Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - SICK RANSOM TEXTS: MISSING WOMAN'S FAMILY TOLD SHE'D BE "CHOPPED INTO PIECES"

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

Layla Santanello, a young mother from Tennessee, was last seen on June 27, 2023, in a field next to the Americourt Hotel. Employees and guests reported that she appeared erratic and paranoid. Surveillance footage captured Layla walking around the hotel, reportedly knocking on doors and searching for someone. The events leading up to her disappearance began on June 24, three days earlier. Jennifer Santanello, Layla’s mother, received a message from Layla’s Facebook account. The message, sent by Layla’s boyfriend, asked if Layla was in jail or the hospital, saying he hadn’t seen her in more than 24 hours. Later that night, Layla messaged her mother from the same account, writing, “I’m fine mom,” and adding, “I been with a friend. I don’t have a phone to text or call. I’m using someone else’s.” About two weeks later, a series of strange Cash App requests were sent from Layla’s account to both her stepmother, Brittany Zeitler, and her mother. One request for $100 included the subject line “twlmg.” Several more requests followed in quick succession with the same subject line. Jennifer sent $1 to the account and asked if Layla was okay. As the transactions continued, she came to believe that “twlmg” meant “they won’t let me go.” Another message allegedly read, “We have Layla. She owes a drug debt, and if she doesn’t pay, you’ll find her chopped up into pieces.” Joining Nancy Grace today: Brittany Zeitler - Stepmom to Layla Santanello George Emmett - Dad to Layla Santanello Ben Powers - Criminal Defense Attorney; Facebook: Legal Powers PLLC Caryn Stark -  Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and consultant; Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice Rick Shaffer - Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Rebekah McNerney - Writer / Reporter at Kingston Times News; Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekah-mcnerney/INSTA:- https://www.instagram.com/rebekahmcnerney    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The family of a missing woman last seen running barefoot from a hotel just told she would be chopped into pieces and a sick ransom text. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Layla Santanello is a young Tennessee mom living with her boyfriend Michael and baby daughter Nova. Things take a turn when Layla and her boyfriend get into an argument and Layla leaves the house. This is Layla Santanello, a young mother from Kingsport, Tennessee, who hasn't been seen in nearly two years. Layla is mom to now four-year-old Nova Grace, who now lives with her grandmother, Jennifer Santanello.

Jennifer, Layla's father, George Emmett, and stepmother, Brittany Zeitler, are all desperate to bring Layla home and reunite her with their daughter. Where is Layla? Again, thank you for being with us tonight in our search for missing mom Layla. What do we know? Joining me and All-Star panel to make sense of what we are learning right now. But first, listen to this. She had this suit on with her arm and there was a pink teddy bear.

Exactly alike. Like literally the same color and everything. And he was sitting in the chair and he was holding her like this. Right? And he had his other arm like this just in his lap. I took the pink teddy bear and I put it in his arm and I took a picture because it looked like he had two teddy bears. I took the pink teddy bear and I put it in his arm. I took a picture.

Looked like he had two teddy bears. There you see Leila telling a story about her most precious prize and that would be her daughter Nova Grace talking about a pink teddy bear. You know what? I want to see that one more time. Guys look at Leila now missing. She had the suit on with her arm and there was a pink teddy bear. Exactly alike. Literally the same color and everything. And he was sitting in the chair and he was holding her like this.

Right? And he had his other arm like this just in his lap. I took the pink teddy bear and I put it in his arm. I took a picture because it looked like he had two teddy bears. Let me go straight out now to Layla's father and stepmom, George Emmett and Brittany Zeitler. To both of you, thank you for being with us. George, tell me about Layla. When I see her singing along to music or talking about her baby, Nova Grace, It's hard to believe that she's out of Nova's life.

I mean, tell me about her. I understand she was a very, very loving mother. Yeah, she was a very loving mother. She loved her daughter very much. She loved her family. She was always doing things with her daughter. You know, she was always doing things with her daughter. She was always trying to strive to do better in life.

