April 14, 2020 • 41 mins
Diana Alvarez's mother goes to wake her 9-year-old daughter for church, but Diana is gone. A search begins, but it will be more than three years before her body is found by a team of surveyors in Osceola County, Florida. How did she go missing from the family home in the middle of the night?
With Nancy Grace to discuss:
- Jim Elliott - Attorney with Butler Snow, legal counsel for various Georgia municipalities and other governmental entities. www.butlersnow.com
- Steven Lampley - Former detective, author of “Outside Your Door”
- Joseph Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, author of "Blood Beneath My Feet"
- Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta Ga
- Ray Caputo- Lead News Anchor for Orlando's Morning News, 96.5 WDBO
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi guys, Nancy Grace. Here at Crime Stories, we work
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(01:09):
all of you moms, dad's, grandparents, uncle's aunts. Imagine your
nine year old child goes to sleep at night on
a Saturday night. But sometime in the wee early morning
hours of Sunday, as you're getting up to go to church,
you find out your nine year old girl is gone,
(01:32):
gone from the home you frantically search the home, the yard,
the trees behind your home, the neighborhood, and finally call
nine one one. What happened to Diana. I'm Nancy Grace.
This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.
(01:55):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To all of you parents
out there that have young children like I do. Mine
have just turned twelve. I remember when they were nine
years old. I mean, I still think of them as babies,
and they remind me every day that they're not babies,
(02:16):
and they're right. But at nine years old, you will
walk up to anybody at Walmart or the grocery store.
You'll wave at people on the street, you might walk
up to a car nine years old. That's how old
this little girl, Dianna Alvarez was when she went missing.
(02:40):
I'm Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us here
at Crime Stories on Fox Nation and Sirius X one.
Eleven children go missing every day in our country, our America,
not some third world nation where you may think they
don't have adequate police forces. Here, they go missing and
(03:02):
they are murdered every day. This little girl, Diana Alvarez
goes missing. What happened? Take a listen now to our
friends at wp e C CBS twelve and now the
search is on for a missing nine year old girl
and Fort Myers in that area. Stop what you're doing
(03:23):
and take a good look at this picture here. Diana
Alvarez was last seen wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts.
She has a black hair and brown eyes. If you
know anything, if you see her, please call the police immediately. Guys,
you are hearing news anchor Eric Robbie the moment that
Diana Alvarez goes missing just nine years old with me
(03:44):
an all star panel led by our special guest, my
longtime friend and colleague, Mark Class, founder of Class Kids Foundation.
He devoted his life to finding missing people, specifically children,
after his girl Polly was abducted and killed. Also with me,
(04:08):
were now a criminal defense attorney out of the LA area,
Troy Slayton, Bobby to Come and former special agent with
the FBI, screenwriter Criminal Minds, Professor Forensics Jacksonville State University,
author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Joseph Scott Morgan, psychiatrist,
and joining me from the Atlanta Jurisdiction, doctor Angela Arnold
(04:31):
and first to lead news anchor Orlando's Morning News w
DBO Ray Caputo Ray at the beginning, where do we
think Angela was last seen before she went missing at
a shopping mall, grocery store playground where we was little Diana, Nancy,
(04:51):
as we're talking about, she was last seated in San
Carlos Park. That's southwest Florida's in the Fort Myers area.
I know was a lot of farming there, and she
was seen in her own house. She just like any
other family going to bed at night. You know, you
get your ducks in a row, the kids brush their teeth,
Little Diana, she goes off to bed and it's you know,
not hours later that mom and dad noticed that that
(05:14):
something is not right when they can't find her. Wait
a minute, let me understand this. She started off talking
about I thought you said San Carlos Park, But you're
saying she was at her home when she was last
saying alive at night, getting ready for bed? Is that right?
Ray Kiputa w DBS, We're right, san Carlos Park. My
(05:35):
understanding is like the community, not in natural park. But yeah,
she's in her She's in her home, Nancy, just like
any other child getting ready for bed. Any other nine
year old child, you know, probably has her pajamas on,
maybe watching her tablet or her phone or doing you know.
And it was that innocuous said she was in her room,
and and that was it. That was the last time
Diana was because you know, when you said San Carlos Park,
(05:59):
I thought you meant a part. But Saint Carlo Park
is actually a part of Fort Myers, Florida, as Brooklyn
is a part of New York. It's the borough of
New York City, New York. And or Buckhead is a
part of Atlanta, Hollywood, a part of la That's what
(06:19):
you mean by Saint Crolo Park. Now that she was
in a park, Mark Class Founder, Class Kids Foundation, Mark,
this is a whole another animal. When you were talking
about a child missing from school like Kirron Horman or
leaving school or as you've pointed out to me so
(06:41):
many times, Mark, and you're right, the huge percentage of
children that go missing en route to the bus stop
or en route to school and home major major hotspot
for child abductions. When a child is taken from their
own home like Elizabeth Smart or Helly I means that's
a whole another psychopathy. Mark Class explain, well, there are
(07:05):
approximately twenty one hundred children reported missing in the United
States on a daily basis. But oh wait wait, I
know everybody gets mad when I interrupt. I just got
to let that soak in for a moment. Two thousand
one hundred children go missing every day in the United States,
(07:29):
in our country with the best police forces the FBI,
in the world. Two thousand one hundred children go missing
every day in the US, and this little nine year
old girl, Diana is one of them. Sorry, Mark, I
just had to let that sink in what you just said.
Go ahead, sure, and they actually to get back to
(07:53):
what you said about school, About a third of predatory
abduction attempts occur on school route, and I think that's
something that really needs to sink into people as well. Now,
the vast majority of these children that are reported missing
are recovered or found within a very short amount of time.
Diana alive, of course, but Diana, like much of a
(08:17):
smart like Haley Cummings, like my daughter PAULI, was taken
from her home and that then, hopefully will narrow the
population of potential suspects down to people who might have
some knowledge of that home. I mean, just think about
somebody breaking into your home and being able to be
(08:38):
quiet enough to get into a little girl's bedroom and
take that little girl. I've got this place so stripped out.
If I breathe, an alarm goes off. Now I've been that.
That was a dear memory for me, for you to
be in our home and to meet my children, Mark Class, Mark,
(09:01):
I want to go back. And you're saying so much.
It's like drinking from the fire hydrant. That I want
to focus on. Because when you have a home kidnap
that somebody you're saying is familiar with the home that
can come in undetected, get the child and leave. Now,
wait a minute. You've got Elizabeth Smart, perfect example. Her
(09:23):
mother and father were kind enough to give a day
laborer a job helping get back on his feet. He
had a knowledge of the home he took Elizabeth Mayhe
Rotten Hell. Then you've got somebody like Isabella Selice remember her,
Mark Class And it was right. I believe an acquaintance
(09:44):
of the family had been in the home before. So
I'm giving examples to support what you're saying. Now, tell
me more of your thoughts, Smart Class, about when a
child goes missing from the home. Well, it's not a
done deal that it's somebody that knows the home and
knows the family, because obviously the person that stole my
(10:06):
daughter Paulie had never been in that home before and
had only been stalking her and and they just made
a bold move and came in and got her. But
it does hopefully narrow down that population to individuals who
may be familiar with the home in one way or another.
