Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Hide & seek game turns deadly; Teen runs away with teacher; Pot smoking mom cooks kids in car!

Episode Date: May 3, 2018

A kids' game of hide-and-seek ended in death for a Texas 10-year-old boy when the child was electrocuted inside a clothes dryer. Nancy Grace looks at the tragedy with psycho therapist Lauren Howard, Juvenile Judge & lawyer Ashley Willcott, private investigator Vincent HIll, DailyMail.com's Sean Walsh, and co-host Alan Duke. A high school teacher is allegedly on the run with a 16-year-old after the 30-year-old woman was charged with having an illegal relationship with her student. Hattiesburg, Mississippi, police spokesman Ryan Moore share the latest in the search for the teen. Nancy also updates the case of a young Texas mom who locked her two toddlers in a car to "teach the a lesson." The children died while the mother was smoking pot and napping. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Truthfinder. Truthfinder may reveal court records, bankruptcies, contact information, social, dating profiles, assets, and a lot more. You get it all in one easy to read report. Why fork out thousands of dollars to a private eye when you can do the job yourself? Go to truthfinder.com slash Nancy and enter any name to get started. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Sirius XM Triumph, Channel 132. Tragedy. Tragedy in your own home. You think it will never happen to you. You think this is just an urban myth or legend. It is not. A 10-year-old little boy dies after he is electrocuted during a game of hide-and-seek because he decided to hide in the dryer, the dryer i'm nancy grace this is crime stories thank you

for being with us sean walsh with me from dailymail.com sean when i read about this all i could think about were the twins you know the twins john david and lucy they're this very age just 10 years old this third grader, Fernando, electrocuted in Houston, pronounced dead after he climbed into a clothes dryer. SeanWalshDailyMail.com, you guys broke the story. What happened? Nancy, this is one of those things that is every parent's worst nightmare. As a parent of two little boys myself, you can't even imagine this happening.

I thought 10-year-old Fernando Hernandez Jr. was playing hide-and-seek with friends at an East Houston apartment complex when he climbed into the laundry room dryer. He was found unconscious inside, and they called for help. I just don't understand how it happened. But of course, I guess I'm technologically challenged, Sean, because when I read the article about the little girl, I think I read it in the Daily Mail, actually, either there or Crime Online, that dropped the cell phone in the bathtub and she was electrocuted. I couldn't believe it. And now I don't understand how this happened. But one thing I do understand is when I listen to this mother, take a listen to the mom, Christina. I don't know what happened. I was just inside cooking, and my little son came inside and told me my son was dead on the floor.

So I ran outside, and my boyfriend picked him up and brought him into the house. He was purple. His eyes were open and he was gone. I don't know what happened. I should have been outside with him, but I was inside cooking. I just want him home. I miss my baby. He was so, he was so. He was so...

He was so... He was so friendly. Everybody loved him. He wasn't the perfect child, but he loved everybody. We had our ups and downs. I just want my son back. I just want him home. How many kids do you have? I have four kids. Four. And you said one of them was with him.

His little brother was the one with him and he's the one that found him. The brother who's nine? The brother that's nine. Guys, I actually could not even listen to that. I went in and out because the suffering in that mother's voice was just overwhelming to me. Sean Walsh with me, along with Vincent Hill, private investigator, Ashley Wilcott, Atlanta juvenile judge, lawyer and founder of childcrimewatch.com. Also with me, psychotherapist Lauren Howard. Sean Walsh, it's not, you know, we see so many stories, so many cases, and I've prosecuted so many where the mom and or the dad are just negligent. It's their fault

that their child is dead. There's really no other way to slice that. It's the parent's fault. In this case, the mom's at home. She's at home to take care of the children. She's cooking them a meal in the kitchen. She's not out clubbing. She's not drunk. She's not passed out on opioids in the car. She's home taking care of her family. I mean, Sean, how many times have you and your beautiful wife said, guys, go play. We're trying to make dinner. Please come back in 10 minutes. A million times I've said, go take a bath.

When you come back, dinner will be ready. Hurry, run, run, run, run. I just can't stand even hearing this, Mom, Sean. Oh, absolutely, Nancy. It's tragic, like the pain in the mother's voice. I mean, this is a mother doing what mothers do. She's in the kitchen. She's cooking dinner.

