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CRIME AND JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Mystery Explosion At Aliso Viejo Leaves One Dead; Mom; Search For A Young Missing Mom, Samantha Sperry; Beautiful Young Schoolteacher Who Was Gunned Down On Her Mother`s Driveway On Mother`s Day. Aired 6-8p ET

Aired May 17, 2018 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[18:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, HLN CRIME AND JUSTICE: Good evening, everyone, I`m Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome to "Crime and Justice." Tonight,

the man arrested after a deadly explosion at a California spa. Kyle Peltz has been covering the story. Kyle, was it fault or targeted?

KYLE PELTZ, CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Well, police are now saying brand new details, the man that was arrested is the spa owner`s ex-boyfriend.

Other police have called his arrest unrelated. But they`re saying that explosion, it was no accident.

BANFIELD: More details coming up in just a moment on that. Thank you, Kyle.

Also, tonight, what happened to Samantha Sperry, this beautiful woman missing seven weeks now? Was she lost in a Kentucky swamp, as the man in

her life insist or was she killed? Justin Freiman has the update. Why do we think she may have been killed?

JUSTIN FREIMAN, SR. PRODUCER, HLN CNN: Well, you know, police are saying that two people to last see her alive, they are telling stories and they

are not quite adding up. Plus, blood has just been found in her apartment.

BANFIELD: OK. We will get more into that with the details that you found. Thank you, Justin.

Also, later the hunt for a brazen killer who pulled up to a suburban driveway and gunned down a gorgeous teacher. The list is now growing for

those who might have it in for her, starting with the boy, perhaps, who had a relationship with her when he was only 17. And now reports that she was

trying to stop organized crime.

Plus, the high school seniors who left behind this frightening mess. Why on earth would the local police be congratulating them? You might be

surprised on how that turns out.

First, I want to take you to Orange County, California, the coastal community known for its beaches and its beamers, not for a deadly explosion

at a pristine spa. But that is what took the life of this beautiful 48- year-old woman named, Ildiko Krajnyak. On her first day back to work at the spa from vacation, there were three other people, customers who were

also badly injured when that spa blew up. One of the neighboring businesses was a day care full of young children that had to evacuate

quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw two women come out, full of blood, hair singed, just glass stuck to their hair, glass stuck to their bodies, their skin was

burnt and peeled back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Ildiko was known to locals as a talented skin care specialist and as a wonderful person, but she wasn`t the only one connected to that

day spa. 59-year-old Stephen Beal was her business partner and as it turns out also her ex-boyfriend. And police just arrested him, charging him with

possessing an unregistered destructive device. Though they`ve said this arrest, strangely, is not connected to the blast that actually took the

life of his ex.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not believe at this time that this was an accident. We are, however, investigating this as a crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point our working theory is that this was caused by a device, we don`t believe that this was an accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Joining me now, Crime and Justice Producer, Kyle Peltz, also Richard Winton, a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, retired FBI

special agent, Bobby Chacon and defense attorney, Ashley (inaudible).

First to Kyle, some breaking news that has come from some court documents, the police documents. What are we finding out about this arrest? It

sounds odd.

PELTZ: Yes, so we just gotten the criminal complaint, Ashleigh, just now. And I mean, the details are eleven pages of explosive new details. In this

ex-boyfriend`s house, and again police are saying the arrest is unrelated to the explosion that --

BANFIELD: OK, that is weird, right there that is weird that there`s strange things found in his house that explosive and yet it`s unrelated.

What else are they saying?

PELTZ: Well, they are saying two improvised explosive devices were recovered from this man`s house. His name is Stephen Beal, 59 years old.

They are also saying that, as we mentioned, he is the ex-boyfriend of Ildiko. But apparently sometime earlier this year their relationship

fizzled out.

BANFIELD: What was the reason, what happened?

PELTZ: They actually begin to have disputes according to the Feds over being exclusive and some financial difficulties, it seems.

BANFIELD: And this is all in the arrest paperwork, right?

PELTZ: The criminal complaint, yes.

BANFIELD: And they arrested him all within the last hour or so, or at least filed the paper works ahead.

PELTZ: Filed the papers in the last moments ago.

BANFIELD: We`ve been dying to find out what happened in that spa. We know that it was her first day back from work -- from vacation, first day back

to work, three customers were injured. Were they also witnesses to what happened?

PELTZ: At least two of those customers seemed to have been witnesses of what happened. As of -- up until now all police were saying was that they

believe it was a device that caused this explosion. That is as far as it would go.

BANFIELD: We didn`t know if it was a letter bomb, if it was a package, we didn`t know.

PELTZ: No idea.

BANFIELD: Now what?

PELTZ: Now, two of those customers it appears, when interviewed by the Feds, said they noticed the victim here, Ildiko, pick up a box and open it,

while they are going to check out and then the box exploded. They saw flames.

[18:05:03] BANFIELD: So, we know that it is a box. We know at this point, that this is not a small -- look at the smoke. And we`ve got just very

little imagery to go on, but there is some pretty intense before and after imagery, apart from the material that we saw off of Facebook and some of

the people passing by, who saw the smoke. But look at the before and after. Richard Winton, if I can bring you into this, if you just look at

those pictures, I mean, it doesn`t take an expert in explosion and incendiary devices to know, this was not a small explosion.

RICHARD WINTON, STAFF WRITER, LOS ANGELES TIMES: (BAD AUDIO) (inaudible).

BANFIELD: Richard, is it just me who is having trouble hearing you? Or is that -- you know what, Richard it`s not just me apparently. I thought

maybe it was my ear piece. I am having trouble hearing you. Let`s reestablish your connection. Because I know you got interesting

information. Bobby Chacon, I want you to come in and help me out on just the amount of incendiary material you would need to create that before and

after effect that I just showed. That was a huge gaping hole in that day spa.

BOBBY CHACON, FORMER FBI: Right. And that is what they`re going through, the bomb techs and the explosive examiners are going through the evidence.

This is a very lengthy process. The process in crime scene like this, I`ve done it. I have gone through that training post blast training, we call

it. The bomb techs put it on out in the desert. They`ll be meticulous. It could take days. Instructional engineers have to go in first to make

sure it`s safe to operate in there. They have done that, they are processing that, most of the evidence is going back to Quantico, to the FBI

laboratory where it is going to be examine and they will determine what amount of explosives cause the damage that they are seeing. But they are

going to be gathering also other evidence there, as far as the device and then maybe link it to, you know, how the device was built.

BANFIELD: OK. So that is where I find this science fascinating. Because every time there`s a terrorist explosion, and they`re able to gather the

remnants of the incendiary device, they can actually put the pieces of the puzzle back together so to speak and they can forensically trace it back to

stores that might have sold those components or actually people who might have been behind those components. The rest of us lay people think an

explosion blows out all forensic material. How can they actually find traceable forensic material once there`s been an explosion in that

magnitude?

CHACON: Well, because not everything is consumed in the blast. In fact, very little hopefully is consumed in the blast. Because what houses it, if

it is metal, if it is a pipe bomb, for example, what houses the explosive material sometimes does not get consumed in the explosion itself. You`d be

surprised. A lot of pieces of that evidence, other than the actual explosive material, actually survives the blast. It`s in very small

pieces. And that is why this is a very methodical process they`re going through, could take another couple days to complete the search in that day

spa to get all of the material gathered together, send it to Quantico and be analyzed and maybe match it to, you know, the ex-boyfriend. He clearly

had explosive material at his residence, he says because he was a hobbyist, rocket builder and this stuff was propellant for this rockets that he used

to build. They`re going to explore that connection.

BANFIELD: I`ll get to that in a moment. First, though, I want Kyle Peltz to jump back in with the paperwork that the Feds just filed. Oftentimes

they`ll actually give us details of what they discovered at the scene. Did they lift -- Bobby was just saying not everything is consumed. It is moved

around. But they can gather that evidence. Have they listed anything that they`ve gathered?

