Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - New Clues in Disappearance of 4-year-old for girl Maleah as cops eye gas can in trunk

Episode Date: May 16, 2019

Houston 4-year-old, Maleah Davis, is now feared dead as investigators have found no signs of her since she went missing in early May. Her stepfather claims she was abducted, but his story is changing. Police arrested him after uncovering new evidence. Texas Equusearch director Tim Miller, who has spent weeks helping locate missing Maleah, gives Nancy's the latest details on the search.Nancy's expert panel weighs in:Dr. Daniel Bober: Forensic psychiatristLeigh Egan: CrimeOnline investigative reporterKaren Smith: Forensics expertKathleen Murphy: Family attorney Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A missing five-year-old girl, presumably in danger, little Malia Davis, her stepfather, Darion Vance. His story to police details a violent attack and a 24-hour period where he was not conscious. It begins Friday evening around 9. Vence tells police he was headed to pick up Malia's mother from Bush Airport. He says he pulled over near 59 and Greens to check what he thought was a flat tire.

Vence told detectives three Hispanic men pulled up in a blue Chevy pickup truck. Two Hispanic males get out. One of them makes a comment saying that Malia looks very nice, looks very sweet. The other male hits Darian in the head. Vance says he was knocked unconscious, and the next 24 hours he recalls nothing. That is what we first hear about a missing 4-year-old little girl, Malia Davis. That's our friends at KTRK-TV. This is Courtney Fisher. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

Thank you for being with us. My, how the story has changed in the disappearance of this four-year-old little girl. The father's story comes under attack. But another thing I don't understand is if he's picking up the little girl's bio mom, why didn't the bio mom report her missing immediately? There's a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Joining me, an all-star panel, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, family lawyer, Kathleen Murphy, forensics expert, Karen Smith, also founder of Beer Bones Consulting and lecturer at University of Florida. Joining me right now, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter

Lee Egan. Lee, his story that three Hispanic males knocked him out and he woke up by the side of the road changed. He also said that he pulled over when he thought he had a flat tire hearing, quote, popping sounds. There's nothing wrong with his car. In fact, his Nissan was found in a totally different area in a parking lot. First of all, answer my first question. The mother was coming into the airport and he, the stepfather, Darian Vance, was to go pick her up. Why didn't she report them missing immediately when they didn't show up to pick her up? Well, Nancy, she claims that she did report them missing. She said that she went to the police department and they said they could not.

This is her story now. I don't have word that the police actually said this, but her story is the police said they couldn't follow a missing persons report because the little girl was with her stepfather. And then they went the following day to fill out more paperwork, and it was during that time that police got word that he was at an area hospital, and then that's when the Amber Alert was created. Okay, now, I'm getting mixed messages from you, Lee. The mother says, the bio mom of this little girl says, I waited at the airport when they didn't show up. I went to try and report them missing. Let me ask you a yes-no. Do police have any record that the mother, Brittany Bowens, ever came to the police department? No, not that we know of.

The story goes on from there. So many inconsistencies in the father's statement. And in the last hours, we are learning very, very disturbing news. To Kathleen Murphy, family lawyer joining me out of North Carolina. Kathleen, let me ask you a question. For many, many years, it was said you can't report anyone missing until they've been gone 24 hours. That's not necessarily true anymore. Also, when you report someone missing, the fact that that child may or may not be with the stepfather, that's not a reason that they will not be reported missing. That's not true. They would simply both be reported missing.

