Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - DEAD ON VACATION: CARIBBEAN DREAM VACATION TURNS NIGHTMARE MURDER

Episode Date: June 25, 2021

Robyn Gardner, a 35-year-old native of Bethesda, Maryland, was reported missing during a luxury snorkeling vacation in Aruba. Gary Giordano, a “friend” who took her on a vacation trip to the island, made the report. Ms. Gardner was seen leaving a local restaurant, early in the day.Giordano tells police that he and Gardner went snorkeling together. He indicated that the currents were getting strong and they decided to go back to shore. He said he lost sight of Ms. Gardner, and he thought she had been taken offshore by the strong currents. But when authorities and local citizens say they noticed that Giordano was sweating profusely and had a noticeable scratch on his neck. Local authorities searched the immediate area with no luck. They eventually brought in cadaver dogs to try to find Ms. Gardner, but nothing was found. Police then became aware that Mr. Giordano had taken out a $1.5 million life insurance policy on Ms. Gardner, naming him the beneficiary shortly before the trip to Aruba.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Danielle Unglesbee - Victim's Sister, Travel Planner/Professional, Memories Travel & Tours, www.mymemoriestravel.com Jim Elliott - Of Counsel, Butler Snow LLP, www.butlersnow.com, Instagram: JimElliott1957 Dr. Jorey Krawczyn [KRAW-ZIN] - Police Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty with Saint Leo University; Research Consultant with Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S. - Practical Recommendations to Help “Stop Officer Suicide” (July 2021) bw-institute.com Karen L. Smith - Forensic Expert, Lecturer at the University of Florida, Host of Shattered Souls Podcast, @KarensForensic, barebonesforensic.com  Alexis Tereszcuk - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories dot Com, Twitter: @swimmie2009  TIPLINE: U.S. Consulate General in Curacao [phone] 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 beautiful young girl goes on a dream getaway with a friend, but she never comes back. To this day, her case unsolved. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Robin Gardner needed a getaway. She had recently lost her job as a dental assistant and was having relationship issues with her boyfriend of two and a half years, Richard Forrester. An invitation to vacation in Aruba seemed just the thing.

Gardner had met Gary Giordano on Match.com the year before. Friends say the two weren't super close and had a platonic relationship. In fact, Gardner and Giordano had an on-again, off-again relationship. Sometimes they would be friendly for a while and then not talk for a few months. Then came the invitation. The pair arrived in Aruba July 31st. You know, an on-again, off-again email relationship is what it sounds like. So she must have been really surprised when she had been emailing about wanting a getaway, having problems with her boyfriend. She suddenly decides to go to Aruba with this email friend.

Again, thanks for being with us here at Fox Nation Series XM. Now I want to introduce to you an all-star panel. First of all, Jim Elliott, veteran trial lawyer at butlersnow.com dr jory crawson police psychologist faculty saint leo university and research consultant karen smith forensics expert lecturer university florida and host of shattered souls a podcast you can find her at barebonesforensics.com but first to a to Alexis Tereschuk, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Alexis, also with Lead Stories. Alexis, I don't know if you realize it, but also joining us today is Robin Gardner's sister, Danielle Unglesby.

And she knows a thing or two about trips to Aruba because she's with MyMemoriesTravel.com. Hold on just a moment, Alexis. Danielle, when you heard your sister was traveling to Aruba with her email friend, what did you tell her? I didn't know. She didn't even tell me. It was a total surprise to me. I didn't find out until August the 4th when I got a call that she had disappeared. What was your first thought when you realized she had disappeared in Aruba? I was told that she was lost at sea and I just found that very surprising because I know that she really doesn't swim or get into the water. Now, why is it she doesn't swim or get into the water.

Now, why is it she doesn't swim or get into the water? It's because she has extensions and wear makeup and got all dolled up. And she just didn't want to ruin that. Well, I got to tell you something. My daughter, who is an excellent swimmer, I mean, she even has has her advanced scout merit badge in swimming. And that includes saving people, jumping in the water and saving them, throwing them rafts, holding a pole to them, the works. She had to swim. I forgot how far a mile or whatever

to get the merit badge, but she's not the one to just jump into the water like my son. Some people are just not predisposed to love the water. Now, what you said about your sister, she was a real glamour girl. I mean, the hair, perfect. The makeup, perfect. She's not like me, put my hair in a bun and out the door I am. This woman is one of those women that you think, does she always look like that? And the answer would be yes. I'm looking at a picture of her right now.

