Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Cold Case: Missing Isabel Celis 5 years

Episode Date: February 15, 2017

Isabel Celis disappeared from her family’s Tuscon home sometime in the early morning hours of April 20, 2012. Despite a massive search and intense police investigation, the child is still missing nearly five years later. An open screen suggests the six-year-old was snatched from her bedroom through the window. The father’s remarkably calm call to a 911 dispatcher initially drew attention to him. Investigators have also looked at a man who lived with the family for a while. Nancy Grace discusses the case in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. It was Saturday morning when the family says they discovered the six-year-old missing from her bedroom, a window open and screen detached. Hello, I need to report a missing child. I believe she was abducted from a house. The father, Sergio, who appeared so calm on his 911 call, told police that he fell asleep on the couch watching a pre-recorded baseball game. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Detectives write about a witness telling

them that a guy who was staying with the family owed someone a lot of money and that's why she was taken. Please, please, to the person or persons who have Isabel, tell us your demands. Tell us what you want. Law enforcement experts say it is statistically likely someone known to the family is involved. Imagine you get up first thing in the morning, get ready, and go to work. Don't want to wake up your children, so you don't open their door. You just get ready and go because you're working to support them. And it always makes me feel good if I have to get up and fly out of town or get up and do an early, early morning TV hit,

it makes me feel good to know my twins are still asleep, snoozing away while mommy works. Well, that is what happened the morning that Isabel Salise's mom got up. She got up and left the home around 6.30 that morning. She never saw her daughter alive again. She's never seen her daughter alive again. Repeat. She's never seen her daughter dead or alive. What happened to Isabel Solis? New video has just been released in the past months of a camera that was trained on and around the Solis home the night that Isabella went missing. But what, if anything, does it prove?

The six-year-old little girl still missing. That night, Isabel goes to bed. The father, Sergio, Isabel's father, falls asleep on the sofa watching TV. That's at 2300 hours, 5 a.m. Sergio wakes up. He goes from the sofa to his bedroom and goes straight back to sleep. That morning, Issa's mom, Rebecca, leaves for work, doesn't want to wake the children up. She's an RN, and many people leave the home without waking their children up. 8, 0800, 8 o'clock in the morning. The father, Sergio, goes to Issa's room to wake her up.

She is not there. Her window open, the screen removed. Sergio Solis calls 911. Welcome to Crime Stories. I'm Nancy Grace. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of 6-year-old Isabella Solis goes on. Joining me right now, Alan Duke. Alan, you and I both looked at the new surveillance video of Isabella's home.

What does it reveal? It's 10 hours of motion-activated video taken from about 200 feet away. Fortunately, there was a security company just down the street. Unfortunately, if you look at that, you don't see Isabel leaving the house. You do see activity around. You see cars pulling up, trucks.

You see some activity around some garbage cans. But what does that mean? Police have had this for a while. It was just recently released because an employee of the security company had a copy of it and decided, you know what, enough time's passed, the public needs to see it. So it's there for us to look at. You mean a police officer on their own just released it? No, this is a security company, a former employee. Thank you. Thank you. Former employee. Wow. That's really interesting that it sat there all this time.

Police had to have it. I guess that's why in my mind I'd already jumped to the next step. But it was never released. That's very, very odd. You know, a lot has happened since Isabella's disappearance that has not really been made public. I know that that morning at 8.14, the father, Sergio Solis, calls 911 to report his daughter is missing and we're

going to play some of that for you many people have found it unusual but just later that morning Rebecca the mom comes home she makes a frantic 9-1-1 call Rebecca's other son, Issa's brother, Sergio Jr., makes a 911 call. When I hear Rebecca's 911 call, it almost makes me start crying right then when I hear that call. Now, tell me what we know about the scene, Alan. What, if anything, did police find? I know the window was open and the screen had been knocked off. What more do we know? What they didn't find was any sign of a struggle, which of course leads investigators and speculators like me to think that if there was no sign of a struggle, she might have known

who took her. Interesting because I used to believe that, but I could pick up my children and still can and move them from one bed to the next or one room to the next and they never wake up they never wake up so I don't know if somebody took her and she never woke up. Interesting, right? But you'd think, I mean, normally an adult might wake up, but not necessarily a child. So this newly released footage, you said there's 10 hours of it. Why did the police sit on it all this time? Well, you know, police like to keep their secrets and don't want everybody to know what they see. But what's interesting to me is how this video came to light. It was the father, Sergio, who went to the security company apparently thinking that, well, maybe they've got some. So he knocked on the door and

said, did your cameras catch anything over there? And the security employee looked and said, well, we do have a camera pointed there. They gave him a copy. He left. And according to the employee, the same one who finally released this, the police were soon after they showed up and wanted to know why Sergio was there. So that's how they initially found the video. You know, it's interesting. A lot of people have attacked the father, Sergio, for his wording when he called 911. He didn't seem frantic at all.

