Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - FRANTIC SEARCH FOR MISSING MARIA, 12, ENDS: FOUND 600 MILES AWAY WITH MALE SUSPECT

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

Twelve-year-old Maria lives with her father, Andres Gomez, and cousin, Ricky, in Gainesville, Georgia. Maria's mother is not involved in her life. On the morning of her disappearance, Andres leaves the house at 10 AM, assuming Maria is still asleep. He says goodbye to his nephew, Ricky, and heads out. When Gomez returns home that evening, Maria doesn’t greet him at the door. Concerned, he knocks on her bedroom door, only to find that his 12-year-old daughter is missing. The family frantically contacts neighbors and friends in search of her. Maria is reported missing. Nearly two months later, the case takes a turn. Maria contacts her father via Facebook Messenger. Investigators trace the IP address and manage to locate the device. Maria is found with 31-year-old Antonio Augustin, a Guatemalan native living in northeastern Ohio. Police believe Maria had been communicating with Augustin online for some time.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Derek Smith – Criminal Defense Attorney Dr. Jeff Gardere – Board Certified Clinical Jeffrey Gardere – Psychologist, Prof of Behavioral Medicine at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine; Author: ‘The Causes of Autism” @drjeffgardere John Pizzuro - Raven’s CEO, Former New Jersey State Police Commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Former New Jersey State Police   Titania Jordan – Chief Parent Officer, Bark Parental Controls; Author: “Parenting In A Tech World;” Instagram/X: @TitaniaJordan Nora Almazan - Author, Writer, Editor, Ghostwriter, and Reporter for Now Habersham See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The frantic search for missing Maria, a 12-year-old little girl, ends 600 miles away with a 34-year-old Guatemalan national. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. 12-year-old Georgia girl Maria Gomez Perez vanishes from her home driveway.

Now a desperate search ensues to bring Maria home. A little 12-year-old girl Maria goes missing from her own home. Her parents fear she has been lured by a much older man. What does that have to do with the 34 year old Guatemalan national? Think about it. Your 12 year old little girl goes missing from your own home. Listen. At this point, do you believe she's in danger? Well, she's 12 years old and she's been gone a week and a half. So that kind of answers your question. You know, I mean, she's a child and to be gone that long, that's that's a serious issue. And, you know, so there's so many possibilities where she could be and what could have happened to her.

And so we're exploring every single avenue that we possibly can. But, yes, I do consider her in danger. Very much so. I don't understand the question posed to L.E. law enforcement. Is she in danger? H-E-L-L-Y-E-S. She's in danger. I mean, John Pizzoro joining me, CEO of Raven, former New Jersey State Police commander on crimes against children. Internet, John, thank you for being with us. Somebody actually asked, do you think she's in danger? Yes. Yes.

A little 12 year old girl is taken from her home and signs take us to a 34-year-old grown man. Yes, she's in danger. Why would they even ask that? Unless it's rhetorical, I have no idea. Of course she's in danger. And that's what's happening today. You know, just from an Internet-based aspect, it doesn't matter the apps. You know, we have offenders

reaching out to children all the time. And a 12-year-old with an adult who's unknown, of course she's in danger. A 34-year-old Guatemalan national. You're hearing from John Pizzora, but listen to this. On Thursday, May 30th, 12-year-old Maria Gomez Perez was reported missing to our agency. That report set into motion a large law enforcement and community effort to find Maria. We are all doing everything within our power to bring Maria home safe and sound and make no mistake, the men and women of the Sheriff's Office and numerous other agencies have Maria's image burned in our hearts and into our minds. Almost immediately, her family fears she has been lured online. We are talking about a 12-year-old little girl. Listen.

She may have come in contact with someone that she did make contact with to leave that day from her house. Identifying that person and trying to find out who that is and where they went, there's the key to it. Joining me right now, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now. But before I go to investigative reporter Nora Almazan, to Titania Jordan, Chief Parent Office with BART Parental Controls and author of Parenting in a Tech World. All right. Just hearing that is scary. Parenting in a tech world.

