Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Sherri Papini Copycats? New California Kidnappings Examined

Episode Date: January 19, 2017

The LAPD detective investigating the kidnapping of a woman in Van Nuys, California, allegedly by two hispanic women, gives Nancy Grace new details. He weighs in on speculation this abduction could be related to the Sherri Papini case. Grace and reporter Alan Duke discuss this and other missing female cases in California. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. They duct taped her legs and her arms and took her from the residence. The victim was held captive for more than four hours, then dumped on the 7100 block of White Oak Avenue in Reseda. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital where detectives say she is too traumatized and too drugged to answer their questions. Police still searching for those suspects. Two women described as Hispanic women, one about 5'1", the other about 6'0".

There's more to this story, and I think the investigation is going to allow us to unfold that part of the story. So-called super mom Sherri Papini goes missing while her husband's at work and her children are in daycare as normal that day so she could go for a job. She never came home. Then the internet trolls and others attacked her when she shows up nearly three weeks later just before Thanksgiving lunch beaten badly with a chain wrapped around her waist, chained to an object, her hair cut off her head.

Many people claiming it was all a big hoax. Then if it is a hoax, why, may I ask, have other women gone missing in the same, it's called the Emerald Triangle. It's a region in Northern California where Sherry Papini vanished. Now three other, now four other women are missing. Hello everybody, Nancy Grace here with Crime Stories. I'm talking about Stacey Smart goes missing, Jessica Rudgenkamp goes missing, Amy Snow goes missing. And now, a victim that will remain unnamed goes missing in Van Nuys. So, they're all missing? Are they all hoaxes?

No. Amy's body, Amy Snow's body, was found in the water, dead, to a blow to the head. Was it an accident? Maybe. Was there a fall? Maybe. Amy Snow is dead, still missing Stacey Smart, Jessica Rogenkamp, and another woman that claims she was dragged out of her bed by two Hispanic women? Just what Papini said.

Now, when I spoke to you about it first, Ellen Duke, you seemed to think that that was fantastical because she said one woman was around five feet and the other woman was around six feet. And let me just remind you, Ellen, I once had a judge that would tell every single jury, it is your duty to make all witnesses speak the truth and impugn perjury on no one. There are a lot of reasons, translation, that this victim may have thought the woman was six feet. Maybe she was lying down and the woman was standing up. Maybe she wasn't at eye level with her. Maybe she was in the back of a van and the woman was standing up. Maybe she wasn't at eye level with her. Maybe she was in the back of a van and the woman was driving and she could only see her height based on her

sitting, the perp sitting in a driver's seat. It could be anything. It could be a man dressed as a woman. I don't know the answer, but before I'm ready to throw the baby out with the bath water and say this newest Sherry Papini copycat victim is lying, I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt. Alan, are you familiar with Jessica Rojinkamp and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance? Not like you are, Nancy. Well, then let me remind you. We're talking about Sherry Papini copycat kidnaps. Are they real? Jessica Rojinkamp is in her car. She has a flat tire.

And you can very easily see that she stopped to fix the tire. Her car is there on the side of the road. She's gone out in the middle of nowhere. She is not that far away from where Shepini goes missing. Now, Jessica Roge and Camp is from Anderson. Hasn't been seen since around 3 a.m. Saturday when she was driving over to her friend's house. A wildlife worker finds her car on the side of a highway on Sunday, unlocked, keys in the vehicle, flat tire. She was reported missing by her mother on Monday through the Anderson Police Department. She has not used her phone to receive or make phone calls in days. It's a remote area.

She knows her way around. She took her daughter up there, I guess, hiking just after Thanksgiving. Now, where is she? It's only about 12 miles from where Papini was abducted by two Hispanic women. Now, are you telling me that you don't see the possibility of a connection, Alan? No, I absolutely do in this case. In this case, that you're now relating, it is very disturbing, and the possibility of a connection is real. I mean, when you look at Rudgenkamp as well,

there are startling similarities to Papini. White female, long blonde hair, very similar in their facial features. And that's not all. I mentioned Amy as well. Now, I don't know the circumstances, what they determined in the autopsy, but I know that she had a blow to the head. She went missing in the same Emerald Triangle area.

Explain to me what that is. Well, that's a very green area. Maybe that's what they mean by Emerald. Yeah, I think that is it. Rolling hills with big, beautiful trees and green, green grass, unlikely we get in the desert of Southern California. Then there's also the woman, Stacey Smart, and the woman, I'm just referring to it as Van Nuys, the Van Nuys. What did the Van Nuys victim say? The Van Nuys victim initially, and this was just a few days ago, this was last Friday, initially was found at a very busy intersection, partially nude and bound by duct tape, had been dropped off by a white SUV. She said to police on Friday that she had been kidnapped from a home about four or five miles away,

about four hours earlier, that she had been taken it was her understanding at the time she said that she was going to be enforced into prostitution but for some reason they let her go and she was rescued she said she did not know the two women who kidnapped her she said it was two Hispanic women one five foot one", one nearly 6 feet tall. And she was taken to a hospital to be treated for trauma. And also, she seemed to be under the influence of some sort of drugs. The police had a hard time understanding her.