She looks like a cover girl with the big sunglasses and the hair and the perfect outfit. That's just her. Is that what you're telling me? Yes, I would call her Red Carpet Robin. Big personality, beautiful hair, beautiful makeup, always wants the limelight and always wants to live life to the fullest. You know what? I can see that about her right now. Lucy had gone out in an isolated remote area of an island to snorkel alone and got lost at sea. I mean, number one, no, she's not going to put a snorkel thing over her face unless I'm with her.

She snorkeled many, many times. She swims with the manatee. She does the whole thing, but that's just not her cup of tea. Told me that about my son. I'd say, yes, that's totally him. But you know, it's interesting to Dr. Jory Crossan. Very often this kind of evidence is discounted in court because it's not hard evidence it's called evidence behavioral evidence evidence of behavior of routine this was not her routine robin gardner would not have gone off to a remote area of aruba and gone snorkeling it's just not her yeah it's so out of character in fact uh from the other readings that i've seen on the report that she almost had I would say a fear but there was anxiety about swimming I mean not only for the say her appearance and everything but just

you know anxiety about going swimming and especially snorkeling I mean you know a form of claustrophobia I'm a diver I know so that will bring claustobia out. Oh my goodness. I'm a diver as well, Dr. Jory. One of the hardest things I ever did was a tunnel dive. An underwater deep, deep down tunnel dive. In fact, I've stopped diving because cluster phobia is so bad. Yeah.

I stopped when I had the twins. But there's just some things you're predisposed to. Okay. Alexis Tereschuk, I'm sorry. I got off on a tangent, but I wanted to find out what Danielle Unglesby thought when she either learned her sister was going to Aruba or learned she was missing.

Alexis, you start at the beginning. She must have been very adventurous because she has this email relationship, I guess a longtime email relationship with this person. And she's saying, I need to get away. I need to get out of here. I just lost my job as a dental hygienist. This is a perfect time.

And he says, great, let's go as friends. Is that how it all happened? That's exactly right. And, you know, this is what you would call a trip date. Back when I was a single girl, I would go on these. You go on these with your friends, guys you might be sort of interested in. And it's fun. You get somewhere exotic and beautiful, and y'all have a great time together.

So she goes on this date. Kind of spur of the moment, she says, let's go down to Aruba. She says, oh, amazing, beautiful. And they head down there. They have a couple of days on vacation, nothing suspect. They're having a good time. And then all of a sudden she is reported missing. So how did everything suddenly turn on its ear? Take a listen to our friend Josh Manikiewicz at Dateline NBC.

Gary Giordano gave investigators his version of what happened on the day Robin disappeared. He said they drove from their hotel to an area called Baby Beach, where they stopped at this beachside restaurant. It's a story backed up by security video. Here are Gary and Robin arriving around three and then leaving about an hour later. Gary then took investigators to an isolated spot nearby called Mankey Beach, where Gary said he and Robin went snorkeling. Robin, he said, cut her foot on a sharp rock just before they went in. Police say Giordano told them the water was rough, and at some point, he felt he was being pulled out to sea. He swam back, thinking Robin was right behind him. But when he got close to shore, he turned and she was gone. By now, it was after 6 p.m.