Explain to me. Immediately, family was concerned that this 12-year-old little girl had been lured by somebody online. And, you know, parents think my child's not on fill in the blank, TikTok, Snap, you name it. They get their hands on the internet, whether it's on their phone, whether it's a friend's iPad, whether they're playing a game online like Minecraft, you can actually talk to the people that you're playing with online or at the school or at the library. Titania, they get online. They do, Nancy. And the unfortunate part is that there are at least 500,000 predators online at any time trying to

talk with, form relationships with, and lure our children. Hold on just a moment. How do you know that, Titania Jordan? Titania joining us from Bark. How do you know that as we speak right now, there are at least half a million predators? And I don't mean casually like they've got their iPad up beside them while they're watching Murder, She Wrote. I don't mean that. They are actively trolling, actively like a job trying to find children. How do you know that figure? At least a half a million online right now. At least it's based on data from the FBI. Our fellow guest, John Pizzoro, can corroborate that with me.

And that's the known amount. There are so many more that we don't know about. The known amount. What about it, Pizzoro? Is she right? At least 500,000 right now as we're talking that are online actively trolling. There's 100,000 IP addresses right now in the United States that are actually trading known active images with 8 to 13 victims each. So those are just file sharing systems. So Titania is right. I mean, it's at least 500,000.

Okay. I'm trying to figure this out. I think I need a shrink. Dr. Jeff Gardere joining us, board certified clinical psychologist, professor at Truro College, America's psychologist and contributing author with Practical Parenting, The Cause of Autism. Dr. Jeff Gardere, it's great to have you with us tonight. Dr. Jeff, help me get my head around this because I watch my children, the twins, all the time. What are you doing online? Online, who are you talking to?

Who's on the phone? Who are you playing? What's the game where you build things? Minecraft, Minecraft. Who are you playing Minecraft with? All that. Because I know that when they're playing these games online, they're playing with someone. And I always insist it be somebody that they know in real life.

But I don't know. They see it as so innocent, Dr. Jeff, that they may not always follow that rule. That's right. And the other thing that we know from that FBI statistic, the kids who tend to play these games are very young. And so that statistic you just heard from our guests, we can add to that, that 50% of the victims from that half million of those predators are between the ages of 12 to 15. So we have to be really careful with what our kids are playing. So,

and part of that is blaming our youngsters for being online and not understanding it doesn't matter who they're talking to, what they're doing. They are victims. They are children. And these are adult predators coming after them. A 34-year-old Guatemalan national is in the crosshairs right now with Missing Maria, just 12. Joining me, a high-profile criminal defense attorney. You've seen him in the news, Derek Smith, practicing out of the Ohio jurisdiction, and you can find him at

dwsmithlegal.com. No offense, but I hope I never need you. Derek Smith, the progression that we have seen, and it's been very rapid in the past when there would be a, let's just say a rape case. Uh, the defense attorney, not you, of course, because you're different would say, Oh, uh, she's never met. He's never met her. This is completely bogus. Then as it would turn out, there'd be a witness spotting the two of them at a restaurant or a bar. And then the defendant would go, oh, wait, yes. Now that I think about it, I did run into her. Then the witness says, actually, he followed her out. And he says, oh, you know what? You're right. I offered to walk her to her

car, but that was it. Then it turns out that, um, let's just say, or there's's DNA on her body. Then he goes, well, now that you mention it, we did have consensual sex, but she initiated it was totally consensual. I mean, you see the progression of the defense going and somehow there's blame on the victim. Okay. That scenario exists. But now, believe it or not, Derek Smith, and I'm sure you've seen it in court, the victims, child victims, 12 year old girl, what is that? Fifth grade

is being shamed because they're online. That somehow it's their fault. Are you seeing that in the modern day defenses? Oh, absolutely, Nancy. And you forgot one part, too, that they always claim they didn't know she was underage. She said she was 18, showed her pictures of different people, you know, whatever they can think of to conjure up some kind of defense. And, you know, maybe I'm a little guilty of that myself when I have to defend them. But the truth is, this internet crime has been skyrocketing over the past decade, and I don't see it getting any better. I mean, I have, you know, 11 year old myself, and I have to monitor everything online that he does, because of all the predators out there, the things that I see in the courtroom. It's a very frightening time and parents need to be diligent.

