Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - GIRL, 14, SEX TRAFFICKED FROM MUSEUM TOUR?

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

New Orleans PD desperately searching for a missing child, Kristhal Chinchilla-Canizales,  just 14. Kristhal is 5’2”, has black hair with blonde tips, and brown eyes. Last seen wearing a blue yoga jumpsuit with a black Harley pullover layered on top.    Louisiana’s Orleans Parish Department of Children and Family Services plans a day trip for foster children to a New Orleans Museum, May 22nd.  Kristhal, enjoys the day out with her friends, smiling, and making silly faces for a group photo, but later, during a headcount, DCFS agents realize Kristhal is gone. No child or adult knows when Kristhal disappeared.   New Orleans PD canvass the museum’s campus and surrounding city blocks, but no sign of the teen. Investigators now say they fear Kristhal has been trafficked for sex. NOPD has not yet released information explaining the theory, but trafficking is not uncommon in the city, with 1500 new trafficking cases reported in 2023.    New Orleans PD will not confirm from which museum Kristhal  disappeared, but have confirmed she was last seen in the Central Business District, a neighborhood that spans approximately 12 blocks, bordered by I-10 and the mighty Mississippi river.   Joining Nancy Today:  Dr. John Delatorre - licensed psychologist and mediator, specializing in forensic psychology, psychological consultant to Project Absentis: a non profit organization that searches for missing persons, resolutionfcs.com, Twitter, IG, and TikTok - @drjohndelatorre Dawn Schiller - Training Director, LA County Project: Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking,  Former trafficking victim,  Lived Experience Expert Consultant: US Department of State, Office for Victims of Crime, & US Office on Trafficking in Persons //Author: "The Road Through Wonderland: Surviving John Holmes" Website: www.dawn-schiller.com  www.dawn-schiller.com/shop FB dawn.schiller.9/  FB AuthorDawnSchiller/ INSTA: @dawnschiller55  X: @Dawn Schiller Lynn Shaw - Founder and Executive Director of Lynn's Warriors - an organization committed to ending human trafficking and sexual exploitation  John Pizzuro - Raven’s CEO,  Fmr. New Jersey State Police Commander of the  Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force,  Fmr. New Jersey State Police Elaine Aradillas - Senior Crime Reporter at the Messenger, Twitter: @elaineja, Instagram: @the_elaineja See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Was a little girl, just 14 years old, sex trafficked from a museum tour? Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Tonight, New Orleans PD desperately searching for a missing child, Crystal, just 14. Crystal is 5'2 a group tour with other children of a New Orleans museum. Look at Cristal. Last seen wearing this long sleeve shirt with a little crop over it. Cute as a button.

Long, dark hair brunette with the tips honey blonde. Look at her. She's wearing that jumpsuit you see her in. There is an earlier picture before her hair grew out. Big smile, beautiful girl. Where is Kristal and how in the hay does she get sex trafficked, the fear of police, from a local museum? Joining me in all-star panel, but first I'm going to go to Lynn Shaw. Lynn is the founder and executive director of Lynn's Warriors, dedicated to ending sex trafficking, especially of children. You know what, Lynn, every time I have to go to the airport, which is a lot more than I want, there are big signs up that say we're fighting sex trafficking. Right. But hey, it's still happening. Sex trafficking of children in particular occurs in big venues like airports, like stadiums, like museums. And it's literally happening right under our noses. We're right there

when it happens, but nobody understands what they're seeing. Explain it. That's the beauty of it, Nancy. The predators know this. Nobody's paying attention. For instance, one of the biggest trafficking sites, and nobody wants to believe this, are places like Great Adventure or Disney World, where you have a lot of families, a lot of kids. Kids are being exchanged in the restrooms. And also, people, it's dark, it's ugly. We have to face the reality. Most people say they don't want to get involved. They're afraid of being held accountable for something. So they just don't say anything.

I can't tell you, Nancy, how many people have said to me, I saw something last year. I should have said something. I should have done something. So wherever there's chaos, crowds, lots of people, you can get away with all of this. But again, you can hang all the signs you want in bus stations, and I see them all over the airports as well, and train stations.

