Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - ALLIGATOR ATTACK UNLIKELY, Gorgeous Paola Maria Miranda Rosa last seen in swamp reserve

Episode Date: January 11, 2022

A Florida woman spends the day with her family, letting them know she has planned a trip to Wekiwa Springs State Park the next day. Paola Marie Maranda-Rosa is seen in the park. That's been over three weeks now. Other hikers took pictures and videos of the 31-year-old Orlando woman in the water. Her car and cellphone were found, but not Paola.Joining Nancy Grace today; "Turtleman” Chris Adams - Swamp Survival Expert, Facebook: Living Wild, TikTok @GAturtleman Dale Carson - High profile attorney, (Jacksonville), Former FBI Agent, Former Police Officer, Author: "Arrest-Proof Yourself, DaleCarsonLaw.com Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist, www.carynstark.com, Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark" Lisa M. Dadio - Former Police Lieutenant, New Haven Police Department, Senior Lecturer, Director of the "Center for Advanced Policing" at the University of New Haven's Forensic Science Department Nicole Partin - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Twitter: @nicolepartin (Naples, FL) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous woman disappears on the edges of a well-known and popular swamp forest. What happened to Paola Miranda Rosa? Absolutely stunning with a loving family, lots of friends. Why has her case not been solved as the days tick by? Where is Paola? First of all, take a listen to our friends at Fox 35.

It's hard to even focus on the fact that it's the holiday season. I don't know what day it is right now. Andrea Miranda says it has been a whirlwind since her sister, 31-year-old Paola Miranda Rosa of Osceola County went missing last week. We see Christmas lights around us. We see that, but you were tunnel vision on the mission of finding her. Her family reported Paola missing Sunday after they had not heard from her since Friday. Monday, they started making flyers and searching the area, and they eventually found her car at Wakawa Springs State Park on Tuesday. Guys, we've got to help find this woman. Her family's so distraught. And what concerns me is that people saw her wading in the water. They took pictures of her, but they didn't comment or speak to her. The facts surrounding Paola's disappearance are stunning. We want to find this woman. The tip line 407-348-2222

and I find it highly significant that her family is raising funds for a private investigator. Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now lisa daddio former police lieutenant new haven police department and senior lecturer at the center for advanced policing where she's director karen stark renowned psychologist joining us out of manhattan at karenstark.com dale carson high profile lawyer joining us out of jacksonville former fed with the FBI, author of Arrest Proof Yourself. He's at delcarsonlaw.com. A very special guest joining us. You will remember him from the Gabby Petito Brian Laundrie case. He's known as the Turtle Man. Chris Adams, swamp survival expert. You can find him on Facebook at Living Wild on TikTok at Georgia Turtle Man. And you're going to see why he's so important.

Nicole Parton, first to you. Nicole Parton, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Explain to me where Paola was last seen. So, December 17th, she spends a great day with her family, her grandmother, her uncle, her mother. They have lunch together. She leaves there later in the day. You say there. Nicole, who, what, where, why, when? Don't say there. Where?

Where? She leaves her grandmother's home, which is on Simonin Avenue in Orlando. Orlando. Thank you. Have you ever heard of that game 21 questions? Don't make me play that. I'm a JD, not a DDS. Don't know how to pull a tooth.

So Orlando, she's at Orlando, lunchtime, December 17. Is that correct? Yes. Now see how easy that just came off my tongue? Orlando, December 17. Okay, then what happened? She left there. She went to a doctor's appointment.

There was confirmation that she made that appointment. She saw the doctor. After that, she returned to her home again in Orlando. Did she live alone? The following day. Did she live alone? She lived alone with her doggies, yes. Okay.

Go ahead. December 18, she makes an ATM deposit at the bank. You know, that's interesting. Deposit versus withdrawal. I'll circle back with that with you, Dale Carson. But a deposit, not a withdrawal. Okay, go ahead. After that bank deposit, she heads down to Wakiwa State Park, which she had planned to do.