And that's a good starting point. I mean, that's something
(10:27):
for law enforcements then to be able to take and
pursue the possible suspects. Time Stories with Nancy Grace, guys
(10:51):
are talking about a missing girl, Diana Alvarez, who goes
missing from her own home. And again, thank you for
being with us year at Fox Nation and Series x
M one eleven as we delve into the disappearance of
this nine year old little girl with me an all
star panel. Right now, take a listen to our friends
(11:12):
at WFTX Fox four. This is Stephanie Chineco detectives knocking,
going door to door trying to get more information. Now,
I also spoke to the family just moments ago, and
they tell me they're going to have a search with
friends and family, and that's gonna be happening later tonight
on at seven o'clock. They're actually gonna be searching the
wooded area behind the house. That's where they're gonna start,
(11:34):
and they're also going to be looking at grocery stores
and gas stations along I seventy five. They just want
answers to this mysterious disappearance. With every click, every view,
and every share on social media, Nancy Martinez hopes someone
will spot her nine year old niece and bring her
back to her family. We haven't been able to get
any sleep whatsoever. We've been up all night thinking of
(11:57):
what we can possibly do to help. Diana alb As
was home early Sunday morning before she went missing. When
the family woke up for church, they noticed she was gone.
Her aunt is sure her niece didn't run away. If
you're a runaway, your first instance is to grab some clothes,
put it in the bag, and you know, set out.
But she didn't take water, she didn't take anything. This
little girl goes missing on an early early wee hours
(12:21):
of a Sunday morning from her own home and just
hearing that from WFT Spots four. I learned a lot.
I learned that they live in the suburbs. I learned
that there's a wooded area behind their home, which opens
up a whole plath or of possibilities. I've been looking
at Fort Myers Fort Myers County seat commercial center of
Lee County, Florida, US, and all the way back in
(12:45):
two ten there was sixty two thousand people there. I'm
sure that that has probably doubled by now two around
ninety to one hundred thousand. Fort Myers gateway to Southwest
Florida region, major tourist destination, and it's right there on
I seventy five, which goes from Florida all the way
(13:09):
to New York City. That means to you, Bobby chicone
FBI former special agent, that if somebody has her in
the car, they're going at least sixty mph I seventy five.
That's how fast you can get away with a child
in your car if the child's disabled. That's right. And
I've traveled that route from Atlanta where I used to
(13:30):
go to college, to Tampa where I used to live.
And you know, that's why it's important to get an
amber alert out that's why we have that system, and
you try to get information out to the public as
quick as possible. Where there's a transit system like a
highway or something like that that makes it easier for
someone to take a child and get away from that
area as quick as possible. And so you know, I
(13:51):
remember traveling I seventy five on that route and seeing
amber alerts and things. So I think, I think it's imperative.
And that's why the system has been created in just
now because of exactly the situation that you described to
Joseph's Got Morgan, Professor forensics, Jacksonville State University and author
of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon Joe Scott. When
(14:12):
you've got a kidnap from the home, you've got to
look at all sorts of forensic evidence. We know she
didn't take anything with her, which tells me she was
not a runaway. I don't know, and I'm circling back
to Mark on this in a moment. Why every time
a child goes missing. We just saw it in gannon stalk.
First thing, they're a runaway, they're not runaways. I have
(14:36):
had so many knock down dragouts with police for labeling
a missing child as a runaway. But that's a whole
other can of worms. Joseph Scott Morgan forensics at the home.
What do you do? What are you looking for? I'd
like to talk about screens, windows, screens where people open
their windows and there's a windows screen there. You can
(14:57):
tell by looking at the screen if whether it was
cut from the outside or from the inside out, which
means it's stage. I mean, you've got to look for
so many things. Joe Scott, Yeah, you do, and you're
kind of walking around blind. The first you know, your
your central thesis or your central of thought, and this
whole thing is that you've got a missing child and
(15:20):
you have no idea where they are. So you have
to look at clues, for clues at the scene. In
this particular case, you'd want to look for points of entry.
You know, how how did someone get you know, this
is our most precious possession that we have, or our children,
and so how would an individual be able to get
access to a child in their home? Did they come
(15:43):
in through a window, as you talked about, was a
screen clipped? Did they tear it away and then opened
the open the window? Was the glass knocked in? Was
it knocked out as the stage also were they're forced
entry like tool marks on the doors to see if
someone had pride their way into this area. And I think, finally,
and probably one of the most ghastly things that we
(16:03):
have to think about, is there a sign of struggle?
Is there some evidence at the scene where maybe we
have blood evidence or something like this to show that
maybe she put up a fight at that point in
time before she left. I'm looking at this little girl's
picture and she looks like she's in front of a
softball field or something of that sort. She's got the biggest,
(16:28):
most beautiful smile, and her hair is long, dark brown.
She's got an a side pony coming down and cute
little pierced ears, earrings in just gorgeous child with the
world in front of her. And I don't understand the
(16:50):
thinking behind someone that would creep into a family's home.
Is they are all asleep in the wee hours of
a Sunday morning and take a nine year old little girl.
It happened in Elizabeth Smart, it happened with Mark Class
daughter Polly, and now to Diana Alvarez, so Mark Class
(17:10):
circling back to you way in well, there's a sexual
component involved. Always when an adult man, and we assume
that this is going to be an adult man steals
a little girl, they've got some kind of a fixation
on them, and they they they want to possess them,
they want to have them, and they want no one
(17:31):
else to have them. It's it's it's sick, it's perverted,
and it's core. It's it's absolutely evil. An evil comes
unfortunately in many forms. Now you said something interesting again,
Mark class, someone fixated on a nine year old girl.
Just let me just take that between this panel. Every
(17:53):
phrase is full of evidentiary value. To doctor Angela Arnold,
well known psychiatrist in the Atlanta area. Doctor Arnold, what
mind adult male? And I'm saying a mail It can
of course be a woman, but staggeringly, statistically it's a man.
(18:17):
What that's correct mindset? Would have a fixation an adult
mail on a nine year old little girl doesn't even
wear a bra, hasn't even hit puberty. For Pete's sake. Well, unfortunately,
I think that we first of all, nanza males are
statistically the perpetrators of sexual abuse. Okay, that's known across
(18:43):
that's known across lines We did a lot of research
on abuse and sexual abuse when I was at MWA University,
and unfortunately knowing that these people do not have the
same kind of minds that were, they're sick, they're pedophiles,
(19:04):
and so that's what they can look at a small
child and have some sort of sexual pleasure from that person.
And that's why you, well, I will have to be
very careful who your children are around, don't you. Oh,
you're sending a chill down my spine. I'm thinking back
as fast as I can about every teacher, every Scout leader,
(19:27):
every piano instructor that have ever been around the children.
To Troy Slayton, famous criminal defense law, you're joining me
from LA famous because he gets a lot of his
clients off the hook. Troy Slayton, I know you're gonna
hate this because it involves a lot of your clients.
But the first thing the cops do is you can
(19:48):
look at crime online and find it who are the
known sex offenders, the registered sex offenders in that zip code.
