1 00:00:07,790 --> 00:00:10,967 A pregnant mom who's been responsible her whole life 2 00:00:11,141 --> 00:00:13,143 just does not disappear. 3 00:00:13,317 --> 00:00:14,884 Something's not right. 4 00:00:14,971 --> 00:00:18,888 Lord, just give me the strength. 5 00:00:18,975 --> 00:00:21,325 Why is no one talking about LaToyia? 6 00:00:21,456 --> 00:00:22,805 She's a somebody 7 00:00:22,935 --> 00:00:24,371 and she needs to get the same attention 8 00:00:24,372 --> 00:00:27,157 that Laci Peterson and Natalee Holloway is getting 9 00:00:27,331 --> 00:00:29,986 at this point in time. 10 00:00:30,117 --> 00:00:32,379 We pretty damn well worked around the clock. 11 00:00:32,380 --> 00:00:34,685 But we don't have a body. 12 00:00:34,686 --> 00:00:36,514 We don't have a crime scene. 13 00:00:36,601 --> 00:00:38,429 You have a cooperating witness 14 00:00:38,516 --> 00:00:40,605 in the car with a person who's just committed murder. 15 00:00:40,779 --> 00:00:42,606 He has a gun. 16 00:00:42,607 --> 00:00:44,174 Oh, God. 17 00:00:44,261 --> 00:00:46,524 This is the worst-case scenario. 18 00:00:46,698 --> 00:00:48,699 Everyone was dying. 19 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:52,182 He was not going to leave any loose ends this time. 20 00:00:52,269 --> 00:00:53,575 What do you think's going to happen? 21 00:00:54,663 --> 00:00:56,752 We're coming. 22 00:01:16,250 --> 00:01:18,077 In the summer of 2005, 23 00:01:18,078 --> 00:01:20,602 a pregnant mother from West Philly vanishes, 24 00:01:20,689 --> 00:01:23,431 leaving behind her seven-year-old daughter. 25 00:01:23,518 --> 00:01:27,130 No crime scene, no witnesses, no body, 26 00:01:27,304 --> 00:01:29,740 only a family desperate for answers 27 00:01:29,741 --> 00:01:32,743 and a community that refuses to give up on her. 28 00:01:32,744 --> 00:01:36,444 This case tested every skill Philadelphia police had 29 00:01:36,574 --> 00:01:39,490 because how do you solve a murder 30 00:01:39,621 --> 00:01:42,232 when you can't prove someone's been killed? 31 00:01:47,846 --> 00:01:51,676 The 18th of July, it was evening time. 32 00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:53,461 It was dark. 33 00:01:53,635 --> 00:01:54,810 My niece LaToyia didn't show up 34 00:01:54,897 --> 00:01:57,639 to pick her daughter up from daycare. 35 00:01:57,726 --> 00:02:01,425 That, for me, was where it started at. 36 00:02:03,558 --> 00:02:05,995 The daycare knew something wasn't right 37 00:02:06,082 --> 00:02:09,781 because LaToyia usually get there on time. 38 00:02:09,912 --> 00:02:12,915 Her phone just keeps going to voice message, 39 00:02:13,002 --> 00:02:16,178 so they end up contacting Anthony. 40 00:02:16,179 --> 00:02:19,138 And Anthony went to pick her up. 41 00:02:19,139 --> 00:02:21,880 Anthony, who is the father of LaToyia's daughter, 42 00:02:21,967 --> 00:02:24,622 goes over to the home where LaToyia was living. 43 00:02:24,796 --> 00:02:25,928 And she's not there. 44 00:02:29,758 --> 00:02:32,978 Anthony and LaToyia met when they were in high school. 45 00:02:33,153 --> 00:02:37,026 You know, that little puppy love, that kind of thing. 46 00:02:37,113 --> 00:02:40,029 They dated for quite some years. 47 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:44,468 And when LaToyia had her daughter, she was very happy. 48 00:02:44,642 --> 00:02:46,340 She wanted to be a mom. 49 00:02:46,427 --> 00:02:49,081 Her daughter was her world. 50 00:02:49,169 --> 00:02:52,433 And Anthony was a good father as well. 51 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,609 But, you know, sometimes, I guess, with couples, 52 00:02:55,610 --> 00:02:59,308 sometimes you can grow apart from one another 53 00:02:59,309 --> 00:03:02,006 far as the love. 54 00:03:02,007 --> 00:03:05,489 So they broke up, but they remained friends 55 00:03:05,620 --> 00:03:07,709 so that they could take care of their daughter. 56 00:03:11,103 --> 00:03:14,585 So Anthony did some research immediately 57 00:03:14,759 --> 00:03:16,761 to try to find out what was going on. 58 00:03:16,935 --> 00:03:19,590 He called, you know, family members. 59 00:03:19,764 --> 00:03:21,809 When LaToyia's dad, Melvin Figueroa, 60 00:03:21,810 --> 00:03:23,812 and his wife, Yvonne, get the call, 61 00:03:23,899 --> 00:03:26,423 concern sets in immediately. 62 00:03:26,597 --> 00:03:28,946 I kept telling my husband, Melvin, 63 00:03:28,947 --> 00:03:33,648 this is not like LaToyia not to answer her phone. 64 00:03:33,778 --> 00:03:37,608 I got a call from my sister and Melvin. 65 00:03:37,695 --> 00:03:39,828 And I just heard Melvin in the background just going off. 66 00:03:39,915 --> 00:03:41,612 He was just belligerent. 67 00:03:41,786 --> 00:03:44,180 And my sister was very, very upset. 68 00:03:44,354 --> 00:03:45,355 This is not like her. 69 00:03:45,442 --> 00:03:47,444 And it really was not like LaToyia. 70 00:03:47,575 --> 00:03:50,272 She was a very responsible mother. 71 00:03:50,273 --> 00:03:55,147 And her and her daughter had a closeness, a unique closeness. 72 00:03:55,235 --> 00:03:57,802 Worried, her family attempts to piece together 73 00:03:57,889 --> 00:04:02,197 where LaToyia had been that day and who she was with. 74 00:04:02,198 --> 00:04:04,721 She was pregnant, and her cousin 75 00:04:04,722 --> 00:04:07,943 said that she had a doctor's appointment that day, 76 00:04:08,030 --> 00:04:10,771 so that was the last location that we known of. 77 00:04:10,772 --> 00:04:12,513 Anthony wasn't the father 78 00:04:12,643 --> 00:04:14,776 of the baby that she was pregnant with. 79 00:04:14,863 --> 00:04:17,996 That was a man by the name of Stephen Poaches. 80 00:04:18,083 --> 00:04:21,609 Stephen Poaches was also from West Philadelphia. 81 00:04:21,783 --> 00:04:28,355 Stephen and LaToyia met in high school and became friends. 82 00:04:28,442 --> 00:04:31,705 And she didn't really find him that attractive 83 00:04:31,706 --> 00:04:35,971 or really wasn't paying any attention to him. 84 00:04:36,058 --> 00:04:38,669 They had been out of each other's life 85 00:04:38,756 --> 00:04:40,235 for quite some time 86 00:04:40,236 --> 00:04:42,238 and one sunny afternoon in the summer, 87 00:04:42,325 --> 00:04:44,153 he was walking down the street, 88 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,676 she was walking down the street on one side. 89 00:04:46,677 --> 00:04:48,244 Stephen finally got the courage 90 00:04:48,331 --> 00:04:51,160 to go and say something to LaToyia. 