1 00:00:07,551 --> 00:00:10,052 [Joe Kenda] It's August 2nd of 2010. 2 00:00:10,054 --> 00:00:12,087 We're in Washington, D.C. 3 00:00:12,189 --> 00:00:14,856 And the worst part of DC is an area 4 00:00:14,858 --> 00:00:16,758 known as the Seventh Ward. 5 00:00:20,330 --> 00:00:23,265 The Seventh Ward is high crime. 6 00:00:23,267 --> 00:00:26,268 It is violent. It is drug dealers. 7 00:00:30,674 --> 00:00:32,340 All right, bye, Tisha. 8 00:00:32,342 --> 00:00:35,177 -Bye. -Bye. 9 00:00:35,278 --> 00:00:38,580 [Joe] Latisha Frazier, she's 18 years old. 10 00:00:38,649 --> 00:00:41,049 She's a fry cook in a McDonald's 11 00:00:41,051 --> 00:00:43,051 in the Seventh Ward. 12 00:00:43,053 --> 00:00:45,087 Latisha's mother and her sister 13 00:00:45,089 --> 00:00:47,155 are waiting for Latisha to come home. 14 00:00:48,959 --> 00:00:51,860 So, it was planned that everybody would meet up, 15 00:00:51,862 --> 00:00:53,662 and she's supposed to be there. 16 00:00:53,664 --> 00:00:56,431 But she didn't show up, and we calling and calling. 17 00:00:56,433 --> 00:00:58,166 Phone's just going straight to voicemail. 18 00:00:59,269 --> 00:01:02,270 There was too many signs that just wasn't normal. 19 00:01:02,272 --> 00:01:04,639 [reporter 1] Developing in the district tonight... 20 00:01:04,641 --> 00:01:06,007 [reporter 2] Latisha Frazie disappeared... 21 00:01:06,076 --> 00:01:07,642 [reporter 3] ...after leavin her job at McDonald's. 22 00:01:07,644 --> 00:01:09,778 [reporter 4] Latisha Frazie went missing last summer. 23 00:01:09,847 --> 00:01:11,847 We classified this as a critical missing person. 24 00:01:11,849 --> 00:01:15,150 The fact that my little sist is missing, it's a stressful situation. 25 00:01:15,152 --> 00:01:17,452 [reporter 5] Police have no yet recovered a body. 26 00:01:17,454 --> 00:01:19,955 That's what I feel truthfull that it's foul play. 27 00:01:19,957 --> 00:01:24,092 [police sirens approaching] 28 00:01:24,161 --> 00:01:27,162 Where is Latisha? No one seems to know. 29 00:01:29,032 --> 00:01:30,665 [clock ticking] 30 00:01:30,667 --> 00:01:33,869 [Joe] I spent my career closing murder cases. 31 00:01:35,372 --> 00:01:38,874 But I'm not the only one who answered the call. 32 00:01:40,644 --> 00:01:44,579 It takes a rare breed to solve the unsolvable. 33 00:01:44,681 --> 00:01:47,082 To catch a ruthless killer. 34 00:01:47,184 --> 00:01:50,185 To find justice for the dead 35 00:01:51,655 --> 00:01:56,558 That's what it takes, to be an American detective 36 00:02:05,736 --> 00:02:08,870 [producer] Jackie Middleton. Marker. 37 00:02:08,872 --> 00:02:10,906 [Jackie] I joined the Metropolitan Police Department 38 00:02:10,974 --> 00:02:14,743 in October of 1986. 39 00:02:16,380 --> 00:02:20,148 It's every officer's desire to become a detective. 40 00:02:20,150 --> 00:02:22,184 The top, top tier. 41 00:02:22,285 --> 00:02:24,953 A homicide detective gets to investigate 42 00:02:24,955 --> 00:02:27,055 the most heinous crime there is. 43 00:02:27,057 --> 00:02:28,590 You get to hunt the beasts. 44 00:02:28,692 --> 00:02:30,759 [Mitch] Jackie Middleton's a great detective. 45 00:02:30,761 --> 00:02:33,562 And Jackie was great because of her rapport with people. 46 00:02:33,564 --> 00:02:35,063 She can calm people. 47 00:02:35,065 --> 00:02:36,431 She was passionate. 48 00:02:36,466 --> 00:02:38,833 She knew how to turn a switch off and on when it was needed, 49 00:02:38,835 --> 00:02:39,968 and she could be tough. 50 00:02:46,843 --> 00:02:49,878 At the time, I had transferred from homicide 51 00:02:49,947 --> 00:02:51,846 and was working in the Seventh District. 52 00:02:51,848 --> 00:02:53,648 [phone ringing] 53 00:02:54,685 --> 00:02:55,951 Middleton. 54 00:02:55,953 --> 00:02:58,353 [Joe] Jackie Middleton was a well-experienced 55 00:02:58,355 --> 00:03:01,089 missing persons investigator 56 00:03:01,091 --> 00:03:03,358 and a well-experienced homicide detective. 57 00:03:04,094 --> 00:03:05,660 She's summoned to the front lobby 58 00:03:05,662 --> 00:03:08,063 of the precinct building 59 00:03:08,065 --> 00:03:11,967 to meet Latisha's mother, and her sister and the fathe 60 00:03:11,969 --> 00:03:13,401 [mother] Do you have kids? 61 00:03:13,470 --> 00:03:14,869 [father] Go get somebody that can help me! 62 00:03:14,871 --> 00:03:16,104 [mother] Come on now, I mean... 63 00:03:16,206 --> 00:03:18,807 -Our daughter is missing. -I understand. 64 00:03:18,908 --> 00:03:20,141 Hey, hey. 65 00:03:20,143 --> 00:03:22,444 [Jackie] So, I spoke with the family, 66 00:03:22,446 --> 00:03:26,448 and they were complaining about Latisha being missing. 67 00:03:26,450 --> 00:03:28,350 [Joe] They are more than alarmed. 68 00:03:28,352 --> 00:03:30,986 They need help to find their loved one. 69 00:03:30,988 --> 00:03:33,455 And the most obvious place to look for the help 70 00:03:33,457 --> 00:03:34,990 is the police department. 71 00:03:34,992 --> 00:03:37,158 Y'all come with me. Y'all come on to the back, 72 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:39,995 I'll help you find your daughter. Y'all, come on. Come on back. 73 00:03:40,096 --> 00:03:44,599 And that was the beginning of the relationship between 74 00:03:44,668 --> 00:03:46,568 the Campbell-Fraziers and myself. 75 00:03:47,971 --> 00:03:51,273 [Barry Campbell] So, we set out and Jackie talked to us 76 00:03:51,275 --> 00:03:54,242 She kinda calmed us down, and, you know, 77 00:03:54,244 --> 00:03:56,244 made us feel comfortable about 78 00:03:56,246 --> 00:03:58,480 them looking into our daughter's case. 79 00:03:58,548 --> 00:04:00,649 First question we always ask is, 80 00:04:00,651 --> 00:04:02,016 has she ever ran away? 81 00:04:02,052 --> 00:04:04,452 [Caroline Frazier] We said, "No, she never ran away, 82 00:04:04,454 --> 00:04:07,188 'cause that's not Tisha, you know?" 83 00:04:07,257 --> 00:04:11,293 Tisha always came home when she got off work. 84 00:04:11,361 --> 00:04:14,863 And did what she had to do for Diamond and everything. 85 00:04:14,865 --> 00:04:16,164 Who's Diamond? 86 00:04:16,166 --> 00:04:17,399 [Latoya] Tisha's daughter. 87 00:04:18,969 --> 00:04:21,069 [Latisha] I'mma get you! 88 00:04:21,071 --> 00:04:22,470 [giggling] 89 00:04:24,574 --> 00:04:25,840 Oh... Ah! 90 00:04:25,842 --> 00:04:28,343 Latisha left behind a daughter, Diamond, 91 00:04:28,345 --> 00:04:29,411 who was three at the time. 92 00:04:29,413 --> 00:04:31,046 [Barry] Oh, Diamond. 93 00:04:31,048 --> 00:04:34,449 Her and her mother was like a team. 94 00:04:34,451 --> 00:04:36,151 The only time she wasn't with her mother 95 00:04:36,153 --> 00:04:37,886 is when her mother was at work or school. 96 00:04:37,954 --> 00:04:39,654 But outside of that they was together 97 00:04:39,656 --> 00:04:42,257 all the time, hooked to her hip. 98 00:04:42,259 --> 00:04:44,693 [Joe] When you're the mothe of a small child, 99 00:04:44,761 --> 00:04:48,063 you come home to care for that child. 100 00:04:48,065 --> 00:04:49,764 If she's not home, 101 00:04:49,766 --> 00:04:52,167 it's because she can't come home. 102 00:04:52,169 --> 00:04:55,203 Nobody leaves a child behind. Nobody. 103 00:04:55,272 --> 00:04:57,072 No, something's definitely happened. 104 00:04:58,575 --> 00:05:01,042 Okay, listen, guys. We'll find her. 105 00:05:01,044 --> 00:05:03,878 The concern is, is that she's not missing, 106 00:05:03,947 --> 00:05:05,347 but she's been harmed in some way. 107 00:05:05,349 --> 00:05:08,083 I treated this case as if it was a murder 108 00:05:08,184 --> 00:05:09,284 from the very beginning. 109 00:05:09,386 --> 00:05:10,452 Thank you. 110 00:05:11,321 --> 00:05:13,655 [Joe] We've gotta proceed quickly 111 00:05:13,657 --> 00:05:15,557 to find out where this girl is. 112 00:05:15,559 --> 00:05:18,993 The longer she's missing, the more danger she's in. 113 00:05:20,464 --> 00:05:22,564 [softly] Thank you. 114 00:05:22,566 --> 00:05:25,567 [Jackie] And so, first thin that I thought we needed to 115 00:05:25,569 --> 00:05:27,769 was speak to the last person who saw her. 116 00:05:31,808 --> 00:05:33,875 So, Middleton goes to the McDonald's, 117 00:05:33,977 --> 00:05:35,143 speaks to the manager. 