Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mom's boyfriend charged with dumping Mariah Woods in creek; Toddler's dad talks again to Nancy

Episode Date: December 4, 2017

A North Carolina judge set a $1 million bond for Earl Kimrey, the 32-year-old man charged with dumping little Mariah Woods' body in a swamp. Kimrey, who is Mariah's mom's live-in boyfriend, has not yet been charged with killing the 3-year-old. Mariah's father Alex Woods joins Nancy Grace in this Crime Stories episode the discuss the latest in this sad story. Grace's expert panel includes forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober, investigator Vincent Hill, syndicated radio talk host Dave Mack, and child advocate lawyer Ashley Willcott. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The search is still on tonight for 3-year-old Mariah Woods The girl was last seen by her mother at her home in Onslow County The mother tells me she last saw her daughter in the home at around 11pm when she checked on her. This is my world. This is my angel. She said her boyfriend saw the toddler around midnight when he got up, and she says he told her to go back to bed.

She was reported missing around 6 o'clock in the morning. The love I have for this girl, the bond that I have, is my life. The child is white, 3 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 30 pounds, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. Not making sense to me about where she could be at, who she could be with. Christy says she doesn't believe her child could have walked off, as she has weak bones and wears special braces to help her walk. I love her and I'll never let her go again.

I just want to hold her tight, see her smile? We waited. We watched. We prayed. We investigated. We turned over every stone we could in the search for a beautiful three-year-old little girl, Mariah. Mariah missing. Mariah missing. I would wake up in the middle of the night. Mariah missing.

The search for Mariah has come to an end. Her body has been found. Three-year-old Mariah is dead, and now we want the truth. We want justice. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. I want to go straight out to a very special guest joining me right now. Mariah's father, Alex Woods, is with us. Alex, I feel like I know you after all the times we have talked and the time we spent talking about Mariah. When did you learn her body had been found? About 6.15 in the evening. How did you find this out, Alex?

One of the lead detectives called me on the phone and told me that they found Mariah's body. Alex, I just can't tell you how sorry we all are here on SiriusXM 132 and at CrimeOnline.com. I just kept hoping, for instance, when there would be a sighting and there were hundreds of tips pouring in, when that photo came out, we thought maybe this woman had taken her or someone that wanted a baby like her of their own. We held out hope to the very, very end. Alex, did you know that she was gone,

that she had been killed before they told you? Did you have that feeling inside of you? Yeah, yeah. I think about Thursday evening, Friday, it really started to hit because it was like day three, day four. And I don't know. I mean, like if the little girl, you know, Mariah, was out there wandering around somewhere,

it would have been hard for her to survive. And if somebody would have had her, I was hoping that somebody would have returned her, but it just kept looking worse and worse. Have they told you how they think she was killed, Alex? No, not yet. As soon as they found her body, they rushed her to Greenville, North Carolina, where they was going to perform the autopsy.

And I'll find out further information on how, when, why, well, not why, but how and when and all that information. Alex, do they believe that Mariah was molested? I have not. I do not know that. Me, thinking, I have, yes, I think so. I hope and pray not, just for the peace of mind, but I think so, yes. I have not heard that from nobody because, you know, they're now just doing the autopsy, so I don't know.

Alex, was she clothed when she was found? I have no idea. They did not tell me. All they told me was that they found my baby girl. They found Mariah about 20 minutes away from where we're at. 20, 25 minutes away from our home.

For those of you just joining us, you have been with us from the get-go in our search for Mariah. And we have talked to every single person we could think of. We have investigated in every way we could the possibilities of what could have happened to this beautiful little girl. Mariah, if you look at her online, looks like a little princess. In every photo, she's all decked out in pink. Her hair is perfectly done. She's either usuallyed out in pink. Her hair is perfectly done.