But you know what? Unless somebody can also identify and understand the protocol, like we have to teach Americans right now, these are the steps. This is a national crisis. So many kids are just disappearing right under our noses, As you said, we have to all be trained in what to do. If you think you think you see or hear something, and also you will not be held accountable. Better to be safe than sorry. Joining me in addition to Lynn Shaw with Lynn's Warriors is Dawn Schiller. Dawn is an expert in human trafficking. and I'd like to point out is a former trafficking victim. Dawn Schiller, back her up. Explain what we're talking about. Yeah, I agree with Lynn. Too many children, a lot of children are going missing these days and nobody pays attention. We don't

get the media exposure that it needs. There are too many to be playing these stories every day. They would be playing continuously over and over and over again if we kept up with them in the media. The truth is the communities need to know what to do and they need to be more aware. Dawn Schiller joining us, expert in anti-trafficking and trafficking victim herself. Dawn, what happened in your case? Well, in my case, I was a 15-year-old neighbor in the same apartment complex as the manager. And he also happened to be a 32-year-old porn actor who immediately saw me and started grooming me. And that's the process for a lot of these youth is that you start, you get groomed. He saw that I wasn't being protected by my father.

My father was disabled. My father was a drug user. And so he stepped in and kind of took the place of my dad in a way that I built trust. And then slowly but surely he groomed me into being his possession. And very soon after that ended up selling me over and over again in multiple different ways. How old were you Dawn when this happened? I was 15 years old when I met him. And I would like to point out too

that it's really difficult for people to see a teenager, 14, 15, 16 years old as a child still and very clearly after years of therapy and not blaming myself for my own abuse and trafficking experience i was um i finally understood that yes i was I was the child. He was a 32-year-old experienced in seduction porn star who could have had anybody he wanted. But what he did was he laid his eyes on me, a 15-year-old girl that didn't have anybody looking out for her. And that was the issue. That's how he got in. I did not have my basic needs met by my guardian's parent at the time. And he saw that and he saw his way in. And this is what predators do. This is what exploiters do. They see youth who don't have

anybody looking out for them and they step in and they replace that caring person initially and gain the trust and the love, what looks like love to the youth, and then turn it around and turn it into an abusive, exploitive experience. Has a New Orleans teen been sex trafficked from a group trip to a museum? She's with an entire group of children. How did she just disappear from a public museum? How many of you have allowed your children to go on a field trip? I have with their school, with their church, with some other group of children that's being chaperoned.

I've done it plenty of times thinking it was some sort of enrichment for my child. Little did I know that the child could be trafficked, sex trafficked from a group trip, this time at a museum for Pete's sake. But it's not by far the first time a child has been trafficked from a public venue. Listen. This 15-year-old girl went to a Mavericks basketball game with her dad, goes to the bathroom. Her dad probably thought, you know what? It's okay.

It's right up at the top of the steps. We're already inside. There's a lot of security around here. She'll be fine. Goes to the bathroom and never comes back to their seats. Dad's there with his daughter. They're there to watch a Mavericks game, supposed to be family-friendly.

Just before halftime, she goes to the restroom. After, you know, 10 minutes, he's like, it's a little bit too long and reports it. And the whole second half of the game, he's down at security. He's talking to them. You know, they're looking. They don't find her. Ultimately, they do pull a video after the game is over. And they see her being led out of the Mavs stadium by adult men.

Now, you were just hearing CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Alexis Tereszczuk and the teen girl's family lawyer. That was Zeke Fortenberry. This girl goes missing from a stadium full of people. And then she's captured on surveillance video. And she's there at the game with her father, a little father-daughter bonding time. Just the two of them alone doing something fun. She goes to the bathroom. Next thing you know, she's gone.