PELTZ: They have. To Bobby`s point at the scene, they say, this is where they believe the blast occurred, they say they found a nine volt battery, a

cellular phone and loose wires near where the blast occurred. Now, what is interesting again, they`re not connecting the ex-boyfriend to this, but

they list what they also found in his house. In his house, batteries, a nine volt battery connector, and I am reading from the criminal complaint,

and in total, approximately 130 pounds of explosives.

BANFIELD: Wow. So I want to do one thing, if I can. Obviously what would be critical is that home. And the neighbors, and what the neighbors have

seen, you know, in the comings and goings of that home. Were they ever aware of any kind of explosives or giant packages, say, in the garage,

which is sometimes been the case in terrorist cases, neighbors will say we saw giant, you know, cases and boxes of material in the garage, but we

never knew what it was for. So there were some interviews done with neighbors. Of this particular person. And I want to play for you at least

what one of the neighbors said they witnessed at Mr. Beal`s home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSHROOM MONTOYA, NEIGHBOR: Well, he used to make rockets that are about as big as I am. So you do it right here in the driveway by his garage. So

he would go out to the desert and fire them off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So I want to bring in Richard Winton again. I think we`ve reestablished our connection with you. Richard Winton is a staff writer

for the L.A. Times. What else are you hearing in your investigation? I mean, it`s a fast moving story. And they`ve just made this arrest. I`m

sure your staff and you are pouring all over the documents. But are you finding anything that is curious?

[18:10:03] WINTON: Well, yes. I mean, the curious thing is that they`re not conclusively saying that he is connected to this explosion in Aliso

Viejo. They`re saying, wow, we know he is a rocketeer and we found a lot of materials that completely suggest that he has that kind of ability to

fire and make an explosive device. They only conclusively said that he is connected to the materials they recovered, the battery. They haven`t said

his fingerprints are on the battery, they haven`t said anything about the actual materials they found. They basically seem to indicate that what

they found and the remains of that sweep of that spa was essentially a very crude improvised explosive device, the kind of thing which being seen for

decades in around the world, cell phone, battery, something to power the thing, something to initiate it.

Its sound like -- it`s been suggested by the eyewitnesses it was let off by the opening of the box. So it doesn`t quite make sense why the cell phone

would be involved. But clearly they have gone -- as I understand it, they immediately -- their immediate response was to go through all those nearest

and dearest, formerly or current to her. And that is what they went out and looked at. She has an ex-husband, she has an ex-boyfriend, she has a

current boyfriend as I understand it, and all not surprisingly any experienced investigator will tell you they look at them all.

BANFIELD: Always, Richard. To go back to that nugget, you said she has, obviously the ex-boyfriend that is what the Feds have named in their

affidavits, that Stephen Beal is an ex-boyfriend, as well as business partner, that they have financial difficulties and romantic difficulties

about exclusivity. You also mentioned she has an ex-husband. There`s something unusual to the living arrangements, as I recall, to the victim in

this case and her ex-husband. What was the circumstance that she was living in?

WINTON: They still live in the same house. It`s a pretty large house in South Orange County. They still live in the same house, as I understand

it, they do have a child who`s in college. He is not a child. He is an adult actually. He lives in Washington. So, it`s an unusual arrangement,

but not unheard of. And in a very expensive California real estate market. She has a relatively new business she is recently opened. So, she is also

trying to get off the ground, probably she can`t afford to move on, obviously. It seems like the gentleman who is now in custody was happily

involved in that business based on the paperwork that we saw. And some of the documents here suggested he was the original renter. She has a

bankruptcy in the past. He was the clean money, the money which allowed her to come in. So, yes.

BANFIELD: Interesting. You know what, I want -- you just mentioned that she was sort of new to the business. What might be very remarkable about

this woman is regardless of being new to the business, she had five stars on yelp. She was highly rated for her day spa. I want to read just a

couple of things from some of her customers. That should give you a little bit of color as to who this woman was, what kind of person she was, and how

absolutely bizarre it would be that she would meet this kind of violence.

The first review says from the moment you meet Ildiko, you know you are in the presence of a woman who is finely honed her skill over the years. May

you be so fortunate to become one of her clients? Another customer, I searched hi and low to find Ms. Ildiko, she is not only educated in her

field and beyond, she is a wonderful person, she is always happy to share her wisdom on beauty and other passions of her life.

And this other person said, Ildiko was absolutely wonderful, she is extremely knowledgeable and took the time to really understand my skin care

concerns. And this next one might be the one that hits home the most. Ildiko is probably the best thing to happen to me in this community, called

Aliso, so far. Ildiko is probably the best thing to happen to me so far.

Kyle Peltz, juts so we are aware, that the before and after picture showed a remarkable blast in that building. But the details of the scene, of the

forensics at the scene, of the condition that Ildiko was found in are nothing short of horrifying.

PELTZ: Oh they are disturbing. In the criminal complaint we get an idea of just how strong the blast may have been. The Feds say her remains were

found outside of a broken window and in the parking lot of an adjacent building.

BANFIELD: Bobby Chacon, can you weigh in on that? Apart from the fact they will be scouring this entire crime scene for all of those components

that you talked about, all of the components that were not consumed by the blast, will the condition of Ildiko`s body also yield forensic clues and

help to solve this murder?

[18:15:00] CHACON: Yes, I think it will. I mean, it`s yet to be determined. But I think it will, because one of the witnesses that

actually -- the one witness that saw her opening the box can tell them how close in proximity she was to that box and how close that other witness was

who got basically blown off her feet and blown out of the building. So, she had a really good picture of the victim and the victim`s position as

she was opening that box, just before everything turned to flames, as she describes it.

So, you know, in reading the complaint and reading the witness`s statements in the criminal complaint, you can see, you know the story starting to take

shape, that there were several boxes there, she picked one up, put it on the counter and started opening it and that is when the witness saw

everything turn to flames and, yes, the propelling of her body, and body parts being found in different places and distances away, will, you know,

add to the whole picture of how much explosive was used, what kind of explosive was used and that is all going to take a few days to determine,

it is going to take a lot of lab work, a lot of field work that is going on right now.

It should be noted that in the complaint it also says the gentleman in custody actually called the sheriff`s office. And he consented to a search

of his house, of his residence. So that was a consent search. They`re now doing further searches. I think they`ve obtained search warrants for his

car and some other vehicles in some other locations.

BANFIELD: Well, listen, we`re going to follow this. And obviously, let`s not forget about those three people who were injured, because in an

explosion of that magnitude, those will not be minor injuries and hopefully they can lend their witness accounts to help solve this crime. But just a

terrible, terrible, terrible story coming out of California.

In Kentucky, police tonight are saying new evidence in their missing mother case, smells bad and looks funny. We`re going to give you that new

evidence. And let you know how the story of this woman is completely different than what we first heard.

[18:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Tonight the plot thickens in the search for a young hissing mom, Samantha Sperry. Because we thought we knew how she vanished. But tonight

there are curious and quite frankly disturbing new details that mean she could have been the victim of something very sinister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA ARTIS, MOM OF MISSING WOMAN: Every day there`s just more questions. And not enough answers. Not any answers, really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The story goes when Samantha went into the woods on an ATV with the father of her boyfriend. But that they got stuck in the mud, and had

to spend the entire night out in the cold just using the running heat of the ATV to stay warm. In the morning, again the story goes they made it

out to a road, but that is where they separated. And that is where Samantha was never seen again. But is that really the real story? Because

when we first covered this we thought they had gone into the woods looking for Samantha`s boyfriend. And it turns out that is not the case at all.