And that's where they first told us, the media, about it last weekend. You know, I'm curious because she says it was a white van and Sherry Papini said it was a black SUV. Now, Papini goes missing a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Rojan Kemp goes missing a few weeks after that. I have a few issues with the Van Nuys disappearance. It sounds so similar to Sherry Papini's. You did your own investigation

regarding the Van Nuys copycat. What did you learn? I have been to the scene of where she was allegedly kidnapped, where she was dropped off. I was there just a short time ago. And I also spent some time with the lead detective of the LAPD,

Detective Richard Yep, who is at the Van Nuys headquarters. And your questions about it are very well founded. I have this. He allowed me to record an interview with him. Would you like to hear what he says? Yes, yes, I do. Here we go. What can you tell me about this alleged kidnapping of this woman in the Sherman Oaks Van Nuys area? The information we have is it was not a stranger-type kidnap, that there was a relationship between the victim and the suspect. So at this time, we're trying to follow up with the victim and re-interview her to get more information and details as to what happened.

As far as circumstances, she was at an apartment, and she went willingly. As far as we know. She went willingly with these women, and whatever else happened, happened. We haven't been able to figure out. And so she was just then discovered, found, released, whatever. I guess that's four or five miles away? Yes, several miles away from where she was picked up.

She was dropped off, and we don't know the details in between. I understand that you've not been able to reach her since then. Well, she didn't leave a phone number, so we can't really call her. She left an address. We did do some follow-ups and we're in the process of trying to locate her. So residents of this area don't need to worry about a gang of kidnappers running around trying to abduct them and put them into prostitution? Definitely not. That's not going on out here in Van Nuys. You're familiar with Sherry Papini case up in Northern California. Does this have any resonance to that? No. We have no evidence to indicate that these suspects were involved in

the Papini case up north. So this is what we found out. That is that this woman who claims to have been kidnapped here in Van Nuys, where I am right now, can't be found now. Now, Detective Yep wasn't passing any judgment on whether she was willingly... But it sounds like you are. Whether she... Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. Before you jump on the bandwagon and attack this victim, I recall distinctly trying a child prostitution, busting a child prostitution ring. I was on the street working that case with vice detectives for I don't know how many months until I finally find this 13-year-old girl. When I first saw her, Alan Duke, I thought she was a 35-year-old woman.

She had on a mini skirt up to her rear end. She had on those plastic looking shiny boots up to her mid thighs like pretty woman wore except these were white. I mean, the weave, the eyelashes, the makeup. I said, okay,

so where's the girl? Because she's in there. I went back and I said, where's the girl? I could not see that this was a 13-year-old girl. Okay, we finally get to trial. I got a mistrial in my opening statement because I called the perpetrator a pimp, which he was, but he wasn't charged with that. He was charged with statutory rape. Okay, had to mistry the case, take the case back to a grand jury, got them to add a pimping charge, and then retried it so I could say he's a pimp in my opening statement. Okay, that's how the whole thing started. But in the middle of the case, it got time for me to finish the state's presentation. it was time for me to put the victim up, the child victim. She disappeared.

She disappeared. Can I tell you, me, my investigator, my mother was up with me during the trial. Everybody I know, cops on the case. We scoured the streets all night long for two nights. We found the girl. Why did she disappear? Because she was afraid. Put her on the stand. It was excruciating, but I did it.

Got a conviction, and all three perpetrators went to jail. Now, that is an example of a victim disappearing, a legitimate victim disappearing. So, you know, don't tune up with me about she's not a victim because she didn't give a phone number and police can't find her. I didn't say she wasn't a victim. I'm saying she wasn't a victim of kidnapping, apparently. But I will tell you that what you just said makes perfect sense. If you say she's not a victim of kidnapping, how are you saying she's not a victim of kidnapping, apparently. But I will tell you that what you just said makes perfect sense. If you say she's not a victim of kidnapping, how are you saying she's not a victim? I didn't say she's not a victim. She doesn't appear to be a victim of kidnapping based on what I'm hearing now.

But what you just said is perfect context for what very likely could have happened. Because what they're saying now is when she was initially found, she was saying she didn't know the kidnappers but that she was kidnapped but what we're finding out now by the follow-up investigation that we're able to confirm is that she went willingly with these women and they know who these women are and they are persons of interest but they can't find this victim well i can tell you this, Alan. I hear that tone in your voice. And you did say she's not a victim of kidnapping.

