Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Tot girl disappears from car, search intensifies for missing 4-year-old Maleah

Episode Date: May 10, 2019

Houston Police still are searching for 4-year-old Maleah Davis. Her stepdad says she was taken after he was knocked unconscious by three men during a carjacking. But, police say he has changed his statements. Is he the prime suspect?Nancy's expert panel weighs in:Joseph Scott Morgan: Forensics expert, and author of “Blood Beneath My Feet”Dr. Kris Sperry: Retired Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Georgia  Randall Kessler: Defense attorneyDr. Jolie Silva: Clinical and forensic psychologistJohn Lemley: Crimeonline.com Investigative Reporter  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. You are hearing from our friends at KTRK-TV. That was Courtney Fisher describing the abduction of a little girl, Malia Davis. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. You know, just right off the bat, I find that very, very difficult to take in. That you're at a parking lot and out of the blue, two guys approach. I don't really get a good description of them, except you can point out their ethnicity.

And they hit you in the head. How did you get in the position to be hit in the head? How'd that happen? But anyway, hit in the head, wake up 24 hours later, and your baby is gone. Let's just start right there. All-Star panel joining me today, Dr. Chris Berry, Chief Medical Examiner, former for State of Georgia, Randy Kessler, renowned defense attorney and Emory Law School trial professor, Dr. Jolie Silva, clinical forensic psychologist, worked for the New York Family Courts, John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, and Joe Scott Morgan, forensics expert, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet.

John Limley, help me out here. Tell me exactly what he says happens. Well, the stepfather, Darian Vance, says that, as we've heard, around 9 p.m. on Friday, this is May 3rd, he was driving from his home in Sugarland, Texas, to the Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. In the car with him, his stepdaughter, Malia Davis, and his son, Cortland. They were off to pick up Malia's mom, who was arriving on a flight from Massachusetts. The trip is right at one hour if you take the Sam Houston tollway from Sugarland. Darian says... Okay, stop right there. Limley, as much as I appreciate the intricate detail of various

airports, I'm trying to find out about the little girl, all right? So just gimme the nuts and bolts pronto. Certainly. Well, Darian says they were well on their way when he heard this popping sound. He thought they might have a flat tire, so he pulled over and got out of the car. This is when he said two men in a blue pickup truck rolled up, and while one was making comments about Malia, about how nice and sweet she was, the other guy knocked him out. And when he opened his eyes, Darian says he was in the back of the truck with the two children and three men. Okay, wait, wait, wait. He's in the back of their truck.

There's the children and three men, correct? Correct. So he's been put in somebody else's truck. I believe it's the same truck, the same blue Chevy pickup truck. Let me understand. He's in their truck, no longer in his vehicle. Yes, no. Yes, his vehicle, he doesn't know where it is at this point. Okay, so he wakes up and did he say 24 hours later? 21 hours to be specific. So he was knocked out for almost a day?

Almost. He says he goes in and out of consciousness for hours and hours, doesn't know where he is until 6 p.m. on Saturday. Okay, he must have been wearing a watch. To Dr. Chris Sperry, retired chief medical examiner. Dr. Sperry, what kind of a blow to the head would cause you to be knocked out for 21 hours? Well, it's the kind of blow to the head that is extremely severe. In other words, I would expect a laceration of the scalp, at least. Frankly, I would expect skull fracture and underlying brain injuries,

something that is so severe that it would put you in the hospital and it would be very noticeable. But without that kind of trauma, without that kind of injury involving the scalp, the skull, and the brain, there is nothing that's going to render an adult male unconscious for 21 hours. And Dr. Sperry, I don't know if you remember this. Way, way, way, when I was still prosecuting felonies, my nephew was in a crash. And you and I talked and talked and talked and talked about skull fractures, swelling of the brain, what does it mean, and I'm happy to report, you know, you lived through that dark, dark time with me, and just so you know, he went on to get a double major in IT and biology