Though what is strange about this is that that boyfriend did disappear, and later showed up at his father`s house, dehydrated and suffering from

hypothermia. He`d been gone for five days. And now what`s even more bizarre is that blood has been found in this woman`s home. So what

happened? There`s a real lack of answers here, and it is taking a toll on Samantha Sperry`s family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY ARTIS, STEPFATHER OF MISSING WOMAN: If she is in these woods, I hate to say it, there`s a good possibility she is not with us. You know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Joining me now is Chief Deputy, Davant Ramage of the Graves County Sheriff`s Office. And also, Samantha Perry`s mother, Tina Artis is

with me. Attorney Ashley Merchant is still with me on the program. Deputy Ramage, maybe you can help me understand why this is so complex. We

thought we knew one version of the story and we`re now hearing another version of the story. And I`m curious to find out if we got it wrong or if

police were told something that has suddenly changed.

DAVANT RAMAGE, CHIEF DEPUTY, GRAVES COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Well, I`m not really sure what version that you have there. I mean, we were originally,

we didn`t even know that Samantha was missing. How we got onto that was Rhen was missing. He made a phone call to his mother, and he --

BANFIELD: That is her boyfriend, Rhen. It`s confusing. Rhen Hendrickson is her boyfriend, and Dusty Holder is Rhen`s dad.

RAMAGE: That is correct.

BANFIELD: Rhen and Dusty, Rhen being the boyfriend, and Dusty being Rhen`s dad. So go ahead.

RAMAGE: Right. So Rhen calls his mother and says that he is taken a large amount of pills and that he is going to kill himself. And that he is

running out in the woods.

[18:25:00] He has made a call to her, a Facetime call. And he goes missing. So from that point his family contacts law enforcement and we

become involved in the situation at that time. We do a cursory search that night for Mr. Hendrickson, and it`s through the night at the end of the

next day that we learn about Ms. Sperry missing as well. And the more that we hear the story, the more details that we hear about the story, we feel

like something is dreadfully wrong here. And from that point we start doing interviews of people, start calling people into the sheriff`s office

and trying to find out as many details about this as we can.

BANFIELD: So let me ask you this. The story we had heard originally was that Samantha was so concerned about her missing boyfriend Rhen that she

enlisted the help of Rhen`s dad. They jumped on an ATV and went looking for him. And lo and behold, she never comes out of the swamp, dad does

come out of the swamp, Rhen eventually comes out of the swamp, five days later dehydrated, but Samantha is still missing. Now the story is -- oh,

no, no, Rhen was not missing. Samantha and Rhen`s dad went for a ride on an ATV that got stuck. And when --

RAMAGE: Yes.

BANFIELD: And when Rhen`s dad came out of the swamp with Samantha and separated, somehow she just mysteriously disappeared saying I`m going to a

cousin`s house down the road. You go on ahead and go down to that store and call for a ride. Was there a cousin down the road? Was it really a

cousin?

RAMAGE: Not in the direction that Dusty indicated to us that she traveled. Dusty, from the point where they were, dusty traveled in a north direction,

and Samantha left that location, according to Dusty, in a south direction. And Samantha has no family in that direction. She does, however, have

family the other way. The way that Dusty went. So it never made sense to us that she would travel that way. We never could figure out why she would

go that way.

BANFIELD: And then there`s this whole notion of Rhen`s behavior as his dad and Samantha are reportedly getting on that ATV and going for a ride. And

this is just a joyride. This isn`t going anywhere for any reason other than let`s go for an ATV ride in the swamp. Rhen has apparently had,

according to his dad, has had a fight, might have been physical, because Samantha had some red marks on her, and is going back to Samantha`s home,

where he does not live, to spend the night. Is that correct?

RAMAGE: Yes, that is correct. Rhen told us his version of the events were that they showed up at his dad`s residence. And for whatever reason they

showed up there. And that Samantha wanted to go out and ride the ATV. And Dusty says that when they showed up it was very apparent that they had been

fighting, and he even indicated to us that Samantha had a red mark on the side of her face where he believed that Rhen had struck her. Rhen says

there was never a fight. He never struck her. There wasn`t anything like that. She just wanted to go on an ATV ride. So Dusty would not let Rhen

take his ATV out, and said that he would do it himself.

BANFIELD: OK.

RAMAGE: So at that point they get on the ATV and they go to the woods.

BANFIELD: So I want to be super clear to our viewers that while this story sounds very fishy, neither Rhen Hendrickson nor Dusty Holder have been

charged, neither one.

RAMAGE: Neither one of them, that is correct.

BANFIELD: They are not charge, with anything to do with the missing woman or anything even more sinister, it just sounds fishy. They have both taken

polygraph tests. I`m going to ask you about the results in a moment. But first I want to ask you, deputy, about the blood. Because in a very

happenstance way, a police officer was looking for a place to rent, happened to go to Samantha`s apartment with someone who was showing the

apartment, and he saw blood. While looking for a place to live he found blood in that apartment. Do we know whose blood and what else was found?

RAMAGE: Yes. At this particular time we do not know whose blood that was, or if it is related to this case at all. What I can tell you, a different

agent recovered that found it and recovered it. And I`m not seeing any official paperwork from that agency telling me the amount of blood, where

it was found, anything like that -

[18:30:00]

BANFIELD: But you know the details, right? I mean, it`s a bit weird, the blood is on the ceiling.

RAMAGE (via telephone): I do know the details. It was found in the home. When they cleaned the home out, after, you know, Samantha went missing. And

I do not know who cleaned it out. But the house was cleaned out.

Once it was cleaned out, that`s correct, another police officer from another jurisdiction went in to look at the apartment and he found that. He

made notification to them. And those samples have been taken and sent to the lab.

BANFIELD: Can you also tell me, deputy, apart from the strange detail that the blood was found on the ceiling, which as I understand has been maybe

explained away by some drug use and some syringe use and, you know, trying to get the bubbles out of the syringe, pops the blood matter to the

ceiling.

There were also some bloody clothes. What do you know about the bloody clothes that were found at the apartment?

RAMAGE (via telephone): Well, we found bloody clothes in a -- before -- we executed a search warrant. Our department executed a search warrant on Miss

Sperry`s residence a few weeks before the blood was found by the other agency.

Their belongings were still in the apartment at the time. We found some clothing, male clothing, that had blood on it, what we believe is blood. It

hasn`t been tested yet and verified, so I can`t officially say that it was blood. But we thought that it was and we sent it in for that testing.

Again, we haven`t gotten those results back yet to find out if we were correct first in assuming that it was blood.

And then second, we don`t know who it belongs to.

BANFIELD: So that`s another detail that still has to be resolved. Whose blood will end up being, you know --

RAMAGE (via telephone): Yes, we are waiting the results.

BANFIELD: Exactly. The tests. Whose blood will the tests actually yield as the source of the blood on the ceiling, of the apartment, and also on the

male clothing found because that will be very, very, very telling.

Chief deputy, if you could hold for a moment. I`m going to squeeze in a quick break. When we come back after the break, I`m going to ask you a

significant question. That is, why is Rhen in jail, even though he`s not charged with this? And is anybody else about to go to jail or soon be

charged for this?

After the break, we are also going to speak with Tina Artis, Samantha Sperry`s mom, who definitely thinks there is something, shall we say very

foul about this case. That`s after the break.

[18:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We are still talking about the missing mother of two who supposedly disappeared after going on an ATV ride and then getting stuck in

a Kentucky swamp. And the new details tonight that may show that she`s a victim of foul play, although no one has been charged.

Tina Artis is Samantha Sperry`s mother. She joins me now on the phone. Ms. Artis, can you help me sort of sort through the stories that have been told

by Rhen Hendrickson, Samantha`s on again, off again boyfriend, and Dusty Holder, Rhen`s dad, about this whole ATV ride.

And then these missing moments for both Rhen and your daughter. Rhen emerges five days later and he`s in really bad shape. And Samantha never

emerges from that swamp. Do you believe their versions of the story?