Security video at the restaurant, now closed for the day, shows Gary returning, apparently to look for help. Police put boats and divers in the water. There was no trace of Robin. Trying to take in what I'm just hearing. Straight back to Robin Gardner's sister, Danielle Unglesby, joining us. Danielle, I believe we're at the 10-year mark from when Robin went missing. Yes, this is 10 years. How do you feel, be honest with me, when you see all of the media attention of another young girl who goes missing from Aruba, Natalie Holloway, but really nothing

on Robin Gardner? I remember covering it very much often when she first went missing. And believe me, I want all the focus on missing people. I don't deny one victim any media coverage to help solve their case. But I often wonder how other victims' families feel when their cases don't get any attention. Yeah, I feel quite slighted, and I wish it was more in the media back then. And as we've been going on, just, you know, just in case there are any clues or in case anybody wants to come forward and does remember something. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

I'm listening to the story, the version that the friend, I guess I'll call him, Gary Giordano gave, that the water was rough. And the first thing that happened is your sister cut her foot on a sharp rock. So I guess she was on the rocks barefoot. I mean, I can see being on the sand barefoot, but not on rocks barefoot. And even after slicing her foot pretty badly, according to Giordano, she still goes to snorkel in rough water.

How does that hit you? Doesn't make any sense. Doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why? Because like you said, a rock. I mean, why would you be walking on rocks? You would be, if you were barefoot, you'd be walking on sand. And then why would, you know, like, like again, why would she go in the water? She wouldn't go in the water to begin with. Let's analyze what we're hearing straight out to karen smith forensic expert you hear giordano's version of what happened there's security video involved what do you make of it well the security video is going to be crucial to find out timelines

first of all second of all behaviors and body language things like that where they were headed directionality things like that um you know cutting your foot on a rock and leaving blood behind. I mean, I don't know if that's the truth or if it was a ruse. I have no idea. But going into rough water and snorkeling, the first question that I had was, where was the snorkeling equipment? Did they bring it with them? Did they go to the car and get it?

Is there surveillance footage of that? Where did it come from? Okay. As a matter of fact, take a listen to Matt Gutman at ABC. He says Robin and Giordano ate but didn't drink here for about an hour the afternoon she vanished. They went into the dive shop but didn't rent any gear. So the dive shop owner told us that he saw them out here on this dirt road that's in a remote part of the beach. Now he was surprised to see anybody snorkeling out here because it's so rarely frequented by anybody in a mask and fins. Giordano claims

they came down to this beach to snorkel. We were told it was an unusually calm day, water flat, but beyond crashing waves and treacherous currents. And it's here that the trail goes cold. Aruba authorities were criticized for being caught flat-footed by the Natalie Holloway disappearance in 2005, so they've been tight-lipped about this case. Flat-footed more than once. You know, it's very interesting to me, Alexis Torres, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, that I'm not hearing about renting any snorkeling gear. No, there isn't any. And in fact, an eyewitness said that when Gary came and said that he was so worried

that Robin was swept out to sea, that he wasn't even wet. His shorts weren't wet. His shoes were, but his shorts weren't. Jim Elliott, a veteran trial lawyer at butlersnow.com. Jim, that would be the first thing I would look at is, did they bring their own snorkeling gear? I mean, to your knowledge, Danielle, Uncle Speed, did your sister have her own snorkel gear? Absolutely not. I mean, Jim, I do. Everybody in my family does have snorkel gear because we've swam with a manatee so many times. But Jim, that'd be the first thing i would look at

was did they ever rent snorkel gear you're hearing from her sister robin gardner didn't have snorkel gear she didn't even want to get in the water i feel like she never snorkeled there's a huge hole in his story certainly um which would in our country certainly should raise the eye of the suspicion of the okay a hole in his story but yet a hole that can be shored up if he brought the snorkel gear with him. But I also find it interesting, and again, Giordano has not been found guilty, has not been declared guilty in this case. Please keep that in mind. As a matter of fact, let's listen to more. This is more from our friends at Dateline NBC. Questions quickly arose. Was this an accidental drowning or was it something else? They did not go snorkeling. You know, this is not Robin.

Her roommate and hairdresser, Christina Jones, doubted that Robin, who spent so much money on hair color and extensions, would ever go snorkeling. There's no way that she would get into the ocean, you know, after spending a couple grand on her hair. Quickly, Aruban police found inconsistencies in the story Gary Giordano was telling them. Solicitor General Taco Stein. Mr. Giordano says that he was snorkeling with Ms. Gardner and that the water was rough.

