Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - GIFTED DANCER, 22, FOUND DEAD IN BURNING CAR: WHO KILLED MERCEDES?

Episode Date: May 14, 2024

Mercedes Vega is seen on video at 9:15 p.m. leaving her apartment complex in Tempe, Arizona. In the video Vega is seen walking with her face looking down as if she was on Facetime. Mercedes Vegas is texting multiple people on the night of April 16. And looking at those messages as a whole, she is either going to meet friends for Sushi, meet other friends at "Dave&Busters,"  or, as she indicates in another text, go to work. In one of her text messages Mercedes Vega says, "I just feel weird, like maybe I shouldn't go anywhere."  In the early morning hours of April 17, the Harquahala Fire Department responds to a report of a burning car on the “north hand shoulder” of the I-10 highway, west of Tonopah, Arizona. Firefighters find a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu on fire. Once the fire is put out, a deceased human body is found in the rear passenger seat.  At 1:15 a.m.  Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies are called to a scene to assist the Arizona Department of Public Safety on a death investigation.  Investigators talk to the man who called law enforcement about the car on fire. Robert Miller tells officials he saw a person walking outside the vehicle.   Using fingerprints, investigators can identify the woman found inside the burning Malibu as 22-year-old Mercedes Vega. The 2018 Chevrolet Malibu in which her body was found, does not belong to Vega. The car has a Salvage Title vehicle registered to State Farm Insurance and the burning car is 60 miles from Vega's Tempe, Arizona apartment. Mercedes' 2019, White, Dodge Charger is found illegally parked near First Street and Farmer Avenue, 1.5 miles south of where she lives. According to her mother, the car is parked while running with the keys in the ignition so it would be stolen or towed.  The MCSO has video surveillance of Vega's Charger from the time it is left parked on the road until the time police recover it. Vega didn't park it where it was found.  Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s report states the cause of death was “conflagration, blunt force and ballistic injuries," and the Manner of Death is Homicide.  The death report also states she has blunt force trauma and gunshot injuries that contributed to her death, and an odor of bleach within the larynx.  The report notes the presence of gloves and bleach found in front of the car and lighter fluid in the backseat.  JOINING NANCY TODAY:  Tom and Erika Pillsbury - Mercedes Vega's parents,  FB: Justice for Mercedes Marianna Vega  Sarah Ford – Legal Director of South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, Former Prosecutor (focusing on crimes against women and children) & Host of “Stepping Toward Justice” podcast; X: @Sarahafordfordesq Robin Dreeke – Behavior Expert & Retired FBI Special Agent / Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program; Author: “Sizing People Up: A Veteran FBI Agents Manual for Behavior Prediction;” X: @rdreekeke Dr. Michelle DuPre – Former Forensic Pathologist, Medical Examiner and Detective: Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, Author: “Homicide Investigation Field Guide” & “Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide;” Forensic Consultant Bianca Buono – Reporter, 12 News (Phoenix, AZ), X: @BiancaBuono See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Breaking news tonight, a gorgeous, young, and gifted dancer, just 22, found dead in a burning car. The medical examiner discovers bleach in her throat. Lighter fluid and gloves found near her burning car tonight. Her family breaking their silence with a desperate plea for justice. Who killed their daughter? Mercedes.

Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. It's so hard to believe I'm never going to see her again. I miss her so much. She was so bright. She was such a beautiful, sweet, kind soul. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve what happened to her. You are hearing Mercedes' mother begging for justice. We have an all-star panel to make sense of what we are learning tonight.

But first, two very special guests joining us. Mercedes' parents are with us, Erica and Tom Pillsbury. To both of you, thank you for being with us. Ms. Pillsbury, we were just hearing you begging for justice for your daughter, who's absolutely beautiful and so young, her life just starting. Tell me how you learned Mercedes had been killed. A year ago, we had a knock at the door and there were two gentlemen standing outside and I shouted up to my husband we had just come back from a cruise for my 50th birthday and I said it looks like there's cops and we kind of assumed it was probably something going on with

the neighbors or something going on throughout the neighborhood and they asked us they asked me does Mercedes live here and I said no but I'm her mom is she okay and they said does she live here and I said is she okay and I just kept repeating is she okay is she okay? Is she okay? And they said, can we come in? And I said, I just want to know she's okay. And they said, no, we need to come in. And that's how we found out that she was dead. They told us that she was deceased. Those were the words that she used and that they didn't have any other information beyond that. Mr. Pillsbury, thank you for being with us as well. Do you remember that moment? What is your memory of learning your 22-year-old girl was dead?