TINA ARTIS, MOTHER OF SAMANTHA SPERRY (via telephone): I`ve not actually spoken to them. But no, I do not fully believe their versions of the story.

I believe there might be a little bit of truth in part of their story, possibly. But to fully believe their story as hundred percent fact, no, I

do not.

BANFIELD: This sounds like there may be bad blood, because if my daughter was missing, I think if any of our viewers watching, if their children were

missing, they would be in constant contact with the last people to have seen the missing person. But you`re not talking to them at all.

ARTIS (via telephone): It`s not that it`s bad blood per se. I don`t have any of their contact information. I went to school with Dusty, but we never

ran in the same circles, you know, so it`s not like we have a social connection or anything of that nature.

[18:40:02] BANFIELD: So you must be dealing mostly with the police then in terms of updates on your daughter`s case. As I understand it, it`s just

still a missing person`s case. It`s not anything more sinister than that technically. Correct?

ARTIS (via telephone): Yes, that`s the way I understand it.

BANFIELD: But do you believe it is something more than a missing persons case?

ARTIS (via telephone): I do. I feel in my heart of heart that she did meet foul play. I do feel -- I do feel that there is definitely more to the

story than what is being told. And I just have to have faith that it will eventually come out.

BANFIELD: There`s a whole other tragedy that`s playing out while Samantha is technically still missing, seven weeks now. And that is that she has two

little children.

ARTIS (via telephone): Yes.

BANFIELD: Are you looking after those little kids?

ARTIS (via telephone): Yes. Right now, I do. My husband and I, we do have custody of them at this time. They -- you know, their father is in their

life. And, you know, he comes to visit them every day.

BANFIELD: How old are they?

ARTIS (via telephone): They are 4 and 2.

BANFIELD: They`re little.

ARTIS (via telephone): They are.

BANFIELD: Do they know -- do they know anything right now? What are they being told about why they haven`t seen mommy in seven weeks?

ARTIS (via telephone): The oldest one, the 4-year-old, our granddaughter, she does know that Samantha is missing. She -- you know, she will ask me

every so often if we`ve heard anything new. And, you know, we talk about, you know, when mommy`s going to come home. She always wants to know when

mommy`s going to come home.

And I have to tell her that I don`t have an answer for that, you know, that we`re hoping mommy will be able to know where mommy is and just as soon as

possible.

BANFIELD: There`s another element to this that`s very curious, Tina, and that is where Samantha`s car was found. It was found abandoned. So this

wasn`t a case of Samantha going off on an ATV ride and her car was neatly parked at her home. It was abandoned in an area that was very close to

where she was allegedly stuck in the ATV, if that story is true.

It`s apparently very close to where Rhen emerged eventually from the woods, dehydrated five days later. Is there anything you think that abandoned car

can give us as a clue?

ARTIS (via telephone): I don`t know other than the fact that I know at some point in time, at least, at the very least, both Samantha and Rhen

were both in the vehicle at some point in time.

During that time span, you know, if there was an altercation, the way Rhen`s father, Dusty, had indicated to the police, I don`t know if there

could be proof of that, if it took place in the car or around the vehicle. I never actually saw the car.

And the police have towed that and have it in impound. I`ve not actually seen it since all of this has taken place. They have custody of the

vehicle.

BANFIELD: Yeah, it`s important to remind our viewers as we cover this story, while it is extremely weird and strange and it doesn`t add up, that

Rhen Hendrickson and Dusty Holder have not been charged in relation to Samantha Sperry`s situation, whatever her situation turns out to be.

But I will ask Chief Deputy Davant Ramage to come back on with me and tell me why is Rhen Hendrickson sitting in a cage tonight. Why is he in jail?

RAMAGE (via telephone): He`s in jail currently in a different county for what I understand is a probation violation. It could be either a probation

violation or a parole. But right now I believe it could be a probation violation.

BANFIELD: That`s a way to keep somebody under your thumb. Ashleigh Merchant, as an attorney, maybe you can help me devise sort of a strategy

if you`re investigating people who are not charged, but their stories don`t add up. It`s very convenient if they have a probation violation and you can

hold them.

It`s not so convenient like Dusty Holder is not being held right now to my knowledge. So, you know, how do the police go about something when it`s

just so curious and the stories are all over the place?

ASHLEIGH MERCHANT, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. And it looks like they did a polygraph on these gentleman, on Rhen and on Dusty, and both of them passed

the polygraph.

[18:44:57] But that`s kind of easy to do because a polygraph doesn`t necessarily ask all of the questions surrounding the disappearance. The

polygraph could actually just ask certain questions, very specific questions that they can easily evade and they can easily get around.

They`re using this probation violation to get him in custody so that they can question him. Because without a body, without some evidence of foul

play, it`s very difficult to actually establish that a crime occurred. Because at this point, we all hope and pray and believe that she`s alive

somewhere and is going to be found.

So we`re not going to jump to that conclusion that there`s actually been a crime that`s been committed. So we can`t treat him as though he`s a suspect

because there`s no crime. But they can use this probation violation and use other charges in his past.

I mean, I looked him up earlier, he`s been to prison for robbery, he has got several different drug charges and different things like that. So I`m

sure that they`ve got things in his past, if he`s on parole or on probation, that they can use to hang over his head while they`re

interrogating him about this crime.

BANFIELD: We`re going to keep following this one because we just keep getting more and more bizarre, mysterious details. Ashleigh, I`m going to

ask you to stay with me. My thanks to Chief Deputy Davant Ramage and also Tina Artis, Samantha Sperry`s mom, for joining me.

I want to show you a mugshot right now. We`ll pop it up on the screen. I`m going to ask you to look real close at the mood of this woman. Does this

look like someone who has just been accused of killing a woman? Answer`s next.

[18:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Now, we have seen all sorts of mugshots. But I have one for you tonight that more than likely would get you pretty riled up. Feast your

eyes on Angenette Marie Welk. That`s a nice picture, you know, if it`s your wedding or your birthday or graduation.

But this woman has nothing to smile about because she`s accused of driving under the influence in Florida and crashing her car just before midnight,

rear ending another car. And the driver, the 18-year-old driver, her mom was sitting in the passenger seat, 60-year-old woman, critically injured,

who ultimately died days later.

Miss Welk was arrested and she was charged. And this is the expression of remorse at the time. And we tried everything we could to reach out to a

lawyer for Miss Welk. But prosecutors tell us she doesn`t have one yet.

Defense Attorney Ashleigh Merchant, would you want to take a case like that? Or is this the kind of thing where it`s a mug shot, a snapshot in

time, a jury would never see it, or is she really in trouble for that kind of behavior?

MERCHANT: She`s in trouble. The jury will definitely see that. The prosecution would blow that up and that would be a huge exhibit to them. It

would also be something that the state would use in sentencing to show that she didn`t have any remorse.

And given the fact that she was twice the legal limit, she`s probably drunk in that photo. So she`s very likely under the influence and thinking that

this is all a big joke. And that can be used as evidence of her intoxication.

The jury can see that picture and take that into account. They are going to be angry. They are going to be very mad. Now, I`ll tell you the death

happened a couple days later, but she still knew that she had caused an accident at this point and she`s being arrested for DUI.

BANFIELD: And there are people in that car.

MERCHANT: Multiple.

BANFIELD: By the way, she`s charged with DUI, property damage, DUI, DUI, great bodily harm. She is facing now DUI, manslaughter. So like we said,

nothing to smile about. Ashleigh, I`m going to ask you to stick around, if you will.

I`m going to take our viewers to Wisconsin right now. I got another picture for you. Troubling, troubling. This was the scene that police found when

they arrived at Cumberland High School. Isn`t this the kind of thing that should result in charges? So why are the officers celebrating? One more

thing next.

[18:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So guess what? We have a statement now from that smiling DUI suspect that we showed you. She now has a lawyer and her lawyer`s name is

Stacy Youmans. And Stacy gave us a statement.