That's what he told us, indeed. But it was a very calm day. There was no currents, no waves, nothing like that. So, okay, I'm getting conflicting reports. Was it calm or was it rough, Alexis Tereschuk? The local reports and everybody that was there said it was calm. Perhaps out beyond the rocks it might have been choppy, but that's because a wave would hit a rock. But the general water was very calm that day. You know, I'm curious about this snorkel gear. I'm very curious indeed. Was anything of Robin Gardner's ever recovered, her flip-flops, her snorkel gear, anything at all? No, it was not. Okay. What are we learning about surveillance video? Guys, throughout the hotel where they were staying, there was surveillance video. And I want to circle back also to how the two met

to start with. But regarding surveillance video to you, Alexis Tereschuk, what do we know about closed circuit TV video? So they were staying at a Marriott resort in Arriba and there was closed circuit TV video in the hotel that actually showed them on the last day that Robin was seen alive, showed them arguing. They're kind of tussling with each other. And then at one point, Gary puts his hand on the back of her neck, kind of shoves her into the elevator. You're telling me that was on August 4th, the day that she,

the last day she's ever seen alive? Yes. I understand that the surveillance hotel shows them having quite an argument. Reports that Giordano actually could be heard threatening her. He denies this. He can't. That's what they say. Go ahead.

They're fighting and she says, I don't want to be with you anymore. And he actually said to her, I will kill you. That, according to reports. But what started the whole thing? My understanding is that, let me throw this to you, Dr. Jory Crawson, a police psychologist and professor at St. Leo University, that not a suspect, Gary Giordano, read a text that she, Robin Gardner, sent her boyfriend back home. And whatever was in that text reportedly sparked a big argument between the two of them. What do you make of that, Dr. Jory? You know, I look at his behavior from a predatorial nature, even from the initial engagement with her through the dating service or through the Facebook. And all that behavior remains consistent up to the very end.

I'd also like to know exactly when he purchased that life insurance policy. You know, Dr. Jory Crawson, you're so right. Take a listen to our friends at Dateline NBC. But that was not the only suspicious thing Gary Giordano did. Police discovered Gary had taken out an insurance policy on Robin Gardner, a policy that would pay $1.5 million in the event of her accidental death. And the policy's beneficiary? Gary Giordano himself. And just two days after Robin went missing, and before he tried to leave Aruba,

Gary inquired about how to claim the insurance payout. Is it normal to insure somebody's life and make yourself the beneficiary? Or do you make their relatives the beneficiary? And so police arrested Gary Giordano at the airport, just as he was about to fly home to Maryland. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we were talking about the disappearance of a gorgeous American woman, Robin Gardner, who allegedly went snorkeling and was never seen again. This, although her sister tells us there's no way that she would have gone snorkeling. She never would have gone in the water. No way that that didn't happen. But according to her friend,

Gary Giordano, that is what happened. He survived, but she didn't. Straight back out to Alexis Tereschak. I know you just heard evidence from police that Giordano had actually bought life insurance for Robin Gardner with him as the beneficiary. What was his explanation for that? They hardly knew each other. He said that he did this with everyone that he traveled with because he claimed it would be, you know, if the trip got canceled or, you know, if something happened, maybe there was some sort of, you know,

an attack or something like a huge tsunami, you know, a natural disaster, that it was just covering all of his bases. But the thing is, it was all written in his handwriting. But wouldn't that be travel insurance? Wouldn't that be travel insurance? That would be. Life insurance? You were telling the truth about it.

Accidental life insurance. Okay. Is that Dr. Drury? Yes. Jump in, doctor. The accidental, again, is very crucial to me as far as his behavior goes because the death, in order to collect, has to be accidental. So if he were, again, going to have an accidental drowning is one thing. But there's something that had to go wrong there because, you know, there's no body.

Really, in order to collect, if she just drowned or if he drowned her or something like that and had a body and could show that drowning was the cause, then he would cash in. But again, it appears something went wrong and the body wouldn't show as evidence of an accidental drowning. There may have been a struggle. There may have been other injuries to her body. We don't have any evidence of injury to her body because her body was never found. But to you, Jim Elliott, you're the veteran civil lawyer joining us from butlersnow.com. Jim, can you just take out a life insurance policy on somebody you're not related to in any way?