That's the first place the cops are gonna look when
a child is taken out of the I bet that
burns you up that your clients are always looked at first, well,
just because somebody committed a crime at one point doesn't
(20:09):
mean that they're the offender in another crime. But I
think that all the experts really put their finger on
the nose of this case. This is a sickness, and
it's not always about getting the suspect or the defendant
in a case off but oftentimes my job is to
find mitigating circumstances and for somebody for an adult male
(20:35):
to become sexually fixated on an eight or nine year
old pre pubescent girl, that's not somebody who's of normal
and sound mind. That is somebody who is suffering from
a sickness where that could play into mitigation, meaning something
(20:58):
that goes against the aggravating factors that would lead toward
a more serious penalty in a case. Never a dull
moment with Troy Slayton, I notice you you just were
that close to saying, whoever did this should get treatment,
not jail time. I'm glad you didn't throw me into
chest pains with that. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. For
(21:34):
those of you just joining us, we're talking about the
disappearance of a nine year old little girl, Diana Alvarez,
taken from her home. Take a listen now to WBBH
NBC two Terry Hornstein. The home here still taped off
with crime scene tape, more than forty eight hours since
Diana Alvarez was last seen, her stepfather saying today a
(21:57):
group will go out and search for her once again
on a TV's Several law enforcement agencies have been out
here searching for this girl. There have been K nine
units out here. Even some law enforcement from Collier County
came up to help look for this girl. Detectives with
the Lee County Sheriff's Office are calling the home here
on Unique Circle a crime scene right now. Diana's stepfather
(22:20):
did tell us he was questioned by investigators, but he
says he had nothing to do with her disappearance, and
he's worried about her being out there all alone at
night in the dark. Could I still waiting from yesterday
all nine, today, morning, all day and I still here,
No answers nothing. It's hard for me because I think
(22:43):
all the time. I know they's got to get him more,
dar more daughter. No answers nothing. You are hearing our
friends at to be BABH NBC two. Of course, police
look first at the family and male members in the
family when a child is missing from the stepfather living
there in the home, didn't go on the run submitted
(23:05):
to DNA. That's what we know now, but the family
and neighbors beginning to blame each other. Take a listen
at w Take a listen to w f XT Fox
News Adam Pinsker. The police tape is down, but the
investigation is still very active into what happened to this
nine year old girl. I talked to one neighbor who
(23:27):
said he was interviewed by federal agents from the Department
of Homeland Security. He knows Diana, he wants to help
find her, so he offered some DNA to those deputies. Meantime,
the family is torn apart over Diana's disappearance. Family members
(23:48):
separate Diana alba as a stepfather and stepmother from an
explosive argument, blaming each other over how nine year old
Diana disappeared early Sunday morning from this home on Unique
Circle in San Carlos Park. You are hearing our friends
at WFTX as neighbor's family all began fighting with each other,
blaming each other as DNA tests are done throughout the neighborhood,
(24:11):
this little girl goes missing. Now we've learned a lot
already just by listening to experts, and we know it's
a male. We know it's someone that had an obsession
or fixated on the nine year old girl, which means
it's someone that's been around the girl or who has
had an opportunity to watch her, to observe her. Who
could that be at a ballpark, at the school, at
(24:33):
their church, in their neighborhood, someone that sees the child
and covets and wants the child, and someone familiar with
the home. So where do you start? Mark class? As
you know, at the time of the starts, this child
could be going sixty miles further away every hour mark class,
and the grim statistics a mile a minute. That's how
(24:55):
fast your child can disappear. You're absolutely correct, it's about
the grimace. You could almost come up with what well
they do? What exactly what they're doing law enforcement? First
of all, they brought it in federal authorities, and I
think that's very important because federal authorities have much more
resource and much more knowledge of these types of situations
(25:16):
than locals do. But then you talk to the stepfather,
you talk to the individuals that live in the house.
You talk to other family members, you talk to neighbors.
You do exactly as you said, and investigate the registered
sex offenders within the community. But then you've also got
delivery people, I mean, everybody's getting things delivered anymore at
(25:37):
their home. You've got utility people, You've got all kinds
of people that could exist within that little universe. But then,
I think the thing that I'd like to just mention
quickly is the family itself. How they've got to be
completely reeling that this stepfather and the mother have always
(26:00):
told this little girl that they will be there for
her and they will protect her, and all of a sudden,
somebody comes into the house and takes her and it
proves that they were wrong. Can you imagine the kind
of guilt that's involved in that, trying to reconcile yourself
to the fact that you said you would do something,
you told a child you would do something, and then
you were unable to do it. It's just the beginning
(26:20):
of a nightmare that goes on and on and on
until you get some kind of resolution, and it gets
no easier, it gets much more difficult day after day.
After day as the bitter truth finally see it sinks
in as to what's happened here, Mark Class, what is
the statistic that you told me about? You told me
first that the hours that pass, each hour that passes
(26:45):
once a child is abducted, they likelihood that they will
be murdered. Seventy three percent of children that are going
to be murdered as a redult of an abduction will
be dead within the first three hours. That's the statistic.
Another staggering statistic to just sink in. Twenty one hundred
children missing each day in America. After three hours, seventy
(27:07):
three percent of those in stranger abductions are dead. Seventy
three percent have been typically raped and murdered in the
first three hours. Guys, we are talking about the disappearance
of a nine year old little girl. Practically no stations
(27:28):
picked up on her disappearance, and I'm listening to something
that the family, the extended family screamed out. They said
they should have been paying more attention to her. What
does that mean they should have been paying more attention
(27:53):
to her to doctor Angela Arnold psychiatrists joining us out
of the Atlanta jurisdiction, something that Mark class just said
the overwhelming guilt that specifically the mother, her biological mother
must feel that her nine year old daughter goes missing
under her watch, under her roof. But Nancy, why what
(28:14):
were people observing that they felt like this child should
have been having more attention paid to her. That's very
curious that that would be the first thing out of
your else and that is a big tale tale signed
to me. Go ahead, Angela, And why do they start?
Why they Why did the family members start fighting with
each other all of a sudden. You would think that
(28:34):
people would pull together instead of fight with each other
over her disappearance, right, you'd think, you'd think, But the
level of blame that's going around that bio dad doesn't
live there, so he probably feels guilty. The stepfather is
under suspicion because he's a male in the home. Then
you've got the mother. The child goes missing on her
watch and then after nine days a major break in
(29:00):
the case or is it Take a listen to WFTX
Fox four Samantha Sosa. Nine days later and still no
sign of nine year old Diana Alvarez, even after investigators
arrested a person of interest twenty eight year old Jorge
Guerrero sits in the Lee County jail after police picked
him up in Okeechobee Saturday. He was transferred to Lee
(29:22):
County this morning, where he's now charged with having child porn.
Diana's family not knowing what to make of the charge.
We don't want to imagine worst case scenario again. We
want to try to stay positive. Although Guerrero hasn't been
charged with kidnapping, court documents revealed police tracked his phone
to the area where Diana's home is in the hours
(29:43):
she went missing. Police then tracked the cell phone to
central Florida, where it was stationary for several hours, and
then ditched along a road in Orlando. Diana's family is
devastated and desperate at this point for answers that will
lead them to Diana. Her very pregnant mother doesn't even
want to go to the hospital until she sees her daughter.
At this point, she's having difficulties she's been ordered by dress.