They need to be aware of what their children are doing online because these predators will just come after them, unbeknownst to the children. Well, and also it's a whole nother, a whole nother phase of criminal defense because now you have to be an internet expert and a computer tech expert to John Pizzoro joining us, the CEO of Raven, former task force relating to internet crimes against children. John Pizzoro, do people, the perps not realize that when you text, write, exchange photos, we can get your IP, internet provider address. That's like a computer fingerprint. Do they not get that? Most of them don't. And thank God, because that's how we catch them. Right.

So I think from a technology standpoint, it's from their screen name, from how they sign up. Look, offenders, what they'll do is they'll take steps. They'll use fake names. However, at the end of the day, they need an IP address really to get on. So I think that's where they don't understand sometimes. You know, some offenders are a little bit more complex than others. I don't want to give away what some people can do. But, you know, there are things to hide

and mask your IP address. But for the most part, offenders don't understand that technology. The sophisticated ones do and will take measures to do that. But a lot of times it's complacency. All you need to do is not do it once. And that's where law enforcement can use their own technology to find you. Joining me now, investigative reporter, Nora Almazan, author, writer, editor, and reporter for Now Habersham. Nora, thank you so much for being with us in the last hours of breaking news in the search for this little 12-year-old girl. Nora, how did she go missing? What happened? You have this little girl who has tons of time on her hands because her dad is working in the factory during the day. Uncle is at night.

And so she has a lot of time to be on the internet and apparently was communicating with a lot of different men on the Internet, probably didn't know that they were their age or anything like that. And they come and pick her up. With me is investigative reporter Nora Almazan. The image you just conjured up is sickening. You've got a 12 year old little girl at home. It's summer break.

Dad's at work. Uncle comes home in the evening. Mom is not in the home. And there she is at home all day playing online. How often do we see that? All the time. She has no idea that these grown men are circling her like wolves. Absolutely.

And that's exactly how it happened because she's just got time on her hands. And unfortunately, many of the people in the Hispanic community don't understand that there's boys and girls clubs and there are avenues that she could have gone to. But she's at home by herself on the internet and she's just open price. At this point, do you believe she's in danger? Well, she's 12 years old and she's been gone a week and a half. I mean, she's a child and to be gone that long,

that's a serious issue. 12-year-old Georgia girl Maria Gomez Perez vanishes from her home driveway. Now a desperate search ensues to bring Maria home. I do consider her in danger, very much so. That reward skyrocketing to $50,000 in the search for 12-year-old Maria. Listen to this. So our investigation has determined that Mr. Augustin drove from his home in Ohio to Gainesville and picked up Maria on Wednesday, May the 29th. They traveled back to Ohio that same day and to our knowledge have been there ever since. To Jeff Gardier, renowned psychologist and professor at Touro, Jeff, a 34-year-old man drives all the way from

Ohio to Georgia just to get a hold of and kidnap a 12-year-old little girl? What is the thinking? I think we're looking at a pure predator here. Someone who would do something so horrific. And this isn't just about possibly his carnal desire. This is about someone taking a girl, a 12-year-old girl from her home, from her family, from her father. Dr. Jeff, did you just say this is not just about carnal desire? I'm sorry. I feel like I'm reading from the old Testament carnal desire in my world. You know what that means? Child rape. That's what that means. Is that what you're trying to say in your psychological terminology? Okay. So he travels all the way from Ohio to Georgia. And I'm going to let Derek Smith, who practices in Ohio, figure out how long of a drive that 600 miles.