Was she beaten? Was she dragged by her hair? Listen. So we don't know what words were said, but she passed this criminal in the hallway, and whatever he said to her changed her direction. But she then ultimately left that facility with him, and we don't know what he said. He threatened her? Did he entice her with some sort of things that teenage girls would be enticed by? Again, we're talking about a 15-year-old adolescent girl. Joining me, as I said, an all-star panel. How do you convince a 15-year-old girl to leave in that case? Well, it happened. And the way she was found is very, very upsetting. She was, in fact, being trafficked for sex. I'm going to get to that in just a moment.

But first, I want to go back to our case in chief, Crystal Canals missing. Crystal, just 14 years old, and she's at a public venue. She's at a day trip to a local museum. And now police fearing the worst that this little girl, just 5'2", has been sex trafficked from a public venue. Joining me, Elaine Arathias, senior crime investigative reporter at The Messenger. Elaine, thank you for being with us. What happened? So on May 22nd, Crystal was with a group field trip, which was actually, she was in the custody of Louisiana's Department of Children and Family Services. Oh my, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Head blowing off. Head blowing off right now. Elaine Artheas, are you telling me that state employees had taken this child to the museum with a group of children and under their noses on their watch, This child disappears. This little girl disappears

under the noses of defects on a trip to a museum. Did you just say that? I did. That's exactly correct. No wonder nobody is covering this case. Nobody wants to say the state screwed up. They let this girl go missing on their trip to a museum. What parent doesn't want their child to go learn something at a museum? But it's DFAX. DFAX had her. Okay, go ahead, Elaine. So the details are scant, obviously. Police are not releasing a lot, but they are saying that she, quote, left the group. So we don't know what that means. Did she go to the bathroom? Did she try to make a call? Did she just walk away? We don't know how she left. Elaine, do I care? Does it matter?

Grip, reality check. It doesn't matter if she went to the bathroom or if she went to the phone. E. Gone, a 14-year-old little girl, is lost somewhere in New Orleans while she's on a tour of a museum. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. John Pizzoro joining me. Raven CEO, former New Jersey State Police Commander of Internet Crimes Against Children and so much more. You can find him at Raven.S. John. How many child sex trafficking cases you have handled is probably countless, but from a public venue. Help me. It starts like this, Nancy. It's the Internet, right? So it doesn't matter. Everyone has whether their Instagram, whether it's Snap. Very easy for an offender to get a hold of an individual and groom them. And a lot of people think grooming is just a gift. It's that conversation back and forth.

That trust is easy. All she has to say is, look, I'm going to be at a museum here. And that's where the offender meets her. She steps out and then she's gone. Hold your horses, Pissarro. I don't have any indication this child has been groomed. I don't have any indication, not even a shred, a scintilla of evidence to suggest someone had been communicating with her online. I don't know that. I'm going to circle back to that specifically as it relates to the little girl that was trafficked out of the Mavs Stadium, how she was found thanks to the Internet and people just like you. Her life was saved. In this case, I'm talking about how many children end up being taken from public venues like malls, like games, like football games, like museums.

A lot. You know, it's just where, it's opportunity, right? So it's very easy to get someone in that area of an opportunity where there's tons of kids. No one notices today. And I think that's what people don't realize. Yes, there's posters in every airport, but are people really paying attention?

And I think that's where it's easy because people get lost. They get lost in the crowd and people aren't looking for that. And that's where offenders are going to go. They're going to go where there's a ton of people and there's a lot of confusion. And I think that's the reality. Louisiana's Orleans Parish Department of Children and Family Services plans a day trip for foster children to a New Orleans museum May 22nd. Among the children is Cristal. Cristal, 14, enjoys the day out with her friends, smiling and making silly faces for a group photo.

But later, during a headcount, DCFS agents realize Cristal is gone. No child or adult knows where Cristal disappeared. Elaine Adedidas joining us. Elaine Adedidas is senior crime investigative reporter at The Messenger. Elaine, again, thank you for being with us. Did I just hear later they did a head count? What, they just let them run amok? And then at the end of the day, they get together and go, oh, somebody's missing? It's like, what, you're missing a sock out of the dryer. That is actually a shocking detail.