118 00:05:35,145 --> 00:05:38,880 We wanted to find out if she had any problems 119 00:05:38,915 --> 00:05:40,248 with anyone on the job. 120 00:05:40,250 --> 00:05:42,150 Were there any customers she was having issues with? 121 00:05:42,152 --> 00:05:45,086 Latisha? She's one of my best employees. 122 00:05:45,188 --> 00:05:47,055 [Joe] They all like Latisha 123 00:05:47,057 --> 00:05:49,057 They admire her for her willingness 124 00:05:49,059 --> 00:05:50,191 to advance herself. 125 00:05:50,260 --> 00:05:51,960 [Latoya] She worked hard. 126 00:05:51,962 --> 00:05:53,595 Once she graduated high school, 127 00:05:53,696 --> 00:05:55,830 she wind up working for McDonald's. 128 00:05:55,832 --> 00:05:58,700 And also she was getting her Culinary Arts degree. 129 00:05:58,802 --> 00:06:01,369 She loved cooking, so I know being a chef 130 00:06:01,371 --> 00:06:03,772 was one of her things that she wanted to do eventually. 131 00:06:03,774 --> 00:06:06,608 Did Latisha have any problems here last night? 132 00:06:06,676 --> 00:06:09,043 Nothing I can think of. 133 00:06:09,045 --> 00:06:11,679 [Joe] Nothing that's out of the ordinary. 134 00:06:11,748 --> 00:06:14,649 One co-worker sees her leave to go to the bus, 135 00:06:14,651 --> 00:06:16,985 as is usual. 136 00:06:16,987 --> 00:06:20,088 So, we receive information that she got on the P bus, 137 00:06:20,157 --> 00:06:22,557 which is the bus that she rode home all the time. 138 00:06:39,409 --> 00:06:41,142 Detective Middleton, Metro PD. 139 00:06:41,144 --> 00:06:44,479 So, Middleton identifies the driver on duty that night. 140 00:06:44,547 --> 00:06:46,648 Yeah, I just want to know, have you seen this girl? 141 00:06:48,351 --> 00:06:50,351 [driver] Yeah, she rides the bus all the time. 142 00:06:50,353 --> 00:06:52,153 [Jackie] Do you remember seeing her last night? 143 00:06:52,155 --> 00:06:54,789 [Joe] The bus driver says th she was with a man. 144 00:06:54,858 --> 00:06:56,491 Now, that's interesting. 145 00:06:56,593 --> 00:06:57,859 So, who is this man? 146 00:07:02,799 --> 00:07:05,200 Middleton goes back to the family 147 00:07:05,268 --> 00:07:08,369 with the description provided by the bus driver, 148 00:07:08,371 --> 00:07:10,872 and the mother immediately says, "Oh, that's her boyfriend, 149 00:07:10,874 --> 00:07:12,507 Rianel Mills." 150 00:07:12,609 --> 00:07:14,742 And that he rides the bus with her sometimes. 151 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:18,480 -How was work? -[groans] 152 00:07:18,581 --> 00:07:19,981 They would always be together, 153 00:07:20,083 --> 00:07:21,950 they kinda, like, grew up together. 154 00:07:24,588 --> 00:07:25,854 [Joe] Something goes wrong 155 00:07:25,856 --> 00:07:27,989 between people that are romantically involved, 156 00:07:28,091 --> 00:07:30,091 it can be a very emotional, and thus, 157 00:07:30,093 --> 00:07:31,493 a very dangerous thing. 158 00:07:31,561 --> 00:07:34,762 Historically, when you have cases like this, 159 00:07:34,764 --> 00:07:37,265 it's the boyfriend or the husband. 160 00:07:38,902 --> 00:07:41,169 [Mitch] That's the first person you're going to look at, 161 00:07:41,171 --> 00:07:43,872 probably 9.5 times out of 10, it is that person. 162 00:07:46,977 --> 00:07:49,077 [Joe] So, Middleton finds her boyfriend. 163 00:07:49,079 --> 00:07:50,445 He's also very concerned, 164 00:07:50,447 --> 00:07:53,581 because this is out of character for Latisha 165 00:07:53,683 --> 00:07:54,816 to not make contact. 166 00:07:54,818 --> 00:07:56,551 I need you to tell me about the meet-up 167 00:07:56,553 --> 00:07:58,253 with Latisha on the bus. 168 00:07:58,255 --> 00:08:00,655 After work, she normally get on the bus with me. 169 00:08:00,657 --> 00:08:01,923 Ride the bus every day. 170 00:08:02,024 --> 00:08:04,659 [Jackie] Apparently he had met her, coming from work. 171 00:08:04,661 --> 00:08:06,761 She said she was going to meet some friends. 172 00:08:06,763 --> 00:08:09,764 She got in the area of 22nd Street, 173 00:08:09,766 --> 00:08:11,432 and he continued to go home. 174 00:08:11,434 --> 00:08:13,501 It is her custom to call him every night, 175 00:08:13,603 --> 00:08:15,670 to say that she got home safely. 176 00:08:15,672 --> 00:08:19,173 But that night of August 2nd, she never called. 177 00:08:20,076 --> 00:08:22,043 You willing to take a polygraph test? 178 00:08:23,580 --> 00:08:24,945 Yes. 179 00:08:27,984 --> 00:08:30,485 [Jackie] I am not the perso that did the polygraph. 180 00:08:31,755 --> 00:08:33,855 The polygrapher views the case, 181 00:08:33,857 --> 00:08:36,124 and they ask questions about, 182 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:38,560 you know, when's the last ti they saw them, 183 00:08:38,562 --> 00:08:40,862 do you know what happened, 184 00:08:40,864 --> 00:08:42,764 did you cause the disappearance? 185 00:08:42,766 --> 00:08:44,165 Things of those nature. 186 00:08:48,138 --> 00:08:50,405 There was no deception. 187 00:08:50,473 --> 00:08:54,442 There was nothing that raised the radar 188 00:08:54,444 --> 00:08:56,744 that this is our guy. 189 00:08:56,746 --> 00:09:00,515 We did verify his story, so things were lining up. 190 00:09:00,517 --> 00:09:02,984 Can you think of anybody who may know where Latisha is? 191 00:09:03,086 --> 00:09:05,553 -Did you talk to Marcus? -Who's Marcus? 192 00:09:07,757 --> 00:09:09,190 Diamond's daddy. 193 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,161 He is the biological father of Diamond. 194 00:09:13,163 --> 00:09:15,263 He thus becomes a suspect. 195 00:09:18,602 --> 00:09:20,535 Say bye to Daddy. 196 00:09:20,537 --> 00:09:24,172 [Mitch] Even if the father is not dating her at the tim 197 00:09:24,174 --> 00:09:27,141 there's gonna be disputes, because the child is involve 198 00:09:27,143 --> 00:09:29,377 So as a detective, you most definitely 199 00:09:29,379 --> 00:09:30,945 want to first start there. 200 00:09:32,382 --> 00:09:35,350 So, Marcus, what have you been doing? 201 00:09:37,554 --> 00:09:38,753 Let's go ask him. 202 00:09:44,494 --> 00:09:47,261 Middleton's interview with Latisha's boyfriend 203 00:09:47,263 --> 00:09:49,364 yields the identity of someone else. 204 00:09:49,366 --> 00:09:52,634 The father of Latisha's child, Diamond 205 00:09:52,636 --> 00:09:55,269 So, Middleton needs to find Marcus, 206 00:09:55,271 --> 00:09:57,071 and see what explanation he has 207 00:09:57,073 --> 00:10:00,441 for the disappearance of Latisha Frazier. 208 00:10:00,443 --> 00:10:03,544 We went to his house, and he was interviewed. 209 00:10:03,546 --> 00:10:07,582 Marcus, so, what was your relationship with Latisha like? 210 00:10:08,418 --> 00:10:09,851 It was fine. 211 00:10:09,853 --> 00:10:11,586 [Jackie] They were trying to co-parent, 212 00:10:11,688 --> 00:10:12,954 um, you know, their children 213 00:10:12,956 --> 00:10:14,555 They had this baby when they were, like, 214 00:10:14,557 --> 00:10:16,157 15 and 16 years old. 215 00:10:16,159 --> 00:10:17,992 So they're doing the best they can. 216 00:10:17,994 --> 00:10:19,694 Were y'all having any problems 217 00:10:19,763 --> 00:10:21,262 over Diamond or anything like that? 218 00:10:21,264 --> 00:10:23,064 Nah, everything was cool. 219 00:10:23,066 --> 00:10:24,399 [Joe] He's very cooperative 220 00:10:24,500 --> 00:10:27,468 and willing to submit to any testing whatsoever. 221 00:10:27,470 --> 00:10:30,471 We were able to get him to take a polygraph. 222 00:10:30,473 --> 00:10:32,940 And he passed that with flying colors. 223 00:10:32,942 --> 00:10:34,442 [Jackie] We talked to a lot of people. 