Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Popular young couple gunned down in own home. Targeted hit or mistaken identity?

Episode Date: July 8, 2019

Sydney Land, 21 and Nehemiah ‘Neo” Kauffman had been dead for more than 24 hours when their bodies were found. They had been shot in the head in their Las Vegas home. No arrests have been made and conflicting stories of a revenge killing and mistaken identity have surfaced. Nancy Grace is joined by Connie Land who lost her 21-year-old daughter. Also on the panel is Baltimore Post-Examiner reporter Doug Poppa, Forensics expert with Bare Bone Consulting Karen Smith, Criminal Defense Attorney Darryl Cohen, and Psychologist Dr. Brian Russell. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. blood everywhere and I just seen a shoot on the ground and I've seen her body on the ground. So there's two people? Yes. They were laying down in there? And there's blood all over the wall. I just got a phone call that my daughter's dead in her apartment. And I heard from her in a couple days. Are you driving over there now? Yeah. But when Connie arrives at the apartment, cops won't let her in. I just remember running to try to get into the apartment. And they go, you can't go. That's my daughter's apartment. And they go, don't tell me it's her. They go, ma'am, you cannot go in.

Tragically, Connie's worst nightmare was now a grim reality. Behind the walls of that apartment lay the blood-drenched bodies of Sidney and Neo, both shot in the head at close range. How did this happen? Friends find a gorgeous young couple shot dead inside a Vegas apartment. I'm talking about Nehemiah Neo Kaufman, just 20, in Sidney Land, just 21, found dead. They had been living there in the apartment for several months together. As of now, no suspects. But are two mystery men involved?

How were they killed? What could possibly have been the motive? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. We want answers. Take a listen to this. Neo was a talented basketball player. Sydney worked at the Palms at Caesars. You see some of the candles behind me. Friends and loved ones identified

the couple to us. So many tears here tonight. No one was more touched than the victim's young sister. Everybody loved her. She's so nice and so cool and she's so sweet and she's had the biggest heart ever. Sydney Land was just 21 years old. Her boyfriend, Neil Kaufman, 20. A good-hearted, kind-hearted kid that was funny and people gravitated towards him. Well over a 100 friends and loved ones gathered to say goodbye. Just hours ago, the couple was found dead. The door of their apartment opened when a friend walked in. Neil was shot, found on the first floor. Sidney was upstairs.

Detectives couldn't tell how she died. Tonight, police saying they believe both were victims of a homicide. Joining you right now, special guest, Sydney Land's mother, Connie, and an ace reporter for the Baltimore Post-Examiner, Doug Papa. By the way, you were hearing from our friends at KTNV Channel 13 in Vegas and our friend Melissa McCartney at Crime Watch Daily. First to you, Dave Mack, syndicated talk show host. What do we know about the case? How were they found? And what was noticed there in the apartment they shared?

The condition of the bodies, Nancy, and the condition of the apartment have all played a part of this investigation. Neo was found shot to death in the living room of the apartment, while Sydney was found shot to death in a back bedroom. But the important part of this from an investigation standpoint is the fact that this apartment was very busy. A lot of people were in and out of this apartment, from cigarette butts to drinking glasses. There was a lot of DNA and fingerprints of people other than Sidney and Neo who actually not just had access, but invitations to be in that apartment. But again, Neo was found murdered, shot to death in the living room.

Sidney's body was recovered in the back bedroom. I want to go straight to Sidney's mother, Connie Land. Connie, thank you so much for being with us. You're welcome, Nancy. Connie, I want to go back to the moment you heard there had been some sort of incident. What happened? I'd gotten a phone call from my son, Preston, and he said, Mom, have you heard from Sid? And I go, no, Preston, why? And I could just tell in his voice there was something not right. And he was trying to be calm. And he goes, let me

call you back. And I just, you know, my warning signs are going off like crazy. And I called him back, and I go, Preston, what's going on? And he goes, Mom, I can't talk right now. I've got to call you back. And I called him back, and I go, Preston, what's going on? And he goes, Mom, Lauren and Frankie haven't heard from Sidney. I go, Preston, get over to the apartment quick. Get over there.