He didn't seem concerned. He says, quote, I want to report a missing person. Why don't we play that right now? 911, what's your emergency? I want to report a missing person. My little girl is six years old. I believe she was abducted from our house. What's the address? Okay, stay on the line for two-some police. I will.

Okay, it's home police department. Gatler. Hello, I need to report a missing child. I believe she was abducted from my house. Okay, how old? Six years old. Okay, is it your daughter? Yes. Why do you think she was abducted? I have no idea. We woke up this morning. I went to go get her up for her baseball game and she's gone. I woke up my sons. We looked everywhere in the house and my oldest son noticed that her window was wide open and the screen was laying in the backyard. We've looked all around the house. My sons are running around the

house looking for her. The screen was on the ground outside? Yes. What's your address? What's your name, sir? My name is Sergio, S-E-R-G-I-O, middle initial D, last name is C-E-L-I-S. I-S as in Sam? Yes. Okay, what's your name?

Isabel, I-S-B-E-L, I-S-A-B-E-L, as in man, is the middle initial. Okay, same last name? Yes. Okay, what's your actual birth date? Okay. Is mom there also? She had just left for work. I just called her, and I told her to get her back home.

Okay, another. Then after that kind of, let me just say, sterile call, I want to report a missing person. Sergio Saliz says, on one of two calls made that morning, my little girl who was six years old, I believe she was abducted from our house. Now, the second recording is a call with Isabel's 14-year-old brother, Sergio, who later goes on to give more information both the boy and the mom are frantic the woman the mom controlling herself a little bit more when she's asked for specific

information she's asked about Isabel's height her weight what she may have been wearing her hair, her eyes, colors. Now, many people attacked Sergio Solis' call to 911 saying, if you realize your child is missing, why would you say I would like to report a missing person? I don't know. Maybe he was trying to control himself to be more understandable to the police but Alan I don't know if I've ever told you about the time John David and Lucy and I were in Babies R Us and I was looking for some mom at the pool had totally guilted me out because she said she made her own sunscreen because she was worried about carcinogens in the sunscreen. I felt like a piece of crap, okay, because I'm like, I just try to get the sunblock on them and keep slathering it all over them at the pool. I don't have time to make my own sunscreen anyway, so I was at Babies R Us,

and I was looking for some organic sunscreen, which, by the way, I did not find. I had them with me. I bent down to the bottom shelf to look, to see if I could find it. And I was looking at the ingredients. I got up basically off the floor with a bunch of tubes in my hand and turned around and John David was gone. Gone! I quickly ran to the edge of the aisle and looked both ways. I didn't see him. I screamed, Lockdown! My baby boy is gone!

I mean, I screamed bloody murder, okay? Because, I mean, I've covered the Adam Walsh disappearance where he went missing from two aisles away from his mom, right? So I did not calmly walk to the front and find a manager and go, I'd like to report my son is not with me. Okay, end of that story, I him like four three aisles away playing with something I don't know what it was by then the whole store was in an uproar okay but I get why people are attacking him because that seems like an unusual response to your daughter being your baby being missing on the other hand I could also see him trying to maintain some semblance of control and getting the facts to the police. So I don't think that's anything you can really take to a jury or use against him really in any way. What do you think? I don't know that you can really tell a whole lot about somebody's guilt or innocence by an

initial reaction like that, because we're all different. We're humans, but we also process things differently. We have different personalities. Some people become more emotional, and some people are just training themselves to control their response and to be logical. It depends on, sometimes it's your profession. Me as a journalist, I think I'm probably more controlled. Says you. Another thing, police have not dropped the ball on this. They have searched homes in the family's neighborhood. They have dug through a landfill with a fine-tooth comb. They've searched multiple waterways. They've even gone so far as to search the drainage systems in Tucson. They've sifted through over 1,000 tips regarding Isabel's

disappearance. The parents have made public pleas. They're emotional. They're begging for her safe return or information about her. But this is what we do know. She was seen by more than one person at 11 o'clock the night before April 20 when she was put to bed. Everybody saw her. 11 o'clock. We know she's missing the next morning, 8 a.m. What happened in those nine hours? I'm not sure that they had a home alarm system, but I know that they heard nothing during the night to make them get up. Nothing, not a dog barking, and I believe there was a dog in the home.

Nothing occurred to wake either of them up. Alan, do you wake up all night? You know what, Nancy, and especially since we've started doing this podcast about missing people. I actually have several nights awakened at 2 in the morning and just sent a text message to my daughter who's grown, mother of my grandchildren, are you okay? That's been my mentality lately. Yes, I wake up in the middle of the night, and sometimes with that on my mind.