Well, it was just really, really hard because when we come back from our trip, we drive by her place that she lived. And one thing I would always do is I would say to her, oh, I love you and I miss you. And I'm thinking of you as we drove by, we did like we normally do. And in my heart, it's like if I would have just called her, I, maybe things would have been different. So I had a lot of good, cause we were tired. We had just flown back from the Caribbean. So we're really tired and we were hungry and we didn't, and it just, it just broke my heart. I screamed, I yelled, I didn't believe it was true. Um, I still, to this day it's hard to believe that it's true it just it just completely shattered our lives in a moment what were their exact words Tom what did they tell you just that she's

deceased I know you had to have questions yes they said she was deceased and we asked more questions, but they wouldn't give me answers. How I actually found out what happened to my daughter is I looked it up on the internet. They told us where our daughter was at, was in Tonopah, Arizona. But I looked it up on the internet and it said body found in burning car in Tonopah, Arizona. That's how I found out what actually happened to my daughter. When you would ask them, Tom, what happened, what would they say? We can't tell you that right now.

It's an ongoing investigation. Ms. Pillsbury, do you remember asking over and over what happened to her, what happened to her, and what did they say? I asked over and over and over and over again. And I said, was she in a car accident? Did she kill herself? Like, what? Why?

Why? And they kept saying, we don't know. And we don't have an answer. We're trying to figure that out. They asked us three questions. Was she right or left-handed? Where was the address that she actually lived at? And did she have any reason to be near Tonopah, Arizona? How far was that from your home? Tonopah from our home is probably about 120 miles. From Mercedes' house, it's probably about about 70 63 in that ballpark 63 to 70 miles from

her house would she have normally been there no no it's in the middle of nowhere it's if if you're not familiar with Arizona it's one of the it's where that she was found is on the interstate that is like one of the busiest interstates because it connects Arizona to L.A. So there's a ton of traffic that are driving on that highway 24-7. When you saw that online, Tom, what went through your mind? Because why would she be there? Why would her car be on fire with her in the car in the backseat as I've read the report? Why would she be that far away from your home and her home? I honestly couldn't fathom why she was that far away from her home. She wasn't in her own car. But she actually was not in her own car. You're right. So I'm very curious why she had been taken there. To Robin Dreek joining me, behavior expert, former FBI special agent, chief of the FBI counterintelligence behavioral analysis program and author of Sizing People Up, a veteran FBI agent's manual for behavior prediction.

Wow. Robin Dreek, you and I have seen similar scenarios. Both of us have as investigators and myself as a prosecutor. And there is typically a reason a vehicle is, as the Pillsbury said, out in the middle of nowhere, set on fire. Explain. Yeah, obviously they were trying to whoever the assailant was, the murderer was, was trying to get rid of the evidence, trying to get rid of her. And it was this this whole thing just rings of sloppiness, potential stalker in here and missing. You know, they had they found gloves in the car, lighter fluid. I mean, just it it just rings of a lot of things going sideways in a lot of

different ways. Another thing, I don't know that I would say that things are going sideways because I believe that is exactly the killer's intention to take this girl, look at her, a gorgeous 22-year-old gifted dancer, to take her out in the middle of nowhere and burn that car with the hopes and also in somebody else's car. So her car couldn't be traced back to her through the VIN number, which can endure a fire because if they got that VIN, which is basically etched onto a car, they could trace the VIN number on the car back to the owner, which would be Mercedes. So in a different car, not belonging to her, out in the, quote, middle of nowhere, and I guarantee you, Robin Drake, the killer hoped her body would be burned

beyond recognition. Right. And I agree, Nancy. And what I went by sideways on this one, I don't think it looked very sophisticated. It looks like a potential serial stalker who's just setting on his course of doing horrendous things in his life. And she might want to run the earlier victims of his. And that's why it's so imperative that the police get off their butts and find this guy, because it's going to happen again unless they do. Dr. Michelle Dupree, joining us, renowned forensic pathologist, medical examiner and author. Dr. Dupree, you can't just set a car on fire and expect to get rid of DNA in bones. That doesn't happen.