And he called back, and it was silence. And I go, she's gone. She's dead, isn't she? And he just goes, oh, Mom, she's dead. And he was on the way over to the apartment. And I mean, I just remember exactly where I was at in my house when the call came. And, you know, my first thought is what am I supposed to do? I'm supposed to be going to a lunch meeting right now when kids are at school and Steve's at the fire station. And, you know, just, so I called Steve's at the fire station. And, you know, just so I called Steve's at the fire station.

And thank heavens he answered. And I go, Sidney's dead. And he's like, what? I go, Sidney's dead. And at that point, I couldn't even think if I'm calling 911. I figured somebody had called 911. Then I call and then I'm going 120 to the apartment. And, you know, Steve would get there, and Preston was already on his way.

It was terrible. Everything you said is striking me. But you said you knew in that silence. The same thing happened to me when I got the call to call my fiance's family. I knew right then that Keith was dead. He was murdered. I didn't know he was murdered, but I knew that he was dead. And when his family picked the phone up, I said, one thing, is Keith gone? Because I just knew it. And I don't know what that is, but you know. Take a listen to our friend Adam Herberts at Fox 5 Vegas.

Somebody went into this complex and tried looking for the couple. They say that they had been missing for at least a few days. And then that's when they went inside the apartment and they found them there. They were dead. Police say it looked like they had been dead for at least 24 hours. And now they're just trying to figure out who shot them to death. At the very least, police say they do have a few clues. They say right now it looks like they may have been murdered by two men.

But other than that, they're not really releasing any other suspect description. Now, friends and family said the victims are Neo Kaufman. But other than that, they're not really releasing any other suspect description. Now, friends and family said the victims are Neo Kaufman. He's just 20 years old. And Sydney Land, who's 21. They said Neo was just the kind of guy everybody gravitated to. He was an athlete. He was super funny.

They also said Sydney was a woman with a big heart. She loved people. She loved to help people. And now everyone is trying to figure out why. How did this happen? And why would anyone want to hurt these two people? There's no good motive for murder ever. To Karen Smith, let's talk about something that may push the case forward. With me, Karen Smith, forensics expert and the founder of Bare Bones

Consulting. Karen Smith, you and I have worked a lot together. I want to know what you would do, what should have been done in this crime scene. Well, Nancy, first of all, I'd like to say, Connie, I'd like to give you my deepest heartfelt condolences into the crime scene. You know, this is very complex. You have two people inside a place. It's a contained crime scene, which is a good thing. Hopefully it hadn't been trampled by detectives and other onlookers at that point. The first thing that you want to do is seal off the crime scene. Make sure that nobody goes in and nobody comes out without being put on a log. Second thing that you're going to do is look at the evidence, put on your Tyvek suit, make sure that you're not going to contaminate the

scene yourself. And you go in and you start documenting with photography and video. And as you're doing that, you look at the scene as a whole. You look at where the bodies are positioned. You look at any evidence that may be in the area, any shell casings, any weapons that are left behind, the positions of those pieces of evidence in relation to the body. You look at who was where inside the apartment or the house. You look at any wounds. You don't touch the body. That's not our jurisdiction, but you can look and you can see, is there stippling, which is gunpowder, unburned and burned gunpowder residue that comes out of a gun? Is there any evidence of that, which would mean a close quarter shooting?

Is there any evidence of bullet trajectories in the wall? Where's the blood spatter evidence? Where is it located on the wall? Is it on the floor? Is there pooling? Is the blood wet? Is it dry? Have they been there a while?

Have they not? Are they closed? Are they unclothed? Is there any evidence on that clothing? You look for fingerprints on doors, on windows. Is there forced entry? These are just some of the very basic things that you do when you first go into a crime scene. This is not something that's going to be done in four hours. I would be surprised if they weren't there for two or three days, Nancy. What happened to Sidney Land and Neo Kaufman? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

Nehemiah Kaufman and Sidney Land were inside of an apartment in our southwest part of the valley when an unknown person entered the apartment and both of them were executed inside the apartment. They were both shot and killed inside the apartment. From there, we have followed dozens and dozens of leads in this investigation. Originally, we've had a person that we have exhausted all leads on that we believe is a person of interest in that case. At the same time, we have followed up on other leads to make sure that we're checking any possible motives or any possible suspects. So since that has occurred, like I said, there's been dozens and dozens of leads that we have followed. All of those have brought us back to

the same point that we were two years ago. We do not know who committed this murder. That was a press conference with Metro Homicide talking about how Sidney and Nia were executed inside their apartment, that they followed dozens of leads. But right now, those leads have been exhausted. But now, take a listen to our friend Melissa McCarty. What stood out to you when walking through that crime scene? Many things stood out. The lack of forced entry.