She's either usually wearing a big pink bow or a tiara. She's perfectly coordinated her clothes. And she's got her long kind of blondish brown hair combed out. And she just, she's beautiful on the outside and on the inside. And what concerned me out to Ashley Wilcott, child advocate, joining us here on SiriusXM 132. Ashley, she walked with braces akin to cerebral palsy braces that we've seen on posters and in ads about cerebral palsy. She could walk without them. Her right leg had a problem. But when I found that her PJs that she went to bed in were by the bed and her braces were there, that didn't make sense to me.

I never heard anything about any other missing clothes, which means she would have been taken wearing nothing but her pink and white undies. That that. No, me too. If someone. Yeah, you go. I just have to say me too. Me too. Me too. Nancy, we talked about it. It sounded hinky was my word. And it continued to sound that way. Law enforcement in this case has done an amazing job of treating this not only as missing child Amber Alert, which was appropriate, but they also have done a phenomenal job at treating this also as a criminal investigation. And sure enough, regrettably, and Alex, I can't, thoughts and prayers, this is murder. And I agree with you. What happened to this little girl? What type of

molestation? What type of sexual anything for her clothes to be found in the house. Well, another thing is there's absolutely no way, as Alex Woods is telling you, this is Mariah's dad, that this little baby who could not even walk normally, she could never have made it 20 minutes away, actually about 25 miles away from the home she shared with her mom, her siblings, and the live-in in Jacksonville. She was actually found in a creek in Pender County. And there's no way that happened naturally. She did not wander away and end up in a creek. That did not happen. To Vincent Hill, former National Police officer and investigator,

Vincent Hill, it was also said that the door to Mariah's home was ajar or unlocked. I'm not really buying that. Because just the likelihood, and yes, I know it's happened, Vincent. I know people have come that because just the likelihood. And yes, I know it's happened, Vincent. I know people have come in and taken a child. I know it has happened. But statistically, that is not going to happen, Vincent. Yeah, you're absolutely right, Nancy. And first of all, my prayers definitely to Alex Woods, Noriah's father.

As a father, I can't imagine what he's going through. But the fact that the door was ajar, you know, the things I as an investigator look for are forced entry, anything disturbed in the house. We didn't see any signs of that. We didn't hear any signs of that. So, you know, that tells me it was someone that was very comfortable with the house. Obviously, that's the conclusion we've come to at this point, because the chances of a perfect stranger in the middle of the night walking through a dark house without tripping, without waking someone. It's very slim, Nancy. Very slim at best.

Well, Vincent Hill, our investigator, joining us. What do you make? Alex was the first one to tell me, Mariah's dad, that there was someone within that little community, that little neighborhood, that says they happened to see someone leaving the home between three and four o'clock in the morning carrying something. Now, I agree with you, Vance, and I've always said that about the JonBenet Ramsey case. It's hard for me to believe an intruder just walks into somebody's house and takes the time to kick back and write a three-page ransom note, longhand or however it was written, and chillax, not worried at all.

They're going to be caught. And no, by no means do I mean that Burke, the brother, or John, the father, had anything to do with John Bonet's death. I do not think that they did. But I also don't think that it was an intruder. Vincent, so in this case, what I'm trying to say is, who feels so comfortable just walking somebody's home and take the baby? Yeah, to walk in and just casually walk out and, you

know, carry her out is just unheard of. Like, it just doesn't happen. I mean, child abductions in the home, yes, they happen. You look at poly class, it happens. You look in Ohio, it happens, but the statistics are very, very low for this to happen the way it did. Back to Alex Wood. This is Mariah's dad. And right now we are trying to figure out using our brain power, what happened to this child, this beautiful child. And nobody wants to know more than Alex Wood's Mariah's dad. Alex, I mean, according to the witness statements, the mom says she put Mariah to bed around 11, and the boyfriend says he saw her at 12 and told her to go back to bed.

Now, what, what? The mother didn't hear any of that, didn't see any of that? Because I would typically get up and either put my child in the bed with me or go get in the bed with them or I would walk them I walk them back to their bed I don't let my husband do it first of all he sleeps through it anyway but mommy puts them back in the bed so did she sleep through that whole thing Alex it was all I uh her uh her daddy uh Chrissy's dad said that they didn't get home until about midnight that night. And Earl took her body at some point after that and drove her body down to Maple Hill where she was found and dumped her.