Like no one notices until they do a head count and adults don't know. The children don't know. She was there at one point and then just disappears into thin air. Basically, guys, we were talking earlier about a little girl that goes missing from a Mavericks game that she was attending with her father sitting side by side. She asked to go to the bathroom and then she never comes back. The father raises the alarm. He can't get any help. It's a security office. And they pull up video. And hours before, they see the little girl being led out by adult males out of the stadium. She's missing. Listen. The mom called me.

The child was on our radar for four to five hours before we located the ads, from some of the photos in the ads, you could match up cartons or bedsheets or wallpaper or the photo that's on the wall. You could tell at least what brand hotel it was. It's good news that she's been located and awful news that she's on a prostitution website. Your mind just can't even go to what awful things were done to her. When I called Oklahoma City PD, the lieutenant that answered the phone was a former vice detective who woke up the vice lieutenant at one o'clock in the morning and they started moving immediately. Those men ran for 27 hours straight. They find the little girl on a prostitution website wearing grown lady lingerie. And from that photo, and this was just hours

after she was taken out of the Mavericks Stadium, they could identify what brand hotel it is based on, for instance, curtains, bedspreads, wallpaper. They identify the hotel based on the background, the surroundings in that photo now on a prostitution website. This is a 15-year-old little girl. Joining me, John Pizzoro, Raven CEO at Raven.us, former New Jersey State Police Commander of Internet Crimes Against Children. John, explain how this little girl, just 15, ends up on a prostitution website where you order up a prostitute like you're ordering a pizza online and they just show up at your door. You know, it's the internet. I mean, and honestly, there's so many sites. If you look at Tor, the dark net, there's a place for people to look for that. And traffickers and offenders know how to market to those areas. And that's all it takes.

We've had people purchase children from different countries in different places for thousands of dollars just to have sex with eight-year-olds and nine-year-olds and 12-year-olds. So it happens more common than people actually realize that they can't fathom it. Now, it's my understanding, Elaine Adathias, that this most likely occurred in the World War II museum. For whatever reason, local police are not telling us which exact museum it is. But in photos that have been released, it looks like the World War II Museum there in New Orleans, which is amazing. My children have been there. Do you have information about which museum it is? No, police are not releasing details about this case. They're keeping it very close. All they have reported

is that she left the group while at a museum in downtown New Orleans. I agree with you. That makes the most sense. It's a very popular museum. And since you've been there, it's in that crowded area of downtown by the square, lots of people, it's summertime. It makes complete sense that she could disappear without people noticing. You know, I've been thinking about this museum and how huge it is. Joining me, Lynn Shaw, dedicated to ending human trafficking, specifically of children. Lynn, this is a huge facility. And from what I'm gleaning, the chaperones from DFAX were probably kicked back having a cup of coffee in the gift shop area while the children ran amok wherever they wished. Nancy, I'm actually sitting here

having whiplash because I keep shaking my head. No, no, no. Hearing all of this. Why can't we get more of the facts from the police department? That's my number one question. John Pizzoro is exactly right. Things start on the internet. Why can't we hear more about her digital footprint, her phone? We have questions because let me point out with all of these foster homes, family services, children's services, we know we work directly with survivors. Over 60% of them will relay when they've ended up in any of those facilities, they are re-trafficked, re-victimized. So why aren't we talking about this? We scan details. So why aren't we asking about this group supposedly she's an at-risk child okay here in New York I see little kids they've got a in nursery school

they got a leader at the front they got a leader at the back they're doing head counts left and right a large museum where anybody could wander off and they're not protecting an already at-risk child I'm not a lawyer Nancy you, you are. Where's the civil liability here? Because I am tired of hearing about these stories of kids just go missing. Nobody just goes missing. Somewhere, someone knows something and we need more information because if you don't act immediately when a child goes missing, the chances are within 48 hours, that child is gone. Dawn Schiller joining me, expert in anti-trafficking and a victim of human trafficking herself. Weigh in, Dawn. I would like to agree also that there's a lot of questions around the digital imprint of this child.