So he drives 600 miles, Dr. Jeff Gardier. And you say it's not for child sex. What are they going to have a tea party when he gets there no i i certainly believe that of course that it is about um sexual exploitation in many many different ways but what i'm also saying is what is so horrific about this in addition to this person being a predator is not even caring about the damage to this young girl emotionally and physically, but also the damage to the family and to the community. It's a very tight knit community. You are essentially taking that person away. Dr. Jeff. Yes.

I just want the girl to be alive. You're talking about the community. Okay. What can we please put the horse in front of the cart? Okay. The girl is taken from her home by a 34 year old man. First, you tell me it's not about carnal desire, i.e. child sex. Now you're talking about the community. Can we talk about what's going through this perv's mind for 600 miles on his way to get a 12 year old little girl? He knew she was 12. Yeah. And certainly I don't want to be misunderstood here, Nancy. That is perhaps the primary, absolutely the primary reason in my mind that he's going after her. But I'm talking about not just the damage this will cause her for the rest of her life, but the dread and the fear and the anxiety and the loss to the family not knowing where their daughter is. Well, it's got to be excruciating.

To Nora Almazan joining us, investigative reporter with Now Habersham. Nora, I know that the mom is not in the picture. Dad works every single day, I believe six days a week. The uncle comes in when the dad's not there to watch after the little girl. And then they find out she's gone. Did she go missing from the driveway? Is that where she was last seen? Exactly. Yeah. The car pulled up. She got in it. And I don't know if her expectations, we don't really know yet what her expectations were of the person who was picking her up. I can't believe that a 12-year-old

would want to get in a car with a 34-year-old man. So something had to be different for her, and she had to have been afraid, but she did get in the car and took off. You know, to Tanya Jordan, let's follow up on what Nora is saying. Very often in cases I've handled, and there have been so many of them, and I'd like to get Derek Smith, a veteran trial lawyer, to jump in on this as well, to Tanya very often. And we just saw this, as a matter of fact, in the Delphi double murder of Abby and Libby, the two little girls that were walking on the trestle bridge, uh, for about a minute, police were looking at a guy that was posting online. He looked like a Justin Bieber lookalike. He didn't

look anything like that at all. He was up in his thirties, uh, just look nothing like this hot young guy that he was portraying himself to be. And we see very often to Tanya, the perp acts like they're the age of the victim of the target. And they go online to Tanya and go, Hey, I see that you've got a picture of you in a soccer uniform. I play soccer. Where do you play soccer? In other words, what's what, where do you go to school? And then they go, oh, is that far from your home? Where do you live? And then they find out the home address. It goes on and on and on, but they hook the child by pretending to be a child themselves and they get a hold of pictures. And, uh, if the control room could pull up the photo that was used in the Delphi case, it's turned out not to be the killer.

And the photo that was used, I believe, was actually a cop. A picture of a young cop from some other jurisdiction had nothing to do with the case. So they use these photos they get online of a young boy. And that's who the child thinks they're talking to. Yeah, you have just described the grooming process that is happening every single day with children across the nation. And predators not only groom children via text now, they can use the filters that come in to Instagram and TikTok and other entities to turn them into young children in real time, both photo-based and video-based. And I have tested them. I have used them and I have been

able to interact with predators in real time and it's stomach turning. Okay. Tell me what happened to Donya. Oh my goodness. So, you know, pick your poison. In some cases, I use TikTok because they have not only a live video filter where I take my 43-year-old self and I can tweak the settings to make me look, you know, 13 to 16 years old. And so they think I'm a child. We start talking. They ask me to meet up. And that's when I call law enforcement. Weeks pass and still no sign of little Maria Gomez Perez, a 12-year-old Georgia girl who disappeared from her own home. Authorities begin to look elsewhere, going as far as Texas and Tennessee. High profile lawyer Derek Smith from the Ohio jurisdiction joining us right now. That's 600 miles. Think about it. If you're in court representing this guy, you're on the creek without a paddle, Derek, because think, think 600 miles. What is that? 10 hours if you about what you're doing, to think about the 12-year-old little girl at the end of your journey. All those hours planning what he's going to do when he gets to this little girl's home.