Now, where are you getting that from, Alex? Where are you getting the idea? He's talking about Earl Kinney, who is the live-in boyfriend, the boyfriend of Mariah's mom. He lived there with them. Now, you're saying the grandfather says they didn't get home until midnight. Home from where? Raleigh, where Earl and Christy was visiting Earl's family.

All this came from Vance, Christy's daddy. Okay. So they were out, the whole family was at the boyfriend's family visiting and they didn't even get home until midnight, which is different from the timeline we've been given. I don't know if Christy's family was there, but I do know that Christy and Earl and Mariah was in Raleigh. And then they came back and... Got it. I got you.

That's what I meant. That Mariah and maybe her siblings and her dad and her mom and the boyfriend were visiting the boyfriend's family. And they get back around midnight. And you're getting this from Mariah's grandfather, right? Yeah, correct. back around midnight and you're getting this from uh from mariah's grandfather right yeah correct so what what what was there a confrontation would mariah not go to bed was she crying and he hit her i mean how did the mom not have any idea in a home as small as that one that nothing was going on there was no crying there was no screaming nothing i Nothing? I don't know. I mean, Earl and Christy was in Raleigh. They got home and they laid the kids to bed.

They were finally able to get home. They were crying. Christy told Earl to go get Mariah. Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. With me right now, also joining us is Mariah's dad, Alex Woods, fiance, Heather. Heather, thank you for being with us. What did, what is your understanding from the grandfather as to what happened? Okay. How this all started is we have a mutual friend who works for Vance,

which is Christy's father. He called us crying the day we found out, after we found out Mariah was missing everything and they were looking for her. He called us crying. The day we found out, after we found out Mariah was missing and everything, and they were looking for her, he called us crying, saying he knows what happened. So he called Vance, called Vance, put Vance on speakerphone. Vance now, however, did not know that Alex and I were at Scott's house because he was talking about it. But we heard the conversation because Scott was like, now, you know, asking me.

And Vance was saying that someone that was inside the home had told him that like what had happened. And he was like, uh, cause he was like, they're not going to find Mariah that they need to be looking around the maple. Uh, they need to go be looking up a maple hill around maple hill and around those trails and stuff. And like around the maple hill area. And, uh, Scott's like, well, didn't have you reported this? They said that he did tell a detective that. Well, I also had told a detective that too before they even found her

because I told them that this is what we wanted to do. With me is Alex Woods, Mariah's dad, and his fiance, Heather, who has really been instrumental in conveying information throughout this whole horrible ordeal. Heather, I want to get back to what you understand happened in the home that night i heard you say that mariah was crying after they got home yes sam said that um that's what was put to him is you know they were

fine when they got home around 11 30 like near, midnight, they put Mariah to bed. She woke up crying that Christy told Earl to go handle Mariah. Okay. That would be a cold A and H-E-double-L that I would go tell my husband, go handle that. Because, A, you know he wouldn't do it, right? Right. God bless his soul. I love him.

Why? Uh-uh. No. It's just some live-in boyfriend to go take care of my child. But anyway, I could get it. he wouldn't do it right god bless his soul i love him but the boy no and see some living boyfriend to go take care of my child but anyway i could get it you know i understand you're exhausted you get home you hear the baby call out you go can you please go see what's happening in there okay yeah you know what i do get it so you're understanding mariah was crying and the mom sends Kenny. Okay, then what happened? They're trying to say that Earl got mad and hit Mariah. And that either Earl or the mother or the mother's boyfriend hit Mariah. Now, they said that they don't know for sure if, like, they really, like,

they think it was like an accident. You know, that's how he was explaining it. He said, I think they just thought, you know, they didn't mean to intend to kill her. They didn't even know if she was really, if she was dead. But they just panicked, and they, Christy told Earl to go get rid of her, pretty much dispose of her, get rid of her, help hide her, or else they're all going to get in trouble. And that's how it would happen. And then that's when Vance said they're not even going to find that baby around in the woods, that they're going to find her up in Maple Hill, and they need to be searching around Maple Hill, and that's where this outers.