She's a wonderful person, and I just want her back home. What has it been like, George, without her? Miserable. I can't sleep. I can't think right. It's hard to work. I've got kids I got to take care of. It's just been very stressful. It's every parent's worst nightmare. Brittany is Lila's stepmother. Brittany, thank you for being with us. What has it been like for you guys trying to move forward? You've got Nova Grace that doesn't have her mother. You're missing Layla. What has that been like since she went missing? It's been really difficult, especially on all of us. It definitely impacted us in many different ways, especially with having to take on a little girl that is definitely missing her mom

and needs her need to be met for that little girl she needs all the extra tlc that she could potentially get and we can all as a whole blended family give her the best life that we could possibly give her at this time i mean we've learned during this unexpected tragedy that we've been faced with life doesn't't stop. Life keeps going, whether we want it to or not. And we still have to pick up all the pieces and there's still a lot of work that has to get done. And we just keep holding on to the little bit of hope that she is in fact still out there.

You said something very striking, Brittany. I remember when my fiance was murdered, I felt like the whole world had just stopped. And then I looked back and was stunned to see that the world just kept on turning. I was the only one that stopped. It feels like everything froze in time. George, what do you tell Nova Grace about her mom what does she ask uh she she just basically i guess where's mommy where's mommy where's mommy looking for my mom yeah she she doesn't really know she was she was really young really young at the time we're talking two years so she's wasn't didn't really know much at that time but she is starting to question where her mom is. And in fact, do I have a mom? You know, she'll see cartoons. She'll watch other kids call mom, dad, whatnot.

You know, and here she is wondering, where's my mom? So she is starting to ask those questions. Where is my mom? And of course, we get stunk, all of us do. And we try to, you know, re-change, you know, the topic and show her her face and show great pictures of Layla and Nova together so she can at least see the good times that they did have together and just hope that she can have more. Brittany, you just broke my heart to think of baby Nova Grace saying,

do I even have a mom? Do I have a mom? What did you do when she said that? When she just started talking about mom, I just had to fight back all my tears and just say, oh, you know, you'll see mommy soon. And just try to redirect her into a different topic or do something different just to kind of get that off the topic. Because I honestly don't know what to even say at this point. We could say so much, and we're going to run out of things to say,

and there's going to come a point in time where, what do we say? Guys, the family of a missing woman, Leila, last seen running barefoot from a hotel. I don't want to put the cart before the horse. Let's start at the beginning. Listen. Just a few months after having her daughter, Nova Grace, Layla Centinella loses her grandfather, with whom she was very close.

In the rollercoaster of emotions between the joy of becoming a new mom and the grief of doing so without her grandfather, Layla leans on Michael Thompson for support. The two quickly become inseparable, and Layla moves in with Michael's family in Kingsport, Tennessee. The grief that she went through when the grandfather died unexpectedly to Karen Stark, joining me, renowned psychologist joining us out of Manhattan, radio trauma expertant at KarenStark.com. Karen, you never know how the loss of that father figure, grandfather figure will affect you the rest of your life. And for Layla, the loss of her grandfather was devastating. It was a real

turning point in her life. I have no doubt, Nancy, that she was feeling that she would be able to share her daughter with him. She was very, very close to him and we've come to many forms, as you know. And in this case, with somebody so close, it could have led to devastation. Here she is, she's so confused. She loves her daughter and is excited, but a tremendous loss and trauma when it came to her grandfather. And, you know, very often we don't understand why people do the things they do when they're functioning with immense grief. How did the death of the grandfather affect her, George?

Really, really bad. She was really talking and nobody wasn't eating right uh just crying constantly crying every day um i've tried to hug her hold her and love her she just didn't want to be bothered really yeah we were lucky enough to actually have her present um when she found out that her grandfather passed away, she was actually in New Jersey taking her family vacation with Nova, her mom and the mom's boyfriend. And I want to say we were more fortunate enough to be there for that traumatic time in her life as a whole. And yes, she was very devastated over the loss of her grandfather, absolutely. And you know, Karen, start with me, psychologist.