And she said her little son came inside and told her that the other son was dead on the floor. Now, the little boy that passed away, he had three younger siblings. So this is a mother who already has a lot on with four children. And you get that horrific news as you're just trying to cook your kid's dinner that your son has died. And she races in. There he is. He has passed away. And there's nothing they can do.

He was transported to the local hospital, and he was pronounced dead there. Nancy, it's tragic. You can't even imagine. I mean, it's not like this is Tot Mom we're talking about. This was a mom who was looking after her kids and was just cooking them dinner and the worst thing you can ever imagine occurred. I don't like any aspersions cast on the mom. Ashley Wilcott with me, founder of childcrimewatch.com, a juvenile judge and lawyer. Ashley, you have children just like me. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a bulletin that points to several suffocation deaths involving children who get inside those latch-type dryers and then they can't get out. That's not what happened here.

And I don't expect a mother with four children to have her eye on every child at all times this is not like other cases we've handled Ashley where the mom is just sorry you know it's just she's just like a cat you give birth and then you just leave and you hope they fend for themselves but it's not like that at all here. Yeah, that's why it's such a tragic, tragic accident circumstance. And this is why kids need to be kids. They're playing hide and seek. Every kid plays hide and seek. The problem is this leads to helicopter parenting, right?

Parents will automatically say they can't do anything because this could happen to my child. It could happen to any child. And that's horrific. I really think where this is going to come down as a product's liability issue as to whether or not the dryer was safe, miswired, et cetera. Well, there's another thing regarding that. If you want to go DEFCON 4 on the law, Ashley Wolcott, say that the dryer malfunctioned. This is a consumer product. And you start at the top suing the manufacturer, then the store that sold it to you. If the wiring goes bad and you don't have a warning,

that's on them, not you. What should happen to you if there's something wrong with your dryer? It should just simply not work, okay? it shouldn't electrocute your baby and as i don't think any way they're going to be able to intimate this family was in any way possible but how do we think it actually happened sean waltz joining me uh the star of dailymail.com sean i don't understand exactly how it happened i mean how does getting in a dryer result in you being electrocuted? You know, Nancy, it's interesting. They haven't given out the specific details yet of how the child was electrocuted.

But recently, the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission issued a bulletin in December of last year about several suffocation deaths involving children who crawled into latch-type dryers. So, you know, when you get in there, you close the door, the oxygen leaves pretty quickly. But interestingly, this is not the case this time. They're saying the child has been electrocuted. I know in my past, as a journalist, I've seen stories where there's some sort of faulty wiring inside the dryer, and people have touched things

and had an electric shock. So I'm imagining this is what's occurred this time. Well, you're right to point to that CPSC bulletin. That was about children suffocating. And that is exactly what authorities first thought when little Fernando Jr. was found dead after hiding in the dryer. They thought exactly that happened. But that's not what happened. Take a listen to an electrical technician Donald shotty listen to this some people don't repair

their dryer properly like a door switch goes bad and when they open the dryer as long as the timer is on the machine is going to stay running so have you ever heard of somebody actually getting electrocuted without there being a fault in the dryer? No, I haven't. No, I haven't. Okay. There's so many safety features. It has to be something to do with the wiring. You should always wear shoes when you're a rubber sole shoes, flip flops, whatever, as long as it's rubber back to sean walsh on this dailymail.com sean what about being in there with a belt with a belt buckle or something on a shoe or your your clothing that may have metal in it i mean i still don't understand it because it's a consumer product. I mean, everybody, I think at some point, my son does it all the time. He takes off his school uniform and throws his pants in the wash with the belt on it.

