Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Beautiful Ohio teen Maddie Bell disappears 5 miles from home, car found across from destination

Episode Date: May 22, 2020

Madison Bell tells her mom she is headed to the tanning bed, but she doesn't make it. Her car is found, keys and phone inside, across the street from her destination, in a church parking lot. What happened to Maddie Bell?Joining Nancy Grace today: Melissa Bell - Mother of Maddie Cody Mann - Boyfriend of Maddie  Emily Nestor -Crime Reporter, Host of Mile Marker 181 James Shelnutt - 27 years Atlanta Metro Major Case detective, SWAT Officer, Attorney www.shelnuttlawfirm.com Dr Daniel Bober - Forensic Psychiatrist, follow on Instagram at drdanielbober Sheryl McCollum - Forensics Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. At a time when we are all pulling together to fight coronavirus, COVID-19, I have something for you. An all free e-chapter on coronavirus crimes and how to fight them. Don't be a coronavirus crime victim from door-to-door

sales of fake cures and tests, vaccines. That's not real. To robocalls that are trying to scam you, to fake ads, to phishing you online, to fake cures that are being sold on the internet and on infomercials right now. You've got to arm yourself against these crimes. Please download our free e-chapter, Coronavirus Crimes, Don't Be a Victim. Go to crimeonline.com. You'll see it there.

Hit the link and download it for free. Arm yourself against criminals and scam artists, cons, that will not only take advantage of you, but take advantage of you, your parents, your grandparents, the people you love at a time when we are all fighting the virus. I hope you go to CrimeOnline.com and download this. It's been highly researched and presented for you for free. Goodbye, friend. Keep the faith. How does a teen girl in Highland County, Ohio, just vanish on a Sunday morning, leaving no trace behind? Well, I think there are traces to be found.

Join us to analyze the clues left behind. Where is Madison Bell? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here on Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Where is Madison Bell? Take a listen to our friend Jessica Schmidt at Fox 19.

For Madison Bell's loved ones, the past 24 hours have been draining. Her mother, Melissa, has barely gotten any sleep. I'm exhausted. I'm tired. I'm worried. I'm stressed. You know, I've cried so many tears that there's none left. My eyes are just dry. There's none left. 18-year-old Madison, known to many as

Maddie, is missing. She left her house Sunday for a tanning appointment and never came home. Investigators in Highland County found her car abandoned in a church parking lot hours later. Her keys and cell phone still inside. I'm trying to stay strong for her because I have to and I have to bring her home. Search crews haven't stopped looking for Madison using technology and different techniques to try to track her down. They brought in some dogs. We gave them some of the materials that she had that we found that just to get a scent of her just to see if that would help if they could like trace find out any anything that way any direction. Where is Maddie? With me an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again.

James Shelnut, 27 years Metro Major case SWAT officer now lawyer, Dr. Daniel Bober, renowned forensic psychiatrist. You can find him on Insta at Dr. Daniel Bober, director of the Cold Case Research Institute, Cheryl McCollum and crime scene expert. Emily Nestor, crime reporter and podcast host of Mile Marker 181. Special guest joining us, Cody Mann. This is Maddie's boyfriend. And right now, to Maddie's mom, Melissa Bell. Melissa, thank you for being with us. Thank you so much. I appreciate this so much.

Ms. Bell, we appreciate you being here. Thank you. Tell me what you recall the moment you heard Maddie was not where she was supposed to be. Well, I'm the one that discovered that. Maddie was very, I raised this girl to be very, like she was always reaching out to me. She trusted in me, you you know always checking in with me she knew I would worry I'm she's my only child I I did I I knew when a certain amount of time had passed because it was way more time than what was needed to drive to tan and back and if she was

going to be late she would have texted me. That is consistent through her ever since she got her license, no matter, even if she was with her cousins or whatever, she would always text me. I'm going to be late, mom. Don't worry. I'm going to be five minutes late. So after 45 minutes passed, I'm, I'm started to like think like think wow she should be home you know she should be coming home soon but then I thought no you know ease up she's 18 maybe she had to wait or maybe she fell asleep in the tanning bed so I give it more time and when I say more time I've seen 15 minutes and I immediately after I try to start texting after 15 minutes past approximately I start texting her Maddie Maddie and then I said Maddie did you fall asleep because the day before she

said she had fallen asleep in the painting bed. So that was my first instinct, that she fell asleep. And she didn't answer anything. I tried to call. She didn't answer. That's so unlike her. Melissa, I've got a couple of pointed questions to ask you with me. This is Maddie's mom, Melissa Bell, also with me. Her longtime boyfriend, Cody Mann, and Emily Nestor, crime reporter.