This is the lawyer`s statement saying that her client is utterly devastated. Her client is a wife, mother, friend and goodhearted person.

And that her client is sending out her heartfelt condolences to the affected families in that deadly DUI crash she is charged with.

Interesting.

I have one more thing for you tonight. And it kind of takes a first glance to really sort of take it all in. It looks like a terrible car accident.

Front end slams into the wall of a high school in Wisconsin. Bricks and wreckage everywhere.

Until you notice the back window. Class of 2018. This might just be the best senior prank ever. The Cumberland Wisconsin Police actually

congratulated the class of 2018 on the creativity the seniors used.

What they did is they took a half an old clunker, an old black tarp, and some bricks and some tape and they created this illusion. You have to look

really close to see that that is not a hole in the wall, it`s tarp and tape. Apparently it took the seniors just eight minutes to set up the

scene.

And, of course, the best part of it all, nobody was hurt. Instead they got congratulations from the cops. And congratulations from me, well played,

class of 2018.

Next hour of "Crime and Justice" starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): A gorgeous young teacher is gunned down.

[19:00:00] And police say it could be a crime of passion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): We are investigating everyone that was anywhere near this young lady`s house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Now the men in her life are making an appearance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do want to clear my name.

[19:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): And her ex --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And her ex-fiance is ready with an alibi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was at home with my girlfriend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just as police reportedly start to question a young man who was allegedly caught in her car as a minor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Frank and Rachel break up as a result of her being in the car with that kid?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They did not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A story we were never supposed to hear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s shameful this woman was painted with a police report that was a personal vendetta against her at the time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she can survive this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A young mom goes missing after getting stuck in a swamp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They left the four-wheeler running because the heat from the engine, it was raining that night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her family spent seven weeks looking for her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t sleep knowing that my child could be out here somewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But now there`s a sign, and it doesn`t look good. But it has nothing to do with the swamp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can only imagine that the not knowing is the worst part.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST: Hi, everybody. And thanks for being with us on our second hour of CRIME AND JUSTICE. I`m Ashleigh Banfield.

We are going to begin tonight with some bombshell new details about the beautiful young schoolteacher who was gunned down on her mother`s driveway

on mother`s day. Because while Rachel Deltondo died on mother`s day, just after grabbing ice cream with friends, the story is beginning to sound even

more sinister especially when you learn that that teacher wasn`t actually teaching because she was being investigated for a scandal. And reportedly

spending some of her free time as a source against organized crime, which means the search for Rachel`s killer could take on a whole new pool of

suspects. And a couple of Rachel`s ex-lovers are eager to make sure they are off that list. Like Rachel`s ex-fiance who had been with her for eight

years before breaking it off, whose new relationship with another woman could well become his alibi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK CATROPPA, EX-FIANCE: I was just in shock. I was -- you know, I was at home with my girlfriend. And I got a call. And I was just in complete

shock. I was lost for words. For that to happen in the community that I`m very familiar with, and nobody to know nothing and not see nothing, and

nothing or nobody coming forward is, to me, is mind blowing. It doesn`t sit well with me. She was a good girl, had a big heart. Definitely don`t

understand why or how somebody could do something like this to her. It`s a tragedy, and nobody deserves that. She does deserve justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, Rachel and Frank reportedly broke up over a year ago. And clearly he has moved on. But still police are saying she might have been

killed by someone she knew.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE COLATELLA, FRANK CATROPPA`S ATTORNEY: n a situation like this where the indicators are that this may have been a crime of passion, I wanted to

make sure we get out in front of it.

He has no involvement whatsoever in anything of the things that went on with this young woman and led to her death and we want to make sure the

public knows that.

CATROPPA: I do want to clear my name by the same sense, if I can help the investigation in any way possible, I would like to assist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So that`s Frank Catroppa. But Frank is not the only ex- boyfriend who is talking. Because Rachel also was in a relationship with a minor, a minor named Sheldon Jeeter who is now not a minor. He`s 20. It

was an on again and off again thing, but it went back at least until he was 17. And he was once found with Rachel in her steamed up car at 2:00 in the

morning at age 17. Now, he has been questioned by police. And his cell phone was taken by police when they used a warrant.

Joining me now is Andy Sheehan. He is a reporter for CNN affiliate KDKA. Also Michael Santicola. He is the attorney for Rachel Deltondo`s young

friend, that 17-year-old with whom she had a relationship. Also defense attorney Ashley Merchant is with me.

If I can begin with you, Andy. This is such a complicated story. And the cast of characters surrounding this is becoming wider every day. We are

now hearing a very strange story about the possibility that Rachel may have been doing informant work to stop corruption in her community. Do you know

much about it?

ANDY SHEEHAN, REPORTER, CNN AFFILIATE KDKA: Well, two years ago, as you referred to in this piece, she was caught in this car by police with this

young man, Sheldon Jeeter. Now, he at the time was a 17-year-old juvenile, now he is a 20-year-old man. And today, he, through his attorney, denied

any involvement in her killing.

But at the time this spurred an investigation by the Pennsylvania state police of the Aliquippa police into this leak. And there is now, just last

month, a raid on the Aliquippa city hall. And there is apparently an investigating grand jury. Now, it is alleged by Mr. Jeeter`s attorney who

you speak with, Michael Santicola, that she was about to be -- she was a cooperating witness and she was about to testify at the time of her murder.

This, however, is questionable. The district attorney earlier in the week cast some shade on that.

[19:05:53] BANFIELD: Cast some shade on that part. But then there`s also this report from a local paper called the "Beaver County," the local paper,

that she was not only cooperating with investigators, with the Pennsylvania state police, but that she was also working with the organized crime

section of the Pennsylvania attorney general`s office. So I`m going to talk about that in a moment.

Let`s go back to the other material that now is just sort of -- I find it shocking. It`s a bombshell. That the original story was that this

beautiful teacher was gunned down in her driveway. And a year prior to that she had been caught in a steamy car with a 17-year-old, and never

charged. But now we are learning that there was a sexual relationship, that there was an ongoing relationship at the time she was engaged to that

fiance. Do you know any more about that, Andy?

SHEEHAN: Well, speaking with the attorney today, he does confirm that there was an on again/off again relationship. She was engaged to Frank

Catroppa at the time. And in this police report that surfaced, two years later, she says don`t tell -- please don`t tell my fiance. But according

to Michael Santicola, there was an ongoing relationship. Speculation was and why he was questioned was maybe that relationship, she had been -- she

had jilted him. And he may have acted in some jealousy. But that is denied by the attorney. He says that they remained amicable and somewhat

romantic at the time of her death. And that, you know, that she was more concerned about this investigating grand jury and other people out there

that may want to do her harm.

BANFIELD: All right. And so there`s also the notion that the police are questioning this young now 20-year-old at the time where the relationship

started. He was at least 17, maybe younger, but we don`t know that. They took his cell phone. Do you know what they looked at on the cell phone?

SHEEHAN: Well, in this search warrant that we were able to review today, there is very detailed information about the night of the murder. Rachel

Deltondo was out with Sheldon Jeeter`s older brother, Tyree Jeeter and another young woman. They were sort of, you know, western Pennsylvania

riding around the town. They eventually go out to get some ice cream at a stand. And there`s text messages that go back and forth between all three

of them and Sheldon Jeeter, who apparently was going to go, according to these text messages. But then was left behind for some reason. So --

BANFIELD: Interesting.

SHEEHAN: This is what that is about. They are looking at this search warrant and the details of that night. They have sent his cell phone to a

lab in Harrisburg to try to open up the cell phone to see if there`s any hidden messages, and they are also looking at the GPS. They would like to

know if Sheldon Jeeter was at the scene on the night of the murder. And if he was, and if that was confirmed by the cell phone, that would be pretty

incriminating evidence.