You think that someone would be traumatized when they lose their mom or their dad, which they are, typically. But I can identify that when I lost my grandmother, my mother's mother who raised us, Lucy, that I then named my daughter after. My grandmother raised us while my mom worked, and we were extremely, extremely close. So a lot of people can't relate to someone falling apart when they lose a grandparent, right? But for many of us, it can be devastating. Without a doubt, this is sort of a father figure for her. Even though she has her dad and loves her dad, she was extremely close to her grandfather. And so the behavior that you have after a loss like that, Nancy, anything is possible

because you're in trauma. You're really feeling extreme PTSD sometimes where you can't get over the event and you can't get over the loss. You have to come to terms with it. It also makes me think, of course, I'm just an armchair psychologist unlike you, Karen Stark, but it makes me wonder if that's not why she then got so attached to the boyfriend, Michael Thompson. Listen. On Friday, June 23rd, Layla gets in an argument with her boyfriend, Michael Thompson, and while the pair are usually attached at the hip, Layla takes off, leaving most of her belongings, including the couple's shared phone, behind. Layla stays with several friends, but is

not in contact with family without her phone. Oh, my stars. This, to me, that starts the dominoes falling. When she leaves the boyfriend's place without a cell phone. Okay, let me understand this. Brittany Zeitler, they were sharing one account? Yes, they were. They were working off of one working phone. The other phone had a Wi-Fi connected phone. So that was when they were able to get a hold of one another. Layla would stay behind.

Michael would go run his errands and and they stayed with one phone on the one account for many months so those two were sharing one phone then that phone disappears that right there marks for me the beginning of a timeline why because? Because nobody can be in touch with her. Rick Schaefer joining me, former FBI supervisory special agent. I mean, in this day and age, Rick, your cell phone. I mean, let's talk about the Alex Murdoch case for Pete's sake. Murdoch charged in the double murder of his wife and son, Maggie and Paul. The digital footprint, the cell phone data, the nav system in his vehicle told a story. I mean, as far as I was concerned, you put that one digital analyst on the stand, case closed because it places Murdoch at the scene of the double murder at the time of the double murder.

You hear his voice in the background of a video taken. And then with the nav system, you see what time he leaves, goes, hides out at his grandmother's 30 minutes away. You can even see where he slows down, lets the window down. Yes, you can tell that from a nav system and throws Maggie, his now dead wife's phone, out the window and then takes off. You can tell all that from modern digital science. So when you don't have a phone, that greatly, greatly impedes a criminal investigation. Absolutely. You're absolutely correct. Not only are you going to be able to determine where that phone is, but who's in possession of it at time, not only from the cell tower data collection standpoint, looking at cameras,

any digital technology that would help track her whereabouts. And the reality of it is that she's clearly vanished. And that's a very difficult thing to do in today's environment out there where everything is digitally captured. Lele is last seen in an open field before seemingly vanishing into thin air. Now her family is looking for answers as to the whereabouts of the young Tennessee mom. I've been broken, I've been broken, I don't know how I feel. Where is Layla after a sick money grab where the family gets threatening ransom texts, threatening to chop Layla into bits if money isn't forked over? This during the search for the missing mom as it goes on. We were just describing how Layla and the boyfriend that she suddenly moves into after the death of her grandfather have an argument.

They have an argument. She takes off without a cell phone. Then what happens? Saturday morning, Michael Thompson sends Jennifer Santanello a message on Layla's Facebook profile. Jennifer is immediately worried. It's unusual that Michael wouldn't know where Layla is. Michael says he hasn't seen Layla in more than 24 hours. Jennifer spent several hours trying to track Layla down.

Layla isn't hospitalized anywhere. Finally, Jennifer's niece gets word from a mutual friend that Layla spent the night at his house and was okay when she left. Okay, so there, even after she takes off without a cell phone, which destroys everybody because they can't get in touch with her, we find out she's at a friend's house. Okay, everything is okay. But finally, we actually hear from Layla herself. Sunday morning, Jennifer Santanella wakes up to another Facebook message, this time from Layla. Layla says she's okay and doing fine, much to her mother's relief. Jennifer asks a few questions, but when Layla is vague, Jennifer assumes it's because Layla knows Michael can access the account. She doesn't want him to know where she is.

Layla reminds her mom that she isn't carrying a phone, but she'll do her best to check in as much as possible. Jennifer's niece places Layla at a friend's again, confirming Layla borrowed their phone to message her mom. Okay, now we have a genuine lead. I was suspicious about those messages because they didn't sound like Lila, and I don't have to talk about Gabby Petito, who went on a cross-country trip with fiancé Brian Laundrie. He murdered her and was using her phone and her Ford Transit and her credit cards and her money and was texting odd texts.