Back to Maddie's mom, Miss Bell. You stated that she had been gone several minutes longer than you thought she should have been. Quick question. How close to your home where you live with Maddie, how close was the tan salon? Approximately, maybe, is it five miles out there? Five miles. Probably five miles, yeah. Ten minutes max. Yeah. You said, you cut out on me, you said she was how many minutes late? Did you say 25 minutes or so? She had been gone 45 minutes before I started to really like, at 45 minutes, I started to worry. Because it's a 20-minute bed, you know, 10 minutes, 10 minutes.

And I started to just kind of like, not worry, but I was like, hmm, she should be coming home, you know, 45 minutes. Can I tell you, just yesterday, my son went fishing. And, you know, I, of course course made sure he made it he sent me a picture then after an hour I was doing the same thing you just said ease up you know let him go yeah but after an hour I started calling and texting because you know I was worried so that's just what you did now did you call the tanning salon? I did not because Madison has always answered. She always answers or texts me, always.

Never has she not responded back. Did she ever make it to the tanning salon? No, not according to surveillance footage. The surveillance footage at the tanning salon? Yeah, that they caught of the parking lot. They did not see her car ever pull in there. Okay. Not that day. You just got me past my next question. I was wondering if she ever came in. Certainly they would know if she came in,

right? Yeah, they had a sign-in sheet and she did not. So she never made it. Now to Emily Nestor, Crime Reporter Podcast, has mile marker 181. Emily, tell me about where her car was found. So her car was found really in close proximity to where this tanning bed is. And this tanning salon is actually part of almost like a convenience store that sits in a fork in the road where two roads meet. And on that state route road there, there is a large church with a large lot that wraps around. And that lot has two ways to get in and out. Hold on. Let me process what you're saying. Large church, two ways in.

And what were you saying about the tanning salon? Tanning salon isn't um just a tanning establishment so you've got an assortment of things i actually went in there last night they sell everything from beer to cheesecake there's a little deli uh counter and then there's tanning in the back gotcha where is that in relation to the church? It's adjacent. It sits across the roadway in a fork in the road. In a fork in the road. Okay. So on the other side of the fork or in the middle of the fork?

In the middle, actually. So really just across the street? Yes. I mean, it's within shouting distance. Gosh. Guys, take a listen to our friends at WLWT5. This is Karin Johnson. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, very responsible.

Maddie Bell, described by relatives as a good girl, full of school spirit. She's the cheer captain at Greenfields McLean High School, and her mother, Melissa Bell, says her daughter was looking forward to this week. This was senior week. She would not have missed these events for anything. Yesterday morning around 10 o'clock, Maddie left her home to go tanning here at the Country Corner Market, not far from her Greenfield home. She never made it there that morning. She did not sign in. The two mornings before that, she did, but that morning, video surveillance doesn't show her car making it to the tanning area. When she didn't return home or answer her mother's text or phone calls, Melissa says she went looking for her daughter

and spotted her car in the parking lot of the Good Shepherd Church, which is across the street from the market. I noticed her phone laying in the car. Her keys are in the ignition. And money that she had in the pull-out thing was still there. And the car was unlocked. Maddie was nowhere to be found. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Guys, won't you help us find this teen girl? Her name, Madison Bell. She, as you just heard, is a cheerleading captain. It's senior week at school. She'd never, ever miss all that. Her mother is with me today begging for your help. The tip line is 937-393-1421. Repeat, 937-393-1421 or 844-727-9111.

That's easy to remember, 844-727-9111. With me, her mom, Melissa, and longtime boyfriend, Cody Mann. Cody, would she have left her cell phone in the car? No, she would not have. Let me just ask you point blank, where were you at the time she went missing? Sleeping on our couch. Sleeping on what couch? The couch at Maddie's house. So you were there with the mom, correct? Yeah, because I live here with them. Right. So when she left, was there anything unusual about her behavior, her demeanor? No, I mean, she was all spunk like she always was.

Did you try to reach her? Yes, I did. And? We had no answer at all. I tried calling twice. To Madison Bell's mom joining me, Melissa, it's my understanding she's never been away overnight or for any period of time without you knowing where she was. That's absolutely correct. Melissa, tell me about how you found the car. Well, when we didn't get any answer from her by call or text, I immediately was just like, I knew something was wrong because she would not, that's not her.