224 00:10:34,444 --> 00:10:36,444 We couldn't find anybody tha said that it was volatile, 225 00:10:36,446 --> 00:10:38,179 or there was any issues, 226 00:10:38,281 --> 00:10:40,748 or that he would have done anything to her. 227 00:10:40,750 --> 00:10:42,884 So, Middleton has no reason to believe that 228 00:10:42,952 --> 00:10:44,085 he has anything to do with 229 00:10:44,087 --> 00:10:45,753 her disappearance. Good for him. 230 00:10:47,657 --> 00:10:50,758 [Jackie] So, after we ruled out the obvious, 231 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,861 we start looking to people that she trusted. 232 00:10:53,863 --> 00:10:56,964 Her boyfriend said she got off the bus, 233 00:10:56,966 --> 00:10:59,867 communicated that she was gonna stop and see some friends. 234 00:10:59,869 --> 00:11:03,171 So, naturally we wanna talk to these kids 235 00:11:03,173 --> 00:11:06,007 that she was supposed to be going to see. 236 00:11:07,677 --> 00:11:11,279 Middleton has determined a group of friends exist. 237 00:11:13,450 --> 00:11:15,850 They listen to music, they play video games. 238 00:11:15,852 --> 00:11:17,251 They all like Latisha. 239 00:11:17,253 --> 00:11:18,586 They're all friendly with her. 240 00:11:18,654 --> 00:11:24,258 They are Brian Gaither, Johnnie Sweet, and Lanee Bel 241 00:11:24,260 --> 00:11:26,994 Did you guys see Latisha the night she disappeared? 242 00:11:26,996 --> 00:11:29,797 No. She never showed up. 243 00:11:29,899 --> 00:11:32,100 And of course, nobody didn't see her, 244 00:11:32,201 --> 00:11:33,801 she never made it to the apartment. 245 00:11:33,903 --> 00:11:37,205 So, Latisha, was she having any problems with anybody? 246 00:11:38,007 --> 00:11:39,707 No, Tisha was cool with everybody. 247 00:11:42,479 --> 00:11:46,080 [Latoya] She was never involved in, like, craziness 248 00:11:47,550 --> 00:11:49,050 She loved to have fun, 249 00:11:49,052 --> 00:11:51,586 always kept a smile on her face, like, 250 00:11:51,654 --> 00:11:54,689 even at a moment where she might have been hurting, 251 00:11:54,758 --> 00:11:56,090 she still smiling. 252 00:11:56,092 --> 00:11:59,660 Everybody said that Latisha Frazier lit up a room. 253 00:12:00,864 --> 00:12:03,564 [Barry] She just smiled all the time, and, you know 254 00:12:03,566 --> 00:12:05,266 she was really friendly to people, 255 00:12:05,268 --> 00:12:08,102 and they gravitated to that. 256 00:12:10,573 --> 00:12:12,073 [Johnnie] Tisha had her stuff together, man. 257 00:12:13,209 --> 00:12:14,976 Doesn't make sense. 258 00:12:15,044 --> 00:12:17,245 Everybody painted her to be 259 00:12:17,247 --> 00:12:22,583 a very genuine, nice, caring, responsible young lady. 260 00:12:22,652 --> 00:12:24,318 [Joe] All Middleton has learned 261 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,087 is how concerned everyone is 262 00:12:26,089 --> 00:12:28,689 but nobody really has any knowledge. 263 00:12:28,791 --> 00:12:30,258 Latisha has vanished. 264 00:12:30,260 --> 00:12:32,794 And no one seems to know how that might have happened. 265 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:38,666 In a case like this, 266 00:12:38,668 --> 00:12:40,501 what makes it even more difficult, 267 00:12:40,570 --> 00:12:42,370 you have a four-year-old chi 268 00:12:42,372 --> 00:12:44,105 who wants to know where her mother is, 269 00:12:44,107 --> 00:12:45,573 and you can't tell her. 270 00:12:45,575 --> 00:12:48,976 You'd love to be able to, but you cannot. 271 00:12:49,078 --> 00:12:50,678 [Barry] There's a lot of emotional things 272 00:12:50,780 --> 00:12:52,246 that are going on within her 273 00:12:52,248 --> 00:12:55,383 And you wanna help but, like, you really can't 274 00:12:55,484 --> 00:12:58,452 But she's missing that, and I'm... 275 00:12:59,155 --> 00:13:00,588 I know that took a toll on her. 276 00:13:01,691 --> 00:13:03,791 [Joe] The longer it takes to find her, 277 00:13:03,893 --> 00:13:05,893 the less likely it becomes 278 00:13:05,995 --> 00:13:07,662 that she will be found unharmed. 279 00:13:07,664 --> 00:13:11,365 Someone has done something awful to Latisha Frazier. 280 00:13:14,304 --> 00:13:17,605 So, we started interviewing people in the neighborhood. 281 00:13:19,309 --> 00:13:21,542 [Mitch] Canvassing the neighborhood is very important. 282 00:13:21,544 --> 00:13:23,845 Hey, guys. 283 00:13:23,847 --> 00:13:26,147 Because you never know who may have seen something. 284 00:13:26,149 --> 00:13:27,849 Just wanna know if you've seen this girl. 285 00:13:31,154 --> 00:13:33,354 [Joe] In a neighborhood like the Seventh Ward, 286 00:13:33,356 --> 00:13:35,489 the code of silence is a problem. 287 00:13:35,558 --> 00:13:38,459 Never tell the police anything. 288 00:13:39,696 --> 00:13:40,995 [Jackie] The Seventh District's 289 00:13:40,997 --> 00:13:43,297 probably the roughest area of D.C. 290 00:13:43,399 --> 00:13:46,901 It's where the most violent calls come from, 291 00:13:47,003 --> 00:13:49,804 majority of the shootings, majority of your homicides. 292 00:13:49,872 --> 00:13:51,472 [Mitch] There's always been a lot of violence 293 00:13:51,474 --> 00:13:53,007 in that particular community 294 00:13:53,109 --> 00:13:55,076 And people don't talk to the police. 295 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,881 There is a concern of being retaliated against 296 00:13:59,949 --> 00:14:01,249 for cooperating with law enforcement. 297 00:14:03,987 --> 00:14:05,653 You don't wanna get involved with the police, 298 00:14:05,655 --> 00:14:07,655 you don't wanna bring any light to yourself, 299 00:14:07,657 --> 00:14:09,557 so you just say you don't know. 300 00:14:12,061 --> 00:14:15,363 So, we started posting flyers 301 00:14:15,365 --> 00:14:18,666 in the area that she kinda frequently hung around. 302 00:14:21,070 --> 00:14:23,571 [Latoya] We stood out on the streets placing flyer 303 00:14:23,573 --> 00:14:25,473 and to people in their cars 304 00:14:25,475 --> 00:14:27,575 um, people walking in the street. 305 00:14:28,578 --> 00:14:31,145 [Caroline] We was all over. 306 00:14:31,147 --> 00:14:33,648 We were just throwing them around, 307 00:14:33,650 --> 00:14:35,549 putting them up everywhere. 308 00:14:35,551 --> 00:14:37,985 [Joe] Flyers with tear-off phone numbers 309 00:14:37,987 --> 00:14:39,287 to Crime Stoppers. 310 00:14:39,322 --> 00:14:42,390 Anonymous reporting of information. 311 00:14:42,491 --> 00:14:44,558 You can even get a reward. 312 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,394 And no one's gonna ask your name. 313 00:14:51,167 --> 00:14:54,568 But very shortly after we started putting them up, 314 00:14:54,570 --> 00:14:56,270 people would snatch them down. 315 00:14:56,272 --> 00:14:58,606 [Barry] Every day we would post flyers, 316 00:14:58,675 --> 00:15:00,141 and we would come back the next day, 317 00:15:00,143 --> 00:15:01,475 they all would be gone. 318 00:15:02,378 --> 00:15:04,145 It didn't make sense to me. 319 00:15:04,147 --> 00:15:07,748 Why would you pull down flyers of a missing person? 320 00:15:07,750 --> 00:15:09,083 Somebody's trying to find her. 321 00:15:09,185 --> 00:15:10,451 She has family. 322 00:15:10,453 --> 00:15:11,686 She has siblings. 323 00:15:11,754 --> 00:15:14,255 She has a mother, she has a father, she has a child. 324 00:15:14,257 --> 00:15:17,258 So, we was like, "Okay, what's up with this? 325 00:15:17,260 --> 00:15:19,994 Who is it that doesn't want us to figure this out?" 326 00:15:21,264 --> 00:15:23,798 [Joe] Middleton becomes immediately alarmed. 327 00:15:23,899 --> 00:15:26,867 Somebody wants this investigation to go away. 328 00:15:29,973 --> 00:15:32,373 Because they're responsible for it. 329 00:15:40,316 --> 00:15:42,483 Someone has been tearing down the flyers 330 00:15:42,585 --> 00:15:45,219 posted around the neighborhood asking for the whereabouts 331 00:15:45,221 --> 00:15:46,587 of Latisha Frazier, 332 00:15:46,689 --> 00:15:48,856 and/or knowledge of her disappearance. 