91 00:04:51,247 --> 00:04:52,943 And at that point, they started talking. 92 00:04:52,944 --> 00:04:56,861 And then they end up dating. 93 00:04:56,992 --> 00:04:58,079 He was funny. 94 00:04:58,080 --> 00:04:59,951 He was, you know, 95 00:05:00,038 --> 00:05:02,171 very outgoing, taking her out places. 96 00:05:05,827 --> 00:05:08,872 Later that night, the family calls Stephen. 97 00:05:08,873 --> 00:05:11,528 He confirms he'd taken LaToyia to her prenatal appointment, 98 00:05:11,659 --> 00:05:14,183 but they parted ways around 3:00 99 00:05:14,270 --> 00:05:16,837 and he hadn't heard from her since. 100 00:05:16,838 --> 00:05:19,492 We knew something was not right 101 00:05:19,493 --> 00:05:21,016 and we started calling 102 00:05:21,103 --> 00:05:23,497 different family members and friends. 103 00:05:23,671 --> 00:05:26,413 Anthony calls her job, TGI Fridays, 104 00:05:26,500 --> 00:05:28,893 and discovers that she hadn't shown up for work, 105 00:05:28,980 --> 00:05:31,418 and then he starts calling around to local hospitals. 106 00:05:31,505 --> 00:05:33,202 She was five months pregnant. 107 00:05:33,289 --> 00:05:35,204 Perhaps something had happened with her pregnancy, 108 00:05:35,291 --> 00:05:37,814 complications, and she was at the hospital. 109 00:05:37,815 --> 00:05:40,209 And she's not there either. 110 00:05:40,296 --> 00:05:44,648 I'm thinking, could somebody maybe have kidnapped her or...? 111 00:05:44,735 --> 00:05:48,217 I didn't want to think the worst at the time, obviously. 112 00:05:52,613 --> 00:05:56,267 So the next day, we end up calling the police 113 00:05:56,268 --> 00:05:59,794 and putting in a report for missing person. 114 00:05:59,924 --> 00:06:03,232 And they told us that we had to wait 48 hours. 115 00:06:06,714 --> 00:06:09,281 After the 48-hour waiting period, 116 00:06:09,369 --> 00:06:13,590 on July 21st, 2005, 117 00:06:13,764 --> 00:06:18,073 it was assigned to southwest detectives. 118 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,205 The detectives, they interviewed everybody 119 00:06:20,336 --> 00:06:23,557 that was close to her, all her family members. 120 00:06:23,644 --> 00:06:26,516 As the police are talking to family members, 121 00:06:26,603 --> 00:06:28,953 their daughter was a joy. 122 00:06:29,127 --> 00:06:31,825 She works at Fridays as a waitress. 123 00:06:31,826 --> 00:06:34,568 She has a side gig at Embassy Suites, 124 00:06:34,742 --> 00:06:36,918 which is cleaning the rooms there. 125 00:06:37,092 --> 00:06:39,181 And she wanted to be a nurse. 126 00:06:39,311 --> 00:06:41,836 She didn't rely on anybody for anything. 127 00:06:41,923 --> 00:06:44,881 She was very self-sufficient. 128 00:06:44,882 --> 00:06:48,016 LaToyia went to nursing school to better herself 129 00:06:48,146 --> 00:06:49,583 for her and her daughter 130 00:06:49,670 --> 00:06:52,673 because she was an independent single mother. 131 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:55,632 And her spirit spoke loudly 132 00:06:55,763 --> 00:06:58,940 in wanting to help other people 133 00:06:59,027 --> 00:07:01,551 in just, like, a caretaking type of a way. 134 00:07:03,379 --> 00:07:05,990 So police, using their common sense, say, 135 00:07:06,164 --> 00:07:08,209 well, this is not an irresponsible adult, 136 00:07:08,210 --> 00:07:10,211 not an irresponsible mother. 137 00:07:10,212 --> 00:07:14,912 Something is afoot of why she just suddenly disappeared. 138 00:07:15,043 --> 00:07:19,046 The father of her baby was the last person with her 139 00:07:19,047 --> 00:07:22,615 when she disappeared that day on the 18th. 140 00:07:22,616 --> 00:07:25,400 So naturally, they want to speak to Stephen Poaches 141 00:07:25,401 --> 00:07:28,360 to find out what he knows about LaToyia's disappearance. 142 00:07:33,757 --> 00:07:37,457 They go through the timeline for that day, the 18th. 143 00:07:37,631 --> 00:07:40,416 When they got together, where they traveled, everything. 144 00:07:40,547 --> 00:07:42,853 Stephen says that he had taken her down 145 00:07:42,940 --> 00:07:46,291 to Pennsylvania Hospital for a checkup on the baby. 146 00:07:46,378 --> 00:07:50,513 Sometime after 1:00, they leave, 147 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,691 and he drives her back to West Philly. 148 00:07:54,822 --> 00:07:56,649 They stop at a fish restaurant, 149 00:07:56,650 --> 00:07:58,608 they have a bite to eat. 150 00:07:58,695 --> 00:08:01,002 He says afterwards, he withdrew money 151 00:08:01,176 --> 00:08:04,092 and gave her $300 for baby things. 152 00:08:05,876 --> 00:08:08,704 They go back to his apartment. 153 00:08:08,705 --> 00:08:15,103 He says around 3:00, she leaves to go to work. 154 00:08:15,233 --> 00:08:18,410 They ask Stephen, after she left, what did you do? 155 00:08:18,498 --> 00:08:19,499 Did you do anything? 156 00:08:19,629 --> 00:08:23,459 No, I never left my apartment. 157 00:08:23,590 --> 00:08:26,853 Police ask him, did you try to call her? 158 00:08:26,854 --> 00:08:29,030 And he said, yeah, but she hadn't answered the phone. 159 00:08:29,204 --> 00:08:30,640 And so he hadn't talked to LaToyia 160 00:08:30,814 --> 00:08:33,817 since she left his house. 161 00:08:33,904 --> 00:08:36,124 Stephen explains that he and LaToyia weren't together, 162 00:08:36,298 --> 00:08:38,082 despite the pregnancy. 163 00:08:38,256 --> 00:08:41,476 And then comes an even bigger reveal. 164 00:08:41,477 --> 00:08:43,871 He had recently had a newborn baby 165 00:08:43,958 --> 00:08:46,655 that was born sometime in July, like July 1st 166 00:08:46,656 --> 00:08:49,485 with his live-in girlfriend. 167 00:08:49,572 --> 00:08:51,182 Stephen's up front with police 168 00:08:51,269 --> 00:08:53,054 that LaToyia had gotten pregnant with their child 169 00:08:53,141 --> 00:08:55,490 while he and his girlfriend were on a break, 170 00:08:55,491 --> 00:08:56,797 and points their attention to another 171 00:08:56,927 --> 00:09:01,279 complicated relationship in LaToyia's life. 172 00:09:01,366 --> 00:09:05,066 He talks about Anthony and basically says that 173 00:09:05,153 --> 00:09:09,549 they were co-parenting and they weren't getting along. 