BANFIELD: So it`s complicated. But just to be super clear about this, she is in a car with a 17-year-old in steamy windows and not charged because

the police at the time said there was nothing untoward happening in that car. That`s 2016. One year later that police report that was never

supposed to see the light of day because she was not charged and there was not any wrongdoing is leaked. It`s leaked to the school where she teaches.

It`s leaked to the media. She gets dumped from the school. And ultimately she breaks it off with that fiance. And the fiance said this had nothing

to do -- our breakup had nothing to do with that incident.

I want you to hear that former fiance, his attorney, Steven Colatella talking about that incident and the breakup of his client and this victim.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:10:12] COLATELLA: The ending of the relationship had nothing whatsoever to do with the circumstances surrounding the investigation of

her being in the car with the student or any of that. That sort of played out later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That played out later. What`s weird, though, is that this relationship is still ongoing. Because on the night of her death she

apparently is texting with the 17-year-old, now 20-year-old, with whom she`s had a long relationship. So that`s a curious statement. Steven

Colatella also said this about his client.

It`s interesting because his client is sitting beside him. He is the fiance. But he also had this to say about what they talked to the police

about and how confident they feel that the police are good with these guys. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLATELLA: We wanted to be very, very clear publicly that Frank Catroppa has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what happened. And it`s

important to him and it is important to his family that the public knows that. They appeared satisfied with what we told them. And we provided

alibi information that they were able to verify. So that`s all we can really do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: OK. So time to go into attorney number two. And that would be you, Michael Santicola because Rachel had a fiance who you just was there

who is being represented by someone who sad we are clearing our name. And now Rachel`s other lover is your client. And Sheldon Jeeter is now 20,

your client, was 17. Did the relationship with Rachel begin when he was 17 or earlier?

MICHAEL SANTICOLA, ATTORNEY FOR VICTIM`S FRIEND: Well, we would believe that the relationship started sometime earlier than the time he was 17.

The incident that we are referring to when they were both caught or found by the police was when he was 17. But that certainly was not the first

time they were together.

BANFIELD: So she had a long running relationship with your client who was a minor?

SANTICOLA: That`s correct. And there was a police investigation once the story broke when it was leaked, as you said earlier in the show. And

nobody`s ever determined who leaked that. Nobody`s determined why that report came out a year later. And the officer involved in the stop that

found them didn`t tell any of the parents what was going on is the same officer whose daughter was the last person to see her alive.

BANFIELD: Now that`s getting really, really weird. And so let me get this straight. The officer who catches them in the car in 2016 has a daughter.

And the daughter is a friend of this victim, who was with this victim the night she died.

SANTICOLA: That`s correct. And the officer was off duty at the time, but also appeared at the scene after the shooting had occurred for some reason.

We haven`t determined how and why he was there. But we have reason to believe that he also had possibly contaminated the crime scene with some of

his actions at that time. And it`s being reported that that is the reason he is on administrative leave at the moment.

BANFIELD: So we were told he was on administrative leave because of the sensitivities and the correction to a daughter who was present the night of

the murder, had been in the car with the victim the night of the murder, had dropped off that victim and five minutes later the gunfire rang out.

So that we had heard that the -- from the police that that was the reason that that officer was placed on leave, and not for any other untowards.

But clearly the investigation is continuing.

I want to ask you something. Your client Sheldon is now 20 years old, and he went in for questioning. Right?

SANTICOLA: Well, no. He did not go in for questioning. What had occurred was we believe that, you know, the night of the tragic shooting they had

looked at Miss Deltondo`s phone and had noticed there had been contact with Sheldon, which not uncommon, which is not something that went on not often

with them, not every day, but often. And based on that, they wanted to go talk to him. So they knocked on his door at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning

and they go talked to him. And he did talk to them for a little while until he got on the phone with his mom. And when the officers heard he was

on the phone with his mom, they cut off the interview and left.

BANFIELD: That`s not unusual. That will happen. I do want to ask you this, there`s a report he showed know motion when he was informed that his

lover of at least three, maybe more years was dead.

SANTICOLA: Yes. We deny that. That`s completely false. He did show reaction. I`m not sure what sort of subject of determination that officer

made when making that observation, but that`s untrue. You know, he is continued to be upset. He continued the relationship with this girl on and

off for a while. She confided in him of her fears and the things that were going on with her. And, you know --

BANFIELD: What kind of fears? Tell me that. Go further in there. I hadn`t heard she`d been talking about fears. What did she fear?

SANTICOLA: The fears were identical to what you had said earlier that was reported in the Beaver County that, you know, she had received death

threats, that she was fearful for what was going on with whatever investigation or whatever level the investigation --

[19:15:09] BANFIELD: Death threats over what, the incident in the car, the incident with the 17-year-old, or death threats about something else?

SANTICOLA: No, the investigation that was going on right now with the grand jury and the department of Aliquippa.

BANFIELD: I am flat out of time. But I just find this so strange there is this report from your client that she may have been informing on some

corruption, that she was scared. So that just opens up a whole new cast of characters. I`ll have to have you back, Michael, to dig into this further.

SANTICOLA: I appreciate it.

BANFIELD: Yes, because honestly, and I didn`t even get into the case of the wedding dress, the $10,000 wedding dress, and when that was called off,

that became a lawsuit. So there is also a bridal shop that ends up being none too friendly with this poor victim Rachel Deltondo.

My thanks to all my guests. I will have you back. We will get further into this as the details become available.

Kentucky police also saying tonight there is new evidence in their missing mom case that does not add up. In fact, it`s opposite to what we thought

we knew about Samantha Sperry. That evidence is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:05] BANFIELD: Tonight the plot thickens in the search for a young missing mom, Samantha Sperry because we thought we knew how she vanished.

But tonight there are curious and quite frankly disturbing new details that mean she could have been the victim of something very sinister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINA ARTIS, MOM OF MISSING WOMAN: Every day there`s just more questions. And not enough answers. Not any answers, really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The story goes is Samantha went into the woods on an ATV with the father of her boyfriend. But that they got stuck in the mud, and had

to spend the entire night out in the cold just using the running heat of the ATV to stay warm. In the morning, again the story goes they made it

out to a road but that`s where they separated. And that is where Samantha was never seen again.

But is that really the real story? Because when we first covered this we thought they had gone into the woods looking for Samantha`s boyfriend. And

it turns out that`s not the case at all. Though what is strange about this is that that boyfriend did disappear, and later showed up at his father`s

house, dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia. He had been gone for five days. And now what`s even more bizarre is that blood has been found

in this woman`s home. So what happened? There`s a real lack of answers here, and it is taking a toll on Samantha Sperry`s family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY ARTIS, STEPFATHER OF MISSING WOMAN: If she is in these woods, I hate to say it, there`s a good possibility she`s not with us. You know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Joining me now is chief deputy Devant Ramage of the Graves County sheriff`s office. And also Samantha Perry`s mother, Tina Artis, is

with me. Attorney Ashley Merchant is still with me on the program.

Deputy Ramage, maybe you can help me understand why this is so complex. We thought we knew one version of the story and we are now hearing another

version of the story. And I`m curious to find out if we got it wrong or if police were told something that has suddenly changed.

CHIEF DEP. DEVANT RAMAGE, GRAVES COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Well, I`m not really sure what version that you have there. I mean, we were originally,

we didn`t even know that Samantha was missing. How we got onto that was when was went missing. He made a phone call to his mother, and he --

BANFIELD: That`s her boyfriend, Rhen, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It`s confusing. Rhen Hendrickson is her boyfriend, and Dusty Holder is Rhen`s dad.

RAMAGE: That`s correct.

BANFIELD: So we go to Rhen and Dusty, Rhen being the boyfriend, and Dusty being Rhen`s dad. So go ahead.