333 00:15:48,858 --> 00:15:50,591 We knew that someone there knew. 334 00:15:50,693 --> 00:15:54,562 But we were absolutely getting nothing. No breaks. 335 00:15:55,798 --> 00:15:57,865 [Joe] So, Caroline, Latisha's mother, 336 00:15:57,867 --> 00:15:58,966 makes a decision, 337 00:15:58,968 --> 00:16:02,103 it's time to get the press involved in this. 338 00:16:02,105 --> 00:16:05,973 [Caroline] About a week or t after she went missing, 339 00:16:06,075 --> 00:16:09,377 that's when Sam Ford came in the picture. 340 00:16:09,445 --> 00:16:11,479 [Gordon Peterson] Latisha Frazier disappeared in August. 341 00:16:11,547 --> 00:16:13,247 D.C. Bureau Chief Sam Ford is live 342 00:16:13,249 --> 00:16:16,250 in Southeast Washington with that story. Sam. 343 00:16:16,252 --> 00:16:19,086 Well, Gordon, we are on 18th and Trenton Place 344 00:16:19,155 --> 00:16:20,421 in Southeast Washington, 345 00:16:20,522 --> 00:16:24,859 where 18-year-old Latisha Monique Frazier disappeared. 346 00:16:24,861 --> 00:16:27,061 [producer] Sam Ford, take one. Marker. 347 00:16:27,063 --> 00:16:28,496 I'm Sam Ford. 348 00:16:28,597 --> 00:16:31,899 I'm the principal reporter for stories in Washington, D.C. 349 00:16:33,569 --> 00:16:35,503 The family would call saying that 350 00:16:35,571 --> 00:16:37,371 this young girl had disappeared, 351 00:16:37,373 --> 00:16:40,541 so I thought, "This is interesting. Let's go." 352 00:16:40,543 --> 00:16:41,942 [Latoya] Sam Ford had came through 353 00:16:41,944 --> 00:16:44,178 and he was actually doing a news clip on us. 354 00:16:44,247 --> 00:16:46,080 And I mean, he's a really good guy. 355 00:16:46,082 --> 00:16:48,549 [Sam] Caroline Frazier, the missing woman's mother, 356 00:16:48,551 --> 00:16:50,718 was back at Seventh Police District headquarters 357 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:51,985 again today, 358 00:16:51,987 --> 00:16:54,422 joined by a host of family members and friend 359 00:16:54,424 --> 00:16:57,758 who desperately want to kno where Latisha Frazier is. 360 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,261 I mean, I've been out there every day, like I said. 361 00:17:00,263 --> 00:17:01,762 [Joe] Caroline's gonna prow these streets 362 00:17:01,764 --> 00:17:03,764 with Sam Ford, and a camera 363 00:17:03,766 --> 00:17:05,666 And see what they can learn 364 00:17:05,668 --> 00:17:08,169 that Middleton would never have access to, 365 00:17:08,171 --> 00:17:11,005 because of the code of silence involving the police. 366 00:17:11,073 --> 00:17:13,107 It was a lot of doors we knocked on. 367 00:17:13,109 --> 00:17:17,478 And asked them, did they see Tisha out here, and all that. 368 00:17:19,082 --> 00:17:20,347 [Sam] We got to know these people, 369 00:17:20,349 --> 00:17:22,249 we saw how serious they were 370 00:17:22,251 --> 00:17:24,251 We felt for them, you know? 371 00:17:24,253 --> 00:17:26,253 They had the love for their child. 372 00:17:26,255 --> 00:17:29,657 And they just kept pushing, and pushing and pushing. 373 00:17:29,659 --> 00:17:32,093 [Jackie] While they continue to stay in the streets, 374 00:17:32,095 --> 00:17:33,961 we were trying to fish it ou 375 00:17:33,963 --> 00:17:36,397 trying to figure out who it was, but we... 376 00:17:36,466 --> 00:17:38,499 We just couldn't break anybody. 377 00:17:39,769 --> 00:17:42,103 [Sam] You know, we kept covering this story. 378 00:17:42,105 --> 00:17:44,238 And at one point, 379 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,342 somebody started doing, like, ugly stuff on Facebook. 380 00:17:48,344 --> 00:17:51,378 Not only do we have people tearing down the posters, 381 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,648 now her sister, Latoya, is receiving threats 382 00:17:54,650 --> 00:17:55,950 via social media. 383 00:17:55,952 --> 00:17:57,685 They're awful threats. 384 00:17:59,055 --> 00:18:01,055 [Latoya] Somebody made the Facebook page. 385 00:18:01,057 --> 00:18:02,556 It said "Monique Frazier," 386 00:18:02,558 --> 00:18:04,258 using her middle and last name. 387 00:18:05,361 --> 00:18:06,994 And they started in with the threats, 388 00:18:06,996 --> 00:18:09,363 until I had, like, a whole book of threats. 389 00:18:09,365 --> 00:18:12,099 [Sam] January 13th, 10:15pm 390 00:18:12,101 --> 00:18:17,371 [reading message] 391 00:18:17,373 --> 00:18:19,406 [Caroline] They was nasty. 392 00:18:19,508 --> 00:18:21,842 They called us everything in the book. 393 00:18:21,844 --> 00:18:24,645 I'mma be honest, like, I was terrified. 394 00:18:24,647 --> 00:18:27,448 Some of those messages was, like, horrific. 395 00:18:27,450 --> 00:18:30,084 [Sam] " Her black [bleep] has been gone. 396 00:18:30,086 --> 00:18:33,220 Keep the flyers out of the [bleep] hood. 397 00:18:33,222 --> 00:18:34,755 We took them down." 398 00:18:34,757 --> 00:18:37,858 The threat indicates that Latisha Frazier 399 00:18:37,860 --> 00:18:39,260 is already dead. 400 00:18:39,262 --> 00:18:42,062 It's clear to Middleton this is not a missing person, 401 00:18:42,064 --> 00:18:43,364 this is a homicide. 402 00:18:44,867 --> 00:18:46,167 [Jackie] We were blown away 403 00:18:46,169 --> 00:18:49,203 There's somebody who is saying that they know 404 00:18:49,271 --> 00:18:50,871 that she's deceased. 405 00:18:50,873 --> 00:18:52,973 So of course we wanna interview that person. 406 00:18:52,975 --> 00:18:54,842 How do you know? What's your involvement? 407 00:18:54,844 --> 00:18:57,244 [Joe] So, Middleton uses the IT services 408 00:18:57,246 --> 00:18:58,345 of the police department 409 00:18:58,347 --> 00:19:00,748 to recover the IP address 410 00:19:01,484 --> 00:19:03,250 of where these threats originated. 411 00:19:04,453 --> 00:19:07,655 They find the location wher this IP is addressed. 412 00:19:08,591 --> 00:19:11,058 We gear up, we go out to this address. 413 00:19:11,060 --> 00:19:14,094 [sirens approaching] 414 00:19:15,798 --> 00:19:17,097 [tires screech] 415 00:19:23,472 --> 00:19:25,673 [Joe] If their suspicions are correct, 416 00:19:25,675 --> 00:19:27,608 they may be finding a murderer there. 417 00:19:31,747 --> 00:19:32,980 You've got to be kidding me. 418 00:19:36,485 --> 00:19:39,086 [Jackie] We get there, it's a vacant lot. 419 00:19:39,188 --> 00:19:42,089 There's no house there where this address 420 00:19:42,158 --> 00:19:44,558 -should have been. -They find nothing. 421 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,261 [Jackie] It's like somebody used 422 00:19:47,263 --> 00:19:50,264 an address that did not exis 423 00:19:50,266 --> 00:19:52,399 [Joe] This is the curse of the Internet. 424 00:19:52,468 --> 00:19:55,202 It gives everyone anonymity 425 00:19:55,238 --> 00:19:58,305 The most dangerous of all things. 426 00:19:58,407 --> 00:20:00,741 Step out here in the sunlight, 427 00:20:00,743 --> 00:20:03,177 tell me your name and your mother's name, 428 00:20:03,246 --> 00:20:05,946 and then repeat what you were going to say a minute ago. 429 00:20:05,948 --> 00:20:07,081 And people won't do it. 430 00:20:09,452 --> 00:20:10,985 [Jackie] And then after tha 431 00:20:10,987 --> 00:20:13,787 we continued to pass out flyers, 432 00:20:13,889 --> 00:20:15,089 try to interview people. 433 00:20:15,124 --> 00:20:16,757 But we came up with nothing. 434 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,094 [Joe] This investigation has gone on 435 00:20:20,195 --> 00:20:22,763 for almost six months. 436 00:20:22,765 --> 00:20:25,099 There is hardly any hope 437 00:20:25,101 --> 00:20:27,801 that Latisha Frazier is alive and well. 438 00:20:27,870 --> 00:20:31,405 I think after those months of passing out flyers, 439 00:20:31,507 --> 00:20:33,907 my mind at that point just went to mush, 440 00:20:33,943 --> 00:20:35,175 because it's like, 441 00:20:35,277 --> 00:20:37,444 I knew something had to happen. 