You're right. You're right. What I don't understand, Nancy, is if somebody wasn't at the airport to pick me up, I'd be freaking out, especially if this person had been previously abusive to my kid. You know, I'm very disturbed about the entire scenario. When you say abusive to your child, that is absolutely correct. We know for a fact that this little girl, and this is Brittany Bowen's biological daughter, four-year-old Malia, had been mistreated in the past. There's no doubt in my mind about it. And the mother goes out of town and leaves her with the stepfather, Darian Vince. Take a listen to our friends at KTRK-TV. Right now, we're outside of Methodist Hospital in Sugar Land. This is where police say her stepfather, Darian Vince, showed up yesterday

night just before 11 p.m. with his one-year-old son, Nome Malia. He told detectives here that they had been abducted on Friday night when they were on their way to the airport to pick up his wife, Malia's mother. He says he got out to check on what he believed was a flat tire, and that is when he was approached by three Hispanic males in a blue Chevy pickup truck. He says that he was hit on the head, and that's when he believes he fell unconscious. Now, the next 24 hours, there's a major gap that police are hoping that you can help figure them out. If you happen to see Darian in this blue pickup truck, happen to see the babies or these three Hispanic males that he says abducted them, they want to hear from you. For 24 hours, he says he doesn't know what happened.

Yesterday, he says that he woke up near the Sugar Land Mall, which is only about a mile from Methodist Hospital here, around 6 p.m. He says that he tried to wave down cars for help. No one helped. So he walked here. He got here before 11 p.m., and that is where the story picks up again. I find the whole thing very disconcerting to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, where you can find this and all other breaking crime and justice news. Lee Egan, what are the other inconsistencies in the stepfather Darian Vince's statement? Basically, everything that he said, police have said, have had holes in it from the beginning till the end. There's no record anywhere of this, at least as far as they found, of this blue pickup truck that he said kidnapped him, his toddler son, and Malia.

No record of it. There was nothing wrong with his tires. He said he heard a popping sound in his car, and he got up to check his tires. Nothing wrong with it. They have footage of him walking to his home on April 30th with Malia, and then no footage of her at all ever leaving that apartment. So the day he said he was going to pick up his girlfriend, Malia did not exit that apartment with him. Now, let me understand something.

You're saying that there is surveillance video of the stepfather, Darian Vance, walking into the family apartment on April 30th. Correct. What day was it they were to go pick up the bio mom at the airport? They were supposed to pick her up on May 4th. She left on April 30th. Now, we don't even see her leaving the apartment, which is strange. Around 7.45 a.m., cameras next door to their apartment

caught him walking back into the apartment with Malia, and then after that, she's never been seen again. I'm curious, you know, Kathleen Murphy, domestic relations lawyer, I know you've heard me say this before. I once had a judge that I loved so much, Luther Alverson. And he would tell every jury at the close of the evidence as they began deliberations, it was their duty to make all witnesses speak the truth impugning perjury on no one. In other words, someone may be telling the truth as they know it. Someone else may have seen the incident from a different viewpoint, from a different position, in different lighting, have heard something different than the other witness heard.

For instance, in this case, I wonder if there is another entry or exit from the apartment. I wonder if there's another way out than that way. It seems to me very odd because the father, it's my understanding, is coming from a parking area that you would go back the way you came. And it's very disturbing to me that you don't see the mother leaving the apartment on that day at any time. That's the day she was supposed to fly out of town.

That's a good point. That's a very good point. But forget about her for a moment. You never see the little girl come back out. After April 30th. I'm Nancy Grace. We are bringing you the very latest in the disappearance of a 4-year-old little girl, Malia Davis. If you have information, 713-222-TIPS, 713-222-8477.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The official story on how Malia went missing seems extreme. Vance told HPD three men abducted the little girl near Greens Road in the East Texas Freeway on Friday evening and then beat and dumped him in Sugar Land. He told investigators he doesn't remember any solid details. The father, you know, being assaulted and then all abducted and then released, it sort of sounds almost like a made-for-TV movie. And I think that anytime it's sort of outside the norm, people pay attention to it. Beth Alberts leads the Texas Center for the Missing. She spent a career looking at these cases. Alberts insists all of us in Houston need to hold out hope a miracle may bring Malia home.

So you never for a minute assume that something horrible has happened. You always assume that you're going to find a live child. You're hearing our friend at KTRK-TV, Steve Campion, talking with Beth Alberts, the CEO of Texas Center for the Missing and director of the Houston Regional Amber Alert System. Right now, the search is on for a four-year-old little girl, Malia Davis, as the mystery surrounding her disappearance becomes more and more murky. Joining me, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, Kathleen Murphy, family lawyer, Karen Smith, forensics expert, and founder of Bare Bones Consulting.

Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, joining me right now. Lee Egan. So the father shows up at the hospital with his bio son, who's about one year old. Missing is Malia, his stepdaughter. The mother, Brittany Bowens, I guess by that time has come back. She noticeably is not with them at the hospital when he goes to the hospital. But yet, he claims that he walked for miles and miles to get to this hospital in Sugar Land. Police found the Nissan Altima that he said was stolen. They saw that car pull up and drop him off. So somebody had to have been, we don't know who it is,

but somebody had to have dropped him off. Then the car leaves. Brittany was nowhere. I mean, we don't know. A lot of people understand that his, the stepfather's, Nissan, was found parked in a parking lot. Is that correct? That is correct.

But I'm hearing you say that very same Nissan dropped him off at the hospital. Correct. Well, then he's lying. Oh, yeah. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold on. Let me back it up. Was the Nissan found before he went to the hospital? No, it was found a few days after. I think it was found Thursday. So it was found about three or four days after. Well, then, he's definitely lying. Because according to his account, he was hit over the head by three Hispanics that took Malia.

After he had pulled over in that Nissan with a car problem, possibly a flat tire. He says he wakes up by the side of the road, and he can't flag down a car and he walks the whole way with his one-year-old son who is still with him. Now, Lee Egan is telling me there's video surveillance showing the father pull up to the hospital in his Nissan, somebody else driving.

He's still saying his Nissan was stolen and then it it turns up in a parking lot, like it's abandoned. That's got to be a lie, Kathleen Murphy. That is a lie. That is a lie. And when, I don't think this guy anticipated that the cameras would pick up that Nissan. I want to know who was driving the Nissan. Yeah, I want to know where the mom was this whole time. Back to you, Lee Egan. I'm very disturbed about the surveillance video of their apartment

showing him and the little boy walking in, and you see Malia with them, and then she's never shown coming out. I mean, I'd like to verify if the mother actually went to the airport to start with. We're learning a lot of information. It's coming in fast and furious regarding Malia. But the car was processed to Karen Smith, joining me, forensics expert, founder of Bare Bones Consulting and lecturer at University of Florida. Karen, what do we know about the Nissan and the processing of it? Well, they brought in

human cadaver dogs. These are canines that are trained specifically to detect the scent of human decomposition, and apparently there were hits on the trunk of this Nissan for human decomposition. These dogs are trained just like drug dogs, just like incendiary dogs or bomb train dogs. They are trained specifically to detect only for that scent. And when they got the hit on the trunk, that let investigators know that there may have been, unfortunately, a body that had either started to decompose or was decomposed in the trunk of that car. Oh no. You know, I've worked with cadaver dogs many, many times. They do not hit on animal remains. They won't hit on any other dead creature. Only human tissue or human remains. That's all they will hit on.

They're not going to be chasing a T-bone steak on somebody's backyard grill. That's not happening. So you've got a cadaver dog hitting on the Nissan trunk. Lee Egan, Crime Online investigative reporter. What can you tell me about the video that shows the father, Darian Vince, coming out of the apartment with a laundry basket? He had a laundry basket and inside the laundry basket was a large black trash bag and several bottles of bleach. Now police say the way he was walking, he was

kind of leaning back and his wobble was a little bit unsteady, meaning that whatever was in that basket had to be heavy enough to make him unsturdy while he was walking. You know, they don't know what was in there. They're just saying it had to be something heavy. Take a listen to this. Police said that the defendant told them that there should not be any blood in his apartment. The officer reviewed video surveillance then from the porch of the neighbor's apartment next to the defendant's apartment, and the footage showed that at 1.40 p.m. on Friday, May the 3rd, that they recognized the defendant carrying

out from the apartment, outside the apartment, from inside to outside, a large blue laundry basket with a large black trash bag inside. Then it is seen to walk out of the camera's view and then return about three minutes later without the basket. He's then observed walking out of the apartment with cleaning supplies, including bleach. They did not view the complainant ever leaving the apartment um they did see the defendant leave uh later with only his two-year-old son from the apartment joining me forensic psychiatrist dr daniel bober dr bober i i'm just you know a trial lawyer. You're the shrink. You're the MD plus the psychiatrist.