and now is an IT troubleshooter for a big company. I mean, so you can make a major comeback from a big blow like that. But in this case, based on what Sperry, Chris Sperry, is telling me, I would expect to see major skull fracture and lacerations to knock you out for 21 hours. Hey, take a listen to KTRK-TV, Courtney Fletcher. 3 p.m. Saturday, a surveillance image shows Vince's car in Sugar Land. 6 p.m. Saturday, Vince tells police he woke up on the side of Highway 6 near the Sugar Land Mall, his one-year-old son with him, but no Malia. He tells police he tried to flag down cars for help but had no luck.

Just before 11 p.m. is when police say he made it to Methodist Hospital, less than a mile from where he says he was dropped off. We're hoping the public can give us any information about anybody who has seen Darian during that period of time because he doesn't really know where he was or what's going on there. Anybody who's seen the vehicle, the silver Nissan. Doesn't know where he is. Okay, he's one mile away. Isn't that what they just said, John Limley? He's one mile away. He doesn't know where said john limley he's one mile away he doesn't

know where he is how can that be correct he hadn't they hadn't made much uh journey on their trip already you know as i said this was an hour-long trip and they were maybe a couple of minutes into the trip according to his story well he's a mile away i mean i'm just i'm just trying to compare this to what i know to be true and i'm basing it on what I think my dad would have done if guys had come up and started talking about how pretty and sweet I was and I'm a tiny little girl. I don't know. I'm comparing this guy to the gold standard.

So let me get back to what we know, to Dr. Jolie Silva joining me, forensic psychologist. Dr. Silva, explain to me what would cause a memory loss like this. I mean, if it was a severe trauma to the head where he had traumatic brain injury after that. But I mean, you know, it just doesn't, I mean, he was coherent. It seemed like he was coherent after the fact he doesn't seem to have any of associated memory losses um that would be indicative to it to a real severe tbi traumatic brain injury it just it just doesn't add up to be knocked out for that long um from a blunt blunt object to the

head and then you know be able to have conversations after that, be able to kind of get up, function, you know. It just doesn't add up that he would have such severe memory loss. I've got a lot, a lot of questions and things are definitely not as they seem. Here is John Marshall at KHOU. Darion Vance told investigators he was driving to Bush Intercontinental Airport to pick up Malia's mom. Vance says Malia and his two-year-old son were in the car. While near Highway 59 in Greens Road, Vance told police he heard a noise and pulled over to check

his tire. While outside the car, he says two men pulled up in a blue Chevy pickup. One of them makes a comment saying that Malia looks very nice, looks very sweet. Vance says one of the men hit him in the head and he lost consciousness. Friday night, Malia's mother had to call someone else to pick her up when Vance and the children never showed up. Sometime between Friday night or Saturday, Vance says he woke up and was in the back of the pickup with both children, but three men were also in the car. He told police he passed out again and woke up at 6 p.m. Saturday near Highway 6 and 59 in Sugar Land. His son was with him. Malia was gone. 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, Nomelea. 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. You are hearing the very latest. That is from KTRK-TV's Stefania Acoli.

Now the search for Malia Davis is on. To John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, tell me about the search for the little girl. The search immediately started around this area where... What area? The area where Vince said he came to with his son, Corbin. Which is what? You know what? I'm a JD, not a DDS.

I'm not good at pulling teeth. So just tell me, where's the area Malia goes missing? Where did this go down? This is around Highway 6, about a mile from the hospital where he takes the child. Okay, let me be more specific. What city and state? We're in Sugar Land, Texas, where the family actually lives. Is that near Houston? It is about an hour away from Houston. Okay, there you go. Hour outside of Houston. Keep going. And so