(30:04):
The family pushing to keep Diana's pictures circulating. Police say
tips and leads have been helpful in this case. So
suddenly this guy, Guerrero's arrested on child porn and his
phone his truck from around Diana's home all the way
(30:26):
to central Florida where the phone is ditched. Crime Stories
with Nancy Grace. We are talking about the disappearance of
(30:50):
a nine year old girl, Diana Alvarez. So, Choice Layton,
you're the right now and criminal defense attorney. Why would
a guy just throw a cell phone out the window
and leave it? Why? I wouldn't doesn't sound good, Nancy,
And neither does the fact that he was possessing child pornography.
(31:12):
And so what do you do with that at trial?
Troice Layton, what do you do when your client coincidentally
the same day this little girl goes missing ditches his
cell phone. Why would you throw away your own cell phone?
You got to come up with an explanation for a
jury fell out the window accidentally. I'm so glad you
(31:34):
said you were trying to text and it was hanging
out the window and then the wind got it. But Nancy, seriously, obviously,
ditching a cell phone on purpose, just like running from
the police, shows consciousness of guilt. And I think that
(31:54):
in a case like this where there is child pornography, obviously, Lee,
this is somebody that is suffering from a medical condition.
So you stop with the medical condition. It's a felony.
You call it a medical condition. I call it one
of the worst felonies that exist. Child sickness, Nancy, it's
(32:19):
the sagments that can best be treated behind bars. Well
they're possibly behind bars, but also uh intense psychotherapy and
psychological treatment behind party. Who is who is that? Uh
sick Nancy to Rank Aputer, lead news anchor, joining me
with Orlando's Morning News w d BO, What if any
(32:43):
connection is there between this guy Guerrero and the Alvarez family. Well, Nancy,
like Mark Class said a bit, the first thing that
investigators do is they start drilling down on the immediate family.
So they talk to the mom the stuff that they're
really distraught, And what they learned is that Horne Guerrera
Torres had been staying with the family while he was
(33:06):
looking for work. If we do a migrant worker. Just
in a nutshell, he had been allowed to live in
the home. Yes, he had been allowed to live Oh,
Mark Class, Mark, Mark, I remember a case and it
started out as a murder case, and the sister, the
(33:31):
adult sister of the victim, would come to court every
day and I got to know her and the rest
of the victim's family. And over the course of this
very long trial, as I was prosecuting during the day
and she would sit in the back, I got to
know her, and I learned that out of her big family,
(33:54):
many children, her father molested her. Nobody but her and
the mother knew about it. And all these years later,
she was still as she should have been, torn up.
And I saw the father come into court watching the
(34:18):
murder trial. His son had been murdered, and I could
barely stand a look at him because I believed what
the now adult daughter was telling me. And she blamed
the mother just as much as she blamed the father.
And I think she's right if the mother knew what
was going on. First of all, not saying this mother knew,
(34:39):
and Diana Alvarez, I'm just saying, that's my memory of
another case. Bringing somebody that's a child pornographer into the
home and letting them stay there explains why the family
members were fighting. Almost immediately after her disappearance, those other
(35:00):
family members were saying, you should have watched her more carefully.
Why did you allow that man to stay in the house.
Didn't you see her behavior? Perhaps she had changed. I
don't know, but it's sure is pointing in that direction.
Answer take a lesson to cut eleven WFTX Fox for
Chris Shaw. Diana's parents were here for the hearing today.
(35:22):
In fact, they come to pretty much all of Guerrero's
court appearances. They left today like they leave most of
the time, discouraged that as the wheels of justice slowly
turn on this case, they are no closer to getting
the answer they desperately need. Plenty of things happened in
federal court Monday morning, but the family of Diana Alvarez
walked away feeling like nothing has really changed it. They
(35:46):
still little have nothing about Diana. So we're still looking
for somebody they know, Santen or any new It's been
more than two months since the nine year old vanished
from her San Carlos Park home. Guys, we are hearing
the parents speaking, and then a bombshell that cracks the
(36:07):
case wide open. We learn that during a search for Diana,
police speak to Guerrero and he admits he admits he
quote made sexual contact with Diana when she was only
eight years old on a regular basis. So this has
(36:32):
been going on right under the noses of the family
in the home because they allow this guy to stay
under their roof. Do I have it correctly out to
Ray Kabudo Wdbo, Yeah, Nancy, you do. But when they
figure out that there's an appropriate relationship going on cruly,
(36:53):
they don't call the police. They just throw us out.
So that's how he got out of the whole book.
I understanding police were never called when he apparently having
sexual contact with this desicient. Is that meeting there was
some worry over there. Wait a minute, just a minute
before you start, I want to stick with what we're
(37:14):
talking about right now. To Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics,
it's really hard for me to believe that there has
been regular sex contact with an eight year old child
and nobody in the home and nobody notices anything. Yeah,
in most cases where you have the sexual abuses ongoing,
you'll see drastic changes in the victim, particularly a child
(37:35):
like this. You'll have everything from a bed wedding. You'll
have children whose appetites will diminish. You'll see particularly where
they're not paying attention to their own personal hygiene. These
are some things that manifest themselves that give us evidentially
clues as to ongoing behavior. And also if they are
(37:56):
exhibiting fear fear when they're in then so how can
a family not be attuned to this sort of thing?
This is what we know at this juncture. Our cut
fifteen Jackie. Take a listen to wink w I and
k Nis reporter Anika and Anger. At times she couldn't speak.
(38:17):
The news about her daughter so painful. When we spoke,
she still had to tell Diana's five brothers and sisters
the news, and she told us they still held on
to hope that Diana would come home. A mom with
what she has left of her daughter, not nearly enough
memories and pictures. I have to go without a birthday,
(38:37):
another year without a birthday, after nearly four long years
of searching for Diana Alvarez. Today her mom bread to
her Nandez learned investigators found her daughter's remains. I don't
wish this upon anybody, on nobody, because it wasn't her fault.
The painful discovery in the Ossiola County, where the Lee
County Sheriff's Office says surveyors stumbled upon the remains the
(38:58):
only suspect in Diana's appearance from her Saint Carlos Park
home in twenty sixteen is Jorge Guerrero Torres. While he
already faces murder charges in her death, prosecutors now have
further evidence of the crime. But what she suffered and
what she lived in those moments, I don't wish that
upon anybody to mark class. Do you remember the moment,
(39:22):
and I know you do, that you learned Polly had
been murdered, You know I do, Nancy, And it was
just probably the saddest thing that ever happened in my life.
I was called into the Pedalota Police Department, probably for
the second time in that day, and they told me
(39:44):
that there was an update. Polly's mom was there, my
wife Violet was there. When we walked into the office.
There were already tears in the eyes of the FBI
agent and the local police captain, and it was just
a matter of them telling me what had happened. And
it's funny because intellectually I understood exactly what he said,
(40:07):
but it took me maybe three or four hours before
my emotions caught up with that unbelievable revelation. And it
was only then hours later, once we had finally returned
home for the first time in sixty five days that
the enormity of the situation revealed itself to me, and
(40:27):
my heart absolutely shattered. And it took me a decade,
at least a decade to be able to take those
little shards of heart and put them back together and
be able to enjoy life again. It's just the most devastating,
horrifying news one could ever expect to hear. But having
(40:48):
said that, Nancy, I'm in a better place knowing than
Missus Alvarez was not knowing for those four years. We know.