174 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,508 LaToyia told him that Anthony doesn't really care, 175 00:09:12,595 --> 00:09:14,162 doesn't want to really be involved 176 00:09:14,336 --> 00:09:16,643 in his daughter's life. 177 00:09:16,773 --> 00:09:18,340 It's a very different picture of Anthony 178 00:09:18,470 --> 00:09:22,212 than what detectives had witnessed to that point. 179 00:09:22,213 --> 00:09:24,738 Anthony was the one that made the phone calls 180 00:09:24,825 --> 00:09:26,870 to the different hospitals to check on, 181 00:09:26,957 --> 00:09:29,481 to see if LaToyia had been admitted. 182 00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:32,180 It seemed like he was very concerned. 183 00:09:32,267 --> 00:09:34,182 But everybody's a suspect. 184 00:09:36,793 --> 00:09:39,622 The police start to look into Anthony, 185 00:09:39,796 --> 00:09:42,756 the father of LaToyia's oldest daughter. 186 00:09:42,886 --> 00:09:45,541 And so they bring Anthony in and they question him. 187 00:09:45,628 --> 00:09:46,803 During Anthony's interview, 188 00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:49,066 he said that LaToyia was a loving mother. 189 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:51,286 She had no enemies. 190 00:09:51,373 --> 00:09:54,245 And it just, you know, didn't make sense 191 00:09:54,332 --> 00:09:57,205 that anybody would want to harm her. 192 00:09:57,335 --> 00:10:00,121 Anthony and LaToyia had been apart for years, 193 00:10:00,208 --> 00:10:01,818 but Anthony reveals to detectives 194 00:10:01,905 --> 00:10:04,081 that might have been about to change. 195 00:10:06,388 --> 00:10:07,911 Anthony was dating someone else, 196 00:10:07,998 --> 00:10:08,869 but it wasn't really working out 197 00:10:08,956 --> 00:10:10,610 and he had spoken to LaToyia. 198 00:10:10,740 --> 00:10:12,611 And they talked about perhaps 199 00:10:12,612 --> 00:10:16,572 getting back together and then moving to Florida. 200 00:10:16,703 --> 00:10:20,054 Anthony still loved her and was talking about, 201 00:10:20,141 --> 00:10:21,795 why don't we get together? 202 00:10:21,925 --> 00:10:23,753 I'll raise this baby as my own. 203 00:10:26,190 --> 00:10:28,062 So when you look at the interview with Anthony 204 00:10:28,192 --> 00:10:30,759 and then you look at what Stephen's telling us, 205 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:32,719 that Anthony actually doesn't really care, 206 00:10:32,849 --> 00:10:34,981 doesn't want to really be involved in her life, 207 00:10:34,982 --> 00:10:37,593 there's two different stories. 208 00:10:37,724 --> 00:10:40,291 We don't know who is telling the truth. 209 00:10:40,422 --> 00:10:43,033 And we have to keep all our doors open at this point 210 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,166 because we don't know what happened to her. 211 00:10:45,296 --> 00:10:48,256 It's like she just disappeared off the face of the Earth. 212 00:10:52,260 --> 00:10:53,565 Coming up. 213 00:10:53,653 --> 00:10:55,959 This guy calls out of the blue saying, 214 00:10:56,090 --> 00:10:58,266 I got information. 215 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,312 She said some young lady jumped out of a van 216 00:11:01,399 --> 00:11:04,880 and started kicking me in my stomach. 217 00:11:04,881 --> 00:11:06,622 We all looked at one another. 218 00:11:06,709 --> 00:11:08,537 He knows something and he's involved. 219 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,330 As detectives dig deeper into the two men 220 00:11:19,461 --> 00:11:21,245 in LaToyia Figueroa's life, 221 00:11:21,332 --> 00:11:24,379 her family begins their own search. 222 00:11:24,466 --> 00:11:27,687 Melvin, he started putting out flyers 223 00:11:27,774 --> 00:11:30,079 and going around to different blocks 224 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:34,258 and asking if anyone had saw his daughter. 225 00:11:34,389 --> 00:11:35,694 We're going into every abandoned house, 226 00:11:35,695 --> 00:11:38,219 every park, every river. 227 00:11:38,349 --> 00:11:40,960 Whatever it takes, that's what we're going to do. 228 00:11:40,961 --> 00:11:45,487 We're not going to lay down on looking for LaToyia. 229 00:11:45,617 --> 00:11:47,271 For the Figueroas, 230 00:11:47,358 --> 00:11:50,796 their mission isn't just about finding LaToyia. 231 00:11:50,797 --> 00:11:53,102 It's about preventing a nightmare, 232 00:11:53,103 --> 00:11:55,889 one that they've lived through before. 233 00:11:56,019 --> 00:12:00,937 LaToyia was four years old when her mother was murdered. 234 00:12:05,289 --> 00:12:08,684 It was April of 1985 when 22-year-old Ann Taylor 235 00:12:08,771 --> 00:12:13,558 was found on a Philadelphia street, her throat slashed. 236 00:12:13,645 --> 00:12:16,474 Her case was never solved. 237 00:12:16,605 --> 00:12:19,476 LaToyia did not understand the magnitude 238 00:12:19,477 --> 00:12:21,349 of what happened to her mother. 239 00:12:21,479 --> 00:12:27,007 But to grow up and to have that 240 00:12:27,094 --> 00:12:29,138 being absent out of your life, 241 00:12:29,139 --> 00:12:31,967 that would affect anyone in a devastating way, 242 00:12:31,968 --> 00:12:33,883 especially under the circumstances. 243 00:12:36,190 --> 00:12:41,369 I believe Melvin was thinking about Ann 244 00:12:41,499 --> 00:12:45,460 and thought, wait a minute, now my daughter? 245 00:12:45,547 --> 00:12:48,768 Melvin was relentless in his search for LaToyia. 246 00:12:50,465 --> 00:12:51,466 They were really hard to ignore 247 00:12:51,596 --> 00:12:52,772 if you were living in the city 248 00:12:52,859 --> 00:12:54,685 at that time because they wanted everyone 249 00:12:54,686 --> 00:12:56,079 to know that LaToyia was missing. 250 00:12:58,125 --> 00:13:00,474 Most of the people in West Philadelphia 251 00:13:00,475 --> 00:13:01,781 who have lived there, 252 00:13:01,868 --> 00:13:02,737 have lived there all of their lives, 253 00:13:02,738 --> 00:13:03,739 their parents lived there, 254 00:13:03,826 --> 00:13:05,436 their grandparents lived there, 255 00:13:05,567 --> 00:13:09,004 and so they just, you know, are West Philly born and bred. 256 00:13:09,005 --> 00:13:11,573 Everyone kind of, like, knows each other. 257 00:13:11,660 --> 00:13:13,531 And the community really came together 258 00:13:13,662 --> 00:13:17,709 and rallied behind Melvin Figueroa to find her. 259 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,931 Anyone have any information on my daughter, 260 00:13:22,062 --> 00:13:24,759 please come forward. 