Okay, go ahead. Where is that? And that's about a 35 to 40 minute drive, about 20 miles north of her home in Orlando. Did she take her dogs? She did not take her dogs. Would she normally have? No, and her family knew that she was going. She had told them, hey, I'm going up to the state park tomorrow. So it was a planned visit to the state park.

Was she a hiker or a jogger a nature enthusiast she did enjoy the outdoors um she did okay see that's interesting that's interesting because like i tell my children we're going to go on a nature hike and they go oh mom not another tree do you know how much that breaks my heart since i taught tree identification in a national forest i want them to love nature, and they do love nature, but not necessarily my nature walks. So she goes on, on her own volition, she goes to, you're saying,

Wakiwa State Park, 20 miles north of Orlando. Yes, that's correct. Okay, is she spotted there? She is. So at that point, let's skip a day and then we're going to come back. So December 22, authorities locate her black. Wait, you left off December 18. One day would be December 19. December 19, there's nothing. Okay. December 20, nothing. December 21, nothing. December 22, by now her family has

reported her missing, and police locate her black 2011 Chevy HHR, her car, parked at the state park. H-H what? H-H-R. It's a Chevrolet vehicle, a little car. Okay.

At the state park? Yes. And, very quickly, they find the car there. Any signs of foul play? No signs of foul play. Was the car locked? The car was locked. Were the keys in or out of the car or not found? That was not found, not disclosed.

Okay. I will start right there. Guys, we were talking about Paola Miranda Rosa. Stunning. Beautiful. Spends the holidays with her family. But then December 18, as you just hear from CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Nicole Parton, she goes to Wakiwa State Park. Enter the turtle man, Chris Adams. You can find him on Facebook, Living Wild, TikTok, Georgia Turtle Man. Chris Adams, I assume you've seen the photo of Paola in the water. Did you see that?

I have. The photo and the video. The photo actually to me almost doesn't look real. It looks like a beautiful drawing or a setup photo. She's in this beautiful swamp area with a tree canopy over her and she's wading into the water, you know, for a swim. And I was curious why complete strangers thought that was a good picture to take. Why would they take that picture? Tell me about where she was. That was my initial thought as well, is why were these hikers just randomly taking a photo or a video of this other person on the trail? Thing is, she wasn't on the trail.

My understanding is that was an area that swimming, wading was not permitted in. So I guess to their surprise, they saw this individual in the water and they thought it strange enough to take video or photo of that. Tell me about, this is a swamp, is it not? With Kiwa State Park? Well, the Wekiva River right there runs out of the park. But as with any river,

you've got the floodplain off to the side which makes you know dozens of little gullies and swimming hole areas that's nothing more than a river swamp so yes um i'm looking at the video right now is that her hair she's got long brown hair is that her hair down her back or does she have on a backpack? It looks like a backpack or a swim shirt of some sort, like a tank top over her shirt. Have you looked at that? I've looked at the photo, but it's kind of grainy to me. I thought it could be either. crime stories with nancy grace okay now i want you to tell me about the area why would you not go swimming in that water just i'm just looking at this picture because everything about it to me, Jackie, is screaming alert, red alert.

But, I mean, I'm a trial lawyer. I put the bad guys behind bars. That's my thing. But I don't even know what I'm seeing, Chris Adams. You're the survival expert. What's wrong with this picture? Well, going back to 2015, on the same section of river, there was a reported alligator attack with a woman who lost part of her arm to a larger alligator.