I guess technically you can. I mean, most companies do require the insured to consent to that. I mean, that's interesting. I guess probably there's a package of travel insurance from the company, but it strikes me as being very unusual. Yeah, so that's going to be his claim, Jim Elliott. You're right. This is some type of travel insurance.

I know whenever we've gone on Disney cruises with the children, I think there is travel insurance, and we take out travel insurance in case the cruise gets canceled or to cover the – What were you saying? Or a hurricane or, you know, whatever. Yes, I would never think about it being the death of my husband or myself or anybody in our family. But that is his response to the fact that he took out this insurance. Well, all right. Take a listen to more from our friends at NBC.

When Gary Giordano booked the getaway to this tropical island, Aruba officials say he also got travel insurance. One policy for himself, one for Robin Gardner. It covered the usual likely losses, airplane tickets and hotels, but it also provided a payout in case of accidental death while on vacation. Aruba has the policy. It was turned over by the U.S. following a search of Giordano's home last week. The Maryland man volunteered the insurance information during questioning, and after the search along the beach where he reported, Robin went missing. Giordano's digital camera, cell phone, and computer from his hotel room

have been sent to nearby Curacao for analysis. And sources working the investigation tell NBC Aruba reporter Yenta Liu there is new potentially significant evidence. The possible evidence is a rock with a full handprint and blood on it. Speaking of blood, is it true Alexis Tereschuk witnesses claim that Giordano was sweating profusely the day Robin goes missing with blood on a scratch on his throat. Yes. And that's the thing is they said they saw him. He was sweating profusely. They said that he did.

They did not think he was wet. We didn't look like he'd been snorkeling because that was one of his stories. He was snorkeling in the water with her and it was getting rough. And he tried to grab her leg to pull her back in, but she couldn't pull in. So he swam in. But the witnesses say, no, no, he was sweating and he had scratches on his neck and a lot of blood, not like a tiny little speck, but they saw a lot of blood on his neck as if he had been attacked. To Danielle Unglesby, this is Robin's sister.

Did you ever speak to Giordano when he got back? Not immediately. ever speak to giordano when he got back um not when he not not immediately um my mom went down to aruba and she spoke with him um at the police station when she arrived and what happened um um at that point i guess he was kind of getting antsy to leave um or you or you know leave town and it was just highly suspect. Guys we're talking about the disappearance of Robin Gardner who disappears in Aruba

on a vacation turned deadly. Take a listen to our friend Dr. Phil our cut 13. Once you're in there you're on ground, you're on ground, you're safe, you turn around, she's gone. Gone. Why not get your fins, your mask, go get her?

You are the most immediate, trained help there. You are a certified scuba diver with gear in your car, fins and mask. Why didn't you go back in the water after your friend? The same reason why I called the Coast Guard, and none of them got in the water. I stayed there until dark, and not one single person got in that water. You knew that hours later. I'm asking you at the moment. Because it's dangerous. I'll tell you why. Because I just came out. I fought for my life to get back.

I'm exhausted. I'm completely exhausted. My heart is pounding out of my chest, exhausted. It's not going to do her or me any good to jump back in that water, right? So it's time to go get help. That's what I did. It's a choice. And I made that choice. Did you scream for help at the time? There was nobody to scream to.

So I ran to the restaurant to get help. But it didn't occur to you to put your fins back on, get your mask and snorkel, and you're tired, your heart is pounding, you're exhausted, that didn't occur to you to go back in with proper equipment. They've asked me three times about this thing. I answered as best I could answer. I can answer a third time, but it's the same answer. That's the choice I made. Based on my physical being, that's the choice I made.

You're hearing Giordano defending himself too. Dr. Phil. And reminder, Giordano has never been prosecuted for this case. Take a listen to Jeff Rosen at NBC. Officials say Gary Giordano won't budge, that Robin went missing underwater and he did nothing wrong. But now police say a fisherman out on his boat that day says he saw the couple. And not only did they not go snorkeling, they didn't even get in the water. That story has not been proven yet. It has not been anchored in the reality. But if that statement bears reality, it's something that might change the path of the investigation. Law enforcement sources tell NBC News the fisherman claims he saw Gary and Robin leave the beach together. If true,

that would shatter Giordano's timeline. The sources say Giordano's behavior after she went missing was bizarre, too. He left the search early to sleep at his hotel. Okay, you know, to Jim Elliott, veteran trial lawyer at butlersnow.com, Very often we see cases where, let's just say husbands, don't join in the search for the wife. And that's fuel for speculation. But that's really nothing that proves a murder. No. I mean, you're right.