Heather, I just, I'm so taken aback and so stunned by what you're telling me. The allegation, which we have not confirmed, that the mom said, get rid of the body or we'll all get in trouble. Because she has been publicly begging for help to find the baby. Heather, where is this information coming from? This came from her dad, Christy's dad, Vance. Her father said that? Oh, my stars. Again, we... So, what we figure is in order for him

to have known that, somebody else had to have known that. Guys, I want to just bring it down just one moment. Just a minute here, because what I'm hearing from Mariah's dad, fiance, Heather, is just more than I can even take in. And Dave Meck, I'm going to get it right to you, but Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, it's to say, get rid of the body or we're all going to get in trouble. That's very hard for me to take in.

Us too, because like I would say... There's really no words, Nancy. I mean, this is just terrific. And my thoughts and prayers out to the Woods family. I'm still trying to struggle with the manner in which the child died. Obviously, there was an attempt to conceal the crime, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly how the child actually passed. And I guess we'll have to wait for the autopsy report.

Hold on one moment, Dr. Bober. I hate to interrupt you, but I've got to pause. And I want to thank our listeners being with us. But most of all, I want to thank Alex Woods. This is Mariah's dad at this difficult, difficult time in life. And his fiancée, Heather, along with our other guests, and especially to you who are tuning in right now and joining us. But I also want to thank our partner who is making our investigation into Mariah's disappearance possible. And that sponsor is Circle with Disney.

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As we turn back to the disappearance and now we know the death of this beautiful little girl, back to Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, joining us. Dr. Bober, Heather's story does not make sense to me. Not that Heather has it mixed up, but the source sounds mixed up because if you accidentally hurt somebody, you take them to the hospital right take responsibility or if you quote don't even know if she's dead then why would you throw her body in a creek if you don't even know if she's dead that doesn't make sense that is not true it doesn't make sense to me either nancy. And maybe, you know, we've seen this before in other crimes where people just get scared and they don't think it through. But obviously,

you know, we have to really figure out what the manner of death was in this case. And it's just tragic all around. But we don't want to jump to any conclusions when we don't have all the facts. You know, Dr. Bober, I did something wrong. I first said I wouldn't send my live in to go put the baby to bed. But you know what? If you've been traveling and you get home at midnight with the children, which I have done before, and you hear one of them call out, I could see saying, would you please go check on her right now, please? I'm unpacking. I'm doing this. I'm doing that or whatever. I could see that. I could understand the mother doing that.

But what I don't understand, back to Alex Woods, Mariah's dad, his fiancee, Heather, joining us. Alex, what I don't understand is saying, I don't even know if she's dead, but go get rid of her body. That doesn't make sense, Alex. I don't believe that. Yeah, no, I don't either. I mean, how could you do that? How could you say that?

I mean, anybody's a little kid at that. I mean, I don't know. Well, another thing, if this were a, quote, accident, then why didn't mom call the police if it were an accident, Alex? Yeah, I know, I know. Because they know just as, I mean, I believe that they know that it wasn were an accident. Yeah, I know. I know. Because they know just as, I mean, I believe that they know that it wasn't an accident. I mean,

I don't know. I wasn't there. Well, I can tell you this much. I'm going to go to Dave Mack. And Dave, you knew me when this happened. John David had a horrible, a severe blow to the head. And I picked him up and I carried him in my arm

and he is big. And this was a couple of years ago, but he was still right now. He is now taller than me. He was big. Then I picked that child up. He was screaming and he would pass in and out of consciousness. And I cared because I could not wait on an ambulance. And I carried him. I know by that time he had to be 40 or 50 pounds, up three flights of stairs to a car, and I got in the car and floored it to get to the hospital. I did not think, oh, what are they going to think about

me as a mom that my child got a blow to the head? That never even crossed my mind. I just didn't know what was happening to him. And I, I had to get him to the hospital that minute. I mean, his head was, it looked like, I'm not kidding. It looked like a tomato, something the size of his tomato was coming out of his head. And if you think something's happened to your child, why not call 911? I don't get it. Dave, you fill me in on the facts as we know them now, Dave. Take it from the top. Nancy, I'm trying to combine the actual stories that we've been told and, I mean, the statements from the mother and the boyfriend and compared to what we're hearing now from Mr. Woods and my gosh, I cannot imagine what he's going through right now and his fiancee, Heather.