They wouldn't seem odd, probably to you or to me, but to the family that was getting them, they knew that wasn't Gabby. For instance, when she asked about her grandfather, she said, in my case, well, how's Walter Malcolm and Grace Senior? She would never have said that. She would be saying, how's granddaddy? So they knew something was wrong. Well, they were right. It wasn't her texting. It was Brian Laundrie trying to give the appearance that Gabby was still alive. However, in this case, there was another reason that Layla was not being forthcoming in her text to Brittany Zeitler,

her stepmom, and George Emmett, her father, to Brittany, apparently, because they shared the same cell phone. And we had this occur recently in the case of GLAM yoga instructor Caitlin Armstrong, who murdered her boyfriend Colin Strickland's former girlfriend out of a fit of jealousy, she, the yoga instructor, was sharing an account with Colin Strickland, the boyfriend. So when he was texting the victim, Maureen, she could

see it all. She could see it all. It popped right up on her iPad, right? So here, do you believe that that was Lela messaging, but that she was intentionally being vague because she shared that account with the boyfriend that she just walked out on? Yes, absolutely. We did think that it was Layla for the moment. So we, you know, we're like, OK, maybe she doesn't want to know where she is at. He wants to stay away from her, vice versa.

So we just let it be at that moment in time. But when we didn't hear from her voice, we started to question. Yeah. What about it, George? When you found out about that Facebook message, I'm fine, I'm at so-and-so friend, and then that was corroborated by someone else. Yes, that's where she is. Everything's fine.

At that point, you were not concerned. Is that right? Yeah, at that point, I thought maybe she did get in an argument with him and tried to want to get away from him at first. But then when I tried to reach out to her and didn't get a response back, that's when I started getting a little nervous. The case moves forward. Now it's Monday morning. Monday morning, Michael Thompson is becoming more insistent that he can't find Layla, claiming she asked him to pick her up from a friend's house but wasn't

there when he arrived. Jennifer still believes her daughter is avoiding Michael and doesn't want to tip him off to where she is. Michael then reaches out to Layla's dad, George Emmett, making him intensely worried. Okay, right there. When did you become concerned, George, that something was amiss? When I texted her and I didn't get no response the next day, that's when I was really worried because that's not like my daughter. She picks up for me no matter what. So that's when I really got worried and decided I was going to call and make a police report on my daughter.

You know, I want to talk about what you just said, George. Joining me is Lila's father, George, and stepmom, Brittany. Joining me now is a renowned defense attorney, Ben Powers. You can find him at Legal Powers online. Ben, thank you for being with us. Ben, it's called routine evidence. And I don't like that description because it sounds like you're talking about typical, run-of-the-mill, standard evidence. But what it means is evidence of someone's routine.

Right? A routine. Right. A routine that you unintentionally carry out or repeat every day. I do the same thing every single morning in an effort to get my children to school, take care of my mother who lives with us, take care of a multitude of pets before I can start my real job, right? It's a routine that has been perfected to save time and accomplish things, right?

That's a routine. And here, when George Emmett says she didn't call, a lot of people will go, hey, I don't hear from my daughter for two weeks at a time. And that's okay. I called my mom and dad, say what you want every single day in the morning and at night at a bare minimum. That has been my routine. I wanted to hear from them. I wanted to hear their voice. So routine evidence is very powerful, Ben Powers. I guess some defense attorneys would argue it means nothing. I would say routine evidence can be important, but under these circumstances, the routine was clearly turned upside down and inside out. You know, she has a big argument with her boyfriend that they're basically attached at the hip because of extenuating circumstances. They're relegated to one phone

instead of two. And so she could be separated from him and the phone. She could be separated from him with the phone. You know, that type of distinction in the timeline definitely throws the routine into question and isn't as reliable as maybe under regular circumstances that the routine usually exists within. She had the suit on with her arm and there was a pink teddy bear exactly alike, like literally the same color and everything. And he was sitting in the chair and he was holding her like this, right? And he had his other arm like this just in his lap i took the pink teddy bear and i put it in i took a picture because i look like he had two teddy bears george with me this is layla's dad why are you crying it's devastating it's been too long uh it's very stressful on me and my family.