442 00:20:37,446 --> 00:20:40,748 All I could do was just close my eyes 443 00:20:40,750 --> 00:20:42,449 and really pray. 444 00:20:43,853 --> 00:20:45,886 'Cause I couldn't do nothing else. 445 00:20:45,955 --> 00:20:48,022 No one gets to play God. 446 00:20:48,024 --> 00:20:50,357 The family deserves to know 447 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,026 what happened to their daughter. 448 00:20:52,028 --> 00:20:53,694 Every family does. 449 00:20:55,498 --> 00:20:59,066 [Jackie] You had this wonderful person missing, 450 00:20:59,068 --> 00:21:01,201 and nobody's saying anything 451 00:21:01,303 --> 00:21:04,171 You have to put your boots to the ground, as I say, 452 00:21:04,173 --> 00:21:05,572 level to the pavement. 453 00:21:08,077 --> 00:21:09,376 Talk to people. 454 00:21:09,444 --> 00:21:12,046 Eventually you're gonna reac the heart of someone. 455 00:21:12,048 --> 00:21:14,748 Someone's heart strings will be pulled. 456 00:21:17,286 --> 00:21:19,186 And they will tell you what you need to know. 457 00:21:21,490 --> 00:21:23,857 [Chris Kavanaugh] In Januar of 2011, 458 00:21:23,859 --> 00:21:26,360 Caroline Frazier was still on local news, 459 00:21:26,362 --> 00:21:30,364 passing out missing person flyers for Latisha Frazier. 460 00:21:31,267 --> 00:21:34,101 [phone ringing] 461 00:21:35,004 --> 00:21:36,070 Middleton. 462 00:21:36,072 --> 00:21:37,871 On every flyer we put out, 463 00:21:37,873 --> 00:21:41,442 "Call Crime Solvers with your tip." 464 00:21:41,444 --> 00:21:43,277 Okay, hold on. What did they say exactly? 465 00:21:43,346 --> 00:21:45,646 So, someone called in and gave a tip. 466 00:21:45,648 --> 00:21:47,348 [Joe] They say they know 467 00:21:47,350 --> 00:21:49,149 what happened to Latisha Frazier. 468 00:21:49,151 --> 00:21:52,252 And further, they know who's responsible for it. 469 00:21:52,254 --> 00:21:54,755 And everything just started falling together, 470 00:21:54,757 --> 00:21:56,857 from that one call. 471 00:21:56,859 --> 00:21:58,759 I need this girl down here right now. 472 00:22:00,262 --> 00:22:02,896 [Joe] One thing that is certain about murder cases 473 00:22:02,965 --> 00:22:06,266 the truth finds a way of escaping, 474 00:22:06,268 --> 00:22:08,602 despite Herculean efforts to prevent it. 475 00:22:08,704 --> 00:22:10,404 It still finds a way. 476 00:22:15,044 --> 00:22:16,143 [phone ringing] 477 00:22:17,046 --> 00:22:18,312 Middleton. 478 00:22:18,314 --> 00:22:21,482 [Joe] Middleton is contacte by an anonymous informant. 479 00:22:21,517 --> 00:22:23,350 They say they know what happened 480 00:22:23,352 --> 00:22:24,952 to Latisha Frazier. 481 00:22:35,765 --> 00:22:38,999 [Jackie] We were able to track that person down, 482 00:22:39,001 --> 00:22:41,902 and basically told them that, you know, 483 00:22:41,937 --> 00:22:44,872 it was important that you help. 484 00:22:44,874 --> 00:22:46,607 Latisha's family need to know 485 00:22:46,708 --> 00:22:47,875 what happened to their daughter. 486 00:22:51,147 --> 00:22:53,313 They couldn't give, you know, 487 00:22:53,315 --> 00:22:55,883 the whole spiel of what happened. 488 00:22:55,951 --> 00:22:58,652 But they could give us who was there. 489 00:22:58,654 --> 00:23:01,755 And I just... just couldn't believe who was involved. 490 00:23:01,757 --> 00:23:03,257 I was shocked. 491 00:23:03,259 --> 00:23:04,591 The informant says 492 00:23:04,660 --> 00:23:08,195 that Latisha Frazier was murdered by her own friends. 493 00:23:08,264 --> 00:23:14,234 Johnnie Sweet, Brian Gaither and Lanee Bell. 494 00:23:14,236 --> 00:23:17,471 The very same friends who Middleton interviewed 495 00:23:17,473 --> 00:23:21,642 and put on a performance of no knowledge of the event. 496 00:23:21,644 --> 00:23:24,945 I was in awe, because these people were her friends. 497 00:23:26,115 --> 00:23:28,148 I heard there was some more people there. 498 00:23:28,150 --> 00:23:30,884 [Joe] The informant says there were three other peopl 499 00:23:30,953 --> 00:23:32,286 that were present at the time. 500 00:23:32,387 --> 00:23:34,154 So, a total of six people. 501 00:23:34,156 --> 00:23:35,856 It's not common where you have a murder 502 00:23:35,858 --> 00:23:37,891 that is committed by six individuals. 503 00:23:37,993 --> 00:23:39,259 What are the odds of that? 504 00:23:39,261 --> 00:23:40,527 Thank you. 505 00:23:43,365 --> 00:23:45,999 [Chris] They had different degrees of culpability. 506 00:23:46,101 --> 00:23:49,670 But arrest warrants were obtained for all six. 507 00:23:49,672 --> 00:23:52,172 You needed a big team of detectives 508 00:23:52,174 --> 00:23:53,574 to bring them in, round them up. 509 00:23:59,648 --> 00:24:01,982 [Joe] When you plan an arrest like this, 510 00:24:01,984 --> 00:24:03,617 the first thing is surveillance. 511 00:24:03,619 --> 00:24:05,486 You gotta put eyes on these people. 512 00:24:05,587 --> 00:24:08,455 You can't guess where they are, you have to know. 513 00:24:11,494 --> 00:24:12,559 That him over there? 514 00:24:15,698 --> 00:24:16,797 [Jackie] Mmm-hmm. 515 00:24:16,866 --> 00:24:18,198 That's our boy. 516 00:24:19,368 --> 00:24:20,901 The arrest teams fan out. 517 00:24:29,144 --> 00:24:32,179 [clicks radio] We got eyes on the suspect. 518 00:24:32,281 --> 00:24:34,548 [clicks radio] Okay. Let's make our move. 519 00:24:36,619 --> 00:24:39,653 Coordinate it on a radio, and it's time to hit it. 520 00:24:51,467 --> 00:24:54,001 And they apprehend everybody at the same moment. 521 00:24:55,471 --> 00:24:57,604 -Hands in the air, Johnnie. -Get on the ground! 522 00:24:57,673 --> 00:25:00,407 [shouting] 523 00:25:00,475 --> 00:25:01,742 Show them your hands! Police! 524 00:25:01,744 --> 00:25:03,677 Police, down on the ground! Show them your hands! 525 00:25:03,779 --> 00:25:08,081 [sirens approaching] 526 00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:09,383 Get on the ground now. 527 00:25:09,418 --> 00:25:11,585 Down on the ground! 528 00:25:11,687 --> 00:25:13,887 Now, down, on the ground. 529 00:25:13,956 --> 00:25:15,289 Get on the ground. 530 00:25:16,759 --> 00:25:18,559 [Joe] Everyone is marched ou in handcuffs, 531 00:25:18,561 --> 00:25:20,661 placed in a police car, 532 00:25:20,663 --> 00:25:22,896 driven to an interrogation room, 533 00:25:23,799 --> 00:25:25,566 where they are alone. 534 00:25:28,170 --> 00:25:29,736 [police radio chatter] 535 00:25:29,738 --> 00:25:32,205 There is zero opportunity to discuss 536 00:25:32,274 --> 00:25:33,840 what they're going to say with anyone, 537 00:25:33,842 --> 00:25:35,242 other than the police. 538 00:25:38,881 --> 00:25:40,247 So, how do you wanna do this? 539 00:25:40,249 --> 00:25:42,950 [Joe] Middleton is taking a calculated risk 540 00:25:42,952 --> 00:25:44,985 by rounding these people up 541 00:25:45,054 --> 00:25:47,254 They don't have a provable charge against anybody. 542 00:25:47,256 --> 00:25:50,557 They need somebody to run their mouth. 543 00:25:50,559 --> 00:25:53,460 We're just gonna have to talk to them one at a time. 544 00:25:57,066 --> 00:25:58,899 It only has to start with one. 545 00:25:58,968 --> 00:26:01,568 You break the surface tension of the glass, 546 00:26:01,570 --> 00:26:03,804 and the glass crumbles. 547 00:26:05,474 --> 00:26:07,574 The very same thing with humans. 548 00:26:07,576 --> 00:26:09,176 Break the surface tension.. 549 00:26:10,846 --> 00:26:12,980 The lies fold. 550 00:26:13,081 --> 00:26:15,082 All right, Johnnie. I'm gonna need you to tell me 551 00:26:15,084 --> 00:26:16,950 what you know about what happened to Latisha Frazier. 552 00:26:16,952 --> 00:26:18,986 I got nothing for you, man. 553 00:26:19,054 --> 00:26:20,787 I told you guys, I haven't seen her. 554 00:26:20,856 --> 00:26:22,956 I never saw her the night she disappeared. 