So since it's not that far, I thought I'm just going to go and drive and make sure because on the way to this market, there's some like areas that are like really deep that she could have maybe wrecked we didn't know you know I was thinking was she asleep in the canning bed so we leave and drive and we first thought maybe she was an accident or asleep so we're looking for anything signs like that we don't see anything As soon as we approach close to the church where we can see the lot, we notice, I mean, we're not looking there. I'm looking more like right at country corner, but you can't miss it. And her boyfriend said, there's her car. And I looked

over and it was just sitting there in this empty parking lot. No one else was there. Church was closed because of the quarantine, and I believe they were doing, like, the online thing. So no one was there except her car. Can I ask you, Melissa Bell, how police brought out tracker dogs? I don't believe that it was the police. I mean, they may have, and I don't know. The people that brought the tracker dogs would have been the search and rescue company that are at the command center. And they're working along with them.

And what, if anything, did the dogs suggest? I have not been told. No one has released any of that information of what they found. Okay, what about surveillance camera video? Were any of the cameras at Country Market across the street trained in a position where they'd catch what was happening in the church parking lot? According to what I know, the only video surveillance that their cameras were able to get was the picture that Highland County Sheriff's Department released, I believe, yesterday of the car. Now, are you referring to your daughter's car or a white Nissan with California license plates?

Gotcha. To Emily Nestor, crime reporter, podcast host, Mile Marker 181, what can you tell me about this vehicle with california license plates a white nissan um well we we aren't able to see anything significant through the windows uh is the first thing and it is a four door um i think it's important to emphasize to you know while it likely is a nissan um if you're out there on the roadway, especially in Ohio or in the nearby surrounding states, you know, please keep your eyes open, you know, for a Nissan lookalike as well. Let me understand. To you, Cheryl McCollum, Director of Cold Case Research Institute and crime scene expert. What's your understanding of the white Nissan with

California plates, the location, the behavior? What do you make of this information? Well, the first thing that struck me was the location where the car was first seen by a witness. Which car? Which car? The suspect's car, the California plate. Okay, go ahead. So it's in the church parking lot that number one has dummy cameras, not real cameras. And number two, there's no service there because, like the mom already said, because of quarantine, there's really nobody there. So this car is not at the strip mall. It's got people and cameras. They're at a place where they're not going to be seen and also with their tinted

windows. So what you've got to try to find out now is, was this Nissan with the California plate stolen? Is it owned by the perpetrator or was it rented? It's really hard for me to take in that nobody can get a plate number because at red lights on businesses, home security camera, does everybody remember Molly Tibbetts who was jogging and a home security camera caught her just briefly jogging by the driveway and then they saw a car going back and forth and back and forth along the same stretch. And the car had, I guess, scratches or some identifiable marker on it. And they found the car. And that's how they found the perp that took Molly. So let me understand to Emily Nestor, crime reporter and podcast host, what do we know of any potential video surveillance in the area?

Cheryl McCollum just told us the church has dummy cameras, which is dumb, but other surveillance video. So what I didn't understand when I pulled into Greenfield, Ohio was how rural this area truly is. I come from a small town in West Virginia, but I had no idea. This is a village. This is like 3,500 people. So there aren't a ton of cameras everywhere to be able to access like you would in a higher populated area. So I think at this point, our best chances of getting good footage is going to come from things like ringing doorbells or blink cameras that people have on their actual homes.

And I know that they have been going through some of that. But unfortunately, the way that the houses normally sit on the road, you may not grab that license plate because the way that the car is going to be angled as it passes. Let me go to James Shelnut, 27 years, Metro Major case, detective, SWAT officer, now lawyer. What do you make of it? The fact, I don't think she went anywhere willingly, James, because let's just pretend for a moment she was meeting somebody behind her boyfriend and her mom's back. She'd take her cell phone. She would not leave her wallet, her money, and her cell phone in her car

where the car doors open. That wouldn't happen. So take it from there, James. Yeah, I agree. And I'm going to tread lightly here because I know we do have the family on the line. But, you know, the first thing that came to my mind is either she drove the car there or she didn't drive the car there. If she drove the car there, to me, there's no damage that I'm aware of that was on the car. So it wasn't like somebody bumped her and she pulled in the church parking lot.