I don't know how you think that's different than saying she's not a victim. But a woman thrown out on the street half naked, I don't think she did that on her own. I would agree with that. But it's not kidnapping. How do you know that? In that sense. What do you mean in what sense? She is a victim, but it's not this stranger kidnapping that she described to police, apparently, based on what they're finding. So you think kidnapping has to be a stranger? What about parental kidnap of a child?

Is that not a kidnapping to you? Not kind that she she she apparently said some things but the fact that she did not tell the police that she knew these people i think is i don't like you as much as i did when i started i thought this isn't okay let me talk i think this is indi nancy the the fact that she uh felt compelled to tell a story other than what they're finding out now, I think does indicate exactly what you said, that she could be a person who was under the duress and was afraid of these people. But apparently, according to the cops, that's not a kidnapping, though. That's what I keep asking you when you just talk about something not the kind of kidnapping that the that she said that she was in she went willingly with these people and four hours after she went willingly with these people she said she went left their vehicle they

let her go the cop the detective tells me that she left willingly with them that is the evidence and the the belief of the lead detective that's just like a date rape case you go on a date willingly that does not mean you consent to being raped just because she may have walked out her door with these people how do i know what they wanted her to do you you have two two things going on here a police believe that she did not tell them the truth that first interview and B, she's not around for a second interview. And so therefore your conclusion is that she is afraid of these people, that something did happen. They did do something to her and she's afraid of them. That is not what you told me at the beginning. Before we started this podcast, you were all about...

Well, maybe you convinced me. Maybe you changed my mind, Nancy. Let me remind you of something else. Under the law, it doesn't matter if you move someone one inch or 1,000 miles during a kidnap. The degree of movement or asportation as it is called under the law is irrelevant. If I take you and lock you in a closet and I move you 10 feet to do it, that is a kidnap and false imprisonment, by the way. So what I'm saying is if she went with these people and then she finds out hey what do you think about turning tricks and she's like no and all of a sudden he double l breaks loose that's a kidnapping if they drive her one inch

in that white van that is a kidnapping under the law i'm not too big of a person to admit that you have actually convinced me of something here. Listening to your recount of the trial that you went through with a 13 year old. Yes, that actually puts it into my mind that it may be something like that. This wasn't a 13 year old girl, but this was a 20 something woman. You're weak, Alan. You're weak. You're weak.

You've changed your mind just like that. Being weak. That's just, that's just speaks to your strength, your experience. Look, I'm telling you, there is this whole thing of underage women, girls rather, being forced into sex slavery is a huge problem and one that I am. You know what's crazy? And you've got a daughter. I've got a daughter.

People think it doesn't happen to them. It's a huge problem in this country, in our cities. You know, the biggest hub of sex trafficking is the Atlanta Jackson Hartsville Airport. Did you know that? Yes, I did. I did not know that. It's insane. Nancy, Delta Airlines trains every one of their employees to spot signs of this sex trafficking on their planes and in their airports. And they're a leader in that.

And I learned so much by attending their training. It is a huge problem. It's everywhere. And anything that anybody can do to raise awareness to that is important. Okay, we're raising awareness to it right now. A lot of times, Alan, people think their children, and this irks me no end, when police, God bless them, because that's all that stands between us and evildoers, say that a girl is a runaway.

How many people do you know, oh, they ran away? We hear this, she ran away, she's 14, she's 13, she's 12, she's 15, she ran away. She didn't always run away. She may have gone to the mall on her own. She may have gone to an arcade or shopping. They have been taken as sex slaves, sex trafficking. I used to think that was so far-fetched. It's not. Now that I look at the statistics, I'm shocked. Shocked. And what's happening at Atlanta Airport, because it's such a huge airport, people are coming in through that international terminal with children from overseas as well, and then putting them out on the market here in the U.S. Sick! Sick! And one of the important things that has been happening,

and I've been following this in state legislatures, including your state of Georgia, where they have been changing the laws so that when police pick up one of these 13-year-olds, those 13-year-olds don't get charged with prostitution. They're treated as victims. Well, they shouldn't. They shouldn't be. Okay, what we're talking about is a so-called Sherry Papini copycat kidnapped that went down not too far from where Papini was taken. We also have Rojan Kemp and Stacey Smart. These women have been kidnapped. Rojan Kemp and Smart have not been found. Snow was found dead. Now we've got

another. There's Papini, Rojinkamp, Snow, Smart, and the Van Nuys woman that we've been arguing about. Five women within this area. This is what I know. Before I discredit a victim, I'm going to investigate it inside and out, upside and down. It ain't over yet with this Van Nuys victim. It's not over yet with Sherry Papini. Stacey Smart, still not found. Rojan Camp, still not found. I want to thank you for being with us today on Crime Stories.

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