But I can't help but make a correlation between the fact when somebody goes missing or gets murdered, suddenly the husband turns into a neatnik. Let's see. I remember one case where a little girl went missing. The perp bleached the whole house. Let's see, Scott Peterson cleaned the house top to bottom. Jodi Arias, after she murdered Travis Alexander, cleaned everything, even washed the sheets with her digital camera in there with photos. What's that all about, Dr. Daniel Bober?

What is it about a missing person or a murder that brings out the neat neck in people that claim they're innocent? Suddenly, they can't get enough bleach. You know what, Nancy, when you see enough of these child abduction cases, obviously it makes you cynical, but this case has so many red flags and inconsistencies all over it. You know, the bleaching thing just makes people look guilty. I think they think they're trying to get rid of the evidence, which obviously the bleach does not completely do, But it just makes them look guilty. Like, all of a sudden they decided to, you know, go on a bleach fest and bleach everything. It looks ridiculous. It makes them look guilty.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Surrounded by his family, Craig Davis spoke with ABC 13 in his first interview since his daughter's disappearance. Investigators say four-year-old Malia has been gone since Friday. I haven't spoken to the public because I can't talk about my daughter. I can't control my emotions. I can't control my emotions I can't predict myself I break down and I cry in a video posted to Instagram Davis shared sweet moments with his daughter as he anguishes over her whereabouts now desperate for answers this father says he wants to speak with that stepdad I'm not putting the blame on anybody I just need the questions that aren't answered to be answered. There are so many unanswered questions. And it's not for the public to answer them for me. It's not for police officers to answer them for me. It's not for the news to answer them for me. It's for Darion to answer for me. You're hearing our friend KTRK,

Shelly Childers, talking with Malia's biological father, Craig Davis, demanding answers. Karen Smith joining me, forensics expert, founder of Bare Bones Consulting. She's also a lecturer at University of Florida. Karen Smith, right now, cops, according to my sources, are considering multiple dumping sites. What's your insight? At this point, they have a wide berth to cover, but the first place they need to look is dumpsters and garbage sites around the area where the apartment was, where the last place Malia was seen. And once they get that information, they need to find out where those dumpsters and dump sites are taken in a landfill. And people don't understand that landfills are actually very organized places.

They are specific dump places for specific dumpsters. So if they can trace the car via video surveillance and find out if it was parked behind a business. I had a place where there was a Winn-Dixie, which is a supermarket. A car pulled in and dumped a small infant in a trash bag there, and we spent three days in a landfill trying to find his body. It doesn't get any worse. But when you go to a landfill, you need to look for the black trash bag. You need to look for anything that would involve this small child. It is a painstaking process, but I'm assuming that's what law enforcement is doing at this point, is looking at the dump sites around the area, seeing if anybody saw that silver Nissan,

seeing if there's any video surveillance of that car, and then following it up from there. That's exactly correct, Karen Smith. I think, well, according to insight into the investigation, cops are looking at any and all bodies of water. That includes creeks. That includes lakes. That includes any type of a levee, a pond, a river, any body of water, whether it is man-made or natural. They will also be looking at dumps, the nearest dumps, the nearest recycling plants, any type of environmental waste disposal area. They will also be looking behind industrial sites where you have a lot of the big dumpsters that are taken away on a regular basis. Also, I think they will be looking at the location where that family's trash is taken, once it's taken away by the trash guys.

What landfill does it go to? They'll be sorting through all of that or launching searches that way. But in the midst of all this, very disturbing news. They entered the apartment and observed drops of blood in the hallway leading to the bathroom of the apartment on various surfaces of the bathroom. Crime scene investigators were called out. There was a chemical reagent that was sprayed that reacted to blood in the hallway and bathroom of the apartment. It reacted to the presence of blood that was not visible to the unaided eye. Samples were collected for further testing. You are hearing local law enforcement speaking regarding the home.