555 00:26:22,958 --> 00:26:24,458 Mmm-hmm. 556 00:26:24,460 --> 00:26:26,360 [Chris] Many of the individuals, at first, 557 00:26:26,362 --> 00:26:28,362 said they had no idea what they were talking about 558 00:26:28,364 --> 00:26:30,964 They had this code of silence. 559 00:26:30,966 --> 00:26:32,966 [Mitch] It was amazing that these young people 560 00:26:32,968 --> 00:26:34,968 were able to keep it quiet that long. 561 00:26:34,970 --> 00:26:37,671 Because young people run their mouths all the time. 562 00:26:37,673 --> 00:26:39,272 I mean, all the time. 563 00:26:40,576 --> 00:26:42,776 That's the one you need to crack right there. 564 00:26:42,845 --> 00:26:44,277 Why do you say that? 565 00:26:44,346 --> 00:26:45,579 'Cause I know her. 566 00:26:50,819 --> 00:26:53,086 I told them that this young lady, 567 00:26:53,088 --> 00:26:56,289 oddly enough, was a member of my church at that time. 568 00:26:56,358 --> 00:26:57,557 Anneka Nelson was her name. 569 00:26:57,559 --> 00:27:01,161 Jackie was telling us how to use church to our advantage 570 00:27:01,163 --> 00:27:03,063 to get her to confess. 571 00:27:03,065 --> 00:27:06,400 She's religious. She has a sense of right and wrong. 572 00:27:06,468 --> 00:27:07,901 Pursue that. 573 00:27:07,936 --> 00:27:10,070 Listen, young lady. 574 00:27:10,072 --> 00:27:13,006 I don't know how involved you were exactly. 575 00:27:13,108 --> 00:27:16,043 But I do know that you were there, so, 576 00:27:16,045 --> 00:27:18,245 I know that this is tearing you up inside. 577 00:27:18,247 --> 00:27:22,082 But trust me, the truth will set you free. 578 00:27:26,655 --> 00:27:27,654 Okay. 579 00:27:29,158 --> 00:27:31,658 She can't deal with this anymore. 580 00:27:31,660 --> 00:27:33,894 She has to tell them the truth. 581 00:27:33,962 --> 00:27:36,496 Okay, you have the floor. What happened? 582 00:27:36,598 --> 00:27:40,333 Tisha came over to Johnnie's apartment 583 00:27:40,335 --> 00:27:42,669 after she got out of work. 584 00:27:42,671 --> 00:27:44,905 [Joe] She comes over to say hello to her friends 585 00:27:44,973 --> 00:27:48,141 There's a confrontation that immediately occurs. 586 00:27:48,143 --> 00:27:52,079 She is accused of stealing $900 in cash 587 00:27:52,147 --> 00:27:54,081 out of Johnnie Sweet's apartment. 588 00:27:54,083 --> 00:27:56,083 She is then immediately assaulted. 589 00:27:56,085 --> 00:27:59,252 We all started hitting on her. 590 00:27:59,254 --> 00:28:05,092 And things just got out of hand. 591 00:28:05,193 --> 00:28:08,061 [Jackie] It started off with the girls assaulting he 592 00:28:08,063 --> 00:28:09,763 and then the guys got involved. 593 00:28:09,765 --> 00:28:12,799 Then they all started hitting her, started kicking her. 594 00:28:12,901 --> 00:28:15,469 [Joe] It's an absolutely savage attack. 595 00:28:15,471 --> 00:28:17,671 Something beyond the pale. 596 00:28:19,007 --> 00:28:22,242 She was moaning, so they put a sock in her mouth. 597 00:28:23,445 --> 00:28:25,746 [Mitch] They put duct tape over her mouth. 598 00:28:25,748 --> 00:28:27,347 They put a pillowcase over her head. 599 00:28:27,349 --> 00:28:28,648 You place her in a closet, 600 00:28:28,650 --> 00:28:30,650 you leave her there. I mean, how she gonna breathe? 601 00:28:30,652 --> 00:28:32,285 What happened to Latisha's body? 602 00:28:34,356 --> 00:28:36,890 I don't know. Um... 603 00:28:36,959 --> 00:28:39,159 They got rid of the body somehow. 604 00:28:39,161 --> 00:28:41,962 [Jackie] There's no body, so now we have to prove 605 00:28:41,964 --> 00:28:44,397 that person we're talking about 606 00:28:44,466 --> 00:28:45,866 is the person that was there. 607 00:28:45,868 --> 00:28:48,802 It's very important to find physical evidence. 608 00:28:49,872 --> 00:28:52,672 [Joe] We need to find something, like blood, 609 00:28:52,674 --> 00:28:55,142 like part of Latisha Frazier 610 00:28:55,144 --> 00:28:57,744 It's critical to the case. Absolutely critical. 611 00:29:01,250 --> 00:29:04,151 So, Middleton takes the CSI crew with her 612 00:29:04,153 --> 00:29:05,652 to Johnnie Sweet's apartment 613 00:29:05,654 --> 00:29:06,953 And they go over this apartment 614 00:29:06,955 --> 00:29:08,755 with a fine tooth comb. 615 00:29:08,757 --> 00:29:10,991 If you don't clean up properly, 616 00:29:11,059 --> 00:29:14,194 there's always gonna be evidence that's left behind 617 00:29:17,399 --> 00:29:19,065 [Chris] They sprayed a chemical 618 00:29:19,067 --> 00:29:20,467 all throughout the bathroom 619 00:29:20,469 --> 00:29:21,802 to be able to see if they could find 620 00:29:21,903 --> 00:29:23,904 any traces of organic material. 621 00:29:24,506 --> 00:29:25,605 Hit the lights. 622 00:29:38,153 --> 00:29:39,686 [Chris] But they couldn't locate any. 623 00:29:41,490 --> 00:29:43,423 There was evidence that the defendants 624 00:29:43,425 --> 00:29:44,658 had used bleach to clean up, 625 00:29:44,660 --> 00:29:48,562 and bleach ordinarily will destroy forensic material. 626 00:29:48,564 --> 00:29:50,463 So we thought that our chanc 627 00:29:50,465 --> 00:29:52,165 of being able to find something was very slim. 628 00:29:52,868 --> 00:29:54,301 What about in here? 629 00:29:56,872 --> 00:29:58,872 [Mitch] Nothing. 630 00:29:58,874 --> 00:30:01,241 [Joe] The floor, looking at it, had been cleaned, 631 00:30:01,243 --> 00:30:03,143 thoroughly with something. 632 00:30:03,145 --> 00:30:07,147 The difficulty is, blood has a tendency to seep. 633 00:30:07,149 --> 00:30:09,549 It seeps between floor cracks. 634 00:30:09,551 --> 00:30:11,651 Between wall board and the floor. 635 00:30:11,653 --> 00:30:14,988 All right, well, cut up the floor. 636 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:19,860 [Chris] It was a big production. 637 00:30:19,862 --> 00:30:22,996 I remember that the evidence technicians 638 00:30:22,998 --> 00:30:25,198 had to have someone bring a circular saw 639 00:30:25,300 --> 00:30:27,801 to literally saw a hole in the floor, 640 00:30:27,870 --> 00:30:30,470 so that we could try to use it for forensic testing. 641 00:30:38,847 --> 00:30:40,080 [saw turns on] 642 00:30:46,355 --> 00:30:48,088 So, if there is blood in this closet, 643 00:30:48,090 --> 00:30:49,256 they're gonna find it. 644 00:30:50,392 --> 00:30:55,195 [Jackie] When you have concrete evidence to say yes, 645 00:30:55,264 --> 00:30:57,197 it was her, she was here. 646 00:30:57,266 --> 00:30:59,099 It's almost like the smoking gun. 647 00:31:00,068 --> 00:31:01,568 [Joe] After six months of effort, 648 00:31:01,570 --> 00:31:03,703 now we are two inches away 649 00:31:03,772 --> 00:31:05,739 from putting these people in prison. 650 00:31:05,741 --> 00:31:08,842 But we have to get those last two inches. We must. 651 00:31:08,844 --> 00:31:10,543 Or nobody's going to jail. 652 00:31:15,150 --> 00:31:18,351 Well, this is a six-month investigation, 653 00:31:18,353 --> 00:31:20,787 involving some very unpleasant people 654 00:31:20,855 --> 00:31:23,089 who have already lied to the police a number of times. 655 00:31:23,158 --> 00:31:25,425 And now one of them confesses. 656 00:31:25,427 --> 00:31:27,694 [Chris] Anneka Nelson, she came forward 657 00:31:27,796 --> 00:31:29,462 and told the police what she knew 658 00:31:29,464 --> 00:31:30,697 about what had happened that day. 659 00:31:30,766 --> 00:31:32,365 [Joe] But there has to be evidence 660 00:31:32,367 --> 00:31:34,200 in support of your confessio 661 00:31:34,302 --> 00:31:36,303 Which in this case is traces 662 00:31:36,371 --> 00:31:39,806 of Latisha Frazier in that closet. 663 00:31:39,908 --> 00:31:43,543 The forensic search is everything to this case. 664 00:31:43,545 --> 00:31:45,779 [sirens in distance] 665 00:31:51,053 --> 00:31:52,185 Heard back from forensics. 666 00:31:56,391 --> 00:31:57,991 Well, I'll be damned. 667 00:31:59,561 --> 00:32:01,861 [Joe] Middleton is thrilled to discover that 668 00:32:01,863 --> 00:32:04,998 the CSI team has recovered human blood 669 00:32:05,067 --> 00:32:06,866 from the closet, under the floor. 