sex as long as it's voluntary. Other states in Arkansas. In Arkansas. In Arkansas.

But wait a minute. Wait a minute. In Wisconsin, the age of consent is 18. I believe they started having sex relations, if you can call it that, when she's 15, because she's 16 and four months pregnant. But that said, so you're telling me it's okay for him to go and get her out of Wisconsin where the age of consent is 18, take her across state lines to Arkansas and rape her. And that's OK. I'm not saying it's OK.

I'm saying the law. It sounds like you are. Well, it sounds like I am, but I'm not. I'm saying the law says that she can engage voluntarily in sex in Arkansas when she is 16 or older. Okay, let me rephrase my question. Isn't it a felony to take a minor across state lines for the purposes of sex? Think Jared Fogle, the subway guy. Does that jog your recollection regarding the black and white letter of the law, Daryl Cohen?

Do I like what happened? No. The Mann Act is the Mann Act. That is a federal law. Did he violate the federal law? It's likely he did. If I held you over a fire with your toes dangling in the flames, you would never admit what he did is a crime. Okay, let's deal with reality. Brian Fitzgibbons, I'm never going to get the right answer out of Daryl Cohen. I

completely understand that. That's why I win so many cases. Can we talk about how we're going to find her? At this point, Nancy, we've got to be looking at, number one, can we track the vehicle? If that's impossible, we have to start looking at cell phones. Where is Gary Day getting money to survive at this point? Those are the three top issues that I would be looking at. It's number one, the vehicle tracking. Number two, cell phone tracking. And then the third spot would be how is he staying alive here? How are they eating?

Where are they staying? Where is he getting funding? Well, I can guarantee you this, Fitzgibbons, they ain't at the Ritz. If you know or think you know anything about the location of Sophia, please dial Beaver Dam PD 920-88 8 7 4 6 1 2 repeat 9 2 0 8 8 7 4 6 1 2 or the Amber alert tip line 8 8 8 3 0 4 3 9 3 6 repeat 8 8 8 3 0 4 3 9 3 6 or reach out to our friends at childhelp.org. You can find them online or at 800-4-A-CHILD, 800-422-4458. I can't stress how many cases like this end in further tragedy. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.