What does it mean? We understand that blood is found in the home, blood found in the hallway and the bathroom using a chemical agent. What does that say to me? Likely luminol. Blood so tiny, so minute, not visible to the naked eye. The problem with that in a court of law, Kathleen Murphy, renowned lawyer, it can be argued that Malia's blood, we know she recently had a head injury, for example,

should rightfully be in the home. I can't count the number of scraped knees and cuts and abrasions the children have had. If someone looked at our home with luminol, they would find their blood. What concerns me is the degree of cleanup, bleach that may have been used, and also the type of blood marking. Was it a spatter? Was it blowback? Was it slingback? Was it a blood droplet? All of that's going to be significant. You know, it's just amazing to me that if the mother was concerned about Malia, why would she leave her alone?

That's a big question in my mind. And I want corroboration that she actually did go on that trip and did fly back. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. There was blood splatter evidence in the apartment. There was luminol spray and chemical spray that was all over the apartment after homicide investigators left. When you look at the video footage extensively, you can tell what was going on, and you could tell he made two trips to buy big bottles of bleach. This was a man who never cleaned the house up ever, but he's buying big bottles of bleach, getting a big garbage bag, and there's blood splatter, etc., around the drainage area of the house why would human body tissue be in the drain system

why would human body tissue be in the pipes under the sink in the pipes under the bathtub why would that be why would there be human body tissue found around the creases and cracks of the bathtub oh my stars just hearing that, it's so upsetting. You're hearing a KHOU interview with activist Kanell X, who is advising Malia's mom. tissue in the drainage area of the home and the pipes under the bathroom blood all over the apartment according to quenelle x i mean to dr daniel bober forensic psychiatrist there's a big difference between saying blood was found in the bathroom where you expect the bathroom to have blood near the band-aids for instance but human tissue what do they mean by that dr bober well you know they could if the body was dismembered or if the body was you know cut up there could be you know skin cells there

could be any any amount of tissue there but it's like wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute that's a big difference skin cells i mean skin cells could be nothing right but but they're this guy is making it sound like there's been a dismemberment well human tissue is different than just finding blood as you said blood could just be someone was shaving their legs or they scraped their knee but if it's actually human tissue that means there was some sort of trauma four-year a four-year-old girl, Dr. Bober. Dr. Bober, do you have children? No, ma'am, I don't. Okay, well, let me just tell you something.

For the day that you do have children, your four-year-old little girl will not be shaving her legs. I don't think anyway. I was referring to anyone else that used to do that. But I understand what you're saying. But if it's her blood, you've got four-year-old Malia, you got the baby the little boy you've got the dad and the mom if it's just the mom shaving her legs that doesn't mean you're not going to find Malia's blood it's my understanding the blood came from a comparison to a toothbrush to Lee Egan crime online.com investigative reporter what do you know about that police did confirm that the DNA

from Malia's toothbrush did match the blood evidence found inside the apartment as hers so to you karen smith forensics expert you're hearing bober and i go round and round and round about what is human tissue could it just be from shaving it's the little girl's blood why would the little girl's human tissue, which is different from blood, be in the drains, Karen Smith? And you heard Lee Iga just report that tissue, that blood, matches back up to Malia Davis. I don't think she's saving it. No, she's not. This is, you know, Nancy, we've gone down a nefarious wormhole here. When you have human tissue in a drain, there is no other explanation other than that child was subjected to something extraordinarily nefarious in that location. Meaning, you know, she may have been dismembered.

There may have been a severe beating that released some tissue that was then washed down the drain. Any way that you look at this, it is a very, very bad turn of events. To break down DNA, it's going to take a lot more than bleach. You need something like muriatic acid. I think you can find that in something like black swan. Karen Smith, bleach does not necessarily break down DNA as we're finding out right now. No, it doesn't. It can break down some of what's called the larger alleles, but the smaller alleles are very immune to bleach.