I just, it's a lot. That's why I'm crying. That's every parent's worst nightmare. You know what I was thinking, George? After, you know, my fiance was murdered, I never, ever thought that I could ever remarry, that I would ever have children. I thought that was just a dream that was just over. And it was. It was for over 20 years. Then, suddenly, I have a family.

Can I tell you, the greatest thing that happened to me was having the twins. And let me see those videos, New York Control Room. I mean, this was the time of Layla's life. She finally has Nova Grace. Just the love of her life. Finally, happiness. She has this beautiful baby girl I mean I guess most moms out there would agree that's the best time of your life when you finally have your children and to think she's snatched away from her daughter and now her daughter George has pictures and these videos that's it and says things like do

I even have a mommy I mean I get why you're crying George yeah she's all my granddaughter's all I have left of my daughter as of now for two years. Oh, it's really hard. I just want answers. I want closure. Guys, we left off. We left off where George is now becoming extremely worried. Listen,

George calls Jennifer to discuss whether they should report Layla missing. Extremely concerned after his last conversation with Michael Based on her last text conversation with Layla, Jennifer doesn't want to jump the gun. The parents decide to report Layla missing the next morning, which will be 48 hours since Layla's last contact with family. However, George can't shake the feeling he needs to do something, and after several sleepless hours, makes an official report that Layla Santanello is missing in the early morning hours of June 27th. So, George, since Michael Thompson, the boyfriend, and Layla had been so close, joined at the hip following her grandfather's death, when he is starting to ask you, where's Layla, you know something is really wrong. What prompted you to report her missing at that time?

Well, when I couldn't get a hold of her and she didn't respond back to me, I already knew something was wrong, something was not right. So when he was reaching out to me and sending me text messages about not being able to find my daughter and everything, that just made it ten times worse for me. I mean, I went right out there. Right away, we hired a private detective. We have a private detective that's been on the case since day one.

We have a private detective. We've drove from New Jersey to Tennessee several, I came many times already on behalf of my daughter. Then the search is on once George reports her missing. And finally, a lead. Listen. Kingsport police immediately begin investigating, speaking with Michael Thompson and his family around 2 a.m. June 27th. By the end of the day, investigators have a lead. Layla checked into the AmeriCorp Hotel for the night of June 26th. Employees and other guests say Layla seemed paranoid. Layla is caught on CCTV knocking on doors to look for someone.

Join me now, a very special guest, Rebecca McNary, reporter, writer at Kingston Time News. Rebecca, thank you so much for being with us. So who was she looking for? Why are people there at the hotel describing her as afraid of something? You know, going based off the facts that we have received from the Kingsport Police Department and other local authorities, we have not been sure of who specifically she was looking for. We know that witnesses testified that she was acting paranoid and looking for something, but the Kingsport Police Department

has not released any specific details regarding that certain matter. You know, Rebecca McNary, you're so right. Speaking of a witness, a perceived good Samaritan, this is what we learn. Please let me help you. I have a room. My mom, my son are inside. You can sit down. I will talk to you. I will do anything I can to help you. She froze for a moment, took a breath and was like, um, and she looked at my room. She looked at me and then she said, no, I can't. And she just ran out into the parking lot.

And that was the last I saw her. Is that right, Rebecca Maneri? She, this good Samaritan said, look, what's wrong? Who are you looking for? Why are you afraid? And apparently, Lella goes, no, no, I can't talk to you about it. And takes off running. Yeah, that is several witnesses accounts.

I believe the police department and local authorities have told me that. But again, I can't comment on that specifically because the police department has not come forward with that specific information. Where is a mom of one little Nova Grace? We're talking about Layla. Do we finally have a bead on where she may be? And now is this a break? Listen. As police tried to determine Layla's next move, employees at the nearby warehouse provide another lead. Around 6.15 in the morning, Layla asks if she can bum a cigarette. None of the men have smokes on them. Layla thanks them anyway and walks away. The men morning Layla asks if she can bum a cigarette. None of the men have smokes on them. Layla thanks them anyway and walks away. The men say Layla was perfectly polite and seemed coherent.