Right. So Rhen calls his mother and says that he has taken a large amount of pills and that he`s going to kill himself. And that he is running out

in the woods. He has made a call to her, a face time call. And he goes missing. So from that point his family contacts law enforcement and we

become involved in the situation at that time.

We do a cursory search that night for Mr. Hendrickson, and it`s through the night at the end of the next day that we learn about Ms. Sperry missing as

well. And the more that we hear the story, the more details that we hear about the story, we feel like something is dreadfully wrong here. And from

that point we start doing interviews of people, start calling people into the sheriff`s office and trying to find out as many details about this as

we can.

[19:25:16] BANFIELD: So let me ask you this. The story we had heard originally was that Samantha was so concerned about her missing boyfriend

Rhen that she enlisted the help of Rhen`s dad. They jumped on an ATV and went looking for him. And lo and behold, she never comes out of the swamp.

Dad does come out of the swamp. Rhen eventually comes out of the swamp, five days later dehydrated. But Samantha is still missing.

Now the story is -- oh, no, no, Rhen was not missing. Samantha and Rhen`s dad went for a ride on an ATV that got stuck. And when --

RAMAGE: Yes.

BANFIELD: And when Rhen`s dad came out of the swamp with Samantha and separated, somehow she just mysteriously disappeared saying I`m going to a

cousin`s house down the road. You go on ahead and go down to that store and call for a ride.

Now, was there a cousin down the road? Was there really a cousin?

RAMAGE: Not in the direction that Dusty indicated to us that she traveled. Dusty, from the point where they were, Dusty traveled in a north direction,

and Samantha left that location, according to Dusty, in a south direction. And Samantha has no family in that direction. She does, however, have

family the other way. The way that dusty went. So it never made sense to us that she would travel that way. We never could figure out why she would

go that way.

BANFIELD: And then there`s this whole notion of Rhen`s behavior as his dad and Samantha are reportedly getting on that ATV and going for a ride. And

this is just a joyride. This isn`t going anywhere for any reason other than let`s go for an ATV ride in the swamp. Rhen has apparently had,

according to his dad, has had a fight, might have been physical because Samantha had red marks on her, and is going back to Samantha`s home, where

he does not live, to spend the night. Is that correct?

RAMAGE: Yes, that`s correct. Rhen told us his version of the events were that they showed up at his dad`s residence. And for whatever reason they

showed up there. And that Samantha wanted to go out and ride the ATV. And Dusty says that when they showed up it was very apparent that they had been

fighting, and he even indicated to us that Samantha had a red mark on the side of her face where he believed that Rhen had struck her. Rhen says

there was never a fight. He never struck her. There wasn`t anything like that. She just wanted to go on an ATV ride. So dusty would not let Rhen

take his ATV out, and said that he would do it himself.

BANFIELD: OK.

RAMAGE: So at that point they get on the ATV and they go to the woods.

BANFIELD: So I want to be super clear to our viewers that while this story sounds very fishy, neither Rhen Hendrickson nor Dusty Holder have has been

charged, neither one. They are not charged with anything to do with the missing woman or even anything more sinister. It sounds fishy. They have

both taken polygraph tests. I`m going to ask you about the results in a moment.

But first I want to ask you, deputy, about the blood. Because in a very happenstance way, a police officer was looking for a place to rent,

happened to go to Samantha`s apartment with someone who was showing the apartment, and he saw blood. While looking for a place to live he found

blood in that apartment. Do we know whose blood and what else was found?

RAMAGE: At this particular time we do not know whose blood that was, or if it is related to this case at all. What I can tell you, a different agency

recovered that, found it and recovered it. And I`m not seeing any official paperwork from that agency telling me the amount of blood, where it was

found, anything like that.

SHEEHAN: But you know the details, right, it`s a bit weird, the blood is on the ceiling.

RAMAGE: I do know the details. It was found in the home. When they cleaned the home out, after, you know, Samantha went missing. And I do not

know who cleaned it out. But the house was cleaned out.

[19:30:00]

Once it was cleaned out, then that`s correct, another police officer from another jurisdiction went in to look at the apartment to rent it, and he

found that, he made notification to them. And those samples have been taken and sent to the lab. And, you know, we --

BANFIELD: Can you also tell me -- deputy, apart from the strange detail that the blood was found on the ceiling, which as I understand has been

maybe explained away by some drug use and some syringe use and, you know, trying to get the bubbles out of the syringe, pops the blood matter to the

ceiling, there were also some bloody clothes. What do you know about the bloody clothes that were found at the apartment?

RAMAGE: Well, we found bloody clothes in a -- before, we executed a search warrant -- our department executed a search warrant on Mrs. -- Ms. Sperry`s

residence a few weeks before the blood was found by the other agency. Their belongings were still in the apartment at the time. We found some

clothing, male clothing, that had blood on it -- what we believe is blood. It hasn`t been tested yet and verified, so I can`t officially say that it

was blood. But we thought that it was and we sent it in for that testing. Again, we haven`t gotten those results back yet to find out if we were

correct first in assuming that it was blood, and then second, we don`t know who it belongs to.

BANFIELD: So that`s another detail that still has to be resolved. Whose blood will end up being, you know --

RAMAGE: Yes, we`re waiting on the results now.

BANFIELD: Exactly, the tests. Whose blood will the test actually yield as the source of the blood on the ceiling, and of the apartment, and also on

the male clothing found? Because that will be very, very, very telling. Chief deputy, if you could hold for a moment, I`m going to squeeze in a

quick break. When we come back after the break, I`m going to ask you a significant question, that is why is Rhen in jail, even though he`s not

charged with this, and is anybody else about to go to jail or soon be charged for this? After the break, we`re also going to speak with Tina

Artis, Samantha Sperry`s mom, who definitely thinks there is something, shall we say, very foul about this case. That`s after the break.

[19:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We`re still talking about the missing mother of two who supposedly disappeared after going on an ATV ride, and then getting stuck

in a Kentucky swamp. And the new details tonight that may show that she`s a victim of foul play, although no one has been charged. Tina Artis is

Samantha Sperry`s mother, she joins me now on the phone. Mrs. Artis, can you help me sort of sort through the stories that have been told by Rhen

Hendrickson, Samantha`s on-again, off-again boyfriend, and Dusty Holder, Rhen`s dad, about this whole ATV ride, and then these missing moments for

both Rhen and your daughter. Rhen emerges five days later, and he`s in really bad shape, and Samantha never emerges from that swamp. Do you

believe their versions of the story?

ARTIS,(via telephone): I`ve not -- I`ve not actually spoken to them, but no, I do not fully believe their versions of the story. I believe there

might be a little bit of truth in part of their story, possibly. But to fully believe their story as 100 percent fact, no, I do not.

BANFIELD: This sounds like there may be bad blood, because if my daughter were missing, I think if any of our viewers watching, if their children

were missing, they would be in constant contact with the last people to have seen the missing person, but you`re not talking to them at all.

ARTIS: Well, it`s not -- it`s not that it`s bad blood per se. I don`t have any of their contact information, their -- I went to school with

Dusty, but we never ran in the same circles. You know, so it`s not like we have a social connection or anything of that nature.

BANFIELD: Yes. And so, you must be dealing mostly with the police then in terms of updates on your daughter`s case. As I understand it, it`s just

still a missing person`s case, it`s not anything more sinister than that, technically. Correct?

ARTIS: Yes, ma`am, that`s the way I understand it.

BANFIELD: But do you believe it is something more than a missing person`s case?

ARTIS: I do. I feel in my heart of hearts that she did meet foul play. I do feel -- I do feel that there is definitely more to the story than what

is being told. And I just have to have faith that it will eventually come out.

[19:40:04] BANFIELD: There`s a whole other -- a whole other tragedy that`s playing out while Samantha is technically still missing, seven weeks now.

And that is that she has two little children. Are you looking after those little kids?