I'm just wondering if they had a home security system. And I'm not calling them out to say, why didn't you? I'm just wondering if they did. I know they did not have home cameras. I don't think they had an alarm system. I also know that police have taken this search all the way to Mexico. They have searched there as well. I mean, they have really tried. I want to take this

moment to thank the home security and alarm system making our podcast possible. It's SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe.com is where you can find out all about it. It's affordable and it works. Those are the two main factors. It's $14.99 a month and it's so easy to install. Really, a child could actually install this system and it works. There's a video online that explains it all. And another thing that I really like about this system, Alan, is that it's not connected to your landline or your cell phone. It's got its own cell system. It doesn't need you to call anyone. It does it on its own. And also, nobody can cut the cord or cut the wires to your phone system, and then your alarm system doesn't work. That's one of the many good things about SimpliSafe. It's a pretty good system. I'm a tech guy, and it's kind of ingenious the way that they

designed it. I'm pretty sure that in this case, and I hate to apply security systems to a particular case, because you don't know their finances. You don't know about their family or their neighborhood. They may have felt they didn't need one. And I don't want to put another burden on a victim's family, a woulda, coulda, shoulda. I don't blame them for not having it. You know, Alan, I've gone through all the security video as well. There's 10 hours. I've gone through everything that we can get our mitts on.

She apparently was kidnapped right through the window of her own bedroom in the middle of the night. Still, who's to blame for this little girl lost? And is the truth right under our noses? Think about it, Alan. She was seen that night at 11 o'clock. And according to this video, you don't see anything unusual going in or out of the house, right? So what does that mean? No, you know, there is some activity around garbage cans out near the house, which of course could be why the police later went and searched the landfill.

You know, they've spent a million dollars on this investigation, a million dollars. So it's not like work hasn't been done yet. The lack of evidence around the house is striking. And another thing regarding that, I don't know that there are any cameras that pick up all sides of the house because they had a gated backyard. Remember, they've got a gate going all the way around. Of course, somebody could always jump over that. Now, this is the way it reportedly went down. It was after 11 p.m. on April 20. Becky, Rebecca, the mom, laid out Isabel's softball uniform for her game.

She had a game the next morning. She kissed her daughter goodnight. That's after 11 o'clock. Isabel is the baby of the family. Everybody loves her. So sometimes after 11 and 8 a.m., everything changes. Now, Sergio goes to wake her up for the softball game, finds her bed empty. Both he and the sons panic and start searching the house in the yard.

Then the little boy, the searching the house in the yard. Then the little boy, the son, comes to the dad. I'm in the garage and that's when Sergio Jr. comes in and says, Dad, her screen is laying in the back. Her window is busted out. Now that's interesting that the window is busted out. I thought it was just wide open. I still am not sure the window was busted because according to police, it looked like someone had just reached through the window and grabbed her

out of her bed. That's what it looks like now. On the 911 call, Alan, the mom can barely even speak. Police immediately go on high alert. They start interviewing everybody. The next door neighbor tells KOLD TV that she heard male voices at 6 a.m. Now that's interesting, 6 a.m. And of course, police are going to look at the family very closely whenever a child goes missing. Did you know that three in four cases, a family member plays a role in a disappearance, Alan? Three out of four. Yes, I'm aware of that. There's a private investigator who has been talking a little bit about what he's been finding over the last couple of years. He says he has two suspects in his mind, or persons of interest, if you will. He won't name them because, of course,

police haven't named them, and so he's being careful with that. But one of them was someone who supposedly was close to the family, and this person has hired an attorney, and so, oh, that raises some suspicion and everything like that. So they're looking at that angle. At least this private investigator says he turned his information over to the Tucson police. Right. I understand there was a family member that had actually lived in the home

for a period of time but no longer did. And he did lawyer up. That's true. I also know, and this has no bearing as to guilt or innocence because police have not named a suspect. I know that it has been reported that one month after Isabel is kidnapped, she and Sergio break up. She gets full custody. And I don't know if he has visitation rights.

I don't know if he is allowed to see them without supervision or allowed to see them at all. But I do know that the family broke up right after this. And actually, that's not uncommon, Alan, when a family goes through all this. The stress of this loss, this mystery, if you've got cracks in your relationship, it could cause them to even get much wider. Well, you probably blame each other if you had checked on her at 630. Well, if you hadn't gone to bed and blah, you know, back and forth, and none of it may amount to a hill of beans. But I know this. Tucson Police Detective Greg Wright made a very interesting statement.

He said, all the family members have been interviewed, and we have not ruled anybody out. I find that really interesting. Now, when you think family, it's not just the nuclear family. There are relatives, lots of relatives. So who is he talking about? All the family members have been interviewed and we have not ruled anybody out. For any information on the whereabouts of Isabella Salise, 6-year-old little Isabelle, please call 520-791-6813. Repeat, 520-791-6813. There is a $9,000 reward. Or you can always call us, 909-492-7463.

909-49-CRIME. C-R-I-M-E. 909-492-7463. Again, thank you to our sponsor who makes our podcast possible to bring it to you. It's SimpliSafe at SimpliSafe.com. So many features make SimpliSafe the most awesome home alarm system. It works. It has its own cell field, which means it's not reliant on your home landline or your cell phone.

Nobody can cut your phone line and destroy or evade the system. It's $14.99 a month. And if you go to SimpliSafe.com slash Nancy, get another 10% off. I'm proud that there are sponsors. Thank you, SimpliSafe. Join us in the search for Isabel Solis. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.