Now, mind you that alligator attacks are pretty rare, but it is always a possibility, especially in an area such as that. I mean, you show me a cup of water in Florida, I'll show you an alligator. But that area she was in is only about hip deep. So where she was wading through, one would think that she might be able to see an alligator or any individual see an alligator in that amount of water. But I have run up on roadside ditches with no more than eight inches of water and there'd be an alligator laid in it that you wouldn't see unless you had a keen eye for it. So there's always a possibility that river has alligators just like every other spot of water in Florida. So you take precaution anywhere you put your feet in. Okay, I'm trying to take in everything you're saying. What you're saying to me, Chris Adams,

aka Swamp Man, excuse me, Turtle Man, it's like drinking from a fire hydrant it's too much too fast now if I were to start throwing a lot of Latin legal terms at you like non-sequitur you go what that's what's happening to me right now so just for the my benefit and for our friends here in the studio could you tell me what you just said one more time? Because the thing that jumps out at me, Chris Adams, is that I see her alone out in the water. And you're right. It's just barely up to her hips. Who would worry about that? But nobody else is in the water. I don't see any other watercraft, no ski-do, no boat, no pontoon, nothing. And just my instinct is there's a reason why. She's the only one in the water. Now, tell me everything you just

said one more time, Chris. That's an area to my understanding that swimming is not permitted, swimming or wading. Well, there's no sign saying that i believe there are in other sections of the park well not right there chris i'm looking right at it i don't see any sign but i mean when you pass signs going in that say beware of gators i don't know if there were any but i don't see any right there um guys with me an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now about a gorgeous young woman missing. We know that she had already put Christmas presents under the tree that she planned to give her family and her furry babies. I think she had four animals that she had just spent an afternoon with her family at a kind of a Christmas celebration lunch and then suddenly

drops literally off the mat. But I'm not buying that. This woman did not drop off the mat. She did not intend to go missing. Her car locked and in the correct position at the state park. Take a listen to our cut to this is Jesse Canales, Spectrum News the 31 year old went missing the week before christmas paula was with her grandmother on friday december 17 and was supposed to meet up with her sister the next day but never arrived around 5 30 in the afternoon on friday was the last time we spoke with her mom became worried saturday morning when pa didn't call her. After not hearing from her at all on Saturday, her family went to her home on Sunday, saw her car was gone, and her pets left all alone. It's something her dad said she'd never do. Through our own investigation, we found she exited the last toll on the 429 in Zellwe.

So we know where she exited the interstate. Take a listen now to our friends at Fox 35 Orlando, our cut four. This is Christy Kern. Deputies have been searching the area, but still no sign of Paola. We immediately felt like there was something wrong. It was just not normal. The family has also been searching and they are hoping for others to come forward with any information. Don't be afraid to share it, even if it's wrong. Like if it's somebody else, we want her home. And Paola, we love you. We want you home.

They say Paola was last seen wearing blue jean shorts and a green or white shirt. Of course it hurts. It's holiday. We want her with us. Oh, we got to do what we got to do. Right there, we've heard a lot of very significant details to you, Karen Stark, joining us from Manhattan, renowned New York psychologist at karenstark.com. The father says she would never leave her pets alone. It would be a cold day in H-E-double-L. You know, just for one moment, Karen Stark, you were with me during my whole pregnancy. As hard as it's going to be to do,

put my children out of this. I would never leave Fat Boy, the dog, Cinnamon, the cat, Abby, Chloe, the guinea pigs to fend for themselves. That would not happen. Would not happen. So I think the father's right. And this is what we

call behavioral evidence. Evidence of routine. Karen Stark, jump in. I this is what we call behavioral evidence, evidence of routine. Karen Stark, jump in. I was thinking the same thing, Nancy, because I have dogs and I can't imagine leaving them even overnight by themselves. So this is uncharacteristic behavior. Anyone who loves animals know that. And also the fact that she had an appointment with her sister and she never showed up. And her car is just there, abandoned, not in touch with her family.