What did that look like? Was she previously sexually abused and or exploited by somebody? Did she have a quote unquote boyfriend who was also her trafficker, constantly try to get a hold of her? Was there peer recruitment? This is another thing that we look at when we look at youth who are being drawn back out over and over again is that the friends that they hang out with, they're luring them out and connecting them with an exploiter, with a trafficker. We also don't know if she's got,

you know, we know that youth is her vulnerability, but what about any disabilities? Does she have any type of disabilities that would make her more vulnerable? I have a lot of questions. DCFS workers report Kristal missing and New Orleans PD canvassed the museum's campus and surrounding city blocks, but no sign of the little girl. Investigators now say they fear Cristal has been trafficked for sex. NOPD has not yet released information explaining the theory, but trafficking is not uncommon in the city, with 1,500 new trafficking cases reported in 2023. Not only is this a six-acre campus, if it is in fact the World War II Museum in New Orleans, we also have the issue of camps, summer camps. There is the Bob and Dolores Hope Summer Theater Camp that's happening.

There is the preparation for the Victory Bells Illuminate the Night. There is a Stage Door Idol happening. There's the Blue Star Museum's program where active duty service members and family members can show up. Think about all the people flooding in and out for these camps. And what about predators? Dr. John De La Torre joining me, psychologist, renowned psychologist who specializes in forensic psychology. And you can find him at ResolutionFCS.com. Dr. De La Torre, thank you for being with us. Think about it.

This is a pedophile's dream come true. A six acre campus full of children at day camps. I'm sure a predator couldn't be happier. And then you throw in that intangible factor, the ingredient to make them the happiest unsupervised children that belong to DFACS, Department of Family Children's Services. DFACS. You think they're paying attention to these children? That's their day off. They're kicked back having a coffee by the gift shop while these children in their care are wandering around a six acre facility. A predator, a pedophile knows all of these camps are happening there.

You might as well throw that pedophile right into a pot of jam for Pete's sake. They're swimming in honey right now. That's what this is. Uh-oh, Dr. Delatore's satellite is down. Let me throw that to Lynn Shaw. This entire six-acre campus is a pedophile's dream come true. Nancy, and especially, it's the end of the school year. So forget where Cristal even came from. You've got so many school groups going in there, camp groups, performing arts groups. You've got all kinds of kids in this museum. So I say to you, even that, that tells us if I know it, if you know it, at risk, at risk, wherever their kids are, so are the predators. And I have to ask, don't museums usually have

cameras how come we're not hearing anything about video footage the inside of the museum the outside of the museum because I can't walk through a museum I might get too close here in New York to a display and I got alarms going off so I'm not understanding also what about the buddy system you know maybe one woman moderator brings four girls if she indeed did say I have to go to the ladies room, you know, the girls room. What I have so many questions about this case. Again, it brings me back. My mind keeps going back to this kind of digital footprint. Did she preplan this?

Was there somebody on the other end? Was she able just to mix herself into that crowd? Because this is what it seems like. And just take off. Why these moderators, these people should be held accountable. I don't understand. And I'm going to reiterate again, why can't we have more details? Because the faster we have details, the faster we even put the public today on top of, have you seen this child? We will get answers. This is just a disgraceful case, in my opinion. You know what I'm looking at? John Pizzoro joining me,

former New Jersey State Police Commander, Internet Crimes Against Children Unit. John, I'm looking at the layout of the World War II Museum. As I said, it's six acres, but there are six huge segments of them. You've got the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion, the Solomon Victory Theater, the Campaigns of Courage, the Liberation Pavilion, the U.S. Freedom Pavilion, the Hall of Democracy and the American Sector where one of the restaurants is. So not only are there six huge structures, there are multiple floors to each structure, to many of the structures. So she could have gone missing anywhere in there, been led away anywhere in there. And Lynn Shaw is correct. There are 270 surveillance cameras in that facility, but we're not hearing anything about anybody checking for those camera potential photos of the girl being led away. What exits she took? Did she just walk out the front?