they begin fanning out from the area where he said he came to with his son. They began cutting away brush and looking for anything they can find that will point them toward where the car has gone and where Malia has gone. Let's start right there. Joe Scott Morgan joining me, a forensics expert, author of Blood Beneath My Feet. Joe Scott, when you've got a vehicle, you've got a problem because that child is going 60 miles an hour at best if she makes it. Okay. So cops are off on the search for this vehicle. You know, I don't know if you remember this, the case of the runaway bride, the real case, not the movie

with Julia Roberts. What was her name? Jennifer, Jennifer. Can you look that up, new intern? Runaway bride, Georgia, Jennifer somebody. She blamed her, air quotey, assault and kidnap on three Hispanics. Why is it always three Hispanics? Although Susan Smith did blame an African-American male. And when that came out, I happened to be sitting next to my trial partner, Herman Sloan, now a judge, by the way. He's gone on to greatness. And he looked just like the composite Susan Smith drew of the guy that allegedly took her children. So I've been very, very leery of composites when mommy or daddy's story doesn't hold together for me. So this time, it's three Hispanic males, so you can't really identify in a pickup. So what do you do? The

child's gone. Oh, it was Jennifer Wilbanks. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, back to the search for the vehicle. What do you do, Joe Scott? Well, we work, you know, we work in crime scene investigation in linear time. There is a moment in time when something horrible happens that summons all of us investigators to the scene. And at that moment in time, as we move down that timeline, we're getting further and further out. You mentioned a car just a second, Nancy. As that car, let's just say a car is involved, it's moving further out in time, time is bleeding off the clock. It's getting further and further away, so the search area has to expand.

That's why the police are so frenetically searching for this child. Further out in time, she's moving away, moving away, and they have this awareness about it, and it creates a major problem, particularly when you've got all of these actors involved in this that this guy is claiming that are involved in this case uh has has this child been spirited away to another town to another state or to another country so randy kessler the dad in this case the dad in this case vince okay dar, Darian Vince, stepdad, by the way, stepfather, only reports the child Malia missing 24 hours in, if we take his word on the timeline, so 24 hours have already been lost, he's at a hospital about his own injuries, and that's when he goes, oh yeah, my daughter, my stepdaughter Malia, yeah, she was kidnapped, see, I've got a problem with goes, oh, yeah, my daughter, my stepdaughter, Malia.

Yeah, she was kidnapped. See, I've got a problem with that, Randy. Yeah, well, I know you don't like to give anybody the benefit of the doubt, especially someone who's accused of a crime. But, you know, if he's got a brain injury and he's been hit in the head, that accounts for a lot of why he might not have done the right thing at the right time in a timely way, especially if he was unconscious for the first 21 hours.

Okay, all right. I hear that. Vince, the stepfather, claims three men in a pickup truck pulled up, knocked him out, kidnapped him, Malia, and his one-year-old son before they eventually allowed him and the boy to go free. He then reports the alleged kidnap at a hospital Saturday night, explaining he had been in and out of consciousness for 24 hours. Now, what can you tell me, John Limley, about the condition of his vehicle? Didn't it all start when he had car trouble or a flat or something like that? He said that he heard a popping sound. He thought it might be a flat tire.

But eventually, that vehicle is found, not a scratch on it and no flat tires. Well, can you tell me about any security footage that may show me when and how the car arrived in a lot? What was it doing in a lot, by the way? Good question. The vehicle was taken to the Houston Police Department for forensic forensics tests. Detectives are looking for surveillance video from a shopping mall in a nearby Walmart store. The vehicle is a silver Nissan Altima and it was found Thursday morning

in this parking lot of a shopping mall in Missouri City, Texas. This is just outside of Sugar Land. Very disappointing, Malia was not in the car. No one was around it. An employee of a taxi cab company is actually the one that spotted the car in the parking lot and called police. Well, we do know this. We do know he had visible injuries. Cops saying something, quote, clearly happened to him. According to him, he was driving with Malia and his son. Was that his bio son, John Limley? Was that his bio son, John Limley?