Layla did appear slightly disheveled with messy hair and grass and leaves on her back like she maybe had laid down in the field. Now how does a marble slab creamery fit into this search for Layla? We all know what that is. Very popular ice cream place, a shop. Listen. An employee at a nearby ice cream shop, the Marble Slab, says a blonde woman came into the store around noon on the 27th with no shoes on. She says the woman was very disheveled, wearing a white t-shirt and black leggings. The woman seemed somewhat incoherent and made a comment about her husband wanting to kill her before asking to borrow the employee's phone. The woman walked back out of the store, saying she wanted to head to a nearby Five Below

to buy shoes. When shown a photo of Layla, the employee is convinced that's the woman she spoke to. Okay, we've all heard attacks on eyewitnesses, and in this particular case, we hit a dead end. Kingsport police intensely focus on the Marbleslab lead, checking with several more nearby establishments. Authorities believe they are zeroing in on Layla, but CCTV and phone records eventually prove the employee was mistaken about the woman's identity. Officers track the woman down, who confirms it was her in the ice cream shop that afternoon, not Layla Santanello. Ah. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining me, investigative reporter and writer at the Kingsport Time News, Rebecca McNary.

Rebecca, that's devastating to get an eyewitness tip. The woman is absolutely convinced this is Leila that comes into Marble Slab Creamery and she's disproved. Tell me what happened. The woman was so convinced it was Layla. Yeah, she, according to reports, she was convinced that she had seen Layla. Again, the Kingsport Police investigated, and that was indeed not the case based off the records and the surveillance footage that they had. But again, something like that where you think that you have a lead

and then it's dead end is definitely devastating for the family that's trying to bring Layla home. To Ben Powers joining us, criminal defense attorney. Ben, it's also bad for an investigation and potential trial in the future because when you get a lead, an eyewitness lead, and the woman is absolutely convinced she sees Layla, right? Later on, a defense attorney can say, see, she saw Layla at this time on this date. And my client on trial now was here in another state or whatever, fill in the blank. When you try a case, you have to go down every avenue to get to the truth. You can't leave anything out. But when you go down those avenues, for instance, if you name a person of interest or a suspect too soon, it turns out to be wrong.

That's a field day for the defense, just like a false tip. Yeah, I would agree. I think the significance of the witness being mistaken is it false tip. Yeah, I would agree. I think the significance of the witness being mistaken is it shows that police went down the wrong thread. You know, it ultimately led to a time commitment from the investigation that ended with a dead end in the investigation. So then they've got to go back and figure out what direction do they take the investigation. And so now that time, that effort, that dedication has been spent on something that wasn't fruitful. Oh, yeah. And something like this, you know, time is the enemy of an investigation.

The longer time goes on, the harder the investigation gets. Two weeks after Layla's disappearance, both mother and stepmother start getting cash app requests from Layla's account. But the messages attached to the requests send chills down their spines. They're keeping me hostage. I owe someone 15 minutes or you'll find her in pieces. And the acronym TWLMG panics. The women send various amounts of money with messages like, are you okay? And call me in the hopes Layla would see them also reporting the activity to police. Oh my stars, sick ransom text to Layla's family. George Emmett, what happened? At that point, we got really scared. We got really nervous

and we were willing to do whatever it took to try to get a hold of her at that point. I mean, in all of her history, had Layla ever sent you a text or an email like that? Never. Never. So that's why we were very concerned and worried that somebody might have had it. And they actually threatened to chop her up? Yes, correct. Yes.

You know, it's just actually making my stomach hurt after all you had been through. And someone is threatening to chop her up unless they get money. Look, we're showing you the sick ransom text. I mean, Brittany, what went through your mind when you get this? I was in utter shock. And of i reached out to jennifer i reached out to leila's boyfriend michael and while i am on the phone with michael i'm like are you getting any cash up requests because i'm getting some right now saying for abbreviations and i gave him you know twmlg and he goes oh well my brother says they won't let me go or they will let me go.

And I'm not processing everything that's going on at that moment. I'm just thinking, Oh, my God, how do we do this? I want to hear her voice. I want to know that she is in fact, okay, do they really have her? So there were so many things just running through my mind as well as George's and we were just dumbfounded. Like, oh, my, what do we do? Do we send all this money? Do we? I dragged it out as much as I possibly could to be able to get as much information as I possibly can.