So from the top, what we were told is that they were home at about 11 o'clock and that Mariah was in bed. She woke up after about an hour and that's when, uh, uh, Christie said, Hey, go, go check on her.

And that's where Earl Kimmery went, uh, after she had gotten up and he put her back in bed. They claimed five hours later when Christie goes into check on her at six in the morning, she's gone missing. Now we know that the entire story that they've told is in question. We know that they interviewed Earl Kimmery three different times, um, two times one day, and they brought him back the next day. They've interviewed Christy

twice. So we know that they're trying to check up on the story and inconsistencies. When you add in what we've just heard from Heather and from Alex, so they come home, get the kids in bed. An hour later, Mariah wakes up and sure, go do something with her, quiet her down. I can picture that happening inside that small trailer, but we know that he left around three o'clock in the morning or somebody did carrying what appeared to be a body and the body is found. And I'm so sorry, Alex, to even say the body, I really apologize for that, but 25 miles away in an area in the middle of the night, there's plenty of water around that area in Onslow County, North Carolina, where you could dump a dead baby. We know their story is bogus.

What we're getting from Heather and Alex, to be honest, actually makes more sense to me. It actually does, believe it or not. And it would mean instead of Christy being a mother like you or a dad like me. And by the way, my wife would never send me in to tuck the baby in. Baby wakes up in the middle of the night. She's checking on it. It doesn't matter how kind of, what kind of dad I am. All the rest of us would load the baby, head to the hospital and call 911 and say, I'm on my way. But that's not a normal situation that took place. So are they getting away with something and afraid to talk to the police? And that would be their

first thought. Oh no, we did something. We're in trouble. Let's cover it up. And that's what Earl's charged with. Right now, we know that baby Mariah was found in a creek in Pender County, about 25 miles from Mariah's home that she shared with her mother, her siblings in Kimmery, the live-in. Back to Alex Woods.

This is Mariah's dad. Alex, what do her brothers say happened that night? I have not been able to talk to them yet. They are in CPS's custody still. I have not talked to them. I have not been able to see them. Right now, the boyfriend, Earl Kimmery, 32-year-old, is charged with only obstruction of justice, second-degree burglary, larceny, and stolen property. We are on the story of missing Mariah.

The news has just broken that her little body has been found. I want to go to Vincent Hill, a former Nashville PD investigator. Vincent, it seems to me that every single person in that home needs to be separated and questioned and administered polygraphs. What do you think, Vincent? I mean, you've seen photos of the home. How could all this go down and nobody hear what was happening? Yeah, absolutely. It's a very small, confined space. And you're right. Everyone needs to be separated because, you know, the accounts we heard from Heather, you know, those could change tomorrow. We don't want to rule out anything at this point. The fact that Mariah was dumped in water, to me as an investigator, it tells me they were trying to get rid of some kind of evidence, whether it's DNA, whether it's

the ungodly thought of maybe she was molested. We don't know. But the fact that that little girl was discarded in water, that speaks volumes. And they're trying to hide something. Because to your point, Nancy, as a parent, we all know we rushed to the hospital. Like when ours ran over and my mom rushed me to the hospital, even though police thought she had done something wrong, her first instinct was to rush me to the hospital. So everything that they're saying is not natural

as parents. It's not natural as logical adults. So everyone needs to be separated. They need to be given polygraphs. And that investigation is still ongoing. Police are still looking at all the evidence in the home, around the home, in the vehicles, in the trash can, in the backyard. So it's still a very active investigation at this point. Back to Alex Woods. This is Mariah's dad joining us. Alex, when are they going to have answers from the medical examiner's office? When have they told you that we would know the cause of death? They said that I can come view the body.