Something is really wrong. And I can understand why the family would hire a private investigator at this point. Yeah, that brings me to a very, very important point. The family is now hiring a private investigator. Back to Chris Adams, swamp survival expert, who took the forefront in the search for Brian Laundrie after Laundrie's fiancée, Gabby Petito, was found dead out near the Tetons. Chris Adams, after all the searching for days and days and days at Carlton Reserve for Brian Laundrie, the parents went in and found his items not far from his body in less than an hour. So what are the deputies missing? Why does this family feel they've got to hire a private eye? Explain to me how you would search a place like Wakiwa State Park. All right, so this is just like I pointed

out in that previous case you just mentioned. You can go over a wild area like that with a fine tooth comb and still miss something. And I'll repeatedly say that to anyone I meet, because you're going to leave some trace. If you're just going in there on a leisure trip, you are going to leave some trace that you were there. Now, that doesn't mean necessarily dropping a trail behind you, a key chain or a billfold or anything. That just means tracks. That could be you stopped and had to use the bathroom somewhere, anything like that. Now, this is going to run back into what I was just trying to convey a little while ago. I was

mentioning the alligators on the river. Because there was an alligator attack on this river does not mean that this individual or any individual, for that matter, that goes into a swamp is going to be attacked by an alligator. And one of the things that the media outlets get wrong is they say alligator infested. That makes everybody think the worst of an area that this person went into. Makes them think that this person probably was attacked. That doesn't mean that at all. He could have very well waded further down that river, gotten out somewhere, like I have done many times

before on rivers around here in South Georgia, walked into the woods and found a thick place that I couldn't get through and I had to make my own trail. It's very easy to get lost, to get turned around in some area like that. Trying to soak in everything you're saying, Chris Adams, because out of the 25,000 acre Carlton Reserve, police used drones, boats, scuba divers, bloodhounds to try to find Brian Laundrie. And his family found evidence of him near his body in less than an hour. So, Chris Adams, what do they need to be doing to find Paola? Well, from what my understanding is, they have done all of that on this site, too, with underwater scuba gear. They've had people on horseback, people on foot.

But there are conservation easements, state forest lands adjoined to this. An individual could get off and walk very far out of the park and may have gotten turned around. So they may not even be looking in the right place. This is where police oftentimes make mistakes because they try to use technology when the only actual solution is to get on the ground and search inch by inch. And the use of thermal cameras in order to search for a lost person is only marginally successful. I agree. Totally. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Okay, what do they need to be doing right now?

Dale Carson, former FBI now, high-profile lawyer out of Jacksonville. This is fairly straightforward. I mean, you've got to get boots on the ground, which means you're going to have to extend energy and personnel in order to thoroughly search the area. And from my reading of the news articles, they didn't do a very thorough search. They went a little bit here, a little bit there. That's not how you conduct a search.

And Chris is entirely correct. You get into a swamp, if it's dim or getting dark, you don't know which direction is which. You'll never find your way out. And you can be literally lost for days. The only way to sort this out is to go where she was last seen, start from there, one step at a time, searching on the ground. And as Chris also mentioned, there are areas that are just impassable. So unless you have a machete or some way to exit through those areas, it takes days and weeks to search, not hours. To you, Nicole Parton, CrimeOnline.com, explain to me what this search has entailed so far.

So the Osceola Sheriff's Department are saying that from that sighting where the video was taken, they searched the river with high-intensity cameras four miles north and four miles south from that point. They're also saying that they secured the park by plane, by drone, by boat. They've had divers in the water. They've had bloodhounds. But they're saying they secured the perimeter by those methods, not that they searched every acre of the park by those methods. But the reality is to Chris Adams, a turtle man, who's, I believe, joining me from a swamp right now, Chris, there are thousands of acres, 7,000 acres, and there are miles and miles of trails to walk and to bike.

So it's like a needle in a haystack. It's just reminding me of the Brian Laundrie case. It does in many ways. And like we all just said, it is going to take people getting in there and combing it over time and time again. And there again, we might not even be in the right location, maybe in the proximity, but might not be the exact spot that we need to be looking. What about the main attraction there, which are the springs themselves? Would that be where she would be headed, Chris Adams?