Nobody's ever been electrocuted, Sean. Nancy, how many times have you seen your kids and said, where did you get that? And they'll have something in their hands that you have no idea where they got it from. I mean, think about it. The kids could have picked up a coin, a magnet, anything, like the range of possibilities of what your kids could have had in their hands when he went into the dryer. It may not just be the belt. It could be anything because kids pick things up and play with things. And then they go and do things that we tell them not to do so there's there's any range of possibilities that could be in play here well the harris county institute of forensic science

ruled little fernando's death an accident caused by electrocution and i'm curious about how you look at a body and determine it was electrocuted versus suffocated. A forensic investigator said he did not immediately know more details of how they could determine that. Now, these kind of deaths are not really tracked. But as Sean Walsh just told us, the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Commission, the CPSC, just sent out a safety alert saying it had gotten many reports of suffocation deaths of children who got into latch-type appliances like freezers or dryers, and they couldn't get out.

Now, they may go to an appliance or a chest appliance like a freezer, because it looks like a good place to hide. So far, we haven't found any warnings or any advisories regarding electrocution. Now, another thing we know, is this correct, Sean? You would know. This was a communal laundry. Was it the laundry at the apartment complex? Yes, it appears to be the laundry at the apartment complex.

Man, take a listen to what Houston police say. Today at approximately 5.45 p.m., we got notified out here at 12300 Fleming Drive that a 10-year-old juvenile male was found unconscious in the laundry room behind me. And the family came out to provide CPR and had him transported to the Baybrook Hospital, where he later was pronounced deceased. We were still early in our investigation speaking with multiple residents out here trying to determine what had happened inside of the laundry room or if there were any witnesses to see anything of foul play or anything like that.

At this time, it appears that it could be an accident due to the fact that most of the people that we've talked to said the juveniles were playing like hide and seek and the juveniles were the ones who found him unresponsive inside the laundry room and that's where we are right now in our investigation. So as far as any kind of trauma on the body? At the hospital, the doctors did not find any sort of physical trauma, any gunshot wounds or stabbings, nothing like that. Like I said, the autopsy tomorrow will reveal any further inside internal issues that may have come up. So we're still waiting on that. So it looked like maybe they were playing hide-and-seek

and maybe getting inside the dryers or washers or something. Yeah, the boy was found inside one of the dryers based on what most of the people out here were telling us. And so, like I said, we are taking evidence to try to find out what was the cause of this juvenile's death. Back to Sean Walsh with DailyMail.com. And I'm going to Sean to watch because the Daily Mail broke the story. Sean, I know this.

Of course, I'm not a medical examiner. I'm just a trial lawyer, and I never prosecuted a case where a child was electrocuted. But I do know this. When the body does not reveal what happened and you suspect electrocution, the way you may be able to prove it is to go to the source. Now, in low voltage electrocutions, you got to look at the device as opposed to the body because burns may not be present on the body. That's how you make that diagnosis.

Now, if there are negative autopsy findings such as no burns, you look at the device in high voltage electrocution, victim's tissue, okay, shows burning. We may also be able to find human tissue at the point of the contact of the electrical jolt maybe a flash burn some other kind of a blister of sort sometimes they're called crocodile burns but apparently sean we're not learning anything from the boy's body no nothing yet i mean they're still out on on what on on the exact details of how this occurred. And I mean, so if you're thinking about this from the mother's perspective and the family's perspective, you're left with no answers at the moment. And this must be the worst possible scenario that you can find yourselves in.

I also know this, and I know this from suffocation cases. You have petechial hemorrhaging. Those are the tiny, tiny blood vessels in your eyes and petechial blood hemorrhages are usually invisible to the naked eye but you can see them under a microscope during autopsy in electrocutions it's my belief that there will be a trail a trail of petechial hemorrhages small blood vessel hemorrhages, basically in the order of the flow of the current as it goes through your body. This may be a case where they have to rule out all other causes,

and my process of elimination determined this. Sean, you told us, Sean Walsh with me from DailyMail.com, that this was the laundry at the apartment complex. And I remember growing up, we didn't have a working washer and dryer. And we would go to the laundromat. And that is a whole other layer of issues with a commercial laundromat or the communal laundromat. Did somebody tamper with the dryer? I doubt it. That also means it's a different kind of dryer because it's a commercial dryer. It's meant for consumers, which means it should have all the safeguards on it. So the apartment complex, the manufacturer, whoever sold it to them,