I hope that she's healthy and that she's okay. And we'll wait to see what the evidence brings out as far as any kind of possible defenses for this animal. Guys, what was the break in the case? Listen. The break in the case came last week when Maria contacted her father via Facebook Messenger. She had created a new Facebook page so she could reach out to him to tell him that she was okay and that she was not coming home. And she also asked him to stop looking for her. Mr. Gomez Alonzo told our investigators about the message.

And members of our special investigations unit obtained the IP address of the Facebook page and were able to find the phone number associated with that account. It's amazing to me with all of the information out there regarding Maria going missing that no one noticed. This guy traveling 10 hours plus with a 12-year-old little girl. Joining us, an all-star panel to make sense of what we're understanding right now to Nora Almazan. Listen. Maria was found yesterday in the company of a 31-year-old man, Antonio Augustin. He's a Guatemalan native, and he had been living in northeastern Ohio. We believe Maria had been communicating for a time with Mr. Augustin via Facebook Messenger and some other online apps.

To Nora Almazan, joining us from now Habersham. Nora, again, thank you for being with us. We now understand that he's actually 34. people not notice? Well, you think about it. He could easily be, she could easily be his daughter, but they located them at a shopping mall as they left the swimming pool. So it wasn't like he just happened to take her swimming that day. They had been out in the community. And I love when it said safely located. Yes, she was alive. She was alive. I'm glad you made that distinction, Nora, because when a child, a 12-year-old little girl has been with a 34-year-old man for that long, you don't think he had sex with a child, which equals statutory rape. I'm having a hard time taking that in. I don't think he had sex with a child, which equals statutory rape?

I'm having a hard time taking that in. I don't know that this child will ever be the same again after that. Listen to what we've learned. They were able to track the phone to a residence back in Dover, Ohio. And believing that this information was a credible lead to Maria's location, we sent four investigators from our Criminal Investigations Bureau to Dover this week. They were able to track the phone to the Dover City swimming pool, where they made visual contact with Maria and Mr. Augustine. You know what that tells me to John Pizzoro,

CEO of Raven, and formerly with the New Jersey Task Force on Internet Crimes Against Children. John, so often we hear, well, you just can't get those records. That takes a subpoena, blah, blah, blah, blah. They were able to track the phone immediately to a swimming pool. And there they made, quote, visual contact. In other words, spotted the 12-year-old little girl with a 34-year- old Guatemalan national. I don't know his status. I don't know if he's rightfully in our country yet. I don't know if he's an illegal alien. I don't know any of that yet, but I do know he's a Guatemalan national. So they got that information

and this is all stemming from an IP internet provider address. They find out that he has been targeting Maria online. They get the IP address. They get his cell phone. He was probably using his phone to communicate with Maria. So they get that cell number and they immediately ping it to a swimming pool just like that. Law enforcement has that ability even with app, when there's something exigent, you know, you kind of bypass the actual process. Normally, it takes us a while from a law enforcement perspective to get information back. But when it's exigent and there's someone's in danger, especially in this case, usually they can get that information back very quickly. And there's more. They spot the little girl with the 34-year-old man at a swimming pool and then... When the two got into a vehicle and traveled to a nearby shopping center parking lot, our agents along with members of the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office followed them. They recovered Maria at the scene and Mr. Augustine was arrested. Maria was taken to a local hospital

for a wellness check, and as I said a moment ago, she will be coming back home here to Gainesville today. Twelve-year-old Maria's father is desperate for answers. Weeks after his daughter seemingly vanishes from their home, then a mysterious message pops up on his Facebook page. Take a listen to what the Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch had to say. I can't let this moment go without imploring our parents, grandparents, and guardians to watch over their children very closely.

Technology is a wonderful thing. It helped us locate Maria, but also technology can also be used for evil. It's why Maria was able to leave Gainesville with a stranger and travel nine hours away from home. It helped us locate Maria, but also technology can also be used for evil. It's why Maria was able to leave Ganga with a stranger and travel nine hours away from home. So please know what your children are doing and who they're communicating with. They're our most vulnerable and our most valuable citizens, and it's our duty to take care of them. Just think about it it Titania Jordan. Titania joining us from Bark which is a highly highly sensitive app that you put on your children's phones and devices and it alerts you on your phone when it picks up any troubling words and here's a great example which I've told before to Tanya. My son, John David, plays basketball and soccer.