Wait as justice unfolds Nancy Grace crime story. Signing off
goodbye friend,
Hi guys, Nancy Grace. Here at Crime Stories, we work
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Serious x M thank you for being our partner to
(01:09):
all of you moms, dad's, grandparents, uncle's aunts. Imagine your
nine year old child goes to sleep at night on
a Saturday night. But sometime in the wee early morning
hours of Sunday, as you're getting up to go to church,
you find out your nine year old girl is gone,
(01:32):
gone from the home you frantically search the home, the yard,
the trees behind your home, the neighborhood, and finally call
nine one one. What happened to Diana. I'm Nancy Grace.
This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.
(01:55):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To all of you parents
out there that have young children like I do. Mine
have just turned twelve. I remember when they were nine
years old. I mean, I still think of them as babies,
and they remind me every day that they're not babies,
(02:16):
and they're right. But at nine years old, you will
walk up to anybody at Walmart or the grocery store.
You'll wave at people on the street, you might walk
up to a car nine years old. That's how old
this little girl, Dianna Alvarez was when she went missing.
(02:40):
I'm Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us here
at Crime Stories on Fox Nation and Sirius X one.
Eleven children go missing every day in our country, our America,
not some third world nation where you may think they
don't have adequate police forces. Here, they go missing and
(03:02):
they are murdered every day. This little girl, Diana Alvarez
goes missing. What happened? Take a listen now to our
friends at wp e C CBS twelve and now the
search is on for a missing nine year old girl
and Fort Myers in that area. Stop what you're doing
(03:23):
and take a good look at this picture here. Diana
Alvarez was last seen wearing a short sleeve shirt and shorts.
She has a black hair and brown eyes. If you
know anything, if you see her, please call the police immediately. Guys,
you are hearing news anchor Eric Robbie the moment that
Diana Alvarez goes missing just nine years old with me
(03:44):
an all star panel led by our special guest, my
longtime friend and colleague, Mark Class, founder of Class Kids Foundation.
He devoted his life to finding missing people, specifically children,
after his girl Polly was abducted and killed. Also with me,
(04:08):
were now a criminal defense attorney out of the LA area,
Troy Slayton, Bobby to Come and former special agent with
the FBI, screenwriter Criminal Minds, Professor Forensics Jacksonville State University,
author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, Joseph Scott Morgan, psychiatrist,
and joining me from the Atlanta Jurisdiction, doctor Angela Arnold
(04:31):
and first to lead news anchor Orlando's Morning News w
DBO Ray Caputo Ray at the beginning, where do we
think Angela was last seen before she went missing at
a shopping mall, grocery store playground where we was little Diana, Nancy,
(04:51):
as we're talking about, she was last seated in San
Carlos Park. That's southwest Florida's in the Fort Myers area.
I know was a lot of farming there, and she
was seen in her own house. She just like any
other family going to bed at night. You know, you
get your ducks in a row, the kids brush their teeth,
Little Diana, she goes off to bed and it's you know,
not hours later that mom and dad noticed that that
(05:14):
something is not right when they can't find her. Wait
a minute, let me understand this. She started off talking
about I thought you said San Carlos Park, But you're
saying she was at her home when she was last
saying alive at night, getting ready for bed? Is that right?
Ray Kiputa w DBS, We're right, san Carlos Park. My
(05:35):
understanding is like the community, not in natural park. But yeah,
she's in her She's in her home, Nancy, just like
any other child getting ready for bed. Any other nine
year old child, you know, probably has her pajamas on,
maybe watching her tablet or her phone or doing you know.
And it was that innocuous said she was in her room,
and and that was it. That was the last time
Diana was because you know, when you said San Carlos Park,
(05:59):
I thought you meant a part. But Saint Carlo Park
is actually a part of Fort Myers, Florida, as Brooklyn
is a part of New York. It's the borough of
New York City, New York. And or Buckhead is a
part of Atlanta, Hollywood, a part of la That's what
(06:19):
you mean by Saint Crolo Park. Now that she was
in a park, Mark Class Founder, Class Kids Foundation, Mark,
this is a whole another animal. When you were talking
about a child missing from school like Kirron Horman or
leaving school or as you've pointed out to me so
(06:41):
many times, Mark, and you're right, the huge percentage of
children that go missing en route to the bus stop
or en route to school and home major major hotspot
for child abductions. When a child is taken from their
own home like Elizabeth Smart or Helly I means that's
a whole another psychopathy. Mark Class explain, well, there are
(07:05):
approximately twenty one hundred children reported missing in the United
States on a daily basis. But oh wait wait, I
know everybody gets mad when I interrupt. I just got
to let that soak in for a moment. Two thousand
one hundred children go missing every day in the United States,
(07:29):
in our country with the best police forces the FBI,
in the world. Two thousand one hundred children go missing
every day in the US, and this little nine year
old girl, Diana is one of them. Sorry, Mark, I
just had to let that sink in what you just said.
Go ahead, sure, and they actually to get back to
(07:53):
what you said about school, About a third of predatory
abduction attempts occur on school route, and I think that's
something that really needs to sink into people as well. Now,
the vast majority of these children that are reported missing
are recovered or found within a very short amount of time.
Diana alive, of course, but Diana, like much of a
(08:17):
smart like Haley Cummings, like my daughter PAULI, was taken
from her home and that then, hopefully will narrow the
population of potential suspects down to people who might have
some knowledge of that home. I mean, just think about
somebody breaking into your home and being able to be
(08:38):
quiet enough to get into a little girl's bedroom and
take that little girl. I've got this place so stripped out.
If I breathe, an alarm goes off. Now I've been that.
That was a dear memory for me, for you to
be in our home and to meet my children, Mark Class, Mark,
(09:01):
I want to go back. And you're saying so much.
It's like drinking from the fire hydrant. That I want
to focus on. Because when you have a home kidnap
that somebody you're saying is familiar with the home that
can come in undetected, get the child and leave. Now,
wait a minute. You've got Elizabeth Smart, perfect example. Her
(09:23):
mother and father were kind enough to give a day
laborer a job helping get back on his feet. He
had a knowledge of the home he took Elizabeth Mayhe
Rotten Hell. Then you've got somebody like Isabella Selice remember her,
Mark Class And it was right. I believe an acquaintance
(09:44):
of the family had been in the home before. So
I'm giving examples to support what you're saying. Now, tell
me more of your thoughts, Smart Class, about when a
child goes missing from the home. Well, it's not a
done deal that it's somebody that knows the home and
knows the family, because obviously the person that stole my
(10:06):
daughter Paulie had never been in that home before and
had only been stalking her and and they just made
a bold move and came in and got her. But
it does hopefully narrow down that population to individuals who
may be familiar with the home in one way or another.