She's right there close to where she said that she was going, but she pulled into a parking space. This car is not an additional. It was voluntarily pulled in there. I would be very curious as to who she was meeting at that church because that seems like the likely scenario. If she was meeting someone voluntarily at that church, it's possible that that person could have got out of the car and came to her window and pointed some type of weapon at her. It's possible that she could have got out of her car voluntarily with the intent of getting back in it and got into the car with someone, and then things got out of control and she was taken from the scene in that car. Those are the two possibilities to me that come to mind are the most likely scenarios. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about the disappearance of a beautiful young girl, Madison Bell,

a teen girl, cheerleader captain, senior week at school. She goes 10 minutes away to a tan salon, which is part of a deli, convenience store. But her car is found by mom literally across the street in a church parking lot. Why? Cody Mann, longtime boyfriend, was there any damage to her car? Not that I had seen. And am I correct that her cell phone was in her car? Yes.

And what kind of car did she drive? A 2017 Toyota Camry. Color? It was like a burgundy-ish red. 2017 Camry, burgundy, two-door, four-door? Four-door. Four-door. Four-door.

Any stickers on it? Like, I love manatees just anything at all stuck on the back an svg sticker where she had bought or gus weiler sticker where she had bought the car from the dealership okay tell me that again slowly repeat there's a a gus weiler gus weiler is that w-i-l-e? Yes. A sticker on the back of the car? Yes? No? Yeah, but they've since sold the place, and it's now SVG Toyota.

Yeah. Don't care. I'm just trying to get a visual on anything that would make that burgundy Toyota four-door Camry different from another one. Was there any damage to it was a tail light missing just any other sticker anything about the car that makes it different no like my minivan has a bike rack we keep the Rudolph the reindeer nose on the front year-round so that makes it different is there anything about her car miss Bell that would make it different. Is there anything about her car, Ms. Bell, that would make it different?

That maybe someone saw what was happening that day? I mean, I don't know if he mentioned the dark tint on the windows. On her car? That would be the only thing. Yeah, that car used to be mine and I just recently gave it to her because she was going to start college and I was going to get a new one. But when I had it, I had the windows tinted dark. So, you know, it strikes me about this. Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist joining me. You can find him on Insta at Dr. Daniel Bober.

Dr. Bober, there was no damage to the car. So that tells me she, did she pull the car over willingly? Because think it through with me, Bober. If someone had approached her and gotten her in some other way, some other location, why would they take the car all the way to the salon across the street? That tells me she drove the car. She was almost there. There's no damage to the car.

So it sounds to me like she got out willingly. What do you make of it? Well, maybe it started. Well, maybe it started out willingly and then it became coerced after that. It's difficult to say. Such as, hey, can you help me? I've got a flat tire. Hey, I know you. Aren't you a cheerleader? Could you, can I borrow your cell phone for a minute? There could be a million reasons she got out willingly. Back to Cheryl McCollum, Director Cold Case Research Institute. What about it, Cheryl? What are you making of what we're learning right now? Well, Nancy, again, you know, I'm interested in that cell phone. Hey, I don't like it when you say again, because that means I've already told you this. Why are you asking me again?

No, I'm saying no, not at all. I'm focused on if you send a message or receive a message through Snapchat or Instagram, not like a normal text message or phone call, because it does seem to me like she pulled in there. And I'll just ask Cody point blank. Did she smoke marijuana marijuana would she go there to buy drugs from somebody yes or no no okay so if that's not the case and there's no damage to her car i doubt they'd be selling and exchanging dope in a church parking lot cheryl mccollum of all the places you could do that there's there's nobody there and there's no cameras but i'm saying the car did not look like a police officer vehicle i don't know how they would get her to stop just

short of her destination if it's not a fake red a million ways a million ways if somebody waved at her and went hey you have a flat she might pull in there could be a million decoy ways to get her out of that car. But I'm curious. But the car was there before her. Keep that in mind. Okay, that's new. Is that correct, Melissa Bell? The what, you say?

The white Nissan with the California tags, which I believe it was a Nissan Sentra or looked like a Nissan Sentra. That car was there before? It was there before Madison arrived, yes. Okay, yeah, you're right, Cheryl McCollum. That changes things. Go ahead, Ms. Bell.

