Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 04.22.24

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

Missing Houston girl rescued from possible trafficking scheme. This suspect is tired of the 'paw-parazzi.'  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. 12-year-old Emonie Hughes reported missing by her mother. A neighbor sees Emonie get into a dark four-door Dodge pickup with a seemingly packed bag. Houston police find the girl's been chatting with a man on the dating app tagged. Cops zero in on Sertarian Preston and find Emoni with Preston in Columbus, Texas. Preston, 27, tries to run from the cops. He's quickly captured and charged with evading arrest. More charges pending. Nancy, Columbus, Texas is just over an hour east of

Houston. We're now learning that Preston contacted the girl's mother after picking her up, claiming he took her back home after learning she was underage. Hughes was still missing and Houston police issued an Amber Alert. Authorities then tracked Hughes' tablet to a gas station. There they found the girl hidden under a blanket in the cab of a box truck Preston was driving. An automatic rifle was also recovered from the vehicle. Preston is now also facing a human smuggling charge. An Arizona homeowner gets three motion-activated cameras as a gift and sets them up in the backyard, hoping to catch wildlife passing through. Well, someone takes exception to being watched by the paw-parazzi and steals the backyard cams. When all three cameras are offline, the homeowner reviews the latest recordings and discovers a gray fox pulls the cameras down one by one, then brought

them back to his den. The thief's mugshots posted all over social media, but the homeowner says they refuse to prosecute. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. In connection with a December 6th crash that resulted in the death of a North Dakota sheriff's officer, the adult son of U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer has now entered a not guilty plea.

Here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. 43-year-old Ian Cramer waived his right to a preliminary hearing and pleaded not guilty to felony charges of homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, and reckless endangerment, as well as three misdemeanor drug charges and other low-level offenses of driving under suspension and marijuana possession. The first charge against Cramer was manslaughter, but it was later changed to homicide. Ian Kramer's court appearance was a brief one.

In response to State District Judge Bobby Weiler's procedural questions, he answered simply yes and no. After the hearing, he spoke with his public defender for a short time outside the courtroom before getting into an elevator with two sheriff's deputies. According to Bismarck Police, Ian Kramer's mother had brought him to an area hospital due to possible mental health issues. Court records reveal that once his mother stepped out of the car, he crawled into the driver's seat and drove through the locked garage door of the hospital's ambulance bay. He later escaped from deputies after one confronted him in Hazen, some 70 miles from Bismarck. Also in court documents, details that Kramer reached speeds

of above 100 miles an hour and continued driving even after two tires were flattened by a spiked device. Further tire spikes were deployed and investigators say that Kramer swerved, crashing into Mercer County Sheriff's Deputy Paul Martin's patrol vehicle. Martin was thrown approximately 100 feet into the air. The 53-year-old Martin was subsequently declared dead at a nearby hospital. Ian Kramer entered a not guilty plea in March to three separate felony counts related to the events of the hospital, stealing, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment. Martin's jury trial is set for this summer.

Senator Kramer has stated that his son, quote, suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe hallucinations and paranoia. Martin is currently behind bars at the McLean County Jail in Washburn, North Dakota, on $500,000 cash bail. A first chance at parole for a man who spent more than half of his life behind bars for his involvement in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors, part of a plot to rob and kill people before escaping abroad. Once again, Crime Online, Sidney Sumner. James Parker was 16 years old when he participated in a conspiracy with his best friend that led to the deaths of Half and Suzanne Zantop in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Now approaching 40, Park is slated for a state parole board hearing more than two decades after pleading guilty to second-degree murder as an accomplice. With the sentence ranging from 25 years to life, Parker has almost completed the minimum amount of time to be served. According to a 2018 motion filed by his attorney, Parker completed both his bachelor's and master's degrees while incarcerated and has created paintings that are on display in the facility. In addition to participating in athletics, theater, and music, he has assisted in organizing prisoner education materials. A Department of Corrections spokesperson says Parker resides in a transitional living unit, which is often the last location a prisoner is placed before being released from prison, and he has earned time credits toward his sentence. In 2018, Parker requested a reduction in his sentence as staff members in charge of corrections

acknowledged his achievements. He was legally allowed to do so because he had completed two-thirds of his tenure, but he retracted the petition in 2019 in response to the objections of the Zantops' two daughters. Kathy Green, Parker's attorney, says her client continues to deeply regret his actions. Thanks, John. Jane McDonald Crone leaves work at a Houston tool company but doesn't make it home. That night Jane's seen at a country dance club with a man her friends don't know. He's got dark hair and a mustache and said his name was David. The pair leaves separately that evening but Jane never makes it home. Her 1982 Mustang abandoned a few blocks from her home, all her personal items gone. No sign of a struggle, but cops believe she may have been taken against her will. Jane McDonald Crone now missing

30 years. If you have info, contact Montgomery County Sheriff's 936-760-5800. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.