261 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:26,414 Just seeing everybody coming together 262 00:13:26,501 --> 00:13:29,069 to try to put the word out there, you know, 263 00:13:29,156 --> 00:13:30,592 that was very much needed. 264 00:13:39,906 --> 00:13:42,647 At this point, it's still a missing persons, 265 00:13:42,734 --> 00:13:46,695 but it's obvious that something has happened to her, 266 00:13:46,782 --> 00:13:50,393 so the decision's made by the department, 267 00:13:50,394 --> 00:13:52,962 the bosses, that the case would be transferred 268 00:13:53,049 --> 00:13:55,704 down to Homicide because that's what we do. 269 00:13:55,791 --> 00:13:58,838 We would take over the job and bring it to fruition. 270 00:14:01,492 --> 00:14:05,453 Homicide is involved because they're an elite unit. 271 00:14:05,583 --> 00:14:10,806 They have the time and the expertise to investigate this. 272 00:14:10,937 --> 00:14:13,591 And we start digging through the file. 273 00:14:13,722 --> 00:14:15,898 We're basically starting over again, 274 00:14:15,985 --> 00:14:18,727 going through everything, going out, 275 00:14:18,814 --> 00:14:20,337 redoing interviews that we could. 276 00:14:23,863 --> 00:14:26,430 Through these interviews, a picture emerges 277 00:14:26,561 --> 00:14:29,781 of how the family really felt about Stephen. 278 00:14:29,869 --> 00:14:33,873 I don't know what my niece saw in him, personally. 279 00:14:34,003 --> 00:14:37,223 LaToyia, I believe she was a little blinded by love. 280 00:14:37,224 --> 00:14:40,836 Because I can recall my sister telling me and Melvin 281 00:14:40,923 --> 00:14:44,535 that LaToyia had invited him over for dinner 282 00:14:44,666 --> 00:14:50,105 and she was overly ecstatic to introduce him to her father 283 00:14:50,106 --> 00:14:52,847 and to her stepmother and her stepbrothers. 284 00:14:52,848 --> 00:14:54,806 But he never showed up. 285 00:14:54,937 --> 00:14:58,549 He just brought LaToyia and dropped her off. 286 00:14:58,636 --> 00:15:01,901 And I thought that was a little strange and rude. 287 00:15:01,988 --> 00:15:03,772 So after that, I was like, 288 00:15:03,903 --> 00:15:05,295 I really don't want to meet him now. 289 00:15:06,862 --> 00:15:08,472 This was at the time she found out 290 00:15:08,603 --> 00:15:10,953 she was pregnant with her second child. 291 00:15:11,084 --> 00:15:15,349 And she confided in my mom about that. 292 00:15:15,436 --> 00:15:20,702 LaToyia told me that she was pregnant and was very excited. 293 00:15:20,789 --> 00:15:24,314 I was like, oh, you're going to have another little baby. 294 00:15:24,401 --> 00:15:27,839 She knew that she was a girl and she was elated. 295 00:15:27,927 --> 00:15:30,451 Her name was going to be Nyla. 296 00:15:30,538 --> 00:15:32,495 The sense I got from the family was, 297 00:15:32,496 --> 00:15:33,932 things might be a little harder, 298 00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:35,847 but you're also bringing in a joy. 299 00:15:35,978 --> 00:15:37,762 You're bringing another member of the family, 300 00:15:37,849 --> 00:15:39,763 so it's really a blessing. 301 00:15:39,764 --> 00:15:42,942 I had asked her, how does the young man feel about it? 302 00:15:43,072 --> 00:15:44,987 And she just looked at me, 303 00:15:45,118 --> 00:15:48,382 and I'm like, something's not right. 304 00:15:48,469 --> 00:15:50,601 Only thing LaToyia wanted Stephen to do 305 00:15:50,732 --> 00:15:52,299 was to be a part of her life 306 00:15:52,386 --> 00:15:54,518 and be happy that she was pregnant. 307 00:15:54,649 --> 00:15:57,521 And Stephen Poaches did everything but that. 308 00:15:57,652 --> 00:15:59,306 And at this point, 309 00:15:59,393 --> 00:16:00,872 she found out about this situation 310 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,744 with this other young lady being pregnant as well. 311 00:16:03,745 --> 00:16:07,792 This young lady, apparently, Stephen was with 312 00:16:07,879 --> 00:16:09,794 before he even ran back into LaToyia. 313 00:16:09,881 --> 00:16:12,058 LaToyia did not know he was in another relationship. 314 00:16:14,886 --> 00:16:18,238 He has two girls pregnant at the same time. 315 00:16:18,368 --> 00:16:22,677 He's responsible, financially, for two babies. 316 00:16:22,764 --> 00:16:25,245 He asked LaToyia to get an abortion. 317 00:16:25,332 --> 00:16:26,681 She was not having that. 318 00:16:26,811 --> 00:16:31,512 She was happy that she was going to have this baby. 319 00:16:31,599 --> 00:16:33,340 The family also sheds light on an incident 320 00:16:33,470 --> 00:16:35,516 from three months earlier. 321 00:16:37,431 --> 00:16:40,086 LaToyia, she came over to the house. 322 00:16:40,173 --> 00:16:42,001 And she was very upset. 323 00:16:42,088 --> 00:16:46,135 And she said, Mom, I was just getting off from work, 324 00:16:46,266 --> 00:16:49,573 and from nowhere, some young lady jumped out of a van 325 00:16:49,704 --> 00:16:51,445 and started kicking me in my stomach. 326 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,319 She's attacked. She's jumped and she's robbed. 327 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,889 She went to the hospital to get checked out. 328 00:17:00,976 --> 00:17:04,153 Thank God that everything was okay with the baby. 329 00:17:04,284 --> 00:17:06,590 How interesting that the beating she got 330 00:17:06,677 --> 00:17:08,462 was not in her face or her legs, 331 00:17:08,549 --> 00:17:12,334 but they purposely were kicking her abdomen. 332 00:17:12,335 --> 00:17:14,033 We're thinking, you know, 333 00:17:14,120 --> 00:17:17,210 did Stephen have something to do with it? 334 00:17:17,297 --> 00:17:20,430 What are the chances that you have two girls pregnant 335 00:17:20,517 --> 00:17:22,171 and all of a sudden, 336 00:17:22,302 --> 00:17:23,912 the one that you really don't want to have the baby 337 00:17:23,999 --> 00:17:28,176 all of a sudden now is robbed, beat up, and kicked? 338 00:17:28,177 --> 00:17:31,528 She miscarriages, he's off the hook. 339 00:17:31,659 --> 00:17:34,749 Detectives aren't the only ones clocking Stephen. 340 00:17:34,836 --> 00:17:37,491 I just want to find her. That's all I care about. 341 00:17:37,621 --> 00:17:39,319 Anthony Williams, LaToyia's ex-boyfriend 342 00:17:39,449 --> 00:17:41,582 and father of their seven-year-old daughter, 343 00:17:41,669 --> 00:17:44,367 says he doesn't understand why LaToyia's current boyfriend 344 00:17:44,498 --> 00:17:46,369 isn't helping in the search. 