everybody is at fault here. Would you agree with that, Sean? Nancy, I would. I mean, this is going to open up a huge can of worms, especially your parent. You're going to want justice for your child. And I think that there are a lot of people now that are going to have to answer a lot of very important questions to work out how this occurred and for the blame to be laid properly so the parents can seek justice. And by the time the mom got there, Lauren Howard with me, psychotherapist joining us from Manhattan. By the time the mom got to the little boy, he was already dead. They tried CPR, everything, the scarring, the emotional scarring, that's going to leave on the mom. It's not her fault, but she's going to

feel like it's her fault. Well, you know this from being a mother, Nancy, no matter what happens to your kid, you always feel responsible. And the fact is you cannot protect your children from everything. How could this child have been protected from this? I guess we all now have a wake-up call. One of our instructions, don't go anywhere with strangers, don't cross the street alone, don't go into a closed contained space, even if you're playing hide and seek with your friends, right? But this could have happened really, I mean, it's so random. There's no question that if in fact there was no mouthpiece and this was an electrical issue in a laundry room, in a building, you know, did they maintain their machines? I mean, the questions are just, they go on forever. But from the mother's point of view, no matter what, a mother feels responsible.

That's it. I think you're right. So, Sean, where does the case stand right now? Investigations continue, and we're waiting on more updates. A little boy, a 10-year-old little boy in Houston, Fernando Jr., is dead, his mother distraught. Right now, as we wait for his burial,

our prayers are with Fernando and his family. There's a brand new website causing a lot of trouble for people with something to hide. Have you ever had a bad feeling about somebody? Maybe suspected your partner's cheating? Maybe worried about your online reputation? If you answer yes to any of those questions, you may need Truthfinder. Public records are only recently easily available online. Before websites like Truthfinder, you'd most likely have to visit a courthouse to get that information. Now it's as simple as entering a name. Truthfinder sifts through millions of public records from all over the country, assembling them into one easy-to-read report. Search the names of somebody you know. You could find criminal and arrest records, bankruptcies, contact information, social, dating profiles, financial assets, and a lot more. Why fork out thousands to a private investigator when you can

do the job yourself? Everybody you know has something to hide. Now you can root out the most dangerous people before you become the next victim. It's not just used to bust bad people. Truthfinder helps Americans reunite with friends, family, even people who served with them in the military. It's never been so easy to find the truth. Go to truthfinder.com slash Nancy and enter any name to get started. Right now, a desperate search is launched for a boy who is allegedly, wait for it on the run with his 30 year old female teacher who was now accused of having sex with the little boy mississippi cops all over it the student oscar o'neill teacher nicole jackson first of all take a listen to what the teacher's husband says.

The Nicole I know will never do this. When the truth comes out, and it will come out one way or the other, I believe justice will be served. And if the allegations are true against my wife, then I will support him as much as possible. Okay, this is your wife. Right now, joining me from the Hattiesburg Police Department, police spokesperson Ryan Moore. Mr. Moore, thank you so much for being with us.

We understand this teen student, and I'm not going to ask you to comment on the student. I know that that would impede your investigation. Was he actually in one of Nicole Jackson's classes that we know of? That's actually part of the investigation. We just know that Forest County School, which was Earl Trevelyan Attendant Center, however, she did resign from that recently, which was prior to her turning herself into authorities on Tuesday, April 10th. I know she turned herself in, but she's on the run right now. There is a bolo. Be on the lookout for a boy student, Oscar O'Neill, believed

to be with teacher Nicole Jackson, 30 years old, a former school teacher. She was already out on $10,000 bond for sex battery in a position of trust or authority. We believe they are in a dark blue Chevy Impala, plate number F Frank R Ralph, A Apple 4454, FRA 4454. Ryan Moore with me from the Hattiesburg Police Department. Amazingly, this is more common and more common every single day. Ryan Moore, which way do you think they're headed? Actually, as far as which way they're headed, we really don't have a location on that. That is one of the reasons that we put out the BOLO. We reached out as anything as far as crime stoppers that if anybody could give us any tips, even just on the vehicle, even a license plate hit. We've had a couple of phone calls that have come in trying to get folks that have given us tips saying that they possibly

spotted the vehicle or things like that. But so far, we don't have anything that's confirmed, especially in our immediate area. The tip line that Moore is referring to, 601-545-4500. Repeat, 601-545-4500. To Sean Walsh with DailyMail.com. Sean, let's start at the beginning. What do we know? Look, this is a very interesting case, Nancy, and every parent around the country should be concerned. I don't find it interesting. I find it freaky and criminal, like looking at a tarantula in a glass box.