They're very hardy. When you have that longstanding reaction with blood versus the big firework that goes off with bleach. Any trained investigator will know the difference. That's where they're going to take their samples. That's where they're going to take the Q-tip and find those areas of blood. And when they matched it, they used Malia's toothbrush, they used mitochondrial DNA from that toothbrush, and there was a match that led to the maternal line of Brittany Bowers, the maternal mother of Malia Davis. Okay, when you're saying mitochondrial DNA, you mean DNA from the mother's, let me say, what the mother contributes to your DNA.

So if you, yeah. The toothbrush isn't going to give you a lot of nucleated DNA, which is what you need to run normal DNA. Mitochondrial DNA is present in every single cell. And it's a little more delicate to work with, but it runs down the maternal line of ancestry. That's correct. And speaking of the maternal line of ancestry, listen to this. Death is for Malia! Death is for Malia!

As the courthouse, people directed their anger towards Malia's mother. All eyes on Brittany Bowens as she walked down the hall not saying a word. Vents, her ex-fiancee, did not appear. Critics questioning why she would leave her little girl with the man she says was dangerous. You have so many holes in your story. I don't believe you at all. I don't believe you. I will never believe you.

You're just as guilty as him. She needs to be locked up along with him. She deserves to be locked up because that's not a real mother. A real mother would protect their child at any means necessary, and she didn't do that. There are 28 hours from May 3rd to May 4th. Vance is unaccounted for, according to police. They believe he used that time to dispose of the little girl's body and all of this as her mother was out of town. As parents, we got to be much wiser, you know,

of the people who we choose to put in, you know, around our kids. You're hearing Jessica Willey at ABC 13 of Houston. There is a protest at the courthouse. People angry at the mother, Brittany Bowens, for leaving Malia with the stepfather. And to top it all off, as Jackie Howard here in the studio accurately pointed out, by the mother's own words, she just told the stepfather she planned to leave him. And he was angry. And isn't it true to Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, there had been an incident recently where this little girl had to have a portion of her skull removed because she had swelling bleeding to the brain.

And she recovered, and she had the portion of the skull put back. I mean, you can't tell me there is not abuse in that home. The little girl had three different surgeries on her head after she fell over. The mother's story is she fell over from a table and hit her head. Doctors say there's no way that kind of trauma could have occurred just from falling from a table. Yeah, there's no way falling three feet max from a chair or even a high chair. That's like a blow to the head like being in a car crash to have bleeding and swelling to the brain i i'm not buying that for one minute so kathleen murphy with me a veteran lawyer family attorney i'm sitting here talking with jackie as

we're all talking all at the same time and she accurately is pointing out that's where the charge of abuse of a corpse comes from, because that's all he's really charged with right now. He is not charged with kidnapping or murder. But because of the human tissue in the drains, that must be where that charge is coming from. Coming from, and your listeners should know that his bail was set at $999,999,000. Then it was reduced to $45,000. Why was it reduced, Lee Egan? Basically, they don't think he's going to go anywhere. They don't think he has the means to go anywhere. This is from an attorney who is representing him now, but doesn't know the full

extent of what's going on. But from what his attorney said, they don't think, the judge doesn't think he's going to run. Has he gotten out yet, Lee? He's not out, no. Well, a $45,000 bond, you only put up $4,500. With me right now, special guest, the founder of Texas EquiSearch, Tim Miller. After suffering a horrible loss of his own, he has devoted his life to finding missing people, specifically missing children. And he has been scouring the mail route where Malia Davis' stepfather, Darian Vince, once delivered mail. Tim Miller, number one, you're at the search scene right now. Please tell me what you've been doing to find Malia, starting with scouring that mail route. Well, we actually got rumor that he was a mailman, and we confirmed that through the post office and actually met with a postal inspector

and uh and we got confirmed his route i was in a helicopter as we flew that whole route we've actually got our ground searchers our atvs there now uh you know and what i was looking for is of course her little body or any evidence of the body when he had in burn blew up the lab because you know when he left that apartment he had the blue clothes basket and a trash bag inside of it when the vehicle's located the blue clothes basket still there in a brand new gas can with just a smidgen of gas in the bottom of it hold on whoa i feel like i'm drinking out of a fire hydrant tim miller So the first thing you're telling me is you confirmed that the stepfather, Darian Vance, once worked with the mail service and delivered mail.