I mean, based on where she's been seen? My understanding is she was heading down the river. So it is also my understanding that she was heading down the river. So it is also my understanding that is away from the springs. The main hiking trail is about 14 miles long. There are miles and miles of other biking and hiking trails. So at this point, Chris Adams, what do you make of the theory of alligator attack? Is that probable or is this just a big cover up for what really happened to her? Again, as I always say, it is a possibility when you are in any part of the American alligator's range. If you go into the water, there is a chance that that animal may perceive you as a threat and in a fight or flight defense harm you.

Or if you are a small enough, weak enough individual and that animal is hungry enough, it may take the chance to make you a prey item. But those odds are very, very slim. Okay, explain that to me. Why do you say the odds are very slim? It just doesn't happen every day. I work in a swamp, like we said, Okefenokee. It has been a wildlife refuge for over 80 years, and we have had absolutely zero deaths

caused by an American alligator. And in the 150 years of Anglo presence here in the swamp, I don't know of one incident where someone has been killed by an alligator in Okefenokee. So that's just speaking for here. To Lisa Daddio, former police lieutenant in Haven Police, the reality is if she had drowned and gone underwater, wouldn't the natural gases within her body caused by decomposition bring her to the surface of the water unless a gator had taken her down to the bottom absolutely it would have by now nancy i mean typically you see that um within it depends again temperature of water air temperature uh the size of the person she should have surfaced by now if she was in the water somewhere, unless she's on one of the many thousands of acres,

you know, on land based upon the current or whichever of the river. And they just haven't found her physical body yet. To Chris Adams, if she had drowned, would an alligator eat her dead body? Are they very particular? Now there's's the question. So, that animal is an opportunist, as are turtles and other animals that live in the water that consume organic matter like that. Now, if a person's body is decomposing, has floated to the surface and been there for a few days, any animal in that swamp that eats meat is going to use that as an opportunity to feed. So then, yes. Yes.

Okay, here's the next question, Chris Adams. If Paola had been attacked, don't they drag the victim down to the bottom of the water, the body of water, and then roll over and over and over until the victim drowns? Well, they are primarily ambush predators. So if an animal like that, an alligator was to grab a hold of a person, it will try and take them under. Now that spinning and what they call a death roll,

that's more used to tear chunks off of an already decomposed form for them to be able to swallow sizable pieces. That's not to kill whatever item it is dragged under. You know, Karen Stark, a New York psychologist joining us in Manhattan, it's very difficult for me to look at the photo of this gorgeous girl, Paola, and hear what Chris Adams is saying. And I know it must be much harder for the family to hear. Well, you can tell just from the broadcast that the family is suffering, really suffering.

That's why they went ahead and decided to hire their own person. And when you think about it, Nancy, and you brought this up earlier, it's really confusing that people took pictures of her, actually did a video, and you don't hear anybody yelling out and saying, hey, what are you doing in that water? You're not supposed to be swimming there. Are you okay? So the whole thing is a tremendous mystery. You know, why is she there? Why didn't somebody help her get out?

And the family, I can just tell, they believe that there's hope for her. And so it seems important to me that people keep looking and trying to help this family. I mean, it seems fantastical to me, Chris Adams, that she goes wading in the water and what is attacked by an alligator and dies. I mean, she's not, it's barely up to her hips. Would that be conducive to an alligator attack? I mean, it's very possible, but here's the thing. As a naturalist, I know these animals. As a human, I don't want to sound insensitive. I mean, someone's loved one is missing out there, and the likelihood of them being attacked by an alligator is probably very slim. I think we as people just are quick to think the worst. I firmly believe she is probably not in

that river. Well, her car is there. It's still locked, guys. And what I believe, Nicole Parton, is that her cell phone is still in the car. Yes, that's what I'm hearing. Her cell phone is still in the car. And again, we know she had plans with her family. She was very excited about Christmas. She had a young niece that she was looking forward to spending the holidays with. She had plans on visiting the park for the day and returning home. So something tragically happened. Guys, take a listen to Our Cut 7.