Whoever was in the apartment with them appeared to be someone that they trusted. And there was something else about the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Something that makes this murder an investigative nightmare. Was there DNA found? There were several items that contained DNA evidence. The problem is these people had a lot of friends, a lot of associates, a lot of people that hung out at the apartment complex with them. So sorting through all the details of what was relevant and what's not has been a

challenge. You know, straight back to that with me, forensics expert at Bare Bones Consulting, Karen Smith, you've got a beautiful young girl and her boyfriend dead, shot dead. And I heard them use the phrase execution. So I do not believe this was a homicide-suicide. Absolutely not, because both were victims of homicide. But you just heard the detective state that there was no forced entry and that the investigation was tough because there was so much DNA from different people having been there earlier at a party the day before. Right, and that's typical, Nancy. That's not atypical of a crime scene. You know, we have cups and cigarette butts and cans and bottles and all that. This is stuff that we deal with all the time.

You don't exclude anyone. You don't exclude any DNA. And when you have, if it's execution style, you're right. This was not a murder-suicide. You know, that would bring me back to the bullet trajectories. That would bring me back to the medical examiner and their findings. What did they find? Where were they shot? Was there any stippling on the wound? Was there any stippling on the clothing? Where did it happen? And where were the casings if a

semi-automatic was used? Were the casings ejected and where were they?ings if a semi-automatic was used were the casings ejected and where were they you know revolvers a little difficult they don't eject casings so that's a different story right however when you have the projectile where they were covered can they throw those projectiles into the NIBIN database which is the National Integrated Ballistics Network and do a match on just one moment I want to follow up with what you're saying. Joining me, Doug Papa, reporter with the Baltimore Post-Examiner and Sidney's mom, Connie Land. To Doug Papa,

do we know whether the ballistics have been traced? We don't know that. I believe I know the caliber of the weapon, but I'm not going to say it to protect the integrity of the investigation. But no, we don't know anything. Oh, you know what? I think that's not going to affect the integrity of the investigation. But no, we don't know anything. Oh, you know what? I think that's not going to affect the integrity of the investigation. Do you know the caliber?

I believe the caliber was a.45 caliber. Okay, so this is how that goes down. To Daryl Cohen, renowned defense attorney, joining me out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. You can find him at DarylCohen.tv. I remember the very first time, and I hate to tell you the year. I guess it was about 1987. I was at the crime lab, and the head of the ballistics division was showing me, and I did it with him, how you match up bullets. Easy.

You get your known bullet, okay? You get another bullet, same caliber, and what you think may be the murder weapon, and you fire a bullet with the murder weapon into a mattress or into a drum of water. Then you take the known bullet taken out of the victim, put it under a microscope, and you compare it to the one you just shot with the possible murder weapon. Bullets have what we call striations or marks on them. It's unique to each gun like a fingerprint because when that gun is manufactured and the iron, the metal, cools from the heat, it dries in its own unique pattern inside the barrel. And as a bullet is hurtling down the barrel it hits the inside of

the barrel and it gets markings markings from one gun on a bullet are unlike any other markings from any other weapon period it's a fingerprint so Daryl Cohen that's why I'm so interested if they did exactly what Karen Smith was just talking about, got the bullet and added it into the ballistics database. It's like a fingerprint database or a DNA database. There is a gun database too, Daryl. It doesn't make any sense unless they did it. That was Kelly fight, wasn't it, back in those days, Nancy? It sure was. And guess what? The other day I was driving along and I stopped and spoke to a cop and he says, you know, my dad, I'm like, OK, did I put him in jail? And he goes, no, it was Kelly fight. I mean, revered ballistics supervisor.

But long story short, that is critical. What Karen Smith just said. You have to do that because that gives you the forensic evidence that you need as a basis. You can't go forward without a base. You can't go forward with a structure unless there's a basement, a ground floor, and that's your ground floor. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. To Dr. Brian Russell, psychologist, host of Fatal Vows, a hit series on investigation discovery, author of Stop Moaning, Start Owning on Amazon. Dr. Brian, I got something else, and this is for you. Neighbors at the apartment complex where Sidney and Neo lived say that they were very quiet, very polite, that there had never been any trouble.