But in this circumstance, I mean, you can't. I wouldn't think the guy was distraught over her disappearance they didn't know each other all that well and very odd behavior which certainly should have again key law enforcement to take some more decisive action much more quickly well in his defense you state that they didn't know each other very well. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about the disappearance of a beautiful young American woman, Robin Gardner, who goes on a trip as friends with her email buddy and never comes back alive. What was their relationship?

How did they know each other? And what do we know about Giordano's past? Take a listen to our friends at Dateline. Court records in the state of Maryland shed some light on Giordano's life. Back in 2003, Gary Giordano and his first wife went through a nasty divorce, trading allegations of abuse in court papers. After becoming single, he ended up with orders of protection against him from two different women. The picture that seemed to be emerging from some of those who had dated Gary Giordano was that he was capable of being charming one moment, a monster the next. That's certainly what Christina says Robin told her. He was aggressive sometimes and verbally abusive. Case in point, just months before the Aruba trip, Gary invited Robin to go on a cruise.

She initially agreed, but then canceled when her boyfriend objected. Christina says Robin showed her some text messages Gary had supposedly sent after Robin bailed. He said that he was gonna ruin her life. He said he was going to get a hold of Richard. He, you know, was gonna let everyone know what a whore she was. But three months later, Robin agreed to go to Aruba with Gary. And she just was like, look, I can handle it. You know, I'm going away. You know, so often, Dr. Jory Croson, we go along with situations when maybe a sixth sense, our gut, our instinct tells us not to. I don't think Rodney Gardner really knew this guy before they went on vacation.

No, and that's part, again, of the predatorial nature. You see how manipulative, how sweet and convincing he can be and then explode into violence and aggression. And even when those text messages, when she denied or canceled out on the first cruise, you saw how he responded uh like an instant aggression and threatening to ruin her life uh one thing with the behavior also was when uh i have to hand it to him when he went to the hotel because he basically kind of shut down and had a regroup and mentally

so he didn't start following up, which he still did a lot of following up with what he was saying in his story, but at least that gave him some down time to try to get his story better together than what he was doing on the instant makeup as he was going along. You know, to this day, isn't it true, Alexis Tereshka, that Gary Giordano insists he had nothing to do with Robin's disappearance? Yep, he does. He says that she disappeared in the water.

He has not changed that one aspect of his story. But also, we were talking about the life insurance policy. He tried to claim it. You know, he was certain in his knowledge that she was gone. And I would think the only way that you would be certain in the knowledge that she was gone, like if, if it was a regular person, you would hold out hope that maybe a boat had picked her up or, you know, she had swum to the other side and maybe, I don't know, knocked her head and had lost her memory, but he was certain that she was dead, and that's why he applied for the life

insurance. He has never, ever changed his story about that, that one part. How quickly did he apply for the life insurance policy, Alexis? Well, I mean the travel insurance that covered accidental death. Right. Within days of her disappearance, he called the company and asked about the claim. To Alexis Teresha, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, what can you tell me about Giordano leaving? You said he left Aruba very quickly. What happened? So he attempted to leave Aruba very quickly. Within about four days of Robin disappearing, he went to the airport to fly home to the United States. And he was supposed to have a travel companion. He told authorities there that she was taking a later flight.