What would it take in order to totally destroy a human body? Nancy, it takes a lot, a lot harder than a vehicle fire can usually get. One thing that we've also found, though, is if that car was driven there by someone else, the soot and the interior side of that car can actually still yield fingerprints. If they touch that rearview mirror, that soot can act like fingerprint powder. And there may have been fingerprints on the rearview mirror or on the seat lever that moved it up or down. So there is still a lot to be done in this investigation. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Also joining us from 12 News Phoenix, investigative reporter Bianca Bono.

Bianca, thank you for being with us. Tell me what you can about the discovery of that car, the discovery of Mercedes, 22-year-old Mercedes, and the car, and apparently bleach in her throat. Yeah, Nancy, I think that's what's made this case so difficult to grasp for our community and why it's reached people nationwide is just the horrific nature in the way that Mercedes was found. Because yes, as you guys have mentioned, she was found in a burning car on the I-10 freeway, a very busy freeway that connects Phoenix to Los Angeles. So it didn't take long for passerbys to report the burning vehicle to 911. But what's more disturbing is the torture that Mercedes endured before she was found burned. The medical examiner reported

that they had found a bullet wound, a gunshot wound. She had bleach in her throat. Clearly, whoever did this to her, whether it was a person or a group of people, they wanted to send a clear message. And again, just how brazen they were in doing this to her and then lighting this car on fire on the I-10 freeway, the busiest freeway that we have in Arizona. They were trying to send a very clear message. So we were aware that a body had been found that night, but we were not aware that it was Mercedes Vega until months later. Investigators have been keeping information very close to the vest in this case. And here we are over a year later, and there are still no answers in terms of what happened to her. And more importantly, who's responsible?

Well put, Bianca Bono, all your time, all your energy, all your money, your hopes. Really, a lot of parents, me, all the hopes I once had are all in my children now. I'm hoping for them and for their happiness and their joy and their success and their fulfillment. And then to learn this about your daughter, the fact, the circumstance of bleach, bleach in your daughter's throat. Who could do that to this beautiful girl? When did you learn this? We learned about the bleach in her throat about six months after she died, the day before they released her autopsy. They told us, they called and said, just to warn you, there was bleach in her throat.

We've been told virtually nothing. We found things out mainly from the internet and from the media about our child, everything from how she died, that she died in a fire, to that there was bleach in her throat, to seeing the last moments of her life on video that someone had posted on TikTok or Twitter or something. In the early morning hours of April 17th,

the Harcuala Fire Department responds to a report of a burning car on the north-hand shoulder of the I-10 Highway west of Tenopa, Arizona. Firefighters find a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu on fire. Once the fire is put out, a deceased human body is found in the rear passenger seat. At 1.15 a.m., Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies are called to a scene to assist the Arizona Department of Public Safety on a death investigation. Investigators are able to talk to the man who called law enforcement about the car on fire. Robert Miller tells officials he saw a person walking around the outside of the vehicle. To Bianca Bono joining us investigative reporter with 12 News Phoenix.

To me that is stunning the fact that we still don't have the killer and there is a witness that spots walking around the car as Mercedes is inside and the car is on fire. Not only is there a witness on the I-10 freeway, but there are also video cameras all over Mercedes apartment complex in Tempe where she was last seen. There are witnesses and surveillance footage from the area of Tempe where her car was later found abandoned, parked illegally. And we now know that it was not Mercedes, as we've suspected all this time, who left her vehicle there. So there are cameras everywhere. And where Mercedes lived is not far from ASU's campus as well. So there is so much foot traffic. There are people everywhere. And where Mercedes lived is not far from ASU's campus as well. So there are

so much foot traffic. There are people everywhere. There are surveillance cameras. And as you mentioned, yes, on the I-10 freeway, there are cars passing by. It was called into 911 right away. So the fact that there's a lack of answers at this point is just so troubling, not only for the community, for ASU students in Tempe, but obviously for the Pillsbury's family and all of Mercedes' friends who have been handing out flyers on a regular basis and have been doing so much advocacy work on their own and really taking matters in their own hands to try to get this thing solved. Because, yeah, I mean, the fact that somebody or people that are capable of doing what they did to Mercedes are still out there is

very concerning for everyone who's seen this case. All that video surveillance. Guys, before I say one more thing, I've got to give you a tip line for silent witness. Repeat, silent witness line 480-WITNESS, 480-WITNESS, 480-948-6377. Repeat, 480-948-6377. I want to go back to the Pillsbury's and then to Sarah Ford joining us, an expert. Ms. Pillsbury, you stated video of the last moments of your daughter's life. To which video are you referring? The video of her coming out of the vestibule where there is one elevator into her parking garage, which we did not, we weren't aware of and had not seen. I had gone to her apartment and it was three days, I believe, after she had died. And there was still blood on the ground from where she was hit.