No arguments, no police calls, no throwing of dishes, nothing like that, no even parking infraction. They kept to themselves. And the neighbors say they didn't witness anyone enter or leaving the home. But critically, there was no sign of a forced entry. You know, it's hard for me to believe that this couple goes from 0 to 120 MPH overnight. The neighbors say quiet, kept to themselves, no problems, Dr. Brian Russell. What does that mean to you? Well, a couple of things.

One is, yes, I think if this had been the culmination of havoc in the marriage, yes, there probably would have been a gradually escalating pattern that would have been observed by other people. Now, one thing that I'll just add to that, though, is you and I have discussed many cases over the years where someone has been caught having committed a murder and people go around and interview the neighbors and the neighbors say, I never saw anything that gave me any idea I was living next to a monster. And all that says is how little we tend to know

the people living right around us. So, you know, while I do put some stock in what the neighbors say, I have to take it with a little bit of a grain of salt because of that. Nancy, can I make a couple of corrections that are here? Absolutely. Okay. Neil and Sydney had moved into the apartment approximately one month before they were killed. I was told by the police that it was a hangout place that the neighbors were not happy because kids were coming and going and they were playing music and, you know, and it was kind of a

hangout spot, but they hadn't been there a very long time. What I was told by the detectives is, you know, and again, I don't know if the detectives are misleading or providing information that's accurate or not, but there was actually a neighbor that was a retired police officer, I think from Detroit area that lived directly across the apartment from the apartment complex. What I was told is he was a night owl. They were night owls or she was a night owl. He said it was very frustrating because the couple did not come forward when we were scouring, asking questions. We had to track them down. She said that she had heard pounding on the door. She heard arguing. She heard one gunshot, the second gunshot, and scuffling. The detective told me it would have only taken one thing for her to move the blinds, and she would have seen what was happening. She was laying on the couch, heard it. She said, the detective said she went into her husband, said, was that gunshots?

He said yes, and they went to bed. He said, Connie, if they had called 911, it would have completely changed this entire investigation. Because kind of what we know is they were dead about 36 hours before the 911 call was called in. But we've also been told that people went back to the apartment prior to the police arriving. So that complicates the situation quite a bit. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know, I didn't really equate being a hangout place or having a party a couple of days before as being any sort of trouble. But I want you to take a listen to this from CWD. When cops arrive at her apartment, it's a chaotic scene of blood and confusing evidence. I mean, you know, when I

refer to DNA, I mean, there's cigarette butts everywhere and the ashtray's full of stuff. There's drink cups everywhere. So you talk about DNA being in the apartment, there's all kinds of stuff, you know. So who knows what was supposed to be there and what wasn't supposed to be there. Detectives say the couple hung out with a shady cast of characters who regularly partied at Sidney's place. There had been a gathering the night before. Cops quickly seized surveillance video trained on doorways of the apartment complex. It was of no use. We went and reviewed hours and hours of footage looking. Unfortunately, there was nobody that we

identified through the surveillance footage as a person of interest. To Baltimore Post examiner reporter Doug Papa joining me, that's hard for me to believe that they've got surveillance video of a party that was held the night before the shootings, and they can't make anybody out? I know there was surveillance cameras on the, it's a gated apartment complex, of the cars going in and out. And from what I understand, they reviewed that, and it didn't lead to anything.

I want to interject something here, Nancy, if I may. I spoke to a Las Vegas sitting judge in justice court. I interviewed her last year. She told me that the voice you just heard on that Crime Watch Daily, that's Detective Jared Grimmett. She told me that Detective Grimmett told her three and four weeks after the murder, he was releasing all the confidential details to her about the homicide. He told her two convicted felons and the daughter of a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department police officer were the ones who executed Sidney and Neo. This case is a lot more complex, I think, even that you know. And I did several numerous stories on this for the Baltimore Post-Examiner. Now, this judge says the reason why Sidney and Neo were murdered, because it wasn't supposed to be them. She says the wrong people were murdered that day. It was supposed to be her and her daughter, because she was outed by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department vice detectives, who she's been given information to