The authorities at the airport found this very suspect. They alerted the police and he was detained and he was not allowed to leave the country. Karen Smith, forensic expert at the airport, even though he knows Robin Gardner disappeared in the ocean. That's what he says happened. He actually tells authorities she's taking a later flight. I have a problem with that. I have a huge problem with that, Nancy. Listen, the whole story falls apart on its face. And, you know, I know he's not a suspect. I know he hasn't been charged, but there is so much forensic evidence and so much other information that's been brought forward that needs to be really carefully gone through. And one thing that I saw and read was he turned

in his rental car to the airport and said that it had been cleaned and police were unable to do anything with it at that point which i i also find completely untrue it doesn't matter if a car is unclean you still need to go through it for any forensic evidence that may have been left behind and you couple that with blood on a rock was it tested did anybody do any forensics on that blood any dna testing to find out whose blood it was uh lots and lots of questions on this case, Nancy, that just don't sit well with me at all. You know, I said it then and I'll say it again. After Robin's disappearance and Natalie Holloway's disappearance, I never understand why people

keep going back to Aruba. To you, Danielle Unglesby, not only are you Robin's sister, but you are also a professional travel planner with MyMemoriesTravel.com. It's so odd to me that after Robin and Natalie Holloway both go missing in Aruba, tourism to Aruba actually spiked. Right, right. Yeah, it makes me question things. Absolutely. I'm wondering about this text. Have you, Danielle Unglesby, spoken with Robin's hometown honey, her boyfriend? Because apparently the text I was referring to earlier where she texted her boyfriend and then Giordano sees the text and has an angry confrontation with her. Did the boyfriend ever tell you what that text said?

No, he never did. Because according to reports, she told the boyfriend back home that she loved him and that they would sort out all of their issues when she got back home. To you, Dr. Jory Croson, if that's true, and if Giordano read it, and here he is taking her on a trip, I bet that caused quite the ruckus. I think that would be the final straw for him to put the plan in action based upon his previous behaviors with his wife and the aggressive nature he's already demonstrated.

You know, I wonder if they ever did go snorkeling because the photos that I have looked at Alexis Teresichuk, she is fully clothed. It looks like she has like a Hawaiian wraparound skirt wrapped around her waist. She's wearing wedge. I want to say they're more like wedge sandals. Her hair is done. According to witnesses, I can't see this from the video, but her hair was done and she was wearing makeup. And then you have this witness saying he saw the two walking along the beach and then drive off. At the time, Giordano says they went snorkeling yep there is no proof at all and no evidence that they ever went in the water that all the photos all the videos of her she's in this like a wrong it's actually a dress i'm looking at it right now

kind of yeah it's a dress she's got a a black leather bag like a pocketbook bag over her shoulder she's got on where you have your bikini just tossed in there like she is dressed to go out this is a fancy bag she's got on high heel wedges she's got uh carrying a drink she's got jewelry on her she's got a bracelet and other jewelry she's got her hair done and she's wearing sunglasses on her. She's got on a bracelet and other jewelry. She's got her hair done and she's wearing sunglasses. It looks like she's going out to a nice dinner out. That's what it looks like to me. And this was a vacation outfit for her.

You know, she's been there's video from a couple of days that they were in a hotel. She had worn this dress before. It was sort of a favorite outfit for the time. You know, it's a tropical island. It's something that she really obviously loved to wear. But again, there's no evidence at all that they were in the water. And I keep harping on the fact that there's no evidence that he was in the water either. Nobody, he wasn't wet. He still had his shoes on. They were wet, but his shorts weren't wet and he wasn't wearing a bathing suit alexis where does the case stand now he has never been formally charged no to this day he maintains his innocence

yes he was detained in aruba for questioning then released and came back to the U.S. He insists he's innocent. Where does the case stand now, Alexis, if anywhere? Basically nowhere. It is an open case. They have not prosecuted anybody. They haven't arrest charged him with a crime. They have never found her body. They have not had any breaks in the case in years, and nobody seems to be focusing on it at all. To Danielle Unglesby, this is Robin's sister. Do you ever get updates or any information about your sister's disappearance? No, not at all. It's quite sad. If you could speak to your sister right now, what would you tell Robin? I would tell her that I love her. I miss her. I think about her every single day.

And I just wish that, you know, we could be together again. That's all. Danielle, do you believe there's any chance your sister is still alive? I'm sorry, but, you know, 10 years later, I really have, unfortunately, I've really lost faith. Sad to say it. There's a tip line. 503-420-3115. Repeat. 503-420-3115. And to this day, Giordano insists he's innocent. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.