And I saw this weird swirl pattern in the blood. And I was wearing her baby hat. And, you know, as a mama, when they're born, sometimes they put those little things on their heads. And there was a little bit of her blood in there and I laid in her blood in that apartment complex and

I looked at that weird swirl and I said oh my god she's wearing tennis shoes and she never wore tennis shoes and I asked the police if she was wearing tennis shoes and they didn't tell me and then that video was released of her walking out and she's wearing tennis shoes and um it just it there there's another video that we had somebody who lived there, they took as they walked out of that vestibule and that elevator and walked all the way over to her actual parking spot. we know that's where she was hit because we were, they didn't clean it up and we were able to see her, her blood.

And then when that video was released, it was very strange for me as a mom to be like, well, my kid never wears tennis shoes, but she was wearing tennis shoes. Why does that, why is that fact so important, Erica, that she was wearing. I didn't get to see her at all after she died. I didn't get a lock of her hair. I didn't. I wanted just to hold her hand. I just wanted something in the last moments of her life. Seeing that video was so horrible, but seeing her for another time,

one last time, it was also a gift gift but I just found it very strange that she was wearing tennis shoes just because I'm her mom and my husband will tell you she used to lay out her clothes every morning so she

would choose an outfit before she went anywhere and she just never wore tennis shoes which is why we were like she's going to Dave and Buster's because she wouldn't have been going out to sushi she wouldn't have been

going anywhere that we could imagine other than Dave and Buster's wearing tennis shoes because she was, you know, ready to play or ready to go have fun. And you could see her face in that still shot that she's smiling and she has no idea what's about to happen to her. Ms. Pillsbury, you stated that you did not see her again after she died. Is that right?

Yeah. They let me walk into a room and she was in a body bag with a zipper on the back of it so we weren't able to access it with a heavy blanket on top of her I've never seen a photo of her deceased I know that sounds strange but as a mom mom, it makes me think, well, maybe she's still here. I mean, because all I can do in this world that I found myself in is wish that I wasn't in this place. Ms. Pillsbury, I've got to tell you something. I understand what you're saying because when my fiancé was murdered, he was shot so many times in his face, his head, his neck, his back. I didn't, at that young age, I didn't want to see him. So my last memory of him is when he drove away that morning.

And since that time, it's been many, many years ago to this day, I still have dreams that he's alive, uh, about the black body bag about being zipped open, but then there's nothing in there. Just all sorts of bizarre, horrible nightmares because I never saw him dead. Yeah. So your desire to have seen her is justified. Thank you. I get it. And I want to ask Mr. Pillsbury, as your wife is recounting what she has lived through, what does it do to you as you hear her tell this horrible story again? It hurts me deeply because I'm here for my family, my other children and my wife, and to see us to go through this. And we're living a nightmare every single day. You know, a lot of

people are moving on with their lives and doing what they have to do. But we as a husband and wife, this is all we focus on. I'm at the age in my life that all that matters to me is my wife, my children, and my granddaughter. That's it. That's all I really care about. And to lose one of my children and see what it's doing to my wife, it just, it tears me apart. It's like that video that you showed. It's just to sit there and watch it. It's so hard to know that my daughter didn't have a care in the world. And she just, and then literally 30 seconds later, she was taken from us. And I just it's hard to put into words of what my heart is lost and what my wife's heart is lost, because it's just like she said, it's hard to realize that she's not here because she is, you know, she's only 22 and she was just starting her journey in life. And for someone to take her away from us at the nature of what they did, it just doesn't make any sense.

And back to the gentleman's statement earlier where he said it was sloppy, it was done very sloppily. I agree 100%. Using fingerprints, investigators are able to identify the woman found inside the burning Malibu as 22-year-old Mercedes Vega. The 2018 Chevrolet Malibu in which her body was found does not belong to Vega. That car has a salvage title vehicle registered to State Farm Insurance and the burning car is 60 miles from Vegas Tempe, Arizona apartment. Mercedes 2019 white Dodge Charger is found illegally parked near First Street and Farmer Avenue, one and a half miles south of where she lives. According to her mother, the car is parked while running with the keys in the ignition so it would be stolen or towed. The MCSO has video surveillance of Vega's Charger from the time it is left parked on the road until the time it is recovered by police. Vega did not park it where it was found.