If she left by an emergency exit, did it not alarm? It's just very difficult for me to believe that with nearly 300 surveillance cameras, we can't catch this girl being led out of the museum. Without a question. And two, there's technology that exists beyond the cameras. Let's talk about facial recognition, especially when we're looking for victims. They should be able to do that forensically. There's software that you can take and parse out all that data.

So when we talk about that digital footprint and we're investigating that, there's a lot of data to comb through. And that's what law enforcement, I would imagine, is doing right now. But they should be able to see what entrance someone left. And especially because it's so vast and there's so many access points, you have surveillance to the cameras. There's license plate readers outside. There's a lot of different techniques that investigators can use that are at their disposal to help locate her. entire legal career fighting crime, I have relied on police officers, sheriffs, investigators, crime lab scientists to help me prosecute violent felonies. But I want you to hear this. Listen. Many are concerned by the apparent lack of response from police and DCFS in the case of critically missing young girl Cristal, the 14 the 14 year old now missing for nearly seven weeks with little to no media

coverage and no updates from law enforcement or DCFS. New Orleans PD has now enlisted the help of the FBI, but DCFS has not commented on how a teen girl disappeared while under their care. Elaine, joining us investigative reporter, senior crime reporter at the messenger. Can you imagine that? D-Fax hasn't commented on how they let a little 14-year-old girl slip between their fingers at a public venue. This is completely what I would expect.

You know, as journalists, it's our job to ask questions. And I always found that when, you know, you do that in kindergarten. It's like, why didn't anyone know where she was at all times? And so it does not surprise me that the department agency is not commenting. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace 14-year-old Kristall now missing seven weeks and no word on investigators' progress, if any, in finding Kristall, who's now listed as a critically missing juvenile. Anyone with information or who may have seen Kristall, who's now listed as a critically missing juvenile. Anyone with information or who may have seen Kristall is asked to call New Orleans PD Special Investigations Division at 504-658-5267.

A child disappearing right under the noses of defects. Well, it wouldn't be the first time a child disappears or worse under defect supervision. Listen. Hi, ma'am. Were you calling about the fire in the 8200 block? Yes, he exploded the house. Ma'am, we know he exploded the house. Okay, tell me, do you know if anyone's in the house?

Yes, there was a man and two children. I just dropped off the kid. He wouldn't let me in the door. There's two little boys in the house. And there's five and seven. And there's an adult man. He had supervised visitation, and he blew up the house and the kids. The kids and the husband and the father were in the house? Yeah. Yeah. He slammed the door in my face. Okay. That would be Josh Powell and his two little boys. The little boy's now dead. They were hacked in the neck with an axe by daddy.

The father, Josh Powell, already killed the mom, Susan Powell. Nothing was done about that. So then daddy gets supervised visits, supervised by defects. Wow. then how is it defects manages to survive and the two little boys are killed because defects wasn't there? Listen. Okay, so you're supposed to be there to supervise Josh Powell's visit with the children. Yes, that's correct. And he's the husband of missing Susan Powell. How did he?

This is a high profile case? How did he how did he gain access to the children before you got there? I was one step in back of them. OK, so they went into the house and they locked you out. Yeah. Whatever. The two little boys are dead and they were in the care of defects. But that's not all. Do you recall the name Serenity?

Serenity Denard? Another child who disappears or worse in the care of those entrusted trusted to safeguard her, to make sure she grows up. Listen. It was 10 45 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Serenity is in the gym at the Black Hills Children's Home with two staffers and three other kids. One child causes the disturbance and a staffer attends to that child. Serenity then ran out of the building. At 11 a.m., Serenity is last seen walking near the home. At 12 26 p.m., a 911 call goes out to the Pennington County Sheriff's Department. A deputy arrives at 12 40. By 1 16, the decision is made to bring in search and rescue. Okay, how long did that take before the counselors and the state workers decided to act on the fact that they had let the child disappear? This beautiful little girl's serenity. Listen. There was an 80-minute delay before 911 was called, and that's just inexplicable. I think it was a matter of, you know, it was Super Bowl Sunday. People there were, well, let's let's look for her.