345 00:17:46,456 --> 00:17:47,718 If the shoe was on the other foot 346 00:17:47,805 --> 00:17:49,197 and I was the last person that seen her, 347 00:17:49,198 --> 00:17:50,460 I would be here still. 348 00:18:01,167 --> 00:18:03,082 With all eyes on Stephen Poaches, 349 00:18:03,212 --> 00:18:05,606 the father of LaToyia's unborn child, 350 00:18:05,693 --> 00:18:08,043 detectives turn to the other woman in his life, 351 00:18:08,130 --> 00:18:10,088 Lisa Lawrence. 352 00:18:10,089 --> 00:18:14,266 They reach out to her. She comes and speaks to them. 353 00:18:14,267 --> 00:18:16,659 She comes with an attorney, which is very interesting 354 00:18:16,660 --> 00:18:19,141 of why she would bring an attorney. 355 00:18:19,228 --> 00:18:20,838 She talks about Stephen 356 00:18:20,925 --> 00:18:23,319 and gives a history of how they were together. 357 00:18:23,450 --> 00:18:26,016 She refers to him as her fiancé. 358 00:18:26,017 --> 00:18:29,717 And they had recently had a child on July 1st. 359 00:18:29,804 --> 00:18:32,763 Ms. Lawrence says while she was pregnant, 360 00:18:32,850 --> 00:18:36,854 she became aware of LaToyia Figueroa being pregnant 361 00:18:36,985 --> 00:18:39,553 and has forgiven his indiscretion. 362 00:18:39,683 --> 00:18:42,077 And the police delve into, were you angry at her? 363 00:18:42,208 --> 00:18:44,166 Was he angry? Was he upset? 364 00:18:44,253 --> 00:18:47,822 And she reveals that, yes, he was not happy with it. 365 00:18:47,909 --> 00:18:49,693 We asked, did you have anything to do 366 00:18:49,780 --> 00:18:53,609 with LaToyia being robbed and beat up and kicked? 367 00:18:53,610 --> 00:18:55,090 And she said, oh, no, not me. 368 00:18:57,484 --> 00:18:59,529 She says, oh, yes, I heard about it. 369 00:18:59,616 --> 00:19:01,051 But I didn't do it. 370 00:19:01,052 --> 00:19:03,881 And she admits there was some bad blood 371 00:19:03,968 --> 00:19:07,668 or kind of rough conversation between both ladies 372 00:19:07,798 --> 00:19:10,758 which occurred in multiple occasions. 373 00:19:10,888 --> 00:19:12,803 She's asked, would you take a polygraph? 374 00:19:12,934 --> 00:19:15,805 A lot of times, we ask somebody to take a polygraph 375 00:19:15,806 --> 00:19:18,200 and they kind of freeze up. 376 00:19:18,331 --> 00:19:21,116 And they're like, nah, I don't know. 377 00:19:21,247 --> 00:19:24,772 So that sends bells and whistles off to us. 378 00:19:24,859 --> 00:19:28,296 But she said, sure, I'll take a polygraph. 379 00:19:28,297 --> 00:19:30,691 She was very forthcoming. 380 00:19:30,778 --> 00:19:33,215 So we felt that at that point in the investigation 381 00:19:33,346 --> 00:19:35,130 that it wasn't important enough for her 382 00:19:35,217 --> 00:19:37,653 to take that polygraph test at that time. 383 00:19:39,743 --> 00:19:41,528 When it comes to polygraphs, 384 00:19:41,615 --> 00:19:44,573 detectives often have to make a judgment call. 385 00:19:44,574 --> 00:19:47,055 In a situation like this where a cop's instinct 386 00:19:47,186 --> 00:19:49,405 is that someone's telling the truth, 387 00:19:49,492 --> 00:19:52,147 the stress of the test can do more harm than good 388 00:19:52,278 --> 00:19:55,498 by shutting down a witness they may need to come back to. 389 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,161 I was very concerned for LaToyia and for the baby. 390 00:20:07,162 --> 00:20:10,252 And as the days went on, I just had started 391 00:20:10,339 --> 00:20:14,125 getting the feeling of, she's not here. 392 00:20:14,213 --> 00:20:17,085 Something bad happened to her. 393 00:20:17,172 --> 00:20:22,003 I just had to say, Lord, just give me the strength. 394 00:20:22,133 --> 00:20:24,745 Because now I have to really try to hold my husband up. 395 00:20:31,882 --> 00:20:34,929 Here in Philadelphia, there's a station called Power 99. 396 00:20:35,016 --> 00:20:36,322 And in the evenings, 397 00:20:36,409 --> 00:20:40,500 a DJ named DJ Golden Girl would host a show. 398 00:20:40,630 --> 00:20:44,417 And it was a very popular show in the city. 399 00:20:44,504 --> 00:20:48,464 Golden Girl herself had become a local celebrity. 400 00:20:48,551 --> 00:20:52,294 Golden Girl extended her hand to let Melvin 401 00:20:52,425 --> 00:20:54,427 come on the show and talk about it 402 00:20:54,557 --> 00:20:59,214 because she was interested in finding LaToyia as well. 403 00:20:59,301 --> 00:21:00,606 Melvin talks about the fact that they 404 00:21:00,607 --> 00:21:02,391 have set up a tip line, 405 00:21:02,522 --> 00:21:03,827 and they are collecting reward money so that 406 00:21:03,958 --> 00:21:06,743 they can offer a reward for LaToyia's return. 407 00:21:06,874 --> 00:21:10,225 And during that conversation, he reveals Stephen Poaches 408 00:21:10,312 --> 00:21:12,401 was not helping them search for LaToyia. 409 00:21:14,403 --> 00:21:16,318 And people are calling in. 410 00:21:16,449 --> 00:21:17,972 So it's not just Melvin, but people 411 00:21:18,102 --> 00:21:20,322 putting in their two cents. 412 00:21:20,409 --> 00:21:22,411 Steven Poaches is listening to that station 413 00:21:22,542 --> 00:21:24,935 and not liking the fact that people are asking, 414 00:21:25,022 --> 00:21:28,809 well, why isn't her future baby daddy not involved? 415 00:21:28,939 --> 00:21:32,247 Well, maybe the baby daddy did it. 416 00:21:32,378 --> 00:21:33,682 And he's so concerned that 417 00:21:33,683 --> 00:21:35,728 he showed up at that radio station 418 00:21:35,729 --> 00:21:36,643 to give his version. 419 00:21:55,488 --> 00:21:58,011 He says the reason why he hasn't been 420 00:21:58,012 --> 00:21:59,927 assisting in the searches is because 421 00:22:00,014 --> 00:22:01,884 LaToyia's family suspects him. 422 00:22:01,885 --> 00:22:04,845 And he doesn't think that he can trust them. 423 00:22:04,932 --> 00:22:08,543 He seemed to be concerned about LaToyia's family 424 00:22:08,544 --> 00:22:10,458 threatening him, coming after him. 425 00:22:10,459 --> 00:22:13,810 Nobody was threatening him. 426 00:22:13,897 --> 00:22:17,379 We asked Stephen Poaches to come in to Homicide, 427 00:22:17,510 --> 00:22:20,600 basically to go over his story again. 428 00:22:20,687 --> 00:22:22,950 And we confronted him with, well, why aren't you 429 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,560 helping out looking? 