This is Carolina Cordova, WKMG news 6 earlier today the father of Paola Miranda Rosa came to this shopping center on Curry Ford Road in East Orlando and handed out flyers like this one to passerbys the family now telling me they've hired a private investigator to help in her search Gustavo Miranda spent the day posting flyers of his missing daughter around his neighborhood in East Orlando, a father living any parent's worst nightmare.

Holding back tears, he says he just wants her to show up, describing his first born daughter as a smart, active, and friendly girl. It's very out of character for her. We have such an open communication in my family paola miranda rosa was last seen december 17th when she had lunch with family members the next day she was supposed to visit her sister andrea miranda but she never showed up she usually comes over on the weekends she tries to make it an every weekend event to see her niece my daughter and that was

the plan for saturday I miss her so much. You know, everything that passes, we're just like, where is she? So right there, I'm learning more, Dale Carson, every weekend. And I know I did this myself when my little nephews were being brought up. I would go home to my hometown every weekend to be with them. Every weekend. Rarely missed. What does that tell you? Well, there's no question that she intended to return based on the fact that she put a deposit in the ATM.

You know, those are indicators that people continue with their lives. Something has happened to her, and in my perspective, she's more likely than not lost in those woods. As soon as you step away from the creek, you're in a situation where you don't know which is north or south. And if you don't have a compass, which she did not basically have any tracking mechanism with her, you could use a cell phone if you had it with you to tell which cardinal direction there is. But she didn't have that.

So she's lost in there. And the only way to find her is, as Chris was mentioning, is to actually do an actual foot search through a very impenetrable 7,000 acres to assure that she's just not curled up somewhere waiting for rescue. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Back to so-called turtle man Chris Adams, swamp survival expert. Did you hear what Dale Carson just said? How easy is it?

How does it happen that you lose your sense of direction? Well, parks all over the country have trails for a reason. And if people go breaking those trails, that is how you get lost. The trails are to keep you safe and get you back to where you started from. And some of them, if you get off of them, yeah, you'll find your way back in five minutes. But in a lot of these places, and especially down in central Florida, where it's virtual jungle outside of open waterways, it's very easy to get lost and be pinned up in there somewhere and you don't know how to get out. Simple as that. I'm just thinking of her in there, unable to get out. Talisa Daddio,

former police lieutenant joining us. Do you remember when we couldn't find Gabby Petito and then another survivalist, a camper, remembered taking video of her van, her van that she was traveling in? And based on where that camper took the video, when she came forward with the video, Red, White, and Bethune, I think was their name, the cops found Gabby's body. A similar thing happening here, Lisa Daddio. Three weeks later, police finally get a lead

from a group of hikers, footage that could be key to her fate so where does that leave me yeah absolutely i mean i think this is exactly that point i mean there's no doubt people that were walking that whole park in that area along the riverbeds you know probably saw her and they don't even realize it yet because maybe they haven't seen it. You know, if I was a law enforcement agent, you know, working for a law enforcement agency, I'd be hitting every social media channel imaginable because I'm sure there's other people that have seen her that day or saw something that looks similar to her. And we need to just do a better

job at getting all this information out there. I got another question to you, Chris Adams, expert in swamp survival. We see that picture of her, that video that these campers thought to take the video, but didn't try to warn her. How likely is it that we can even identify that location? I mean, doesn't one area of the swamp look pretty much like another area of the swamp? How can we use that video, that picture, to isolate out of 7,000 acres where she was? In that case, I mean, you've got to go back to the original source. And whoever took the video, I would ask them where they took the video. It's not like somebody can forget that quickly.

I go and take pictures and video all across swamps and river bottoms in South Georgia. And I guarantee you, I know exactly where I took each one of them nearly. Yeah, you're right. So they're on a marked trail taking that video off. You ought to be able to find it again. Chris Adams, what did you learn from the search for Brian Laundrie at Carleton Reserve, also a Florida swamp? And how can we apply what you learned to the search for Piola? The old words, leave no stone unturned.