Witnesses saw it there at approximately, they said, maybe a quarter till or 10 till 10 o'clock so 9 45 9 50 i've and i believe that that's what they said and uh question multiple witnesses saw that what's the timeline on when her car got there well i think that she left i've never gave an exact time when she left because I was cleaning and she hollered that she was leaving. I said, be careful because I always say be careful when she's driving. And she left here approximately 10 o'clock. So that car there is at 950 and the white Sentra, California tags, we think. Her car.

According to witnesses. Really? What witnesses? You don't have to give me their names, but why did they notice it? No. Well, there was just multiple witnesses. Well, one was an elderly couple that are members of the church, like a treasurer, and they had to stop to go into the church to pick up or drop off an item.

And since they weren't having church that day, and this was earlier in the day, but I mean, this, I don't know what time they were there, but when they were there, they noticed this man. That's how we got a description in the car and the California tax. What's the description of the man? All I know is Caucasian. I'm not sure on height specifically, but Caucasian and blonde hair. And I've heard rumors that he might have been smoking a cigarette. I've heard rumors that he had aviator glasses and flip hair to the side. Then someone else said shaggy hair. I don't exactly know the exact description. Does everybody agree white, male, blonde? Yes.

Did anybody say what he was wearing? A polo shirt and clean cut, like clean face. What color polo shirt? I believe white or gray. I've heard both. No one's ever really given me. Somebody got a good look at him. Yeah, and no one's ever got a good look at him yeah and no one's ever really i've heard so many people but no authorities have gave me a or i believe at least

a accurate just you know of why would he be in this small town as emily describes a village with California tags. Why? Who does he know there? Emily Nestor, is this area anywhere near a major interstate? You have to take a lot of state roads before you hit an interstate, but I think it is important to mention the proximity to Chillicothe and its history of missing women and possible trafficking situations. So you're about 20-25 minutes from Chillicothe.

Guys, let's pause and take a listen to our friends at WLWT5. Word of her disappearance spread quickly through this rural town. Volunteers searched yesterday and again today. They're focusing their efforts within half a mile from where her car was found. As her mom, there is something wrong. Someone has her. She's not somebody who has run away. She's not, this is not her behavior. And Maddie may have been wearing a black North face jacket. Now her mama says that she may have had a bank card on her but so far there's been no activity on that card. There's also been no activity on the Facebook account. The sheriff out here does say that

they are looking for a white car because there was a white car seen coming and going from the church parking lot yesterday. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're on the hunt for a beautiful teen girl, Maddie Madison Bell. The tip line, Madison County, is 937-393-1421 or 844-727-9111. You can find all this information at CrimeOnline.com. I want to circle back to Cody Mann. This is Maddie's boyfriend. Do you or Mom, Melissa Bell,

know anyone that drives a white Nissan Sentra? No. Melissa? I do not. Let me ask you this. Police obviously got her cell phone. Have they downloaded all the information from it, Melissa? I have. They haven't released. They haven't told me anything. going to meet someone, which I doubt, that there would be a text message or a corresponding cell phone incoming or outgoing call, correct? Yes, no. There would be, you know, but there's a

lot of apps that you can use nowadays that are very difficult to trace that won't show up on a text message log that you can use online. And so that does present some difficulty sometimes. Cody Mann, longtime boyfriend, were you guys having any trouble? Talk of a breakup, anything at all? No. Was she planning on going to college? Do we know about that, Melissa? Yes, she had already been accepted to Ohio University at the Chill Coffee branch to be in the nursing program. She was going to be a registered nurse. How did she feel about that?

How did she feel about it? Yes. She was very excited. She has a Pinterest account, and I was looking that just, I believe it was last night and just to see what her last pins were. And she had created a college board and I know that she had been talking to me, um, about the last three weeks and telling me that she was creating this board because she, she was getting excited and she was decided on her own that she was going to start studying different parts of the body. So she was pinning the arm and the arteries and veins in the arm and then trying to learn that.

That's what she was doing, trying to just study each part, thinking that that would help prepare her for school. And she was getting really excited about that. This is what we know. Maddie Madison Bell, teen girl, last seen Sunday morning, told mom she's heading to the tanning salon at Country Corner Market. Her car found at the Good Shepherd Church across the street with her cars in the ignition and the phone on the seat. What does that tell you, Cheryl McCollum? Keys still in ignition, cell phone on the car seat. Tells me she wasn't intending to go anywhere. She's just going to hop out very quickly

and get back in her car. Yeah, teenage girls aren't going to leave that cell phone at all. And again, the way the car is parked is perfect. It's not like she parked catty-cornered or crazy or in a hurry. It looked like she just pulled straight to the left, straight left into that parking spot perfectly. I think right now what police are doing is probably swabbing the steering wheel, swabbing the gear shift, dusting for prints to see if anybody else got in that car. But again, cash is visible and seen. Her cell phone is visible and seen. The keys are in it.