You scoured that route. But you're piecing together another theory right now, a theory we have not heard, and that is that this child was murdered and that her body was burned. You're basing that on the fact that a gas can, a brand new gas can, was found in the trunk of Darian Vince, stepfather Darian Vince's car, with just a tiny bit of gas in it. A tiny bit of gas. What do you believe cops are or should be doing right now to track down whether he went

and bought gas to dispose of evidence? Well, what is happening right now, it has been happening since the vehicle was found, is law enforcement is literally going to every store they could go to that sells gas cans, and they've got the scan number on there trying to find out where this gas can was bought. If they have surveillance, what time and where he bought the gas can. That can kind of narrow the, hopefully narrow the actual search area down or confront him, why did you buy this gas can? Which, of course, he's not going to say anything now since he's lawyered up. But another interesting thing, Nancy, is we got a rumor that a year ago that he actually

told his mother-in-law. He said, you know what, if I ever murdered anybody, there's places out in the Rose Sharon area that you could put a body and nobody would ever find it. And we thought that that was a rumor. The other day, Quan L called me, and he was actually Wes Brittany, the biological mother. So I brought that question up about the male route, and then she confirmed it, and then we worked hard to see where the route is at. And then I told Quanell, I said, Quanell, we're getting another rumor that he actually told his mother-in-law that there was an area if he ever murdered anybody. And Brittany was Wes Quanell, and Brittany said, yes yes he told my mother that my mother told me

that just not very long ago what he said that she didn't think about it at the time so what's the mail route and then what she allegedly told his brother-in-law was like man i mean this this is a hot area that we have to do right now and so so you're talking about rose sharon right yeah rose sharon and that is the area that is the spot that he did have his mail route and it's pretty isolated out there and now let me ask you this tim how far away is rose sharon is that fort bend county uh this rose sharon is going to be brazoria county just outside of fort bend County and it may possibly be at most I'm going to say maybe eight miles from where the vehicle was found. Rose Sharon? Yes ma'am yeah Rose Sharon about eight miles from the vehicle. Now let me ask you a question so you're telling me that he had actually

made the statement and it's been confirmed if I was ever going to get rid of a body I know a place down in Rose Sharon where I would do it and that is about eight miles rose sharon is about eight miles from where the car his car was found uh yes family miles most and uh and again you know once you get involved in these things plenty of rumors come out but again britney britney dean mother 100% confirmed that, that he told his mother-in-law that about a year ago. And, you know, we at first heard that he just worked for the post office a very short time. But again, we met with the actual postal inspector that's working on this case now also. And he actually had that middle route for nearly a year before he got terminated. And so, you know, if it's there, he knows the area.

Well, Tim, what can you tell me about the FBI removing the computer from the Nissan to try to track where the car had been? That's some word that I got from investigators that, you know, they're doing everything they can. They took the computer out of the car and sent that off to FBI so they could analyze it, see what kind of damage is in that to see if it will show a track where the vehicle has been. And unfortunately, you know, nothing positive has came of that yet. And again, we're hoping it does. And I remember talking to the detective and I said, my God, if any of that phone stuff comes through, if that comes through on a computer, the farthest distance away that he went is where we need to start our search.