She had run off in the past. Let's find her on our own first. But an hour and 20 minutes really is, you know, that that raises a big question mark about the judgment of those employees. Certainly not having, you know, authorities trained in search and beginning a widespread search immediately or as soon as possible was a big mistake. The Black Hills Children's Home. I'm very familiar with it now after Serenity Denard disappears from the home ground. She's never been seen again. Intimately familiar with that case is Lynn Shaw, founder and director of Lynn's Warriors. I'm sure you recall the Serenity Denard case, Lynn. Yes, because I joined you to discuss that case on the program. I want to say something. My inbox every day, my emails, one after the other

of missing children, not adults, we're talking children, including babies, infants, one after the other, I am inundated on a daily basis, seven days a week. I think it's fair to say with all of this going on, all of the discussion, all of this mismanagement, our precious children are at risk. I'm going to point out again, I believe this is a national crisis. And I believe all of these systems for years, Nancy, I'm hearing this doesn't work with Department of Social Services, kids, families. We don't have resources. We don't have man, woman power. Enough. Enough. In 2024, we need to blow up this system, start from the ground up, get vetted employees who are passionate about children. And this is where monies should be spent. Because all I'm seeing is it's escalating every single hour of every day and there's no follow up.

We do. Thank goodness for your program, because you stay on it and you follow up on these children, because I don't see many other people doing anything about any of this. If you look at the Black Hill Children's Home website, our mission to prevent, treat, and heal trauma. This little Serenity Denard goes missing from the home and they wait nearly two hours before they even call in a missing person. She's never been found again. We have talked about Josh Powell's children being murdered while DFAX was supposed to be supervising them. We have talked about Serenity Denard missing, I'm sure now dead, under the care of the Black Hills Children Home. But what about Harmony Montgomery? Listen. February of 2019, Harmony's father, Adam Montgomery, was awarded custody by the Juvenile Court of Massachusetts. Harmony Montgomery. Listen. February of 2019, Harmony's father, Adam Montgomery, was awarded custody by the Juvenile Court of Massachusetts. Harmony Montgomery was last seen by her biological mother, Crystal Sori, Easter 2019. In November 2021, Crystal Sori calls police and tells them

about Harmony and how she can't find her. Even though Harmony Montgomery had been in and out of foster care for most of her short life, a judge placed her with her father. And now nobody, including DCF, seems to know what happened to her or where she is. 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 Shauna Burns speaking out after her daughter Haley

was kidnapped and held captive and sex assaulted and starved. It should be a warning, but apparently DFAX didn't hear about that. Joining me is John Pizzoro. I'm very concerned, John, about how this child that we're talking about tonight, Cristal's case, has gotten little or no coverage. We're not getting any updates from local police. We're also not being told even the museum from which she disappeared. I guess that's top secret, too. I would think other parents would want to know that that's the museum where the little girl went missing. But we can't even get that out of the police. No. And I think that's part of the problem. Right. So I think what's happening is that there's not a lot of information in a lot of these cases for

whatever reason, they don't garner attention. And I think it's problematic is because a lot of information. In a lot of these cases, for whatever reason, they don't garner attention. And I think it's problematic is because a lot of these state agencies that are supposed to protect the children in their care do not take the adequate steps. I know in my experience that we've run into that time and time again, where the Division of Youth and Family Services type agencies, which are supposed to watch children, actually don't. And I think that's part of the problem. And there's no information there. And I think there is in lies the problem. Is this little girl just a throwaway?

No police updates, no information about her case, nothing. Crystal is gone. That's all we know while in the care of defects. If you know or think you know information on this little girl's whereabouts, is she dead? Is she alive? Where is she? We haven't heard a word from her parents. Couldn't even track them down. Do they even care? 504-658-5267. Nancy Grace signing off.

Goodbye, friend.