He made a great save playing soccer, but he went through the net diving and had a huge bruise on his arm. Of course, he was proud of the bruise and saving, you know, the goal. And he showed the bruise off in a picture to some of his friends. I immediately got an alert that said, John David, self-harm. I'm like, what? He's 6'6 and he weighs, I don't know, 180 pounds. Self-harm? Really? And I went and saw what it was bragging about. He saved the girl. He was so happy. You know, he's proud. So that's how sensitive Bark is. My point is, think about it. After these communications with a grown man, 34 years old, she is then in the car with him nearly 10 hours. And the whole time, all this guy wants to do, we believe, is get her home to have sex with a 12-year-old little girl.

It's so heartbreaking. It's stomach-turning, like I've said before. You know, not only does Bark have an app, but we also have a smartphone now. And for families who choose the Bark smartphone, you can see your child's live location in real time. And so if this family had had that, they might have been able to find her sooner. Not only that, not only does Bark alert you to self-harm and violence, but it alerts you to predation. Our algorithm detects the nuances of adults trying to groom children, and we can alert you to those conversations before they become kidnappings and murders.

Who is this 34-year-old guy? Listen. Antonio Augustin, a Guatemalan national in his early 30s, has been living in Dover, Ohio, for at least three years. ICE has placed a hold on Augustin, but his immigration status has not been confirmed. OK, Dr. Jeff Gardier, you see this guy. He's just been busted with a 12-year-old little girl. He drove 600 miles to get her, took her. You heard Nora Almazan state, the car pulled up in the driveway. She jumped in and left, just like that. Then he drives another 10 hours back home, and he is busted.

A 34-year-old Guatemalan national with a 12-year-old little girl from Georgia. Why is he smiling in his mugshot? We see this. I've seen this before. And this is someone who would fit the profile of being a very depraved individual who doesn't care about what has happened with this little girl, maybe trying to put up a false front that he is innocent and they were in some sort of a consensual relationship. But it really does show perhaps what is going on inside of this person's mind that he does not care about the welfare of this youngster. To Derek Smith joining us, veteran trial lawyer in that jurisdiction of Ohio where the alleged child molester is found. Let me just go with alleged kidnapper for now

because we know there's going to have to be a rape kit and all sorts of forensic questioning, investigation before any further charges are brought to Derek Smith. I don't know how you do it, because very often I have one particular judge where we would do pretrial negotiations with me, the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the perp in the room with the two of us. And very often, not always, of course, but I would look at the perp and he would look perfectly normal. Like I could see him walking beside me in the grocery store, pulling up at a red light. You look at this guy with that smile on his face and you might think, okay, he's fine. He's not. Oh, absolutely. how can you be fine when you're 34 year old man taking a 12 year old from her father uh that's one thing but when you when to his uh the doctor's point talking about how he's looking he maybe thinks in his mind that he was doing her

a favor she was unhappy at home she didn't want be there. And he took her to a better life here in Ohio and took her to the pool, took her shopping. Took her to a better life? I'm throwing some ideas out there, Nancy. I'm trying to think why in God's creation would a man do that? Just spitballing? Yeah, just kind of. I mean. Did you just say he did her a favor? In his mind. I'm not saying that he did that favor to the father or the family or the community of Gainesville or the state of Ohio. He didn't do any of that. But I'm hoping maybe that there was no nefarious activity between the two. Maybe he just wanted. You mean other than the kidnap? Other than that, of course, other than that. I'm just hoping that the little girl was not violated sexually.