You've got to go out there and look. And it's simple as that. You need people, friends, members of the community, whoever wants to help, they need to go out there and help this family. Take a listen to our cut six from our friends at Spectrum News 13. During a search, friends and family found Bala's car abandoned in Wekiva Springs. Osceola County Sheriff's Office reports witnesses saw her at the park on Saturday, the 18th. More than 150 law enforcement officers in Osceola and Orange County searched the area for three days and weren't able to find Paola.

Officers don't suspect any foul play. We're not giving up hope we'll see her again. We're a family of faith and pray for her safe return. And also our cut nine. This is our friend Christy Turner at Channel 9. A father on his knees praying for his daughter's safe return. It's been two weeks since family has seen or heard from 31-year-old Paola Marie Miranda Rosa of Osceola County. It's my baby, my friend, my everything.

Yvonne Rosa is ringing in the new year, desperately looking for answers in her daughter's disappearance. Half of her heart is missing, like half of her life is missing. Through a translator, the mother says this is out of character for her daughter. They have a best friend relationship, the one that a mother-daughter always wants. She would speak to her five, six times a day, talks to her all day. Miranda Rosa's car was found abandoned in Wekiva Springs State Park last week. Tips led the family to a pop go where they gathered New Year's Eve to hang flyers. The family doing everything they can, including

creating a caravan, drumming up leads, using posters, begging anyone and everyone for help. But, I mean, how difficult is it, Chris Adams? You can't really go shoulder to shoulder in a swamp full of alligators. Well, you just got to try your best. I know if I lost a loved one somewhere out in the wilderness and I didn't know where they were at, I'd pull every stop and make every effort to try and get out there and find them. So my hat's off to this family and to the friends that want to help do that. To Nicole Parton joining us, CrimeOnline.com, what is happening right now?

So police are basically saying that they've done all they can do in the state park. But as you said, Payala's family is continuing every, every effort that they can. They are also saying that they are a strong family of faith. They're praying for a miracle and that she will be found. Well, I think a miracle will be getting law enforcement back out there because, I mean, Dale Carson and Chris Adams, how many weeks did the FBI and the police search for Brian Laundrie in Carleton Reserve? They didn't give up after 72 hours, Dale Carson.

Well, they were looking for a fugitive. And what's more important is this woman is innocent of any crime. They should redouble the efforts to locate her. And just getting on the ground, searching very carefully. And there's another issue, which is the warm weather is bringing out the other reptiles that are in the swamp areas areas like moccasins. To you, Chris Adams, I know you're heading back out onto the swamp right now. Is that true? I mean, that's true. I've looked at the weather since December 17th down around Orlando.

It's been pretty constant 70s and 80s, getting down into the 60s at night. With those temperatures, you've got your venomous reptiles like rattlesnakes or water moccasins crawling. And though they are a lingering thread, if you don't watch where you put your feet, they are out and about. And that's just the simple truth of it. Okay, guys, take a listen to our Cut 11 WKMG News 6. We've been finding flyers for Miranda Rosa down these trails here behind me where there are difficult areas to reach unless you're on foot. The Osceola County Sheriff's Office bringing in specialized equipment in hopes of finding any sign of the missing woman. You know

if she did go into this area in the water hopefully it'll shed some light to where she's at. Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez joining a team of eight Marine trained deputies at Wekiva Springs State Park. The search for missing 31-year-old Paola Miranda Rosa coming to this spot after video taken by hikers December 18th shows her waiting in the water. You know, it's just the last known sighting of her being alive, walking into that area. Lopez says he's hoping she walked out safely, but if not, this underwater camera system will help see into hard-to-reach areas of the Wekiva River. We'll take this pontoon boat, go over about halfway in there, and take the camera system and scour it and turn it and look. Deputies plan on searching nearly five miles of water. The tip line, 407-348-2222.

Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.