And that's a good starting point. I mean, that's something
(10:27):
for law enforcements then to be able to take and
pursue the possible suspects. Time Stories with Nancy Grace, guys
(10:51):
are talking about a missing girl, Diana Alvarez, who goes
missing from her own home. And again, thank you for
being with us year at Fox Nation and Series x
M one eleven as we delve into the disappearance of
this nine year old little girl with me an all
star panel. Right now, take a listen to our friends
(11:12):
at WFTX Fox four. This is Stephanie Chineco detectives knocking,
going door to door trying to get more information. Now,
I also spoke to the family just moments ago, and
they tell me they're going to have a search with
friends and family, and that's gonna be happening later tonight
on at seven o'clock. They're actually gonna be searching the
wooded area behind the house. That's where they're gonna start,
(11:34):
and they're also going to be looking at grocery stores
and gas stations along I seventy five. They just want
answers to this mysterious disappearance. With every click, every view,
and every share on social media, Nancy Martinez hopes someone
will spot her nine year old niece and bring her
back to her family. We haven't been able to get
any sleep whatsoever. We've been up all night thinking of
(11:57):
what we can possibly do to help. Diana alb As
was home early Sunday morning before she went missing. When
the family woke up for church, they noticed she was gone.
Her aunt is sure her niece didn't run away. If
you're a runaway, your first instance is to grab some clothes,
put it in the bag, and you know, set out.
But she didn't take water, she didn't take anything. This
little girl goes missing on an early early wee hours
(12:21):
of a Sunday morning from her own home and just
hearing that from WFT Spots four. I learned a lot.
I learned that they live in the suburbs. I learned
that there's a wooded area behind their home, which opens
up a whole plath or of possibilities. I've been looking
at Fort Myers Fort Myers County seat commercial center of
Lee County, Florida, US, and all the way back in
(12:45):
two ten there was sixty two thousand people there. I'm
sure that that has probably doubled by now two around
ninety to one hundred thousand. Fort Myers gateway to Southwest
Florida region, major tourist destination, and it's right there on
I seventy five, which goes from Florida all the way
(13:09):
to New York City. That means to you, Bobby chicone
FBI former special agent, that if somebody has her in
the car, they're going at least sixty mph I seventy five.
That's how fast you can get away with a child
in your car if the child's disabled. That's right. And
I've traveled that route from Atlanta where I used to
(13:30):
go to college, to Tampa where I used to live.
And you know, that's why it's important to get an
amber alert out that's why we have that system, and
you try to get information out to the public as
quick as possible. Where there's a transit system like a
highway or something like that that makes it easier for
someone to take a child and get away from that
area as quick as possible. And so you know, I
(13:51):
remember traveling I seventy five on that route and seeing
amber alerts and things. So I think, I think it's imperative.
And that's why the system has been created in just
now because of exactly the situation that you described to
Joseph's Got Morgan, Professor forensics, Jacksonville State University and author
of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon Joe Scott. When
(14:12):
you've got a kidnap from the home, you've got to
look at all sorts of forensic evidence. We know she
didn't take anything with her, which tells me she was
not a runaway. I don't know, and I'm circling back
to Mark on this in a moment. Why every time
a child goes missing. We just saw it in gannon stalk.
First thing, they're a runaway, they're not runaways. I have
(14:36):
had so many knock down dragouts with police for labeling
a missing child as a runaway. But that's a whole
other can of worms. Joseph Scott Morgan forensics at the home.
What do you do? What are you looking for? I'd
like to talk about screens, windows, screens where people open
their windows and there's a windows screen there. You can
(14:57):
tell by looking at the screen if whether it was
cut from the outside or from the inside out, which
means it's stage. I mean, you've got to look for
so many things. Joe Scott, Yeah, you do, and you're
kind of walking around blind. The first you know, your
your central thesis or your central of thought, and this
whole thing is that you've got a missing child and
(15:20):
you have no idea where they are. So you have
to look at clues, for clues at the scene. In
this particular case, you'd want to look for points of entry.
You know, how how did someone get you know, this
is our most precious possession that we have, or our children,
and so how would an individual be able to get
access to a child in their home? Did they come
(15:43):
in through a window, as you talked about, was a
screen clipped? Did they tear it away and then opened
the open the window? Was the glass knocked in? Was
it knocked out as the stage also were they're forced
entry like tool marks on the doors to see if
someone had pride their way into this area. And I think, finally,
and probably one of the most ghastly things that we
(16:03):
have to think about, is there a sign of struggle?
Is there some evidence at the scene where maybe we
have blood evidence or something like this to show that
maybe she put up a fight at that point in
time before she left. I'm looking at this little girl's
picture and she looks like she's in front of a
softball field or something of that sort. She's got the biggest,
(16:28):
most beautiful smile, and her hair is long, dark brown.
She's got an a side pony coming down and cute
little pierced ears, earrings in just gorgeous child with the
world in front of her. And I don't understand the
(16:50):
thinking behind someone that would creep into a family's home.
Is they are all asleep in the wee hours of
a Sunday morning and take a nine year old little girl.
It happened in Elizabeth Smart, it happened with Mark Class
daughter Polly, and now to Diana Alvarez, so Mark Class
(17:10):
circling back to you way in well, there's a sexual
component involved. Always when an adult man, and we assume
that this is going to be an adult man steals
a little girl, they've got some kind of a fixation
on them, and they they they want to possess them,
they want to have them, and they want no one
(17:31):
else to have them. It's it's it's sick, it's perverted,
and it's core. It's it's absolutely evil. An evil comes
unfortunately in many forms. Now you said something interesting again,
Mark class, someone fixated on a nine year old girl.
Just let me just take that between this panel. Every
(17:53):
phrase is full of evidentiary value. To doctor Angela Arnold,
well known psychiatrist in the Atlanta area. Doctor Arnold, what
mind adult male? And I'm saying a mail It can
of course be a woman, but staggeringly, statistically it's a man.
(18:17):
What that's correct mindset? Would have a fixation an adult
mail on a nine year old little girl doesn't even
wear a bra, hasn't even hit puberty. For Pete's sake. Well, unfortunately,
I think that we first of all, nanza males are
statistically the perpetrators of sexual abuse. Okay, that's known across
(18:43):
that's known across lines We did a lot of research
on abuse and sexual abuse when I was at MWA University,
and unfortunately knowing that these people do not have the
same kind of minds that were, they're sick, they're pedophiles,
(19:04):
and so that's what they can look at a small
child and have some sort of sexual pleasure from that person.
And that's why you, well, I will have to be
very careful who your children are around, don't you. Oh,
you're sending a chill down my spine. I'm thinking back
as fast as I can about every teacher, every Scout leader,
(19:27):
every piano instructor that have ever been around the children.
To Troy Slayton, famous criminal defense law, you're joining me
from LA famous because he gets a lot of his
clients off the hook. Troy Slayton, I know you're gonna
hate this because it involves a lot of your clients.
But the first thing the cops do is you can
(19:48):
look at crime online and find it who are the
known sex offenders, the registered sex offenders in that zip code.