670 00:32:06,868 --> 00:32:08,601 So, you need to do a comparison 671 00:32:08,670 --> 00:32:12,973 to see if this blood is related to Latisha Frazier. 672 00:32:12,975 --> 00:32:14,240 Well, how do you do that 673 00:32:14,242 --> 00:32:17,143 if Latisha Frazier isn't here any longer? 674 00:32:20,148 --> 00:32:22,549 [Joe] So, Middleton goes to the apartment 675 00:32:22,551 --> 00:32:25,552 where she lived, to recover some of her personal things 676 00:32:25,554 --> 00:32:27,988 to get a DNA sample from her toothbrush, 677 00:32:28,089 --> 00:32:30,590 her hairbrush, or any other device. 678 00:32:31,860 --> 00:32:34,194 We moved, so we had to get rid of that kind of stuff. 679 00:32:37,265 --> 00:32:38,598 [Joe] There is nothing remaining 680 00:32:38,667 --> 00:32:40,767 that belonged to Latisha Frazier 681 00:32:40,769 --> 00:32:42,969 that might have some DNA sample on it. 682 00:32:42,971 --> 00:32:44,571 But that doesn't mean you're out of luck. 683 00:32:44,573 --> 00:32:46,840 There may be another way. 684 00:32:46,842 --> 00:32:49,976 You can take DNA from a family member, 685 00:32:49,978 --> 00:32:53,880 to see if there was a match with the DNA recovered. 686 00:32:53,982 --> 00:32:57,384 So, they was gonna swab us for the DNA. 687 00:32:57,485 --> 00:32:59,719 [Chris] At the time in 2010 688 00:32:59,721 --> 00:33:03,423 I had not heard of using the parental links 689 00:33:03,425 --> 00:33:05,558 in a no-body case to try to establish 690 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,627 the existence of a homicide. 691 00:33:07,629 --> 00:33:10,764 This was one of the first times where that happened. 692 00:33:10,766 --> 00:33:13,266 [Joe] So, a cheek swab is taken from the mother, 693 00:33:13,268 --> 00:33:15,101 one from the father. 694 00:33:15,203 --> 00:33:17,270 When that goes through the laboratory 695 00:33:17,272 --> 00:33:19,839 and comes back, it is in fact a match. 696 00:33:19,841 --> 00:33:21,641 The blood in that closet 697 00:33:21,643 --> 00:33:24,077 is the blood of Latisha Frazier. 698 00:33:24,079 --> 00:33:25,445 That is no question. 699 00:33:27,783 --> 00:33:29,883 [Latoya] I already knew tha something happened to her, 700 00:33:29,951 --> 00:33:32,085 but to get the confirmation 701 00:33:32,087 --> 00:33:34,554 that she's actually gone, like, 702 00:33:34,556 --> 00:33:36,656 my heart could have dropped to my feet. 703 00:33:36,658 --> 00:33:38,658 Like, my sister's gone. You... 704 00:33:38,660 --> 00:33:40,293 How do you get another little sister? 705 00:33:40,328 --> 00:33:42,195 That doesn't happen. 706 00:33:42,297 --> 00:33:45,999 You know? So it kind of tore me up a lot. 707 00:33:53,275 --> 00:33:56,342 [Joe] When Middleton first talks to these three people 708 00:33:56,344 --> 00:33:59,245 Bell, Sweet, and Gaither, 709 00:33:59,247 --> 00:34:02,182 she knows little or nothing about this case. 710 00:34:02,250 --> 00:34:04,184 Now we have a different circumstance. 711 00:34:04,252 --> 00:34:05,752 We had a sense of what happened. 712 00:34:05,754 --> 00:34:07,854 Now we had to corroborate that. 713 00:34:07,856 --> 00:34:09,956 So, the detectives then go to Brian Gaither. 714 00:34:12,060 --> 00:34:14,260 He was a little bit of a leader of the group. 715 00:34:15,063 --> 00:34:16,863 [Brian] I don't know, man, I... 716 00:34:16,865 --> 00:34:18,898 I don't know what happened to that girl. 717 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:20,500 [Joe] They all think they're smart. 718 00:34:20,602 --> 00:34:22,769 They're gonna talk their way out of this. 719 00:34:22,771 --> 00:34:24,904 No you're not. No you're not. 720 00:34:25,006 --> 00:34:27,307 You're talking to an experienced homicide detective. 721 00:34:27,408 --> 00:34:29,542 Not some guy on a city bus. 722 00:34:29,544 --> 00:34:33,379 And they're gonna pick at you until you start to bleed. 723 00:34:33,448 --> 00:34:35,482 Then we're gonna see how smart you are. 724 00:34:35,583 --> 00:34:38,551 We know Latisha died inside of Johnnie's apartment. 725 00:34:38,553 --> 00:34:41,654 And we know that you put her in the closet. 726 00:34:44,092 --> 00:34:46,659 [Jackie] When you hit people with facts, 727 00:34:47,963 --> 00:34:49,596 you can't refute the facts. 728 00:34:49,697 --> 00:34:51,297 I believe the more they realized 729 00:34:51,366 --> 00:34:52,899 that we had information, 730 00:34:52,968 --> 00:34:55,401 that's what helped make them start cracking. 731 00:34:55,470 --> 00:34:57,470 Look, man... 732 00:34:57,472 --> 00:34:59,272 She wasn't supposed to die or nothing. 733 00:35:01,276 --> 00:35:02,876 [Joe] Brian Gaither realize 734 00:35:02,944 --> 00:35:04,344 there's no way out of this for him. 735 00:35:04,346 --> 00:35:06,846 And he confesses his involvement 736 00:35:06,848 --> 00:35:09,082 and tells the story as to what happened. 737 00:35:09,184 --> 00:35:11,751 Johnnie said Tisha owed him 900 bucks. 738 00:35:11,753 --> 00:35:13,753 So he had to teach her a lesson. 739 00:35:20,262 --> 00:35:22,328 [Mitch] The plan was for Johnnie Sweet 740 00:35:22,330 --> 00:35:23,763 to get her over there, 741 00:35:23,765 --> 00:35:27,100 and he had some young ladies who was part of their little crew, 742 00:35:27,102 --> 00:35:29,269 who were going to beat her up. 743 00:35:29,271 --> 00:35:30,904 They invite her over to the apartment, 744 00:35:30,972 --> 00:35:32,772 which is not uncommon. 745 00:35:35,143 --> 00:35:38,545 Hey, what's up, y'all? I got some fries if anyone's hungry. 746 00:35:39,347 --> 00:35:40,547 Why y'all slamming doors? 747 00:35:41,650 --> 00:35:43,049 Shut up, bitch. 748 00:35:46,755 --> 00:35:48,688 [coughing] 749 00:35:48,757 --> 00:35:51,324 [Joe] And before anything can be said, 750 00:35:51,326 --> 00:35:52,458 an assault begins, 751 00:35:52,460 --> 00:35:54,861 with Latisha Frazier as the focus. 752 00:35:55,730 --> 00:35:57,363 [Latisha coughing] 753 00:35:57,365 --> 00:36:02,001 [screaming and sobbing] 754 00:36:04,072 --> 00:36:05,872 And it just went out of control. 755 00:36:05,874 --> 00:36:09,142 [Joe] It's like watching a group of jackals 756 00:36:09,144 --> 00:36:11,177 attack an animal in the wild 757 00:36:11,279 --> 00:36:13,846 The pack mentality. 758 00:36:13,848 --> 00:36:17,350 It's frightening. Humans can be extremely frightening. 759 00:36:17,352 --> 00:36:18,551 What did you do? 760 00:36:20,655 --> 00:36:21,988 I put her in the sleep hold. 761 00:36:26,061 --> 00:36:28,962 [Joe] Gaither picks her up with his forearms 762 00:36:28,964 --> 00:36:30,296 under her chin, 763 00:36:30,298 --> 00:36:34,367 where you restrict the airway until the person passes out. 764 00:36:38,373 --> 00:36:40,840 He then tapes a sheet over her head, 765 00:36:40,842 --> 00:36:43,743 and puts her in a closet. 766 00:36:43,745 --> 00:36:46,346 They go check on her a little while later, 767 00:36:46,348 --> 00:36:48,281 and discover that she's dead. 768 00:36:50,585 --> 00:36:53,987 So now, they have a dead body in the closet. 769 00:36:54,088 --> 00:36:56,856 Now they're in panic mode. "What are we gonna do?" 770 00:36:57,459 --> 00:36:59,058 We put her in the bathtub. 771 00:36:59,060 --> 00:37:01,594 The bathtub. Why? 772 00:37:03,198 --> 00:37:05,198 'Cause we were supposed to cut her up. 773 00:37:09,204 --> 00:37:13,339 [Joe] Johnnie Sweet suggest that they dismember her bod 774 00:37:13,341 --> 00:37:15,074 so it can be disposed of. 775 00:37:15,076 --> 00:37:17,677 He attempts to do this with a kitchen knife. 776 00:37:17,746 --> 00:37:19,178 Neither of these people understand 777 00:37:19,247 --> 00:37:20,647 how difficult that is. 778 00:37:23,385 --> 00:37:24,951 [Jackie] It just becomes a disaster. 