So if they've got video of it from the time it was parked until it was found by police, who parked it? Who got out of the car? It's not self-driving. It's not a Tesla. So who parked the car? Obviously connected to who killed, who murdered Mercedes. Joining me, Mercedes parents, but I want to go out to Sarah Ford, a legal director, South Carolina Victim Assistant Network, former prosecutor of crimes on women and children. Sarah, thank you for being with us. Sarah, the burning aspect, leaving her by the side of the interstate, burning her like you'd burn trash out in the front yard ditch,

just treating her like she's less than a person. It's absolutely awful, Nancy. It's devastating for Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury. But even worse is how they appear to have been treated by law enforcement throughout the investigation. It's certainly understandable for investigators to want to keep information close from the internet, for the media, for the public to have information before Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury is absolutely inexcusable. Absolutely. You know, I'm curious, back to Bianca Bono joining us, investigative reporter, 12 News in Phoenix. Bianca, you mentioned earlier, and I'm hearing it again from our reporters at Crime Online, that there's video.

And we were just hearing Dave Mack reporting that there's video of her Mercedes car from the time it was parked till the time police found it. So who parked it? That's not in the video. There's everything in the video but the perp. Right. And we have so many questions about this video. And we only recently got confirmation from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that that surveillance video even exists. Months ago, the Pillsbury's were asking publicly when they finally started speaking out because to their credit, they remain quiet relatively about this case,

giving investigators time to put all the pieces together. But for months, they've been asking, where's the surveillance footage? Where are the cameras? There are cameras everywhere. And also, you know, for them to find out that there's surveillance footage from the apartment complex via social media, Somebody at the apartment complex choosing to record this video and post it online and not from investigators is just really troubling. But yes, we know that there is surveillance footage out there. We've put in records requests, as have several other investigative reporters, to try to get our own hands on this footage to see what work we can do to try to track down individuals. We haven't received any of that yet, and we're hoping to get it soon.

But, yeah, no question, there is video evidence in this case. What is in those video images, that's just unknown at this point. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace to erica pillsbury joining us this is mercedes mom along with her dad tom erica have you asked le law enforcement where's the video can i see the video of course i've asked for all the evidence. I've asked, I've asked why, why won't you show it to us? Maybe we can identify the people in the video. Why haven't you brought us in and questioned us in any way? Why, why, why are we finding all of this out via other avenues besides law enforcement? What in the hay is going on, Bianca? Why? That's not right.

It's not. And it's not how cases should go ever. And unfortunately, it's been an issue with this case from the beginning, as they mentioned. And now it's to the point where, you know, I'll get information from the sheriff's office and I'll reach out to Tom and Erica and let them know what I'm hearing just to confirm that they've heard it too. Because the last thing as a journalist I would ever want is for the victim's family and friends to be finding out information when they turn on the evening news. It's completely unacceptable. And we've been asking why are authorities keeping this information so private? Why are they releasing it in the way that they are? We know that the sheriff's office is now working with federal partners. It's unclear exactly who, but we know they're not working alone in this case. But again, to go over 12 months without any answers and any really semblance of closure for these family and friends, it's just really disheartening.

And we're hoping that things change as they move forward. But at this point, the fact that the Pillsbury's are still learning new information to this moment is really troubling. I'm Mercedes' father. I want to thank Silent Witness. I want to thank all agencies. I want to thank all agencies that are involved in trying to solve this case and bring me peace for my wife and my other Children. Um, I want to thank the media for being here. I understand it's been kept quiet. We kept it quiet because we wanted the justice system to run its course.

And now I think it's time that you all know what's going on and we need to get these people caught. Straight back out to Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury. You are hearing Mr. Pillsbury speaking, begging for justice, begging for his daughter's killer to be caught. Ms. Pillsbury, I see you breaking down in tears. Is it because you're learning new information? What is it?

I miss my little girl. I'm frustrated. I feel alone in this. I feel that there's so much more that could be done that hasn't been done. I miss Mercedes so much. And I just can't understand why and how we are being told the things we're being told. And how I'm learning about my little girl and how she died.

I'm trying to make sense of what we are learning too. Dr. Michelle Dupree joining us, renowned pathologist and medical examiner. What is conflagration? What is that? It's actually thermal injuries from fire. This unfortunate young lady was in a car that was burning, and she was still alive during part of that time. This is torture no matter how you look at it. So when you say thermal injuries, what are you talking about? I'm talking about actually heat.