That's the first place the cops are gonna look when
a child is taken out of the I bet that
burns you up that your clients are always looked at first, well,
just because somebody committed a crime at one point doesn't
(20:09):
mean that they're the offender in another crime. But I
think that all the experts really put their finger on
the nose of this case. This is a sickness, and
it's not always about getting the suspect or the defendant
in a case off but oftentimes my job is to
find mitigating circumstances and for somebody for an adult male
(20:35):
to become sexually fixated on an eight or nine year
old pre pubescent girl, that's not somebody who's of normal
and sound mind. That is somebody who is suffering from
a sickness where that could play into mitigation, meaning something
(20:58):
that goes against the aggravating factors that would lead toward
a more serious penalty in a case. Never a dull
moment with Troy Slayton, I notice you you just were
that close to saying, whoever did this should get treatment,
not jail time. I'm glad you didn't throw me into
chest pains with that. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. For
(21:34):
those of you just joining us, we're talking about the
disappearance of a nine year old little girl, Diana Alvarez,
taken from her home. Take a listen now to WBBH
NBC two Terry Hornstein. The home here still taped off
with crime scene tape, more than forty eight hours since
Diana Alvarez was last seen, her stepfather saying today a
(21:57):
group will go out and search for her once again
on a TV's Several law enforcement agencies have been out
here searching for this girl. There have been K nine
units out here. Even some law enforcement from Collier County
came up to help look for this girl. Detectives with
the Lee County Sheriff's Office are calling the home here
on Unique Circle a crime scene right now. Diana's stepfather
(22:20):
did tell us he was questioned by investigators, but he
says he had nothing to do with her disappearance, and
he's worried about her being out there all alone at
night in the dark. Could I still waiting from yesterday
all nine, today, morning, all day and I still here,
No answers nothing. It's hard for me because I think
(22:43):
all the time. I know they's got to get him more,
dar more daughter. No answers nothing. You are hearing our
friends at to be BABH NBC two. Of course, police
look first at the family and male members in the
family when a child is missing from the stepfather living
there in the home, didn't go on the run submitted
(23:05):
to DNA. That's what we know now, but the family
and neighbors beginning to blame each other. Take a listen
at w Take a listen to w f XT Fox
News Adam Pinsker. The police tape is down, but the
investigation is still very active into what happened to this
nine year old girl. I talked to one neighbor who
(23:27):
said he was interviewed by federal agents from the Department
of Homeland Security. He knows Diana, he wants to help
find her, so he offered some DNA to those deputies. Meantime,
the family is torn apart over Diana's disappearance. Family members
(23:48):
separate Diana alba as a stepfather and stepmother from an
explosive argument, blaming each other over how nine year old
Diana disappeared early Sunday morning from this home on Unique
Circle in San Carlos Park. You are hearing our friends
at WFTX as neighbor's family all began fighting with each other,
blaming each other as DNA tests are done throughout the neighborhood,
(24:11):
this little girl goes missing. Now we've learned a lot
already just by listening to experts, and we know it's
a male. We know it's someone that had an obsession
or fixated on the nine year old girl, which means
it's someone that's been around the girl or who has
had an opportunity to watch her, to observe her. Who
could that be at a ballpark, at the school, at
(24:33):
their church, in their neighborhood, someone that sees the child
and covets and wants the child, and someone familiar with
the home. So where do you start? Mark class? As
you know, at the time of the starts, this child
could be going sixty miles further away every hour mark class,
and the grim statistics a mile a minute. That's how
(24:55):
fast your child can disappear. You're absolutely correct, it's about
the grimace. You could almost come up with what well
they do? What exactly what they're doing law enforcement? First
of all, they brought it in federal authorities, and I
think that's very important because federal authorities have much more
resource and much more knowledge of these types of situations
(25:16):
than locals do. But then you talk to the stepfather,
you talk to the individuals that live in the house.
You talk to other family members, you talk to neighbors.
You do exactly as you said, and investigate the registered
sex offenders within the community. But then you've also got
delivery people, I mean, everybody's getting things delivered anymore at
(25:37):
their home. You've got utility people, You've got all kinds
of people that could exist within that little universe. But then,
I think the thing that I'd like to just mention
quickly is the family itself. How they've got to be
completely reeling that this stepfather and the mother have always
(26:00):
told this little girl that they will be there for
her and they will protect her, and all of a sudden,
somebody comes into the house and takes her and it
proves that they were wrong. Can you imagine the kind
of guilt that's involved in that, trying to reconcile yourself
to the fact that you said you would do something,
you told a child you would do something, and then
you were unable to do it. It's just the beginning
(26:20):
of a nightmare that goes on and on and on
until you get some kind of resolution, and it gets
no easier, it gets much more difficult day after day.
After day as the bitter truth finally see it sinks
in as to what's happened here, Mark Class, what is
the statistic that you told me about? You told me
first that the hours that pass, each hour that passes
(26:45):
once a child is abducted, they likelihood that they will
be murdered. Seventy three percent of children that are going
to be murdered as a redult of an abduction will
be dead within the first three hours. That's the statistic.
Another staggering statistic to just sink in. Twenty one hundred
children missing each day in America. After three hours, seventy
(27:07):
three percent of those in stranger abductions are dead. Seventy
three percent have been typically raped and murdered in the
first three hours. Guys, we are talking about the disappearance
of a nine year old little girl. Practically no stations
(27:28):
picked up on her disappearance, and I'm listening to something
that the family, the extended family screamed out. They said
they should have been paying more attention to her. What
does that mean they should have been paying more attention
(27:53):
to her to doctor Angela Arnold psychiatrists joining us out
of the Atlanta jurisdiction, something that Mark class just said
the overwhelming guilt that specifically the mother, her biological mother
must feel that her nine year old daughter goes missing
under her watch, under her roof. But Nancy, why what
(28:14):
were people observing that they felt like this child should
have been having more attention paid to her. That's very
curious that that would be the first thing out of
your else and that is a big tale tale signed
to me. Go ahead, Angela, And why do they start?
Why they Why did the family members start fighting with
each other all of a sudden. You would think that
(28:34):
people would pull together instead of fight with each other
over her disappearance, right, you'd think, you'd think, But the
level of blame that's going around that bio dad doesn't
live there, so he probably feels guilty. The stepfather is
under suspicion because he's a male in the home. Then
you've got the mother. The child goes missing on her
watch and then after nine days a major break in
(29:00):
the case or is it Take a listen to WFTX
Fox four Samantha Sosa. Nine days later and still no
sign of nine year old Diana Alvarez, even after investigators
arrested a person of interest twenty eight year old Jorge
Guerrero sits in the Lee County jail after police picked
him up in Okeechobee Saturday. He was transferred to Lee
(29:22):
County this morning, where he's now charged with having child porn.
Diana's family not knowing what to make of the charge.
We don't want to imagine worst case scenario again. We
want to try to stay positive. Although Guerrero hasn't been
charged with kidnapping, court documents revealed police tracked his phone
to the area where Diana's home is in the hours
(29:43):
she went missing. Police then tracked the cell phone to
central Florida, where it was stationary for several hours, and
then ditched along a road in Orlando. Diana's family is
devastated and desperate at this point for answers that will
lead them to Diana. Her very pregnant mother doesn't even
want to go to the hospital until she sees her daughter.
At this point, she's having difficulties she's been ordered by dress.