779 00:37:24,953 --> 00:37:26,486 They can't dismember her. 780 00:37:26,554 --> 00:37:31,057 So they put her in a tub, like a storage tub, 781 00:37:31,059 --> 00:37:32,892 and place her in a closet. 782 00:37:32,961 --> 00:37:35,161 So now, got to get rid of the body. 783 00:37:35,964 --> 00:37:38,197 We put her body in a dumpster. 784 00:37:38,266 --> 00:37:39,599 A dumpster? 785 00:37:42,304 --> 00:37:43,970 It's just so heartless. 786 00:37:43,972 --> 00:37:47,173 [Mitch] Oh, wow. That was.. I was shocked. 787 00:37:47,175 --> 00:37:49,275 That these young people just say, 788 00:37:49,377 --> 00:37:51,077 "Let's just throw her body in the dumpster." 789 00:37:51,146 --> 00:37:54,047 That was... that was just coldness. 790 00:37:57,085 --> 00:37:59,952 [Jackie] It was cruel the way they did her. 791 00:37:59,954 --> 00:38:01,487 Nobody deserves that. 792 00:38:01,556 --> 00:38:03,589 But especially not this young lady. 793 00:38:03,658 --> 00:38:07,093 Now, Middleton is faced with trying to recover her remains. 794 00:38:07,095 --> 00:38:10,997 [Jackie] We learned that the trash from that dumpste 795 00:38:11,065 --> 00:38:15,268 led us to a landfill down in Southern Virginia. 796 00:38:15,270 --> 00:38:18,671 [Joe] Now, it's been in thi landfill for over six months 797 00:38:18,673 --> 00:38:22,642 which means it's buried unde hundreds of feet of garbage 798 00:38:22,644 --> 00:38:23,876 Hundreds of feet. 799 00:38:23,945 --> 00:38:25,945 The most dangerous thing about a landfill 800 00:38:25,947 --> 00:38:28,481 is it produces methane gas. 801 00:38:28,583 --> 00:38:32,352 [Chris] The specialist said that given the dangers 802 00:38:32,354 --> 00:38:34,087 they ultimately would not engage in 803 00:38:34,089 --> 00:38:35,455 a landfill excavation. 804 00:38:35,457 --> 00:38:37,390 The Fraziers and Campbells 805 00:38:37,459 --> 00:38:40,793 did not get the proper burial for their daughter. 806 00:38:40,895 --> 00:38:43,196 That was... [laughs humorlessly] 807 00:38:43,264 --> 00:38:46,999 ...outrageous. It wasn't fair to none of us. 808 00:38:47,035 --> 00:38:49,502 I don't feel like nobody deserve to 809 00:38:49,571 --> 00:38:52,372 have to lay to rest in a trash landfill. 810 00:38:52,374 --> 00:38:54,374 Like, that's just... 811 00:38:57,445 --> 00:39:00,146 Developing in the district tonight, a guilty plea 812 00:39:00,148 --> 00:39:03,349 from the man accused of killing teenager, Latisha Frazier. 813 00:39:03,351 --> 00:39:05,151 Prosecutors said they had planned 814 00:39:05,153 --> 00:39:06,886 to use ABC7 news clips 815 00:39:06,955 --> 00:39:08,654 against 25-year-old Brian Gaither. 816 00:39:08,656 --> 00:39:11,257 We shot this video as we followed the victim's famil 817 00:39:11,259 --> 00:39:13,359 leafleting the neighborhood where she disappeared 818 00:39:13,361 --> 00:39:14,761 in August 2010. 819 00:39:14,763 --> 00:39:17,163 Gaither put his arm around Frazier's mother, 820 00:39:17,165 --> 00:39:19,365 offered to let her search this apartment, 821 00:39:19,367 --> 00:39:21,868 where he now confesses he and five others 822 00:39:21,870 --> 00:39:24,103 attacked Frazier and choked her to death. 823 00:39:24,105 --> 00:39:26,806 [Jackie] We believe that she was in that room 824 00:39:26,908 --> 00:39:30,977 when the mom was actually in the unit looking for her. 825 00:39:31,078 --> 00:39:33,379 But I didn't know and I didn't smell nothing, 826 00:39:33,481 --> 00:39:37,049 so I figured, like, you know, she ain't here. 827 00:39:37,051 --> 00:39:40,253 That's the part that's just sickening to me. 828 00:39:40,255 --> 00:39:42,455 Truthfully. That's just crazy. 829 00:39:42,457 --> 00:39:45,892 He actually hugged my mom and said, "Ma, you know, 830 00:39:45,993 --> 00:39:47,560 if I knew where you daughter was, 831 00:39:47,562 --> 00:39:48,961 you know I'd let you know." 832 00:39:51,766 --> 00:39:53,566 So for me, I'm just like... 833 00:39:54,769 --> 00:39:57,236 What type of people are you? 834 00:39:57,238 --> 00:39:59,305 [Joe] Johnnie Sweet maintained his silence, 835 00:39:59,374 --> 00:40:01,841 refused to make a statement 836 00:40:01,843 --> 00:40:04,177 He was found guilty of first-degree murder 837 00:40:04,278 --> 00:40:05,778 and sentenced to life in prison. 838 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,848 Mr. Gaither was also sentenc to life in prison. 839 00:40:08,850 --> 00:40:11,651 Lanee Bell, she was sentence to three years, 840 00:40:11,653 --> 00:40:13,653 because she was not physically involved 841 00:40:13,655 --> 00:40:15,455 in the event itself. 842 00:40:15,457 --> 00:40:16,789 [Chris] The rest of the defendants 843 00:40:16,858 --> 00:40:18,791 had different degrees of culpability, 844 00:40:18,860 --> 00:40:20,159 Anneka Nelson being the leas 845 00:40:20,161 --> 00:40:21,527 and Kamal Hassan and Cinthya Proctor 846 00:40:21,529 --> 00:40:22,695 being somewhere in the middl 847 00:40:22,764 --> 00:40:25,331 They received between 18 and 52 years 848 00:40:25,333 --> 00:40:26,699 depending on their culpability. 849 00:40:26,701 --> 00:40:30,369 [Latoya] I mean, I was glad that they caught somebody, 850 00:40:30,371 --> 00:40:32,705 but they can never serve a sentence enough 851 00:40:32,774 --> 00:40:35,708 that I would feel is justice for us losing her life. 852 00:40:36,945 --> 00:40:38,344 [Jackie] I mean, she was a young lady. 853 00:40:38,346 --> 00:40:41,180 A kid pretty much. She was 18 years old. 854 00:40:41,282 --> 00:40:44,150 And she was doing the best that she could. 855 00:40:44,152 --> 00:40:45,451 And at the end of the day, 856 00:40:45,453 --> 00:40:48,287 she lost her life over nothing. 857 00:40:48,356 --> 00:40:51,557 Did $900 even exist? Probably not. 858 00:40:51,559 --> 00:40:53,192 There was absolutely no evidence, ever, 859 00:40:53,294 --> 00:40:54,460 that she had stolen the money. 860 00:40:54,462 --> 00:40:57,063 In fact, she was the only one out of all of them 861 00:40:57,065 --> 00:40:58,264 who had a job. 862 00:40:58,266 --> 00:41:00,466 I didn't believe that one bit. 863 00:41:00,468 --> 00:41:02,101 'Cause I know my daughter. 864 00:41:02,103 --> 00:41:04,170 So if she working every day, 865 00:41:04,172 --> 00:41:06,272 she don't need to steal from nobody. 866 00:41:06,274 --> 00:41:08,107 So, what is the motive for this crime? 867 00:41:08,643 --> 00:41:12,378 Rage, anger, jealousy? 868 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:14,680 Something was said they didn't like? 869 00:41:14,782 --> 00:41:15,848 Who knows? 870 00:41:16,751 --> 00:41:17,950 [Latoya] I really wish that 871 00:41:17,952 --> 00:41:19,585 everything happened differently. 872 00:41:19,687 --> 00:41:21,454 I wish she was still here. 873 00:41:21,456 --> 00:41:24,156 You know, they took her away from so many people. 874 00:41:24,959 --> 00:41:26,626 I'm grateful to have my niec 875 00:41:26,628 --> 00:41:30,563 Like, she's so beautiful, and they look like twins. 876 00:41:30,565 --> 00:41:32,765 Like, she gonna grow up and look just like her mom, 877 00:41:32,767 --> 00:41:34,267 so I'm grateful for that. 878 00:41:34,269 --> 00:41:37,603 Miss her being here. Miss her smiling. 879 00:41:37,705 --> 00:41:39,605 And I think about her every day. 880 00:41:40,875 --> 00:41:42,875 [Barry] We still celebrate her life every year. 881 00:41:43,678 --> 00:41:46,846 And, you know, she's not forgotten. 882 00:41:46,848 --> 00:41:49,181 You know, she won't be, ever. 883 00:41:50,385 --> 00:41:51,551 You know? 884 00:41:53,888 --> 00:41:55,788 [Joe] Detective Middleton was emotional 885 00:41:55,890 --> 00:41:57,590 when I spoke with her about this case, 886 00:41:57,659 --> 00:41:58,858 because you get that way. 887 00:41:58,860 --> 00:42:00,126 There are certain cases 888 00:42:00,128 --> 00:42:02,461 that just never actually go away. 889 00:42:02,463 --> 00:42:05,464 They will always be with her. It's just the way it is. 890 00:42:05,466 --> 00:42:08,167 It is the most difficult part of police work.