430 00:22:24,691 --> 00:22:28,259 He says, well, I keep calling her cell phone. 431 00:22:28,347 --> 00:22:30,436 What? 432 00:22:30,523 --> 00:22:33,003 He doesn't hand out posters, he doesn't do anything. 433 00:22:33,134 --> 00:22:36,529 He just goes on about his life like, well, she left. 434 00:22:36,616 --> 00:22:38,618 She disappeared. That's not my problem. 435 00:22:38,705 --> 00:22:42,752 That's just not normal. 436 00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:45,407 He was supposed to be this guy that really cared about her 437 00:22:45,494 --> 00:22:48,105 and went to the doctor's with her and all that. 438 00:22:48,236 --> 00:22:50,151 We all looked at one another. 439 00:22:50,281 --> 00:22:51,848 He knows something. 440 00:22:51,935 --> 00:22:54,851 And he's involved. 441 00:22:54,938 --> 00:22:57,376 But at this point, we don't have a body. 442 00:22:57,506 --> 00:22:59,552 We don't have a crime scene. 443 00:22:59,639 --> 00:23:02,424 We don't have enough to box him in. 444 00:23:02,511 --> 00:23:04,295 But we're coming. 445 00:23:14,828 --> 00:23:16,873 Here in Philadelphia, LaToyia's story 446 00:23:17,004 --> 00:23:19,528 was breaking news. 447 00:23:19,615 --> 00:23:22,444 It was on every newspaper and every lead story on the news. 448 00:23:22,531 --> 00:23:26,361 But nationally, it wasn't getting any attention. 449 00:23:26,448 --> 00:23:29,363 And this is right after the Natalee Holloway case, 450 00:23:29,364 --> 00:23:32,411 the Laci Peterson case, all the news shows 451 00:23:32,498 --> 00:23:35,979 covered you know, these white girls disappearing. 452 00:23:36,066 --> 00:23:40,983 My niece LaToyia, who was Black mixed with Latino, 453 00:23:40,984 --> 00:23:43,422 she wasn't worth talking about. 454 00:23:43,509 --> 00:23:46,860 They were not bringing exposure to her 455 00:23:46,947 --> 00:23:48,775 in the national media. 456 00:23:50,994 --> 00:23:52,822 In my opinion, part of the reason 457 00:23:52,909 --> 00:23:55,129 why the mainstream media don't give these cases 458 00:23:55,216 --> 00:23:57,348 the attention that they deserve is because 459 00:23:57,479 --> 00:23:59,002 they don't believe that women like LaToyia 460 00:23:59,133 --> 00:24:03,224 are relatable to most of America. 461 00:24:03,311 --> 00:24:07,662 LaToyia was from a low-income area of West Philadelphia. 462 00:24:07,663 --> 00:24:10,578 She was a young, single mother. 463 00:24:10,579 --> 00:24:12,885 She had two different baby fathers. 464 00:24:12,886 --> 00:24:15,410 And so I think people don't elevate them 465 00:24:15,541 --> 00:24:16,846 to where they need to be 466 00:24:17,020 --> 00:24:19,719 because of these preconceived ideas that 467 00:24:19,849 --> 00:24:21,764 nobody's going to care about a pregnant girl 468 00:24:21,851 --> 00:24:23,462 from West Philadelphia who's missing. 469 00:24:25,638 --> 00:24:27,291 She's a somebody and she needs to get 470 00:24:27,378 --> 00:24:29,642 the same attention that Laci Peterson 471 00:24:29,772 --> 00:24:33,167 and Natalee Holloway is getting at this point in time. 472 00:24:33,254 --> 00:24:35,255 So local bloggers here in the city 473 00:24:35,256 --> 00:24:36,865 started to question why no one was 474 00:24:36,866 --> 00:24:38,780 talking about LaToyia's case. 475 00:24:38,781 --> 00:24:41,087 And so one of those bloggers decided to reach out. 476 00:24:41,088 --> 00:24:43,438 They started emailing Nancy Grace and CNN 477 00:24:43,569 --> 00:24:46,049 and asking, why is no one talking about LaToyia? 478 00:24:46,180 --> 00:24:47,834 Had she ever gone missing before 479 00:24:47,964 --> 00:24:49,443 as long as you've known her? 480 00:24:49,444 --> 00:24:50,880 No, never. 481 00:24:50,967 --> 00:24:53,622 Has anybody used her cell phone, Tasha? 482 00:24:53,709 --> 00:24:55,623 No, nobody's used her cell phone. 483 00:24:55,624 --> 00:24:57,539 None of her credit cards ever have been used 484 00:24:57,670 --> 00:24:59,062 since the day she's been missing. 485 00:24:59,149 --> 00:25:01,238 Is she like me, always has her cell phone with her? 486 00:25:01,325 --> 00:25:02,588 - Oh, definitely. - Hmm. 487 00:25:02,675 --> 00:25:04,023 She has a seven-year-old daughter. 488 00:25:04,024 --> 00:25:06,330 - Always keeps it turned on. - Yes. 489 00:25:06,505 --> 00:25:07,897 Now the whole thing blows up. 490 00:25:07,984 --> 00:25:10,552 The national media was, like, on every corner, 491 00:25:10,683 --> 00:25:12,467 interviewing everyone they could. 492 00:25:12,554 --> 00:25:14,555 And now there's a lot of pressure. 493 00:25:14,556 --> 00:25:16,471 The bosses, they're asking questions. 494 00:25:16,602 --> 00:25:19,605 What are you guys doing? 495 00:25:19,779 --> 00:25:21,781 We pretty damn well worked around the clock. 496 00:25:21,868 --> 00:25:24,565 Eight detectives get there, like, 8:00 in the morning 497 00:25:24,566 --> 00:25:26,786 and leave at 2:00 in the morning, 498 00:25:26,873 --> 00:25:29,527 come back, do the same thing the next day. 499 00:25:29,528 --> 00:25:32,748 Your gut feeling is Stephen Poaches is involved, 500 00:25:32,879 --> 00:25:35,185 but you can't get a warrant with that. 501 00:25:35,316 --> 00:25:37,013 You can't use it in court. 502 00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:39,754 We don't have a hammer to go at him. 503 00:25:46,980 --> 00:25:49,242 At that point, there was a $10,000 reward. 504 00:25:49,243 --> 00:25:50,853 But then there was donations 505 00:25:50,940 --> 00:25:52,551 from local rapper Beanie Sigel, 506 00:25:52,638 --> 00:25:54,465 who's a rapper here in Philadelphia, 507 00:25:54,553 --> 00:25:56,555 and TGI Fridays, 508 00:25:56,729 --> 00:26:00,296 which was the employer where LaToyia had been working. 509 00:26:00,297 --> 00:26:02,952 And the reward grew from $10,000 510 00:26:03,039 --> 00:26:05,127 to $100,000. 511 00:26:05,128 --> 00:26:06,608 When I found out 512 00:26:06,739 --> 00:26:09,480 that the reward was that high, I was like, 513 00:26:09,568 --> 00:26:13,267 they're showing brotherly love in the city right now. 514 00:26:13,441 --> 00:26:14,529 You got some folks that say, 515 00:26:14,616 --> 00:26:17,010 I'll sell my grandmama for $100,000. 516 00:26:17,097 --> 00:26:18,707 So people started talking. 517 00:26:21,188 --> 00:26:22,798 Money talks. 518 00:26:22,885 --> 00:26:26,149 A reward that big can help generate tips, no question. 