Was that his bio son and his stepdaughter? Yes, his bio son and stepdaughter. And authorities have not been able to or will not release information on whether Malia's mom and her stepfather are married. Take a listen to the timeline as we knew it at the time. Vance says he walked down the road to Methodist Hospital where he was treated for a head injury and reported Malia missing nearly 24 hours after the alleged assault that left Vance unconscious. I realize there's a lot of blanks in that story but we're hoping on the public can fill it fill in the blanks. Sunday morning Malia's case became an amber alert. That afternoon traffic cameras spotted V Vince's silver

car in Sugar Land near where the family and friends handed out flyers, followed by search and recovery groups starting their work Monday morning. You're hearing our friend Josh Marshall there at KHOU-TV. Okay, I've got an issue. John Limley, I understand that he first tells cops he wakes up on the side of the road 6 p.m. Saturday evening next to his son. I thought you told me he woke up in the back of the Hispanic male's pickup. His story is that he wakes up sporadically. He's in and out of consciousness throughout that long 21-hour period. And one of the first things he remembers after the initial incident where the pickup drives up and the men get out is he's in the back of the truck with his son, Cortland.

And Malia, he says, is there as well at that first point when he comes to consciousness. But then when he wakes up 6 p.m. on Saturday, the son's there, but Malia's gone. Dr. Chris Sperry, retired chief medical examiner. Dr. Sperry, let me understand what you were telling me about a head injury. So now he's waking up in various places. He says he wakes up in the pickup with the children there. Now he's telling me he wakes up on the side of the road and manages to walk to the hospital. What does this mean, Dr. Sperry?

Is it physically possible what he's saying? No, that's not physically possible. I mean, quite honestly, what he's describing sounds like the plot of a very lousy TV show. It's the kind of thing that people see on television, but it doesn't happen in real life. And individuals, if they sustain a severe traumatic brain injury, a severe head injury, they're going to be unconscious and stay that way. But this lapsing in and out of consciousness

and remembering certain things very clearly but having large gaps that that's nonsense crime stories with Nancy grace within the 90 minutes, the search for Malia Davis shifted more than 30 miles away to Southwest Houston near Kirkwood and Bissonnette. We are in trouble. Bottom line, we are in trouble. Of course, I believe in miracles and we've had many of them. I don't think we're going to have a good ending. I hope we have an ending. The group helping Houston police look for the missing four-year-old girl is Texas EquiSearch. Their leader Tim Miller says they repositioned close to where

the stepfather Darion Vence calls home. We hope more calls come in. It's leading us in different directions. We hope the investigation is going to lead us there. It's all about her. You're hearing our friend Tim Miller, the head of Texas EquiSearch. He became devoted to finding missing children when his own daughter was kidnapped and murdered. Texas EquiSearch joining the search for Malia. Back to John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, and Joe Scott Morgan, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University. So what do we do now, Joe Scott, in the search for her?

And when you get that vehicle, when you finally get the vehicle, and I've heard different ways it was spotted, but it's spotted. What do you do? Well, you know, you've got to treat this vehicle with kit gloves, Nancy. You know, one of the things I'm thinking about is how did the car wind up there? You know, who actually facilitated that car to get to that point? So that leads me back to, you know, to one of the biggest tools we have. That's DNA evidence.

If, in fact, someone else was in that vehicle, operating that vehicle, got it to that location, they need to treat the interior, the exterior of that car very, very gently because you could have touched DNA in there that was brought about from somebody that's non-familial DNA. So that's one of the things that they need to take care of. My suspicion is that the car was initially processed a bit at the scene, but more than likely this car has been taken off in a flatbed truck where they can examine this thing under close scrutiny. Also, they're going to check base things. Remember his story, Nancy, he's talking about a flat tire. Is there any evidence of a flat tire? Is there any evidence the tire has ever been changed?