Doesn't look like theft was an issue. I don't think she left on her own at all, Nancy. I don't either. And to you, Dr. Daniel Bober, the incidence of crimes on Sunday mornings is actually lower than other days and times of the week. Why? Well, I think there's probably a lower stress level, more leisure time. People are often going to religious groups at that time. So I think it's probably just the nature of what people are doing at that time and during that day of the week. This Ohio high school senior has vanished on her way to a tanning salon.

Just before her graduation, her car found abandoned, the keys still in the ignition. To mom, Madison Bell, what does that tell you, that her keys were still in the ignition? I just know, you're a mother. You know, you have a gut instinct. And I just have this gut instinct from the moment because I know my child. I know her. And I know this is a girl who's scared of her shadow. She won't go to sleep at night until her boyfriend would get home from work.

She would never pick up a stranger. She would never stop intentionally. She didn't take anything with her to, that would say that she's planning to leave. Like she wears glasses to read. She has prescription contacts, but she didn't take those. The only thing she had in was what she already had in from the night before, which are colored contacts. She would have taken her makeup because she would hardly ever go out without makeup, but she, unless she was tanning, you know, but other than that, she was, because she was planning to come back. Um, she didn't take her medicine and her physician has her, you know, she takes a prescription every day. She didn't take that. I mean, she didn't take anything, any extra clothing, any, I mean, I went through that I know of. I mean, I've went through everything and I don't notice anything odd gone. I'm looking at

her picture. Other than her jacket, she takes her jacket everywhere because she gets cold. My daughter does too. She takes her jacket everywhere, her blue fleece. I'm looking at Maddie's photo right now. She's got on her high school graduation cap and gown. It's white. She's just beautiful. Her teeth are perfect. Did she wear braces? No, they're just natural born.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. She loved to play in makeup and doll up. And, you know, she, I will say, you know, she didn't have, she had like, she never saw herself as, you know, she was her worst critic on herself, you know, looking at herself. But, you know, we all knew how beautiful, no matter what she had, whether makeup or not not but she just always wore makeup i mean she wouldn't even go to the dollar store without makeup what are police telling you melissa not a lot right now they haven't released you know that i know that they're i know they've been working digital you know vigilantly together um i they've spoken with me and asked me questions and stuff like that. But no, like, real official things have been released to me yet.

I'm looking at a photo of you, Melissa, and longtime boyfriend Cody Mann, and his face is just contorted in tears. Cody, what has this been like for you? It's unimaginable. Melissa, tell me what you are learning from reports. What's your current working theory? Because I always say mom knows best. And you know what?

You're exactly right. And I have said it, and I've said it from day one. Maybe she thought that the only thing I can think of is maybe she misplaced this person. She thought that this was somebody that she knew. You know, she's been in quarantine. This is a girl who didn't even go out of quarantine for two months until she had to do her, you know, quarantine graduation thing that they did. So she was a homebody and she would not stop for a stranger. So she had to think that she knew this person, you know, she had to, maybe I was thinking maybe she thought this was somebody from school that they look, you know, you were talking about a white guy, blonde hair.

Well, our school, I mean, you mean, you're going to find that. So maybe she just thought it was someone, and by the time she pulled in and realized it wasn't, you know? That's the only thing. There has to be. My instinct as her mom is there's a reason that she pulled in. And she would never, ever pull in there for a stranger. That I know for sure.

To Emily Nestor, Crime Reporter Podcast host, Mile Marker 181. What more can you tell me, Emily? Well, I really, I've never seen anything like this as far as community response. And the gentleman that is heading search and rescue for the past four days, going on five, he said he'd never seen this type of community response either. So it's just, it's amazing. The first day, there were over 300 people. Even in the pouring rain, there were over 150 people. And so this weekend, there are going to be literally thousands.

Texas EquiSearch, you know, a nonprofit that they are professionals in this, they are coming in on horseback, drones, physical ground searches, and that will be happening all through this weekend. I mean, no one is giving up here. Also joining the search, the FBI. Tip line 937-393-1421 or 844-727-9111. Our prayers that Maddie comes home safely. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.