for a year prior to the murder, about unlicensed clubs operated by pimps who were protected by the police because the police were getting payoffs. Now, there's been a federal FBI investigation going on in Las Vegas since 2014. She alleges, and this is a recorded interview with the sitting judge who gave me this information, and I published stories about this. She says that eight hours before the murders happened, she said the murders happened at 1230 in the morning on the morning of the 26th. And I'm assuming that information came from the police who was giving out the information. Eight hours prior to that, her and her daughter are outed by vice detectives to another Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department police officer and his daughter, who was an alleged prostitute. And she says that the reason why the murders happened was a direct result of her and her

daughter being outed by the vice detectives eight hours prior. Now, that bothers me because two things. Number one, this is a sitting judge, a Las Vegas township judge, a sitting judge on the court who gave me this hour and a half interview in April of last year. So she's got credibility. And another thing, Connie made a complaint against Detective Grimmett for releasing information to Judge Tobiasen. And she says to me on the recording, and I got the recordings and some of the snippets of the recordings and some of my stories. She says three or four weeks after the murders, Detective Grimmett was given all the confidential details about DNA evidence, and she says that he told her that DNA evidence and everything is the three suspects. Like I said, there's a Shane Valentine, convicted felon,

a Dominique Thompson, a convicted felon, both of them are pimps, and the daughter of a stepdaughter, excuse me, of a now-retired Las Vegas Metron police department. She told me on tape several times and in emails that Detective Grimmer told her those were the ones that committed the murder. This case is surrounded by corruption and misconduct. Is this a case of mistaken identity? In all those murky details, one thing is emerging, a potential suspect.

Listen. Everything looked like Shane Valentine may have been our guy. And was revenge his motive? Cops say Valentine had a beef with Neo and had taken action before. Shane Valentine actually went over to Neo's mother's house, fired around into the window, broke out a couple of windows, and rammed his car into the parking garage door as he threatened to cause harm to Neo and his family. The incident happened three weeks before the murders, then damning evidence from the bloody night of the shooting surfaces.

They could ping his cell phone in the tower in that area about the time of the murder. And then he was in California the next morning. Cops kept an eye on Valentine but couldn't directly link him through DNA to the shootings. Although it appears that he may not have been the shooter, the possibility remains that he was aware of what was going to happen or what was happened immediately thereafter. I'm Stories with Nancy Grace. Friends find a gorgeous young couple shot dead inside a Vegas apartment. I'm talking about Nehemiah Neo Kaufman, just 20, and Sidney Land, just 21, found dead.

They had been living there in the apartment for several months together. As of now, no suspects. But are two mystery men involved? How were they killed? What could possibly have been the motive? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.

We want answers. Take a listen to this from CWD. Everything looked like St. Valentine may have been our guy. And was revenge his motive? Cops say Valentine had a beef with Neo and had taken action before. Shane Valentine actually went over to Neo's mother's house, fired around into the window, broke out a couple of windows and rammed his car into the parking garage door as he threatened to cause harm to Neo and his family. The incident happened three weeks before the murders, then damning evidence from the bloody night of the shooting surfaces. They could ping his cell phone in the tower in that area about the time of the murder,

and then he was in California the next morning. Cops kept an eye on Valentine, but couldn't directly link him through DNA to the shootings. Although it appears that he may not have been the shooter, the possibility remains that he was aware of what was going to happen or what was happened immediately thereafter. Straight out to Connie Lynn, this is Sidney's mother. Now to me, if we know for a fact this guy, Shane Valentine, rammed his car into your daughter's place just before the shooting, that does not sound like mistaken identity to me. No, it's not. As far as the shooting on October 8th, what's interesting about that case is Shane went over, you know, I guess Shane went over, told Neo to come out of the

house that he was a dead man. It was 1130 in the morning on a Saturday, great weather. And when Shane, Shane was the one that threatened him. When he shot into the house, the problem with this case started before the murders happened, because the day of October 8th, the police and the detectives and the CSAs that were investigating the crime scene, they retrieved the rock that was thrown through the window. They retrieved the plastic from where he ran his car into the closed garage door, but they never retrieved the bullet that they knew was shot into the house. It wasn't until after the murders happened, when my detective went into evidence to try to match the ballistics, he realized that the bullet from the shooting on October 8th were not in evidence. My homicide detective had to go