Well, I got to tell you something, Tim Miller. This guy, the stepfather, Darian Vince, sure has some bad luck with cell phones. What do you know? He had some bad luck with cell phones. You know, we got him on surveillance a little after four o'clock going out with the basket. Then a little after five o'clock, his phone goes dead, and his battery charger doesn't work. And then he's 50 miles away to pick his wife up, and he thinks he has a flat tire, and then he's jacked by three Mexicans. It just so happens that they bring him right back down to the area almost where he left from. His car is seen in that area at uh 254 that saturday afternoon

and then it's just real strange that it appears as though it's his car that brought him off at the hospital so you know something just doesn't add up in this story does it nancy no it doesn't do you really believe tim miller did the mother really even go out of town because there's video of her going into the apartment but there's no mother really even go out of town because there's video of her going into the apartment but there's no video of her coming out of the apartment well she did go out of town and apparently it was her father's funeral and she did go up there so that you know it is confirmed that she was out of town but the thing that's kind of strange also supposedly the children were taken to daycare that morning,

but then Malia, apparently, he brought her back and she was apparently in the apartment for like an hour and a half before Mom left. Mom said that she, no, she don't ever remember seeing her in the apartment, so

you know, who's telling the truth? He's lying. You know what? I think that I think Brittany's's telling the truth he's lying you know what i think that uh i think britney's lying i think he's lying and uh it's uh you know so now it's law enforcement and us well here's another idea tim uh guys with me my longtime friend tim he has volunteered his time his energy his blood sweat and tears to finding missing children what about okay you do not believe from what you're telling me that malia was put in a trash bag and then put in the apartment dumpster you think what you're telling me she was taken out in that blue laundry basket no i think she I think that was definitely her in the garbage bag in the laundry basket.

He stopped somewhere to go ahead and buy that gas can. I truly believe he took her out. He burned her somewhere. And unfortunately, we haven't found that spot yet. I truly believe that she was burned. That's what i believe of course we don't have evidence of that except certainly circumstantial you know it's hard to burn a body tim it's hard to burn a body it is hard and i understand you got to get 2300 degrees

before it's cremated two gallons of gas is not going to do it. But, you know, what do these people think? I mean, I have found bodies before that have been burned. And, yes, the flesh will be burned off. The bones are still there. It's just a terrible odor. So, you know, we're looking for burn marks. We're looking for certainly foul odors. Well, what do you think about his phone, Tim?

Tim Miller, what do you think about his phone? Because, I mean, I've never seen such bad luck with your phone. Your phone goes dead, then your charger won't work, your battery goes dead, then your charger won't work, and now nobody can find his phone. Has his phone been taken by police? Yeah, nobody can find his phone, and certainly after it goes dead, yeah, the story is the charger was broken, and then he thinks he has a flat tire, and then he's next to the jacket in a pickup truck. My God. If you can't lie any better, you might as well tell the truth.

Do you think he's thrown that phone in a body of water or gotten rid of it somehow? You know what? A lot of times on these phones, even if the battery's dead, there will get a little ping report off the towers unless that thing is just batteries taken out or it's shorted out. So did he take the battery out? Did he put it in water or something like that, totally shorted out so it could not be tracked? You know what? There's only one person who knows, and he's just not saying. Question. Tim Miller joining me from the scene of the search. Where do you believe he put the body?

I don't know. I don't know. He's had a big window of opportunity in a long time. And until we, I mean, we've had several leads and tips come in and people seeing the vehicle and God bless them for helping, but many of them just mistaken identities and stuff. I don't know, Nancy, where he put

that body, but I know this for a fact. Malaya's not where she chose to be and she doesn't like where she's at right now and I only hope that a month from now we're not on the phone still talking and she doesn't like where she's at right now and and uh i only hope that a month from now we're not on the phone still talking and she's not located today so we're going to keep doing what we're doing until we just feel as though we're not being effective anymore and we'll do

our best everybody's doing their best i think we got all the experience between law enforcement us and all different agencies and i think we've got all the determination between law enforcement and us and all just an agency. We've got all the determination. We haven't had that little bit of luck to go along with it. But, you know, Nancy, I'm a phone guy. We can do everything that we can do. And the results are up to God. And you know what?

He's been there for us a lot of times before. So I ask him to come aboard one more time. Tim Miller, Texas Aqua Search, on the scene right now. If you have information or think you have information on the disappearance of four-year-old Malia Davis, please call 713-222-TIPS, 713-222-8477. We wait as the search goes on. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.