Has anybody manipulated the back area of the car where the tires and tools are kept? All these sorts of things. And of course, big things that we can look for, like blood evidence that's visible with a non-aided eye inside of that car. Is there blood spatter in there? Is there transfer of blood in there? Anything that could lead us back to information regarding exactly what happened. Well, for the longest time, police and detectives were looking for the stepfather with a bolo, be on the lookout for the car, and then take a listen to Detective Ken Fajia.

Next steps, we're going to go ahead and take the car back to HPD, process it, see if we can get any fingerprints off of it, and just go over it with a fine-tooth comb and see if we see anything. Are you still looking for any Hispanic man in a blue pickup? We are following up on tips because we have tips coming in on the crime stoppers with the pickup. And we, of course, we're following up on those. We have to. But we haven't had any luck finding that truck yet.

And at the same time, detectives and police were looking for the stepdad. Take a listen. Are you worried that you can't find the stepfather? Is he considered a person of interest? I would like to talk to him, but right now, I'm not concerned that we haven't found him. We're not, no, I'm not concerned about that. Isn't it just the last person that saw him you can't find? You would think that if, you know, your loved one is missing that you'd be coming forward.

And so he may have a legitimate reason. I haven't spoken with him. What does surveillance video show? Right now we're still trying to pull that and see what the angles of the cameras are. I have not personally viewed those. So we have officers in these businesses looking at to see if there's any cameras focused on the parking lot. And, of course, if there is, we're going to backtrack and get everything we can. You said it looks like a normal car.

I can't see a child's seat. What else is in there? Just miscellaneous clothes, papers. It's a clean car. Is there a child's seat in there? Yeah, I think I can believe I saw one in there, yeah. So what does that mean, Joe Scott Morgan? It's a clean car. Is there a trail seat in there? Yeah, I think I can believe I saw one in there, yeah. So what does that mean, Joe Scott Morgan? It's a clean car. Well, what he's saying, Nancy, is that first blush upon their examining the car,

there's nothing in there to indicate that any kind of struggle happened. You know, we're talking about obvious signs of struggle, looking for, you know, visible bloodstains, for instance, that might be in there. Or maybe things have been bent, broken, or something like that as a result of a fight that happened within the car. You know, there's nothing in there to indicate that there was anything going on that appeared to be nefarious, at least. Well, I have another issue. Randy Kessler, he says this happens on the side of the road when he has car trouble, possibly a flat tire. There are no flats.

And the car is found in a parking lot. Okay? And according to what investigators have said, a woman spots the gray Nissan Altima in a parking lot and reports it to Houston Police Department. So let me understand the theory here. Let's follow through what the stepfather, Darian Fentz, is saying. He's saying he thought a flat tire. He gets out. Then Hispanic males pull up in a pickup truck.

They admire the daughter. They hit him in the head. He wakes up 24 hours later, either in their pickup truck or on the side of the road walks to the hospital and then reports malia missing so how does his vehicle the ultimate get to a parking lot so you know nancy you you'd make a darn good prosecutor and i understand exactly how you got where you are today because that's exactly what you need to do to build a circumstantial evidence case but it's still circumstantial evidence and if i'm defending the case you gotta have more than that to put someone away for this kind of

crime so you know it's a start what kind of crime i don't even have a body what crime are you talking about well if you're saying he's involved in conspiracy where it's kidnapping hiding you can you can have murder without a body and certainly there have been cases where murders have been you know found but so you've already leapt to murder. Why? I haven't. I'm trying to defend whatever you said. Murder. I didn't say murder. You said it. Well, then what's the crime? Where are we investigating? Well, I do know a little girl's missing. I would say some type of custodial interference or even a kidnap, which leads me to the mother, John Limley. Wasn't she going to be picked up at the airport? Whatever. Is she still at the airport waiting no another family member eventually went to pick her up at the airport um the flight was supposed to be in around 10 o'clock that night