I don't want to let it out. I don't want it running loose in my house, okay? I agree. Couldn't agree more. As the parent of two little boys, I would not be happy if this was happening to my child or any one of my children. And I'd be making a massive scene about it. But police have launched a desperate search for this high school student and his teacher, who are believed to have run off with one another. Cops in Hattiesburg, Mississippi issued the alert on Monday, seeking teacher Nicole Jackson, who is 30, who is currently free on $10,000 bail,

because she faced charges of sexual battery in a position of trust. And this involves student Oscar O'Neill. Guys, this is just a boy, a little boy with a 30-year-old woman, a married woman who is a teacher. And not only that, has taken the boy on the run this could go sideways in so many different directions uh take a listen to what the boy's mother says oscar if you're looking at us if you're seeing this on tv if you will would you please come home please please just come to the house you're killing your mom and your dad, you know? Can you even imagine your children being gone just like that? And with the teacher having sex with your child?

Vincent Hill, private investigator, help me out. Which way do we look? It's like a needle in a Haystack, and it reminds me of that freaky-do teacher, Tad Cummings, that ended up all the way out in the Pacific Northwest in a commune, having sex all day and night with the little girl student he took off with. The roles are reversed here. It's a female teacher. So, Vincent, Needle in a Haystack, where do we go? Yeah, Nancy, I think what female teacher. So, Vincent, needle in a haystack.

Where do we go? Yeah, Nancy, I think what we need to do, hopefully, you know, her cell phone's not turned off. You know, she's smart, it is. But at least try to ping the cell phone. The bolo's already out. I would definitely enter that card to NCIC. So if it's spotted in any other state and police run that tag, that hit would pop up. Definitely send flyers to local hotels, get their picture out there.

I know Jackson is not too far from Hattiesburg. Jackson is another major city there in Mississippi, so they could be bunkered down there. We don't know, but we definitely got to get the word out. Enter that card NCIC. So when law enforcement sees it, they run that tag, that hit comes up. You know, I'm looking at her, Ashley Wilcott with me, founder of childcrimewatch.com, Atlanta juvenile judge and lawyer. Ashley, when you look at the woman, she's very pretty. She looks really pale, like her face is chiseled out of marble long brunette hair even without makeup

she looks pretty perfect and it makes me wonder why this gorgeous educated woman would fall for or seek out you don't fall for a child that's a a predator. That is a predator. You don't fall for a little boy. Okay. The thought of waking up and Ashley, you have a boy about this age. How'd you feel if you've got a letter on his bed that says, mom, I'm in love with my teacher. We're gone. It makes me want to throw up. This case makes me so down. Yeah. Angry, right? So this is a sexual predator. A lot of sexual predators are beautiful, intelligent, educated. Statistically, one out of every four children is sexually abused. This is sexual abuse. To hear the husband say, well, this is out of character. This is not like her. The truth will come out. This is the truth. She was a predator. She sought him out. She chose to have a relationship with a 16 year old and take off she's a criminal this is a little boy and his teacher has taken him on the run take a listen uh to the mom and dad describing how their son left a letter behind he left a letter on the bed and now you know he left us a letter uh saying he was leaving and you know pretty much moving on with her uh when i opened the door i found it on his bed.

Surrounded with his pictures. He put all these pictures around him. Yeah, he put all the pictures around him. Pictures of him and his dad. And he wrote a good letter. I mean, he was telling that he loved us. We raised him right. It was nothing we did.

It was his decision. It was his decision. They go on to say, why would she choose our child? I feel like our child was a target. She robbed him from being a youth and a child. I mean, Sean Walsh, DailyMill.com, friend and colleague. When I was this age, I wasn't really sure where babies even came from. And I was pretty sure Santa really did still exist.

I was still riding my bike in the neighborhood for Pete's sake. It's extraordinary. I mean, it's completely unacceptable. And she's abused her position of trust as a teacher. And I don't care if she had resigned or not. This is completely inappropriate. And I'm sure the police are doing everything they can to bring this lady. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.