back to the Kauffman home after the homicide three weeks later and retrieve the bullets out of the home. One bullet, two bullets, I'm not sure how many, but the bullets out of the home. And they closed, the police department closed the case down, my understanding, less than a week after the shooting on October 8th due to insufficient evidence. I'm not quite sure how that is. They never even retrieved the bullet. To Daryl Cohen, you have prosecuted and defended countless murders. It seems to me there's a clear pattern. I do not think it was mistaken identity because you've got this one person

ramming his car into the home, a home, throwing a rock through a window, threatening the boyfriend, Neo Kaufman, and then Neo Kaufman and Sidney Land end up dead. Nancy, I don't see this as a mistake of identity. There was absolutely no evidence of forced entry. That tells me everything. When you just mentioned the car, all the rest of it, that tells me they're targeted. And the question becomes, why are they targeted and who did the targeting? That's where they need to look. They need to look at everything. What type of business were these two young people in?

Monkey business, straight business, or other business? They've got to expand this investigation, not contract it. Take a listen to our friends at KTNV Channel 13 in Vegas. Homicide here has gotten so many tips, and they're asking for new leads. It's really crazy when people say, you just need to move on. More than a year later, Connie Land undeterred, standing alongside Metro, determined to get justice for her daughter. They've messed with the wrong mother.

Police notifying the public that Shane Valentine, seen here allegedly trying to break into a home, is no longer a person of interest. Currently in custody on a separate case, police believe he's not involved despite his alleged violent acts against the Kaufmans. Guess what we get to do? We get to go look at other avenues and look at new evidence. The killer or killers believed to have been let inside the apartment. Lieutenant Dan McGrath saying today Sydney was likely not the target. I never thought that she was ever involved in

any way. A plea for tips once again, so there's closure for a mom and her family. To Daryl Cohen, you have prosecuted and defended countless murders. It seems to me there's a clear pattern. I do not think it was mistaken identity because you've got this one person ramming his car into the home, a home, throwing a rock through a window, threatening the boyfriend, Neo Kaufman, and then Neo Kaufman and Sidney Land end up dead. I don't see this as a mistake in identity. There was absolutely no evidence of forced entry. That tells me everything. When you just mentioned the car, all the rest of it, that tells me they're targeted. And the question becomes, why are they targeted and who did the targeting? That's where they need to look. They need to look at everything.

What type of business were these two young people in? Monkey business, straight business, or other business? They've got to expand this investigation, not contract it. You know, when you hear what Sidney's family has been through, take a listen to our friends at KTNV Channel 13 Vegas. I am standing under one of the billboards where you can see Sidney's face flash. There's about seven of them across Las Vegas on the 15, 215 and the 95. Now this is not cheap, but her mother says it's necessary to find her daughter's killers. If you live in Las Vegas, you've probably seen her face by now on billboards

and you've likely heard Sydney's story as told by her mother, Connie Land. We've done news articles, we've done press conferences, we've done TV interviews, written articles, you name it. Now they're spending hundreds of dollars a month on these billboards. How long can you continue to pay $4,500 a month? We just keep working hard and do what we can do and if it's three billboards and you know every other month and that's what we do. Someone had to see something, someone had to hear something, their friends know who did it. Connie hopes someone will come forward with time. To Sidney's mother, Connie, you have stood by your pumping in about $5,000 a month for billboards and

everything you can think of to do to solve this case. What have you been through? Nancy, you know better than anybody what we've been through. You can't put into words what this has done to our family, what this has done to my extended family, to my children. There's always firsts. There will always be firsts in our family. And, you know, we were given a life sentence when Sydney was killed. And this is something we will have to deal with our entire life. I have chosen to be very proactive in, in trying to uncover what truly happened and what has gone on in this case, because that's what Sydney would expect of me is she would expect me to fight. She would expect me to dig. She would expect me to be relentless in trying to get justice for her and for Nehemiah. I mean, everything that I do is for both of them.

And so that's what I get to do. And to me, that's my way of honoring her. That creates a sense of healing for me to know that I'm doing something. You are hearing the voice of Connie Land. That is 21-year-old Sydney Land's mother. Doug Papa, Baltimore Post Examiner, still on the case. We wait as justice unfolds. If you have information, please contact Doug Poppa, P-O-P-P-A, at Baltimore Post-Examiner. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. you're listening to an iHeart podcast