and that's why around 8 30 or so that's when the family left for bushing intercontinental okay let me understand something so they know he doesn't show up. They know Malia and the little brother are missing. Nobody files a missing person report? There was nothing filed that we are aware of. Nothing has shown up, and the police have not given any information as to that. And then 24 hours later, he shows up at the hospital and goes, Oh, somebody hit me in the head. He does have a head injury right in the middle of his forehead you can't miss it right um but i noticed there's not a

band-aid on it there's not a there's doesn't appear to be stitches that i i can't tell if those are no there's no i don't see any stitches but there is a there is something did happen to the front of his head but i don't know what so goes missing. We know he and the two children are gone by 10 o'clock that night when he's supposed to pick them up at the airport. But 24 hours later, nobody was reported missing. I mean, help me out. Joe Scott Morgan, you think I'd wait 24 hours to report the twins weren't where they're supposed to be?

No way. In fact, I'm going to go drive by their school right now and make sure they're there. No way. 24 hours? Yeah, just the parent in you drives you into just a dead panic at that point in time. Look, I'd be running all over the place screaming,

have you seen my child, have you seen my child, head injury or not, which sounds very dubious at best. Yeah, I can't imagine waiting 24 hours to go out and find my child. Well, it's not just the mom who was, we understand, flying in. KTRK's Shelly Childers talks with the dad, the bio dad, Craig Davis. I haven't spoken to the public because I can't talk about my daughter. 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. Investigators say Malia's

stepfather was the last person to see her. Darian Vince told police he was driving to the airport Friday night with Malia and his one-year-old baby boy. He pulled off at Greens Road and 59 to check a tire, and that's when he says he was ambushed by three Hispanic men in a 2010 blue Chevy pickup. Vince says the men kidnapped the family. He says he was in and out of consciousness and was dropped off in Sugar Land Saturday evening with the baby, but Malia, he says, was gone. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Detectives tell me those closest to Malia have to be ruled out, DETECTIVES TELL ME THOSE CLOSEST TO MALIYA HAVE TO BE RULED OUT, WHICH IS WHY THE SEARCH IS NOW FOCUSED NEAR THE FAMILY'S HOME. Early on I said that we're certainly hoping for the best, expecting the worst, and I certainly expect the worst at this point in time. I haven't seen Malia's mother or family on either search scene, but they spent last night handing out flyers like the one the girl's mother clutched while crying.

I just want to find Malia. I just want to find Malia. You're hearing our friends at KHOU, that was Jason Miles, reporting that now the search focus is around Malia's home. That does not jive at all with the story from stepfather Darian Vince. As a matter of fact, take a listen to what we have learned.

Documents we obtained from the Harris County clerk show that last August, the Department of Family and Protective Services received a report alleging physical abuse and neglectful supervision of Malia. She was living with her mother, Brittany Bowens, and stepfather, Darian Vance, at the time. The state got involved after Malia's mother brought her to the hospital with a head injury. Doctors had to do surgery to remove half of her skull. When Malia got out of ICU, doctors ordered that she wear a helmet for 12 to 24 months while she healed. But that was not Malia's first trip to the ER.

Dr. Crisberry, I hardly even know what to say. Why would you have to remove that amount of a child's skull? I've seen children, when my son had a head injury, we thought he would be having to wear a helmet. He didn't, for your skull to, for everything to heal. But explain to me, what did she just say? Explain it to me in terms I can understand. Sure. What she said was that half of the skull had to be removed. And the reason for that is severe swelling of the brain. There also was bleeding on the surface of Malia's brain, which is very suspicious,

a subdural hemorrhage or hemorrhage on the surface of the brain. And the brain reacts to major injury pretty much in one way, by swelling. And when the brain starts to swell, the brain's enclosed, especially in a child of Valia's age, within a box that can't enlarge and can't expand. So as the brain swells, left unchecked, it will cut off its own blood supply and eventually cause the person to die. But in some cases, such as Malia's, surgeons were able to remove a large part of the skull to allow the brain to expand and swell without resulting in pressure on the blood supply to the brain. And then with enough time and medication to reduce the swelling of the brain, they were then able to put the piece of skull back.

