Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 07.22.24

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

Man impersonates CPS worker to gain access to children. Woman smuggles drugs disguised as burritos! 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. Gerald Miller knocks on the door of a Texas home, claiming Child Protective Services has sent him to speak with their child. Concerned, the family allows him inside. He goes to the child's bedroom, closing the door for the conversation. The parents hear screams. They rush inside and find Gerald Miller trying to undress their child. The family gives police Miller's description. They find a similar incident occurred just a few weeks earlier. Nancy, the victim's parents gave cops Miller's physical

description as well as information on his vehicle. Property in Miller's car tied him to both incidents. After his arrest, Miller was remanded to the Hopkins County Jail where he is held on a $300,000 bond. Authorities are reminding parents that CPS workers carry and show credentials before speaking with parents or children. Gerald Miller, 56, now charged with impersonating a public servant and sex assault. Tennessee cops flip on red and blue lights for a car registered to a driver with a suspended license. A canine hits on drugs inside the car, so officers search it and find quite the unusual Taco Bell order.

Ziploc bags of meth, LSD, marijuana, fentanyl gummies, and pills are wrapped in tortillas like burritos. The unidentified woman, 37, is cuffed and loaded into a cop car, charged with drug possession, driving on a suspended license, and two counts, failure to appear. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a stay of execution for a Texas man less than half an hour before his scheduled lethal injection. With more, here's Sydney Sumner of Crime Online. Ruben Gutierrez, convicted for the 1998 murder of 85-year-old Escalus Tika Harrison, received an indefinite reprieve from the high court. Harrison, a retired teacher and mobile home park manager in Brownsville, Texas, was fatally stabbed in what prosecutors described as a robbery attempt to steal over $600,000 she had hidden in her home. Gutierrez

has consistently maintained his innocence, arguing that DNA testing could prove he wasn't responsible for the crime. His defense team asserts there is no physical or forensic evidence linking him to the murder. Notably, two other individuals were also charged in connection with the case. The Supreme Court's order will remain in effect until the justices decide whether to review Gutierrez's appeal. If the appeal is denied, the stay will be lifted automatically. Gutierrez was set to be executed just 20 minutes after he was informed of the court's decision by a prison warden while he was in a holding cell near the death chamber. Now to Oklahoma and a significant breakthrough in an investigation relying heavily on DNA testing, as a World War I veteran has been named as the first person identified from

the mass graves of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Once again, Crime Online, Sidney Sumner. Mayor G.T. Bynum announced on Friday that C.L. Daniel from Georgia, who was in his 20s when he was killed, has been identified using DNA from descendants of his brothers. The identification was made by Intermountain Forensics, a lab based in Salt Lake City, in collaboration with the National Archives. The massacre, a horrific event in which a white mob killed as many as 300 black residents over two days decimated Tulsa's Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street, and forced thousands into internment camps overseen by the National

Guard. Since searches began in 2020, over 120 graves have been discovered, with forensic analysis and DNA collected from about 30 sets of remains. Daniel's remains are the first to be directly linked to the massacre. The breakthrough came when investigators found a 1936 letter from Daniel's mother's attorney seeking veterans' benefits, which provided crucial evidence that he was a victim of the massacre. During the announcement, forensic scientist Allison Wild noted that no members of Daniel's family, many of whom are not in contact with each other, attended the news conference. The Tulsa Race Massacre began on May 31, 1921, when a white mob, including some deputized by authorities, looted and burned the Greenwood District.

More than 1,200 homes, businesses, schools, and churches were destroyed by June 1. Forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield stated that Daniel's remains were fragmented, making it impossible to determine a cause of death. Mayor Bynum also announced that the next search for victims will begin on July 22nd. Thanks, John. After a bout of pneumonia, Tracy Bell doesn't show up to work when she's set to return. Concerned, her boss at the Illinois State Attorney's Office asked cops to check on her. Police find Tracy at home, uninjured but disoriented.

They call paramedics to check her blood sugar as she's recently been diagnosed diabetic. By the time they leave, she's no longer confused. Next day, she doesn't come to work again, followed by a second welfare check. But this time, Belle's gone. Her purse is missing from her home. Her car still parked outside. No activity on her bank account or cell phone now six years. If you have info on Tracy Bell, please call Richland Park PD, 708-481-8956. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.