You mean raped? Yes, yes. That's what I mean. To Nora Almazan joining us from now Habersham. Look, you can't blame Derek Smith. OK, he's just the messenger. He's stuck with the facts that this client, this guy has given him. Nora, have there been any additional charges such as a statutory rape charge yet? Yes, there has. Actually, he is not. He was supposed to be brought to Georgia. And but he's going to be staying in Dover, Ohio, to face charges there.

I know that he has been charged with rape and other sexual crimes against Maria. And I just have to question and I I throw this out there, but there I do not believe that this is his first time. It couldn't be because he seemed to have been very smooth in getting Maria to Dover, Ohio. And you just have to ask the question, has he done this before? How many times? And what happened to those children, in my opinion? Well, you know, John Pizzoro joining us, CEO of Raven. John, there are all these statistics that show for every time a child has been molested, the perp has molested, oh gosh, dozens and dozens of times before, but has never been reported or caught. So I think what Nora Almazan is saying has more than a grain of truth to it. He didn't just come up with this idea

overnight. It seems very well rehearsed. Yeah, absolutely. And what they do is it's not never one victim like the Butner study, for example, of people that traded child sexual abuse material. Fifty to eighty five percent of them are hands-on offenders with 8 to 13 victims each so it's never just one and basically they learn they get better at it and i can't tell you the amount of offenders that we have arrested it's never just one victim it's just he just today just said you know what i'm lucky i'm going to this today. There's always a pattern and it always happens to multiple victims. She was kidnapped and held against her will for 399 days. He starved her.

He tortured her. He assaulted her in every way that you can imagine. He kept her in a dog cage for days and days at a time. He treated her in the way that he treated her was inhuman. It is so hard for me to even imagine the treatment that she received. You are hearing mom Shauna Burns talk about the kidnap and the torture of her teen girl. Haley lived. She lived through that ordeal weighing something like 85, 88 pounds by the time she was found, barely alive, living in a dog cage. She too had been lured online and she's not the only one. Now, we know that today's little girl, Maria, just 12, has lived. Haley lived. But that's not true about another little girl,

Nicole Lovell. Dear David, you are my crush, but I know you don't think of me like that, but I don't care. I will always be here if you're looking for a good time. I'm here when you had a bad day. I'm here, and I don't want that to change. I want to be in your life for as long as you can stand me, and I know I'm annoying, and I ask for too much, but I'm a girl, and I have a heart and feelings, and my feelings get hurt a lot, but it's never been hurt by you, and I like that. Oh, my stars. This little girl,

little Nicole Lovell, as I recall, she was 12, just like Maria. And here you hear a letter that came out in court that she wrote to her killer that she was having a relationship with online. David Eisenhower, he murdered her because he did not want their sex relationship with this little girl to become public listen investigators figured out that nicole had regularly used the app kick that app allows teens to communicate anonymously so their parents won't know david eisenhower lured this little girl out of her home with promises of a quote secret date and murdered her in cold blood because he was apparently afraid that the relationship was going to be exposed by this precious little girl when

nicole's body was found she had 14 stab wounds one was to the neck as confirmed by a medical examiner that little girl nicole level lost her. She was murdered by her online predator, David Eisenhower. You were hearing investigative reporter Jennifer Tsikowsky reporting on that case. Typically, these cases do not have happy endings. In this case, Maria is alive after nearly two months with a sex predator. I don't know if this child will ever be the same. To Nora Almazan joining us from Now Habersham, you are advising the charges have just been upgraded to charges that are felonies, including rape. In this case,

it will be statutory rape. In many jurisdictions, that carries a life sentence, 20 to life. He is charged with rape now, felony rape, correct? That is correct. Yes. You know, this guy may be charged and Maria, thank God in heaven, is alive. But I can tell you this from all the years I've worked with victims of child rape and molestation. They go on. They go on in life. But they are never the same. We wait as justice unfolds, and we remember an American hero, police officer Jessica

Ebikhausen, just Nash, gone so soon. American hero dead in the line of duty, Officer Jessica Ebighausen. Thank you to our guests for being with us. The warning goes out to parents about Internet predators. Maria's alive, but the next little girl or boy may not be. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.