Well, not the body, Mariah. Tuesday. They flew her to Greenville, checking her out and everything, and they're going to fly her back to Jacksonville either Monday evening or Tuesday. The arrest warrant issued for Earl Kimrey, the live-in, obstruction of justice, that is related to this. I'm not sure that a felony larceny is, but that part is related because the arrest warrant lays out that he obstructed justice allegedly by, quote, removing Mariah's body from the scene of her death, which means they believe the death occurred in the home, that she was not taken out

of the home and killed, and did conceal Mariah Woods' death and body, knowing that Mariah Woods died from unnatural causes. The defendant acted with deceit and intent to fraud. It also says, quote, Now, this, if you read between the lines and you scrutinize their choice of language, shows that the child was not thrown in the water alive. She did not drown. That she died in the home and was specifically taken from the home to hide the body. So that's the way that went down. I can tell you that from the arrest warrant. But my question is, did mom know?

How could all this happen in that tiny home, very tiny home, with nobody knowing a thing? I want to get to... Go ahead, Alex. I feel that she knew. I feel that she had a big part in it she might have been the one that done it that might be why they ain't charged her with murder yet i think they're

waiting on the autopsy to come back to confirm how she died and i think mom is going to get charged with murder or something right now the mom has not been, the mom has not been arrested. The mom has not been named a person of interest. Again, the reading of this warrant, it could mean he, the live-in, Earl Kenney, did not kill her, but only disposed of her body. We don't

know yet. The answer may be within the siblings. They may know what happened. Now, also, what I predict is going to happen to Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, is that one of them is going to blab, either the mother or the boyfriend. One of them is going to talk. And if the mom truly was asleep, if she tells a truthful version of what happened that night, it will probably be damning to the boyfriend. I mean, that's how you crack a case. You start with all the witnesses and you

take them one by one and get the whole truth. Well, I was going to say, Nancy, exactly separating them and doing polygraphs and, you know, whoever is going to the prosecutor first to make a deal. And I guess they're going to have to decide whether they feel like they are going to turn on someone that's close to them. But obviously someone knows the truth and someone is not talking. So I guess we'll see what happens. I'll tell you one thing. I absolutely

actually, Wilcott, would not offer anybody a deal. Nobody gets a deal. If you want to cooperate, fine. Otherwise, I'll put them both in the same pot and let them stew together during the investigation until we find out what really happened.

I don't know who did what. I don't know if the mother's involved. I don't know if the boyfriend's involved. This is all I know. The boyfriend has been arrested. The warrant claims that he took the body dead from the home and concealed it. Well, to me, that's enough to say, I just think this child was murdered. I think everyone's being really kind about, we don't know yet what happened. Yes, we don't know yet what happened,

but I do not believe in an ounce of my being that someone doesn't know and that this child wasn't murdered. I don't believe it. I think they do know. And I agree with you, Nancy. Charge everybody till we figure it out. The mother was in the home. The boyfriend was in the home. They need to be charged. And then we need to find out exactly who knew what, who did what.

But this little three-year-old girl has been around people she shouldn't have been around, and she is now dead back to alex woods fiance also joining us is heather heather it seems like uh the mom's dad has talked to you guys what more did you learn heather um uh we have not been actually been told much of anything else. The only thing they really are telling us right now is that pretty much they're really just waiting for the autopsy because now the mother and Earl are trying to say that Ryan, the son,

one of the sons did it. And. Okay. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That's the bombshell right there. Who is trying to say the brothers did it? The brothers are what? How old are they? They're nine and five. Nine and five.

Okay, I can tell you right now, they did not do it. Because the likelihood, and Vincent Hill and Dr. Bober, speak up or forever hold your peace. Because sibling side, okay, it's slang for when a sibling kills their brother or sister. Extremely rare. Which, you know, to go back to John B. Ramsey, I never thought Burke did it. Because it's practically unheard of for one sibling to kill another sibling. Yes, it does happen in some freaky situations, but no, typically, no.