519 00:26:26,236 --> 00:26:29,196 But even with that kind of incentive on the table, 520 00:26:29,283 --> 00:26:32,111 detectives don't just sit back and wait for the phone to ring. 521 00:26:32,112 --> 00:26:36,377 We're always looking for other ways to push a case forward. 522 00:26:36,507 --> 00:26:38,334 We're trying to think of different ways 523 00:26:38,335 --> 00:26:40,076 to shake this case up a little bit. 524 00:26:40,163 --> 00:26:43,645 And bingo, there was the answer. 525 00:26:43,732 --> 00:26:45,385 Bill Shute. 526 00:26:48,128 --> 00:26:50,043 At the time, I was an FBI agent 527 00:26:50,130 --> 00:26:52,131 working on the Philadelphia Violent Crimes 528 00:26:52,132 --> 00:26:54,569 Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia. 529 00:26:54,656 --> 00:26:58,485 I was developing a new sort of investigative technique 530 00:26:58,486 --> 00:27:02,882 to apply historical cell site analysis in investigations. 531 00:27:02,969 --> 00:27:05,840 This was cutting-edge technology that Bill Shute 532 00:27:05,841 --> 00:27:10,846 was the only one in the FBI who was flying across the country 533 00:27:10,977 --> 00:27:13,979 testifying and training FBI agents 534 00:27:13,980 --> 00:27:16,285 with this new technology. 535 00:27:16,286 --> 00:27:19,638 When the request came in from Philly Homicide, 536 00:27:19,812 --> 00:27:24,468 the request was, can you look for the period of July 18th, 537 00:27:24,599 --> 00:27:27,428 where was Stephen Poaches? Where was LaToyia Figueroa? 538 00:27:30,866 --> 00:27:33,216 We got 30 days' worth of phone records. 539 00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:35,304 And you can tell a lot about a person 540 00:27:35,305 --> 00:27:37,743 by their cell phone records. 541 00:27:37,873 --> 00:27:40,309 And so while I didn't know Stephen Poaches, 542 00:27:40,310 --> 00:27:42,443 what I knew about him is that this guy made calls 543 00:27:42,573 --> 00:27:44,010 at all hours of the night, 544 00:27:44,097 --> 00:27:47,360 8:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m., midnight, 2:00 a.m., 545 00:27:47,361 --> 00:27:50,843 3:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. 546 00:27:50,973 --> 00:27:52,495 In the five years of looking at cell phone records, 547 00:27:52,496 --> 00:27:55,455 I had never seen somebody that had never took a break. 548 00:27:55,456 --> 00:27:58,067 And that was odd. 549 00:27:58,154 --> 00:28:01,026 I'm going to use a double negative here for effect. 550 00:28:01,027 --> 00:28:02,811 He never not made calls. 551 00:28:05,248 --> 00:28:08,382 I'm looking at the records from the 18th, 552 00:28:08,469 --> 00:28:09,949 and I'm starting to see that it slowly 553 00:28:10,036 --> 00:28:12,865 matches up with the story. 554 00:28:13,039 --> 00:28:17,957 LaToyia and Poaches start moving from West Philadelphia 555 00:28:18,044 --> 00:28:21,090 down into the vicinity of Pennsylvania Hospital. 556 00:28:21,177 --> 00:28:22,744 After the prenatal visit, 557 00:28:22,831 --> 00:28:25,616 they move into the West Philadelphia area, 558 00:28:25,704 --> 00:28:28,096 where their phones were used several more times 559 00:28:28,097 --> 00:28:29,838 before they both go off the network. 560 00:28:29,969 --> 00:28:32,058 That's an a-ha moment. 561 00:28:34,321 --> 00:28:39,282 From 3:00 to 9:00, his cell phone goes off. 562 00:28:39,456 --> 00:28:43,504 And her cell phone never comes back on again. 563 00:28:43,678 --> 00:28:45,071 That was significant. 564 00:28:45,158 --> 00:28:47,899 Stephen Poaches always made phone calls. 565 00:28:47,900 --> 00:28:50,553 Like I said, he never not made calls. 566 00:28:50,554 --> 00:28:52,426 Something was happening 567 00:28:52,513 --> 00:28:55,255 for him to have shut the phone down. 568 00:28:55,385 --> 00:29:00,739 So what became really important was, who is he calling? 569 00:29:00,826 --> 00:29:04,046 And where is he when that phone came back up on the network? 570 00:29:06,527 --> 00:29:09,050 Around the 9:00 hour, I started seeing 571 00:29:09,051 --> 00:29:12,228 cell phone usage in the vicinity of West Philadelphia. 572 00:29:12,402 --> 00:29:14,621 And then after midnight, 573 00:29:14,622 --> 00:29:17,712 I see that there's the same phone number being called, 574 00:29:17,886 --> 00:29:22,543 12:06, 12:30, 12:49. 575 00:29:22,630 --> 00:29:27,591 And so let's get the subscriber for that particular phone. 576 00:29:27,678 --> 00:29:29,550 At the same time, Poaches starts 577 00:29:29,724 --> 00:29:32,074 traveling down south 578 00:29:32,248 --> 00:29:33,423 along Interstate 95 579 00:29:33,510 --> 00:29:35,861 down into Chester, Pennsylvania. 580 00:29:35,948 --> 00:29:37,688 So the question becomes 581 00:29:37,863 --> 00:29:39,560 who is he calling and where is he going? 582 00:29:41,867 --> 00:29:43,693 We get the subscriber information, 583 00:29:43,694 --> 00:29:45,784 and it comes back to Javar Alston 584 00:29:45,958 --> 00:29:48,395 out of Chester, Pennsylvania. 585 00:29:48,525 --> 00:29:50,962 So that became a priority at that point. 586 00:29:50,963 --> 00:29:52,878 We have to get ahold of Javar Alston. 587 00:29:58,884 --> 00:30:00,755 Detectives go out, they bring them in. 588 00:30:00,929 --> 00:30:02,235 They're talking to him. 589 00:30:02,365 --> 00:30:04,019 You know, how do you know Stephen Poaches? 590 00:30:04,150 --> 00:30:06,152 Why was he calling you that night? 591 00:30:06,282 --> 00:30:09,764 And he's not forthcoming, right? 592 00:30:09,851 --> 00:30:11,853 I'm outside, patiently waiting. 593 00:30:12,027 --> 00:30:14,594 I'm anxious to find out what's going on. 594 00:30:14,595 --> 00:30:16,205 But Chuck's in there doing his thing... 595 00:30:18,033 --> 00:30:21,341 And a phone call comes in to the desk man. 596 00:30:21,515 --> 00:30:24,647 And I can hear him talking. 597 00:30:24,648 --> 00:30:29,392 They receive a tip from a man named Walter Myatt. 598 00:30:29,479 --> 00:30:31,786 This guy calls out of the blue saying, 599 00:30:31,917 --> 00:30:33,353 I got information. 600 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,269 Do I get the reward with the information? 601 00:30:36,356 --> 00:30:38,575 The desk man puts his hand over the receiver 602 00:30:38,749 --> 00:30:41,491 and says, anybody know the name Alston? 603 00:30:44,277 --> 00:30:46,756 And I'm like, yeah, I think Chuck has him 604 00:30:46,757 --> 00:30:47,846 in the interview room right now. 605 00:30:50,022 --> 00:30:52,851 He's like, oh, somebody's trying to have him killed. 