ARTIS: Yes, right now, I do -- my husband and I, we do have custody of them at this time. They -- you know, their father is in their life. And,

you know, he comes to visit them every day.

BANFIELD: How old are they?

ARTIS: They -- it`s right -- they are 4 and 2.

BANFIELD: They`re little.

ARTIS: They are.

BANFIELD: Do they know -- do they know anything right now? I mean, what are they being told about why they haven`t seen mommy in seven weeks?

ARTIS: Well, the oldest one, the 4-year-old, our granddaughter, she does know that Samantha is missing. She -- you know, she will ask me every so

often if we`ve heard anything new. And, you know, we talk about, you know, when mommy`s going to come home. She always wants to know when mommy`s

going to come home. And I have to tell her that I don`t have a -- I don`t have an answer for that, you know, that we`re hoping mommy will be able to

know where mommy is, and just as soon as possible.

BANFIELD: There`s another element to this that`s very curious, Tina, and that is where Samantha`s car was found. It was found abandoned. So, this

wasn`t a case of Samantha going off on an ATV ride and her car was neatly parked, you know, at her home. It was abandoned in an area that was very

close to where she was allegedly stuck in the ATV, if that story is true. It`s apparently very close to where Rhen emerged eventually from the woods

dehydrated five days later. Is there -- is there anything you think that - - you know, that abandoned car can give us as a clue?

ARTIS: I don`t know other than the fact that I know at some point in time, at least, at the very least, both Samantha and Rhen were both in the

vehicle at some point in time. During that time span, you know, if there was an -- if there was an altercation, the way Rhen`s father, Dusty, had

indicated to the police, I don`t know if there could be proof of that, if it took place in the car or around the vehicle. But I never actually saw

the car. And the police have towed that and have it in impound. So, I`ve not actually seen it since all of this has taken place. They have custody

of the vehicle.

BANFIELD: So, you know -- yes, it`s important to remind our viewers as we cover this story, while it is extremely weird, and strange, and it doesn`t

add up, that Rhen Hendrickson and Dusty Holder have not been charged in relation to Samantha Sperry`s situation, whatever her situation turns out

to be. But I will ask Chief Deputy Davant Ramage to come back on with me, and tell me why is Rhen Hendrickson sitting in a cage, tonight? Why is he

in jail?

RAMAGE: He`s in jail currently in a different county for what I understand is a probation violation. It could be either a probation violation or a

parole. But right now, I believe it could be a probation violation.

BANFIELD: Well, that`s a way to keep somebody under your thumb. Ashleigh Merchant, as an attorney, maybe you can help me devise sort of a strategy.

If you`re investigating people who are not charged, but their stories don`t add up, it`s very convenient if they have a probation violation and you can

hold them, it`s not so convenient like Dusty Holder is not being held right now to my knowledge. So, you know, how do the police go about something

when it`s just so curious and the stories are all over the place?

MERCHANT: Right. And it looks like they did a polygraph on these gentlemen, on Rhen and on Dusty, and both of them passed the polygraph.

But that`s kind of easy to do because a polygraph doesn`t necessarily ask all of the questions surrounding the disappearance. The polygraph could

actually just ask certain questions, very specific questions that they can easily evade and they can easily get around. But they`re using this

probation violation to get him in custody so that they can question him. Because without a body, without some evidence of foul play, it`s very

difficult to actually establish that a crime occurred. Because at this point, we all hope and pray and believe that she`s alive somewhere, and is

going to be found.

So, we`re not going to jump to that conclusion that there`s actually been a crime that`s been committed. So, we can`t treat him as though he`s a

suspect because there`s no crime. But they can use this probation violation and use other charges in his past. And, I mean, I looked him up

earlier, he`s been to prison for robbery, he`s got several different drug charges and different things like that. So, I`m sure that they`ve got

things in his past, if he`s on parole or on probation, that they can use to hang over his head while they`re interrogating him about this crime.

[19:45:08] BANFIELD: So, we`re going to -- we`re going to keep following this one because we just keep getting more and more bizarre, mysterious

details. So, Ashleigh, I`m going to ask you to stay with me. My thanks to Chief Deputy Davant Ramage and also Tina Artis, Samantha Sperry`s mom for

joining me.

I want to show you a mug shot right now. I`ll pop it up on the screen, and I`m going to ask you to look real close at the mood of this woman. Does

this look like someone who has just been accused of killing a woman? Answer`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:57] BANFIELD: We have seen all sorts of mug shots in our day, but I`ve got one that will really fire you up. Angenette Marie Welk smiling

from ear to ear, though she has very little to be happy about. This Florida woman is accused of driving under the influence and crashing her

car before midnight, rear-ending another vehicle. Driver of the vehicle had her mom in the car, a 60-year-old woman, and that mom was critically

injured and died a few days later. Ms. Welk was arrested and charged, and this is pretty much her expression at the time of the booking. That`s the

level of remorse right then. She`s been charged with DUI and the prosecutors are now working on a manslaughter charge. And we reached out

to Welk`s lawyer, who says, quote, if there is any question about how Mrs. Welk feels at the time, she`s utterly devastated. She`s a wife, and a

mother, and a friend, and like many others, a good-hearted person. Her heart-felt condolences go out to the affected families.

Ashleigh Merchant, it`s all fine and dandy to have that statement from your lawyer, but isn`t that the kind of picture that will be held up in front of

a jury if it ever goes to a jury?

MERCHAN: Oh, yes, without a doubt. That picture will be front and center in any trial that ever happens in this case. And as a defense lawyer,

Ashleigh, I would just be sitting, slumping down in my care if this was admitted in front of a jury because it`s just evidence that she`s still

drunk hours later. She had so much alcohol in her system that she is in the Marion County Jail having a good old time while she`s having her photo

taken.

BANFIELD: Not good. Yes, not good. All right, Ashleigh, thank you for that. I want to go to Wisconsin now. The scene that the police found when

they arrived at Cumberland High School. Isn`t this the kind of senior prank that should result in charges? And if so, why are the officers

celebrating? That`s one more thing, next.

[19:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: When this week`s CNN Hero first earned his pilot`s license on a whim, he had really no idea what he was going to end up doing with it. But

twice a month, Paul Steklenski spends his own money to fly dogs from high- kill shelters in the south to no-kill shelters in the north. Check out these life-saving missions of love.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL STEKLENSKI, PILOT: You just look like my Tessa. You`re just like my baby girl.

I try to greet every passenger before we load them onto the aircraft to spend a few moments with them.

You`re ready to go?

So, they can see me, they can smell me. Load the airplane up and then we`ll make stops along the eastern coasts. I`m quite certain they know

things are about to change.

Hey, buddy, he`s so calm right now.

They know things are getting better and they`re not going to end up in the pound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Oh, man. To see more of how Paul gives these pawsengers -- get it? -- pawsengers a first-class treatment. And to nominate someone you

think should be a CNN Hero, please go to cnnheroes.com.

I got "ONE MORE THING" for you as well tonight, I want to show you the scene at Cumberland High School in Wisconsin, yesterday morning. The

frontend of that sedan slamming into a rock wall of the school bricks and wreckage literally everywhere, littering the scene. Thankfully, this is

not what it seems. There`s your clue, Class of 2018. It`s actually the best senior prank ever. Even the Cumberland, Wisconsin Police Department

congratulated the class on their creativity. The seniors used half an old clunker, a black tarp, and some tape and some bricks to create this amazing

illusion. And guess what, it took them only eight minutes to set this scene up. And best of all, nobody was hurt, nothing was damaged, and the

class is awesome, period. That`s all I have to say about that, awesome! Great job! And congratulations, Class of 2018 (INAUDIBLE) See you back

here Monday night, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Thanks for watching, everyone. CNN`s SPECIAL REPORT "HARRY AND MEGHAN: A ROYAL MATCH" begins right now.

ANNOUNCER: The following is a CNN SPECIAL REPORT.

END

END