And Jennifer and I were asking questions like, you know, what's your youngest brother's name? What's your pop secret passcode? Only things that Layla could answer. and they were left unanswered. So how did he, the boyfriend, know what TWLMG means? It's not like it's IDK. I don't know. I had to figure out what does TWLMG mean? And he knew it off the tip of his tongue?

That's what I was saying. And like, I, of course course wasn't processing it at that exact moment but once I had a moment to process everything on what was going on and rereading all the messages and everything that I had sending it to the investigators I was just like wow I like I know I got a lot going on but how do you know exactly what that meant? In essence, I was just, I was wowed. I was wowed. This is what Layla's mother has to say about that ransom text. It's one thing for a stranger to try and capitalize on something like that.

The way that he did is a whole other thing when it's someone that you care about. From our friends at News 5 WCYB to Rebecca McNary joining us, reporter Kingsport Time News. Who is he? Who sent the ransom text threatening to chop Layla into bits? Yeah, so police later found out during their investigation that that was her boyfriend at the time, Michael Thompson, who was sending those pretty alarming messages to Leila's family about two weeks after she was reported missing. He was later indicted by a grand jury here in Sullivan County on financial exploitation, credit card fraud, and identity theft. Thompson otherwise cooperates with the investigation,

and neither family nor cops believe Thompson had anything to do with Layla's disappearance, but obviously tried to take advantage of the situation. Jennifer Santanello claims Thompson has taken a polygraph test, but the results were inconclusive because he was not sober for the five-hour exam. George Emmett, I want to confirm with you what our sources have told us, that you do not believe Thompson had anything to do with Layla's disappearance. No, I don't believe that. Well, they cleared him first. First, they cleared him.

How do you feel? I feel he might know something or know some people that could be involved with her whereabouts. That is possible, but he's not saying nothing to nobody. Guys, what about the search now? In addition to grid searches near the AmeriCorp Hotel, Kingsport PD have searched the home Layla shared with Michael Thompson and served at least 30 more search warrants. Officers have also issued at least 25 subpoenas. Officers remain tight-lipped about their most current leads to protect the investigation but have searched several other locations in addition to the field, totaling six ground

searches. To Rebecca McNary joining us from Kingsport Time News, tell me about the search as it stands right now and the reward. I know that the search, the ground searches were subsided a little bit during the colder winter months, but that those are expected to pick up again here in the near future. As far as any kind of reward money, I'm not sure. I believe the last number that I heard was around seven grand that her family was offering to whoever had information about her whereabouts and disappearance. To George and Brittany, this case has taken so many twists and turns, false reports, a false citing that seems so credible, the ransom text, just cold-blooded ransom text, a money grab. So where are we left? In my mind, we're left with the warehouse workers that didn't have a cigarette seeing her walk off

into a field. That's where we are. What about it, George? That's where we are as of right now that's the last known place that she was actually seen so that's all we know as of right now what about it britney well so even though that's all that we have at this time we're going to continue to work as hard as we can to figure out what direction she went in. I call it the direction of the unknown since it's been two years almost now. And I know any type of surveillance footage that we have tried to grab off of weather cameras or any type of surveillance that our investigator had tried to pull. I know at this time, it's definitely going to be extremely difficult to be able to pull.

So we're got to just keep on searching and put ground searches in place to be able to gather as much resources that we possibly can from nonprofit organizations that offer cat of our dogs, drones, extensive. Yes, extensive wide varieties of, you know, needs for Layla to be able to be found since we feel like we're working next to little of nothing at this time. If you know or think you know anything about the disappearance of Leila Santanello, please dial 423-343-9780 or toll free 800-TBI-FIND, 800-824-3463. There is a $7,000 reward for information in the disappearance of Leila, and that reward is growing. We now remember an American hero, Senior Deputy Christopher Corzelius, Travis County Sheriff, Texas, passed away in the line of duty. Survived by grieving partner, Bethany, mother, Nancy, father, Paul, stepmom, Patty.

American hero, senior deputy, Christopher Corzelius. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart podcast