Did I just hear Sean Walsh of DailyMail.com say it's completely inappropriate? Is that what you—this is a crime, Sean? You do 20 to life for this. Uh-uh. Well, it is. This is called statutory rape in most jurisdictions. Absolutely. Hello. Inappropriate. Uh-uh. Well, it is. This is called statutory rape in most jurisdictions.

Inappropriate. Inappropriate is when you burp at the dinner table and when you're at somebody else's house. That's inappropriate. Okay? Inappropriate is when you wash your hands in somebody's guest bathroom and you leave all the towels, the guest towels, which are beautiful, in a big mess and all crumpled up and twisted. That's inappropriate. Okay?

This is not inappropriate, Sean Walsh. Well, I would argue, Nancy, that it is. It's completely inappropriate and she needs to face the charges that she will be charged with and she will be no doubt tried and then she can be dealt with with the firmest hand of the law. I think that's completely fair. But, I mean, I think what gets people with these cases is you know this. Are you stuttering? Pardon? Are you stammering? You're stuttering because you know she needs to be in jail.

Absolutely. She needs to be wearing prison blue. She needs to be doing other people's laundry in the ladies' the big dollhouse right now. Well, look, here's the thing. She probably shouldn't have been released on bail. She should have been kept in jail, as we can see now, because look what's occurred. Okay, you know what? That's a whole other can of worms.

And you're absolutely right. Ashley Wilcott, you're the lawyer. You're the juvenile judge. She's charged with sexual battery in a position of trust and authority. Why is she on $10,000 bond? You know what that means? She paid $1,000 and walked free. $1,000 on a sex battery. I guarantee you, if this was some grody old man, he'd be behind bars right now. He would not have gotten a bond, but she did because she's all young and attractive and educated.

You took the words right out of my mouth. First of all, as a judge, it frustrates me to death that you have a sexual predator who gets out, like you said, on $10,000 bail, which means she does post a thousand and she's out. Most people can scrape up a thousand dollars, even if they have to beg, borrow and steal to get out of jail. Second, you're right. If this was a man, are you kidding? Katie bar the doors, hang him from the rooftops and we're not going to let him out of jail. Yet here she walks out of jail. They knew she was a risk.

She was a known risk, particularly to this particular child. And yet she was able to walk out and run off with him. This is what we believe. We believe that Nicole Jackson, the perp, the alleged perp in this case, and her husband, Isaiah. I've been married for four years. And that they have two children together. Hello, what about that? I can't even. Sean Walsh, DailyMail.com.

So you risk losing your husband, half of your money if you have any, and your children to be with a boy, a teen boy that was what, in your science class? Really? Well, the only thing she's going to gain out of this when they eventually arrest her is a free accommodation for the rest of her life yep as i say three hots and a cot that's what she's looking at take a listen exactly take a listen to what the boy the little boy's father says i think my son did all this out of love he to me he didn't fell in love with this lady you You know, this man's wife and uh, ain't nothing done. You know, I just, like I said, I just want him brought home. He feel like he had love and I know he's not in love.

Why would you choose my child? You know, I feel like my child was a target. She robbed him from all his being a youth as a child. I know he ran out with a school teacher that's probably been teaching him. You know, this lady with all this authority, she probably been the one, you know, looking after my child in the school and teaching him and not going with me. I don't really know much to say, but just I want her brought to justice, you know.

And I want my son home. I mean, Sean Walsh, listen, the other day I sent the children to school with their snacks, and it included Ritz crackers and little squares of cheese. Well, John David, who is a big horse, okay, he's bigger than me, he was eating his cheese literally one minute after snack time. He got a strike, which I don't know that it really means anything. I think it just scares them. I, of course, threatened to slash the teacher's tires.

The children talked me down. And John David was like, Mom, I'll never eat a snack in class again. Please don't slash his tires. But can you imagine? I mean, first of all, you have got this is a public school. Okay. We're trying to encourage a higher graduation rate. We're trying to encourage children to grow up and go on to college and rise up as best as they can out of what are sometimes bad circumstances, to succeed in life. And now in walks this teacher. In love?