They did not kill their sibling. Am I right on that, Bober? Can you throw me a bone? Absolutely. We know that because Ryan, the one Christy and Earl are trying to blame it on now, he's no more than 70 pounds. Not even 70 pounds. How do you know, Heather? There's no more than 70 pounds. Not even 70 pounds. How do you know, Heather?

There's no way. There hasn't been more for it than that. Heather, how do you know Christy, the mom, and Earl Kinney, the boyfriend, are trying to blame it on the brothers? Who said that? It had been released. Like the...

They said it was from the court, uh not the da but they worked with the da right but they said they're in they're in this court system they said that now that there's new people but they're just they're ruling it out they know they don't they pretty much know it's not true but now they got like they're just waiting for the autopsy because they know like how they're throwing now more things out. Another story. Now they're trying to blame it on Ryan. OK, back.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Right there. Right there. That's my question. Heather. Yes. Someone from law enforcement told you that who is trying to blame the brother that who that that Earl Timmery and Christy are trying to blame the brother? Who? That Earl, Kimmery, and Christy are trying to say that that's why Earl panicked and was trying to clean it up.

Whoa, that is a major bombshell right there. Because I don't believe that happened at all. Heather you're telling me the mom we don't either so pretty much that's why they said they're just waiting for the autopsy because they don't believe that either they're just they're trying to figure out exactly what happened to her you know how she died what happened let me just put it out there on the record the mom has not been charged with anything she has not been named a person of interest. The little brothers have not been charged with anything at all. They're certainly not persons of interest, statistically unheard of.

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whether it's a cleaning or a crown or whatever it may be. Thank you, 1-800-DENTIST, for being our partner today. Well, I've got to tell you, I'm overwhelmed, Alex Woods. Your head has got to be spinning. You're waiting to go see Mariah's body. You're trying to figure out the funeral arrangements I know that you're in shock right now

you're worried about your boys the siblings have been taken away as they always are in cases like this Alex when you put your head on the pillow at night I mean what runs through your mind what's the first what's the last thing on the pillow at night, I mean, what runs through your mind? What's the first, what's the last thing you think of at night and the first thing you

think of in the morning, Alex? My precious angels, Mariah, I miss her so much. And to bring my boys on fleas, I want to hug and squeeze them boys so bad. And I wish I could do the same to my daughter. You know, Alex, I have to travel a lot on various cases and trials and investigations. And when I am away from the twins, I swear it feels like my body, my arms are just aching. I want to hold them so much. And I love them so much.

And I just hurt for you so badly thinking about your boys are in some strange place and you can't see your little girl. I mean, I remember, Alex, I used to wake up in the morning and I would think everything had just been a bad dream when I was a crime victim. That would be my first thought. I'd wake up happy normally. And then within like five seconds, it hit me oh dear lord in heaven it did this thing really happen and then my mind would just try to make sense of what had happened i mean when you wake up in the morning alex what goes through your mind justice if they're gonna if i'm gonna when i'm gonna my boys, just a ton of things. I mean, it's always, I can't stop thinking about Mariah, Nate, and Ryan.

I just can't. I can't. They're on my mind 24-7. How could somebody let this happen to anybody, much less a precious little three-year-old? Have you talked to Mariah's mom yet? No. So you're really hearing your information through her father. Is that right, Alex?

Friends, not through her, not through him. Right, okay, so through friends. Ashley Wilcott, how will they make sense of it? And what do you expect we are going to learn from the medical exam? I think the medical examiner is going to identify this child as Mariah. I think that the medical examiner is going to give very vital information about whether or not there was any sexual assault or molestation and the actual cause of death. I hate to say this, but I'm going to tell you in over 20 years of experience, I'm fearful the cause of death is going to be murder.