(30:04):
The family pushing to keep Diana's pictures circulating. Police say
tips and leads have been helpful in this case. So
suddenly this guy, Guerrero's arrested on child porn and his
phone his truck from around Diana's home all the way
(30:26):
to central Florida where the phone is ditched. Crime Stories
with Nancy Grace. We are talking about the disappearance of
(30:50):
a nine year old girl, Diana Alvarez. So, Choice Layton,
you're the right now and criminal defense attorney. Why would
a guy just throw a cell phone out the window
and leave it? Why? I wouldn't doesn't sound good, Nancy,
And neither does the fact that he was possessing child pornography.
(31:12):
And so what do you do with that at trial?
Troice Layton, what do you do when your client coincidentally
the same day this little girl goes missing ditches his
cell phone. Why would you throw away your own cell phone?
You got to come up with an explanation for a
jury fell out the window accidentally. I'm so glad you
(31:34):
said you were trying to text and it was hanging
out the window and then the wind got it. But Nancy, seriously, obviously,
ditching a cell phone on purpose, just like running from
the police, shows consciousness of guilt. And I think that
(31:54):
in a case like this where there is child pornography, obviously, Lee,
this is somebody that is suffering from a medical condition.
So you stop with the medical condition. It's a felony.
You call it a medical condition. I call it one
of the worst felonies that exist. Child sickness, Nancy, it's
(32:19):
the sagments that can best be treated behind bars. Well
they're possibly behind bars, but also uh intense psychotherapy and
psychological treatment behind party. Who is who is that? Uh
sick Nancy to Rank Aputer, lead news anchor, joining me
with Orlando's Morning News w d BO, What if any
(32:43):
connection is there between this guy Guerrero and the Alvarez family. Well, Nancy,
like Mark Class said a bit, the first thing that
investigators do is they start drilling down on the immediate family.
So they talk to the mom the stuff that they're
really distraught, And what they learned is that Horne Guerrera
Torres had been staying with the family while he was
(33:06):
looking for work. If we do a migrant worker. Just
in a nutshell, he had been allowed to live in
the home. Yes, he had been allowed to live Oh,
Mark Class, Mark, Mark, I remember a case and it
started out as a murder case, and the sister, the
(33:31):
adult sister of the victim, would come to court every
day and I got to know her and the rest
of the victim's family. And over the course of this
very long trial, as I was prosecuting during the day
and she would sit in the back, I got to
know her, and I learned that out of her big family,
(33:54):
many children, her father molested her. Nobody but her and
the mother knew about it. And all these years later,
she was still as she should have been, torn up.
And I saw the father come into court watching the
(34:18):
murder trial. His son had been murdered, and I could
barely stand a look at him because I believed what
the now adult daughter was telling me. And she blamed
the mother just as much as she blamed the father.
And I think she's right if the mother knew what
was going on. First of all, not saying this mother knew,
(34:39):
and Diana Alvarez, I'm just saying, that's my memory of
another case. Bringing somebody that's a child pornographer into the
home and letting them stay there explains why the family
members were fighting. Almost immediately after her disappearance, those other
(35:00):
family members were saying, you should have watched her more carefully.
Why did you allow that man to stay in the house.
Didn't you see her behavior? Perhaps she had changed. I
don't know, but it's sure is pointing in that direction.
Answer take a lesson to cut eleven WFTX Fox for
Chris Shaw. Diana's parents were here for the hearing today.
(35:22):
In fact, they come to pretty much all of Guerrero's
court appearances. They left today like they leave most of
the time, discouraged that as the wheels of justice slowly
turn on this case, they are no closer to getting
the answer they desperately need. Plenty of things happened in
federal court Monday morning, but the family of Diana Alvarez
walked away feeling like nothing has really changed it. They
(35:46):
still little have nothing about Diana. So we're still looking
for somebody they know, Santen or any new It's been
more than two months since the nine year old vanished
from her San Carlos Park home. Guys, we are hearing
the parents speaking, and then a bombshell that cracks the
(36:07):
case wide open. We learn that during a search for Diana,
police speak to Guerrero and he admits he admits he
quote made sexual contact with Diana when she was only
eight years old on a regular basis. So this has
(36:32):
been going on right under the noses of the family
in the home because they allow this guy to stay
under their roof. Do I have it correctly out to
Ray Kabudo Wdbo, Yeah, Nancy, you do. But when they
figure out that there's an appropriate relationship going on cruly,
(36:53):
they don't call the police. They just throw us out.
So that's how he got out of the whole book.
I understanding police were never called when he apparently having
sexual contact with this desicient. Is that meeting there was
some worry over there. Wait a minute, just a minute
before you start, I want to stick with what we're
(37:14):
talking about right now. To Joseph Scott Morgan, Professor Forensics,
it's really hard for me to believe that there has
been regular sex contact with an eight year old child
and nobody in the home and nobody notices anything. Yeah,
in most cases where you have the sexual abuses ongoing,
you'll see drastic changes in the victim, particularly a child
(37:35):
like this. You'll have everything from a bed wedding. You'll
have children whose appetites will diminish. You'll see particularly where
they're not paying attention to their own personal hygiene. These
are some things that manifest themselves that give us evidentially
clues as to ongoing behavior. And also if they are
(37:56):
exhibiting fear fear when they're in then so how can
a family not be attuned to this sort of thing?
This is what we know at this juncture. Our cut
fifteen Jackie. Take a listen to wink w I and
k Nis reporter Anika and Anger. At times she couldn't speak.
(38:17):
The news about her daughter so painful. When we spoke,
she still had to tell Diana's five brothers and sisters
the news, and she told us they still held on
to hope that Diana would come home. A mom with
what she has left of her daughter, not nearly enough
memories and pictures. I have to go without a birthday,
(38:37):
another year without a birthday, after nearly four long years
of searching for Diana Alvarez. Today her mom bread to
her Nandez learned investigators found her daughter's remains. I don't
wish this upon anybody, on nobody, because it wasn't her fault.
The painful discovery in the Ossiola County, where the Lee
County Sheriff's Office says surveyors stumbled upon the remains the
(38:58):
only suspect in Diana's appearance from her Saint Carlos Park
home in twenty sixteen is Jorge Guerrero Torres. While he
already faces murder charges in her death, prosecutors now have
further evidence of the crime. But what she suffered and
what she lived in those moments, I don't wish that
upon anybody to mark class. Do you remember the moment,
(39:22):
and I know you do, that you learned Polly had
been murdered, You know I do, Nancy, And it was
just probably the saddest thing that ever happened in my life.
I was called into the Pedalota Police Department, probably for
the second time in that day, and they told me
(39:44):
that there was an update. Polly's mom was there, my
wife Violet was there. When we walked into the office.
There were already tears in the eyes of the FBI
agent and the local police captain, and it was just
a matter of them telling me what had happened. And
it's funny because intellectually I understood exactly what he said,
(40:07):
but it took me maybe three or four hours before
my emotions caught up with that unbelievable revelation. And it
was only then hours later, once we had finally returned
home for the first time in sixty five days that
the enormity of the situation revealed itself to me, and
(40:27):
my heart absolutely shattered. And it took me a decade,
at least a decade to be able to take those
little shards of heart and put them back together and
be able to enjoy life again. It's just the most devastating,
horrifying news one could ever expect to hear. But having
(40:48):
said that, Nancy, I'm in a better place knowing than
Missus Alvarez was not knowing for those four years. We know.
Wait as justice unfolds Nancy Grace crime story. Signing off
goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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