A little boy can't be in love. He doesn't even know what love is. It's obscene. It truly is, and it's absurd. I just, I can't believe it. And the parents are right. They're saying she targeted him. She thought this was forbidden love, but he

was a target. And then he left this letter on the bed to the mom and dad saying that you've done a great job, but I'm in love. I'm leaving. I mean, this is just absurd. This is a teacher, 30 years of age, who has emotionally manipulated a 16-year-old child. Let's forget a 16-year-old child. This is not an adult. He cannot drink. He cannot vote. He cannot join the army and run off with him. And so the police sound like they're on the case and they need to bring this lady to justice. I don't know that I call her a lady. Lady politely. To Ryan Moore joining us, the police spokesperson with the Hattiesburg Police Department. Ryan, did the boy have a cell phone or did the perp, the alleged perp, have a cell phone with them? Does their car have any type of tracking device?

Have we checked if their ATMs or credit cards have been used in any way? Yeah, we're going through the process of all that in the investigation. And then also we put that tag number out. And, you know, we have that going through tag readers and everything else and if it gets a hit somewhere our agency will be notified hey uh mr moore with me ryan moore from hattiesburg police explain what a tag reader is um a tag reader is just a device that is set up in a variety of locations and it basically can monitor traffic um some of those individuals have them on actual cars. Various counties and cities throughout the United States have those.

And basically, if there's a car that a bolo has been put out for, a tag number, whether it be a stolen vehicle or a suspect in any type of crime, passes through that area and hits on that tag reader, it can notify those agencies and that information can be passed on. Vincent Hill, private investigator with me. Vincent, a former cop. Vincent, the tag readers, are those the things you see on the side of the, for instance, interstate?

It's like a pole. This may be four to five feet tall, and it's got some little rectangular, they look like solar panels, but they're little rectangular things on the edge of, on the top of them. Is that a tag reader? Yeah, Nancy, that's one variation, but as Ryan said, some patrol cars actually have those on the side of their vehicles, so it goes directly to their police computer automatically, so you have a quicker response time and another thing vincent hill of course they're looking at tolls with cameras but one thing i would be looking at in addition to motels and hotels would be have they contacted anyone such as have they has he called any of his friends? Have they texted?

Have they emailed? I would be looking at that. And if they do send an email, can you identify? I don't think you can. Where in the country it's coming from, you can only really identify the IP address. Well, you may be able to identify the IP, but the thing with that, you could always use a proxy and trick to make it look like you're in florida but you may still be in mississippi

but come on they're not that sophisticated he's a little boy he's a little boy but you know kids 16 17 years old my son just turned 17 you'll be amazed what they can do with computers they know a lot of stuff you know what what? You're right. John David is like a little monkey. He runs in the house. He grabs all the remotes and the iPads and the this and the that, including my phone and runs off. He programs everything in the house. You're right. He's incredible when it comes to anything computer related,related. So, you know what? You're absolutely right, Vincent Hill. I stand corrected.

Ryan Moore with me from the Hattiesburg Police. What is the tip line, Ryan? You can call locally here. That would be the Metro Crime Stoppers number at 601-582-STOP. You can contact us on social media. We have a Hattiesburg Police Department official Facebook page. We are checking those. Again, it's not monitored 24 hours, but you can also go through our Crime Stoppers.

Again, that number is 601-582-STOP with any information. I just don't want it to go sideways and end up in some kind of a weird hostage standoff situation or anything happen while they're on the run worse than it already has ryan sean vincent ashley the search is on a mother claims her two children are dead after she leaves him in the car on the 96 degree day to to, quote, teach them a lesson, while mommy, Cynthia Marie Randolph, lays up on the sofa smoking weed and watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians? What?

SeanMossDailyMail.com, what? Well, her new life will be called Keeping Up With The Convicts because this North Texas mother has now been sentenced to two prison two 20-year prison terms that she'll be serving simultaneously. She thought she could teach her children a lesson

by locking them in the car. Well, as you and I both know on a hot day this does not work out well and she killed her children and they were so tiny sean walsh one was one year old a boy and the two-year-old little girl in may and they had just gotten home in their honda cross tour and the children didn't want to get out of the car. Do you know how many times we drive home from school and the twins want to sit in the car and finish snacks and talk, and they even sometimes sit in the car in our beat-up minivan and do their homework? They get all cozy and slung up in there, and they don't want to get out, Sean.