Heat can cause damage as well as actually fire burning the body. This person was on fire part of the time. It's my understanding that she died of smoke inhalation. Would that be consistent with conflagration? She was not alive for very long because there was no discussion of soot in her lungs, but there was soot in her nasal passages. So she would have died from the carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide rather, from the smoke. She would have died relatively quickly from that. Guys, I'm trying to piece together what happened just before Mercedes Vega was kidnapped and murdered. Listen. Mercedes Vega talks to her mom and dad on April 16. Erica and Tom Pillsbury are on the last day of their vacation in the Caribbean. Mercedes tells her mom she has plans to meet friends at Dave and Buster's for dinner. Erica and Tom Pillsbury returned to Santan Valley,

Arizona the next day, April 17. Straight back out to Mercedes' parents. What was your understanding of what she was doing that day, that evening? We knew she had gone to Chipotle and gotten food and gone back up to her apartment. And we believe at that point, or I believe at that point, she was probably just considering staying in for the night. But there were several people asking her to come out and meet them. And ultimately, she made the worst decision to leave her apartment. And I believe that there was something there waiting for her. And they took her away. That statement that we had talked to her and said that she was going to.

We did not talk to her. We were flying when all this took place. So we weren't even in. We were probably still in Miami at the time. So we actually physically never talked to her and knew she was going to David Busters at all. That's just what we have found out through information. I just wanted to clarify. Was that via text?

We didn't talk to, yeah, she was talking to someone via text, not us. We were not involved in that text. She knew we were out of the country. I see. Yeah, I just wanted to make that clear. We did not. To Robin Drake joining us, former FBI special agent, I want to talk to you about the forensic evidence because I can see video surveillance of Mercedes coming out from the elevator, going to her car. That is where she

was attacked. I don't believe she was dead at that time because later bleach was poured into her mouth. Okay. So if she had already been dead at that time, I don't think the bleach would have occurred. That said, her car is caught on video surveillance. Remember, she's not taken in her car. Her car is taken there, and it's left far away, still running, keys in ignition, hoping somebody would steal it, and they would be pinned with a murder.

But the car should be full of forensic evidence such as fingerprints or even DNA. I totally agree, Nancy. It's befuddling that we don't know more at this point. I think the victim assistance program has failed miserably has been pointed out and the amount of evidence dna evidence video evidence fingerprint evidence i think should be overwhelming it leads me to think that again i'm still caught on the stalker side of this thing a serial potential serial stalker but also potentially someone is either so isolated that we can't find

them or they're being protected by someone and potentially someone undocumented. So there's no footprint to follow up on or gross incompetence of the investigators. Now, let me understand from you, Bianca Bono, joining us, Investigator Reporter 12 News. Explain to me one more time, her car, her car that she owned, was taken from where to where? It's unclear exactly where it was taken, but we know where it was found. It was found in Tempe, Arizona, not far from Mill Avenue, which is the busiest street in Tempe. It's essentially on Arizona State University's campus, and it was outside of a very popular restaurant. So authorities tell us that they found the car on April 18th.

We know that Mercedes was last seen leaving her Tempe apartment complex late on April 16th. So where it was taken from, exactly when it was dropped off yet, that information has not been publicly released. But again, investigators confirmed that they do have surveillance footage showing the car being dropped off at that spot in Tempe, where again, it was left running with the keys inside. To the Pillsbury's, Tom and Erica Pillsbury speaking out for justice.

What is your message tonight? The most important thing that I can say is to anyone here in Arizona, any child, any mother, any father, anyone, please just be aware. Just look around. Share your location. Tell people where you're going.

Make it a habit to say, mom, dad, friend, brother, sister, I don't care who. I'm heading out down to my car. I'll text you when I get there. Just give accountability to yourself that you're going to share your location and where you're at, because the people that did this to my child are less than human, and they're still there. They're still out and walking around. Let me remind everyone that there is a reward for information leading to the discovery of the person that murdered the Pillsbury's little girl, Mercedes Vega. The tip line 480-WITNESS, 480-948-6377. We stop to remember American hero police officer Luis Huesca. Just 30 years old, Officer Huesca shot multiple times before having his badge, gun, and vehicle stolen,

leaving behind grieving brother Emiliano, mother Edith, sister Lily, American hero, police officer Luis Huesca. I want to thank all of our guests, especially the Pillsbury's, for being with us tonight, but especially also to you for joining us. Nancy Grace signing off. Good night, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.