There's no sense to be made of this. But the one thing I read that someone said, we need a memorial so that we can focus on the three-year-old and the tragic death. Completely agree. But the other half of this and the importance to investigating and figuring out what happened is to educate the public about making better choices of who's around your children and protecting your children. You know, you could not have said it any better than that, Ashley Wilcott, child advocate.

Alex Woods, I know that you were in a battle to get custody of Mariah and her brothers, but were you ever afraid for her life? I mean, did you ever have an inkling that she could end up dead? It was always in your mind,

but you never wanted to think it. I mean, I always thought and prayed that nothing like this would ever, ever come. You know, I mean, it's not something you, I don't know. Alex, why did they go to this body of water? What led them there? I have no idea.

I mean, I guess the tip, I guess some, like maybe somebody tipped the authorities off. Maybe somebody talked. I have no idea. You know, to Dave Mack joining us, a dive team, it was the Fayetteville Remote Dive Team, was doing the search. And that kind of search is very difficult. I've dived hundreds of times and it's hard in that kind of body of water. It can be murky. Sometimes you can't even see the hand

in front of your face. It's a very, very difficult dive situation. And I'm wondering what led them there, Dave? You know, the things that I'm looking at, Nancy, are the fact that Earl Kimmery was charged, you know, with concealing this before they found the body. And when you look at when they interviewed him, when police spent, they did three interviews over two days with Earl Kimmery and two with Christy. So I'm guessing, and that's all I can do at this point, speculate that during the course of those interviews, they were able to find out maybe where they normally took off to. Maybe they gave hints of where they might have been.

And because you've got to realize 25 miles from the home. And then to charge Kimmery with this before they find the body, they find this little girl 25 miles from home in a small creek in the middle of nowhere. That's why I figured they got that information between Earl himself and Christy. You know how expert interviewers are at sitting down with suspects and getting the information they're looking for. I'm banking on they gave it up themselves without even knowing it. Dr. Bober, how is it that your mind works the way it does when you lose somebody? That, for instance, you wake up in the morning and you don't realize at first that they've been killed.

It takes a minute to grasp that reality. Nancy, victims of acute stress or horrible circumstances like this often go through an emotional numbing where it seems almost surreal that it's actually not reality. And it's the mind's way of protecting itself from the shock and the trauma of the events by disconnecting yourself from the emotions until it finally sets in. Dr. Bober, what can you tell Alex Woods, Mariah's dad, tonight? What can he possibly do? You know, Mr. Woods, I would tell you that, you know, people talk about taking it one day at a time. I mean, you're going to have to take it literally one hour at a time and mobilize all your supports and lean on the people that love and care about you. And, you know, all our hearts and our prayers are out for you.

And if there's anything we can do, I hope you'll reach out. But now is the time to lean on the people that are closest to you to get you through this difficult time. Yes, sir. I do, and I am. God bless you, sir. God bless you. I don't know how I'm doing it now, but thank you. Alex, I want to think about Mariah in life. Can you just tell me about her? What did she like to play?

Did she like to sing? Did she like a bath? What was her favorite TV show? I just want to think about her in a happy and positive way because she gave so many people so much joy, Alex. Just tell me about her. She was so cancerous. She loved to dance. She was so carefree. Loved to dance.

She loved to listen to music. She loved to play. She loved to laugh and smile. She loved to eat. She loved to watch TV. She didn't have no favorite TV show when she was little, but she just, anything, cartoons, music. She was just such a carefree little girl, happy, always smiling, just so peaceful.

She was so beautiful. In the pictures I see of her, she always has the little bow in her hair or the tiara in her hair, and she's always dressed up, just so cute. And from what I've been told, she was a real daddy's girl. Yeah, she's my little princess. Guys, as we head into this day, I ask you to join me in sending out your thoughts and your prayers to and for Alex Woods and his family

as they battle this horrible thing. Please send up a prayer on behalf of him and baby Mariah, Dr. Bober, Vincent Hill, Dave Mack, Ashley Wilcott, Alex Woods, Heather, Alan Duke, and Jackie. To all of you, thank you. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing Jackie. To all of you, thank you. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend.

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