But Nancy, I'm looking today at the temperature in Texas, in Houston. It's going to be 88 degrees in the next hour. It will go up by tonight. It's going to be almost 90. And she left a one and a two-year-old in a hot car? I don't leave them in there. I sit there with them. No, I know you don't.

I don't leave them unattended in the car. No normal parent leaves their kids. And just go in and what, kick back and have a G&T? No, that's not happening. Yeah, I know, but no normal parent does this. I'm sorry, but this is just absurd. Ashley Wilcott, you're the juvenile advocate, founder of ChildCrimeWatch.com, a one- and a two-year-old strapped in their car.

What an idiot mother. I'm sorry, she should never have been allowed to have children because she murdered them. That's what she did. You don't freaking leave your kids in a car. And then I love this defense of, oh, I was trying to teach them a lesson. They're one and two. Like you said, Nancy, you don't teach one and two year olds lessons. You still have to parent. You don't get to neglect. You don't get to leave them somewhere unsupervised. You have to parent them. And what a person goes through, Vincent Hill, private investigator, when they die of heat stroke. It's horrible

suffering. As mommy lays up smoking weed watching Kim Kardashian. Nancy, I got to tell you, when I was on patrol in Nashville, I had to take one of those calls where a two-year-old had died inside of a hot vehicle. And the sight of that will literally never leave my head. And ironically, my son went to the same daycare and we pulled him out the very next day because it was actually the owner of the daycare who left her child in the car. And it was 96 degrees that day. So that's something, trust me, no one wants to see. So I can't imagine those officers that even showed up to the scene. And isn't it true, Sean Walsh, when she called 911, she lied? This woman couldn't lie straight in bed, Nancy. I mean, the stories changed. She conducted interviews, being the poor mom who was the victim. And everything was a twisted,

distorted attempt at the truth to ensure she didn't face punishment now to alan the duke duke joining us from la what have you found out about the case alan nancy we've been following this story from the beginning and we were reporting this as the mom saying that the kids while she she was folding laundry, were playing on the porch, and she eventually realized they weren't there. She went and that they had let themselves into this car, that they had opened the doors, gotten in the car, and shut the doors. I tested that out with my young grandkids. You can't do that at that age. But her story did change she went into the to the detectives interrogation room for 13 hours finally at the end she admitted that she had knew that they were in there to quote teach them

a lesson she went back inside the cops say smoking marijuana taking a nap for two or three hours and as you say watching tv now i don't know about anybody on this panel right now, especially you, Alan Duke, because you are the one with the ponytail. But I don't know why everybody is in a rush to legalize marijuana. I don't get it. Car crashes, fatalities are up, up, up in all of those states. I've been in touch with medical examiners in those states, and they say it is insane the number of deaths that have now been linked to smoking pot.

And here she thinks it's okay to go in and crash high on weed, watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I mean, Sean Walsh, of course, voluntary use of drugs or alcohol is not a defense. No, no, Nancy, it's not. And I think that this is just one of those horrendous cases where I don't think any jail time is enough. A one and a two-year-old baby. They're babies, Nancy. They're babies. And here's another thing that goes toward intent

ashley wilcott when she first made up that line that alan duke told us about about her doing laundry or something and they were gone she also tried to set it up to look like an accident by smashing in the car window to make it look like she was trying to save them. Oh, uh-uh. Oh, no. She put them in there. Yeah, she did put them in there, and she, I think, used that as her child care. I'm going to leave them in there, go do what I want. I don't care what happens to them. And look what happened to them.

They died. A two-hour nap. Okay, Sean Walsh, what's the latest? What's happening to Mom of the Year? Mom of the Year is now going to be a guest of the local penitentiary for the next 20 years. And some may argue that that's not enough. All I can hope is that she gets to do that laundry finally in a nice hot room. Maybe it will make her think back on her children in that car that died of heat stroke, an excruciating death.

Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.