And this can take a week, a couple of weeks sometimes. But it's fairly remarkable surgery, but it's life-saving. And if you don't do it, then the only outcome is death. So this is a life-saving measure. But what it also tells me is how severe the injury was to Malia's brain to cause such massive uncontrolled swelling that they had to remove half of the skull in order to allow the brain to swell and expand without damaging the brain itself. Dr. Sperry, I had written a question for you. Does the skull grow back? Like when you break a bone and you get it set, the bone seems to fuse

together. You actually create bone and you get well. This is the way I understand it. I'm a simple trial lawyer. But does the skull, you said they then put the piece of the skull back? Yes. There's two different ways. What the surgeons will do, they'll take this piece of skull, which would be about the size of the palm of your hand. It's fairly large.

And they can do two different things. One is to freeze it at very, very low temperature. It's usually about maybe 40 degrees below zero at least so that the bone itself will stay viable. It won't die. The other thing which is commonly done is actually to put the piece of bone inside of the person's abdomen to just make an incision and put it inside the belly to allow it to, you know, stay alive again. And then when it comes time to put the piece of skull back onto the surface of the brain, then it's just removed from the belly. It's a fairly simple procedure.

And they open up the scalp incision, place the bone back, and then use some anchors to keep the piece of bone in place. And then the bone will, the edges will grow back together once you put the piece of removed bone back in place. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. You put it back in place, and then the bone heals with time. To Randy Kessler, a defense lawyer and trial professor at Emory Law School, you know, when you listen to somebody like Chris Berry,

do you feel like I do, a little bit of an idiot? Yeah. I mean, it's amazing. I mean, I can throw out Latin phrases and argue in court all day, but wow. As much as I'd like to talk about, you know, a piece of skull in your abdomen

and freezing and all that, I want to get back to, Malia's still missing, everybody. But what I don't understand right now, Limley, John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, is the mother says she fell from a chair. Okay, Limley, John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, the mother says she fell from a chair. Okay, I don't need to go to a doctor, Dr. Sperry, to tell you,

you're not going to have that kind of injury from falling from a chair. I've fallen from a chair before. I've missed the chair, not paying attention. I don't have a brain injury. I don't have to have part of my skull removed. I mean, anybody in there, a village idiot could figure that out. So why was she back in the home? I mean, if that's true, then that means that the mother is lying, which means why is the mother lying? Has to be a nefarious reason, I assume, for the mother to be lying. Why was she back in

the home? And this is by far the first time Malia has been abused or neglected. Not her first trip to the emergency room. According to records, three weeks before this incident we were talking about that required half of her skull to be removed, she was, this is July 10th, the mother took Malia to the ER after she was throwing up blood. Doctors reported Malia was extremely lethargic and weak. She was treated and sent home. The following week, this is now July 28th, Malia back in the hospital for a cut to her forehead. Later, medical professionals reported she had blood just outside of her brain, which, of course, could be life-threatening. Now, after a—

Okay, stop, stop, stop. I can't take anymore. I can't take anymore. They're not going to find this girl alive. They're now looking around the home area to find her. Dr. Jolie Silva, why? Why? Why abuse a little four-year-old girl? Why go through all

this drama and these big lies? Why not just put her up for adoption? Let her go to somebody that will love her. Why pick out the stepchild versus the natural child? I mean, you know, I've seen hundreds of cases like this, you know, in the New York City area. And I mean, they have an inability to cope with any of the hardships that are involved with parenting, and they take it out on the child, they take it out on the child that the child is doing something to them. And they have no remorse. You know, I just see it over and over. They typically just do not have remorse. The mother in my mind is just as responsible if she stood by and let this happen. Tip line 713-308-3600, 713-308-3600, or 713-P-S. Our prayer is that Malia Davis, a four-year-old little girl, is found alive. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off.

Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.