606 00:30:55,288 --> 00:30:57,898 Wow, right? This changes everything now. 607 00:31:05,951 --> 00:31:09,432 Philadelphia Police have their first major break. 608 00:31:09,563 --> 00:31:12,218 Javar Alston is now in custody. 609 00:31:12,305 --> 00:31:14,524 He's the man Stephen Poaches called repeatedly 610 00:31:14,655 --> 00:31:15,874 the night LaToyia vanished. 611 00:31:16,004 --> 00:31:18,137 And just as detectives are pressing him 612 00:31:18,224 --> 00:31:19,921 on his ties to Poaches, 613 00:31:20,052 --> 00:31:22,706 a tip comes in that changes everything. 614 00:31:25,622 --> 00:31:28,886 The tip came in that Stephen Poaches 615 00:31:28,887 --> 00:31:32,760 was trying to hire a hit man to kill Javar Alston. 616 00:31:32,847 --> 00:31:35,458 The decision's made to talk to Javar Alston and tell him, 617 00:31:35,589 --> 00:31:38,635 said, basically, Stephen wants to off you 618 00:31:38,722 --> 00:31:39,723 because of what you know. 619 00:31:39,854 --> 00:31:42,204 You better start telling the truth. 620 00:31:42,291 --> 00:31:45,077 You got to help yourself. Tell us what you know. 621 00:31:45,164 --> 00:31:48,689 So of course, he opens up. 622 00:31:48,776 --> 00:31:50,908 What Javar Alston tells the detectives 623 00:31:50,909 --> 00:31:52,953 is that he does know Stephen Poaches, 624 00:31:52,954 --> 00:31:56,915 that they met at a vocational school where they studied HVAC. 625 00:31:57,002 --> 00:31:59,873 Alston says that he remembers talking to Poaches 626 00:31:59,874 --> 00:32:01,657 a couple of months earlier. 627 00:32:01,658 --> 00:32:04,705 He talked about wanting to kill a pregnant girl. 628 00:32:04,835 --> 00:32:06,836 She has to die because she won't get an abortion. 629 00:32:06,837 --> 00:32:09,927 Alston reveals Stephen told him 630 00:32:09,928 --> 00:32:13,844 he'd had someone beat the girl up so she'd lose the baby. 631 00:32:13,975 --> 00:32:15,497 And he didn't think anything of it. 632 00:32:15,498 --> 00:32:17,239 He thought he was, like, just running his mouth. 633 00:32:17,370 --> 00:32:19,372 But on the 19th, 634 00:32:19,459 --> 00:32:22,941 Alston found out just how serious Stephen actually was. 635 00:32:23,071 --> 00:32:25,247 He says that July 19th, 636 00:32:25,334 --> 00:32:27,901 he gets two phone calls from Poaches 637 00:32:27,902 --> 00:32:29,511 saying, I'm en route to you. 638 00:32:29,512 --> 00:32:31,906 I need your help with something. 639 00:32:32,037 --> 00:32:34,908 Javar says, listen, Stephen needed a favor, 640 00:32:34,909 --> 00:32:36,867 we've done business together. 641 00:32:36,955 --> 00:32:38,869 We're good enough friends that when I've asked for money, 642 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,697 he's given me money when he has it. 643 00:32:40,784 --> 00:32:43,700 I said, sure, whatever you need. 644 00:32:43,831 --> 00:32:45,137 He said when Stephen got there, 645 00:32:45,267 --> 00:32:46,529 he got into Stephen's car 646 00:32:46,616 --> 00:32:48,704 and they drove to a wooded area 647 00:32:48,705 --> 00:32:51,926 that was behind Javar's grandmother's house. 648 00:32:52,057 --> 00:32:54,711 Stephen says, I got a dead body in the car. 649 00:32:54,798 --> 00:32:57,192 Javar freaks out. What do you mean? 650 00:32:57,279 --> 00:32:59,455 Hoping against hope he's joking. 651 00:32:59,542 --> 00:33:03,068 But he pulls out a gun, opens the trunk, and says, 652 00:33:03,198 --> 00:33:06,680 you're going to help me get rid of this body. 653 00:33:06,767 --> 00:33:08,508 They open the trunk. 654 00:33:08,638 --> 00:33:11,511 He helps him get the body out. 655 00:33:11,598 --> 00:33:15,296 And Stephen drags her into the weeds. 656 00:33:15,297 --> 00:33:19,344 And then he tells Alston, listen, you say anything, 657 00:33:19,345 --> 00:33:20,694 you're as guilty as I am. 658 00:33:20,781 --> 00:33:22,870 You're involved. 659 00:33:22,957 --> 00:33:25,177 And if you tell anybody, I'm going to kill you. 660 00:33:27,701 --> 00:33:29,094 So Javar was terrified. 661 00:33:29,181 --> 00:33:31,270 He could hurt him, he could hurt his family, 662 00:33:31,357 --> 00:33:34,142 and so he didn't say anything. 663 00:33:34,229 --> 00:33:35,883 Javar told the police, listen, 664 00:33:36,014 --> 00:33:38,798 I've been praying to God for forgiveness. 665 00:33:38,799 --> 00:33:41,497 Please tell the family to forgive me. 666 00:33:41,584 --> 00:33:43,978 We're all--I don't know if shocked's the right word. 667 00:33:44,109 --> 00:33:45,936 You don't want to bring Stephen in now at this point 668 00:33:46,067 --> 00:33:47,503 because he's going to lawyer up. 669 00:33:47,634 --> 00:33:49,027 He's going to say, I don't know what you're talking about. 670 00:33:49,157 --> 00:33:50,724 I had nothing to do with this. 671 00:33:50,854 --> 00:33:52,681 After the tip from Walter Myatt, 672 00:33:52,682 --> 00:33:54,075 police want to speak to him, 673 00:33:54,206 --> 00:33:56,034 and so they bring him in and sit him down. 674 00:33:59,385 --> 00:34:03,170 Myatt explains how he got ahold of this information. 675 00:34:03,171 --> 00:34:04,912 He goes, well, I have a certain reputation. 676 00:34:04,999 --> 00:34:06,434 I'm a tough guy. 677 00:34:06,435 --> 00:34:08,785 People think I'm a hit man, all this stuff. 678 00:34:08,872 --> 00:34:11,875 So Stephen Poaches reached out to me saying, 679 00:34:11,962 --> 00:34:14,052 I need a favor. I'll pay you. 680 00:34:14,139 --> 00:34:17,968 I want you to help me move a body and to kill Javar. 681 00:34:18,099 --> 00:34:20,449 Stephen Poaches is under duress. 682 00:34:20,536 --> 00:34:22,276 The case is closing in. 683 00:34:22,277 --> 00:34:25,453 And he needs to tie up loose ends. 684 00:34:25,454 --> 00:34:27,935 We know he's involved. Now we have him, right? 685 00:34:28,022 --> 00:34:31,199 But what do we do? We don't have the body. 686 00:34:31,286 --> 00:34:33,027 And so the police start to think, 687 00:34:33,158 --> 00:34:35,899 well, maybe Myatt is actually telling the truth 688 00:34:36,030 --> 00:34:39,033 and can be useful in this investigation. 689 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,906 The police say, call Stephen, tell him you're in, 690 00:34:43,037 --> 00:34:47,736 accept whatever amount of money to move that body. 691 00:34:47,737 --> 00:34:50,566 The plan is that Walter is going to go undercover. 692 00:34:50,653 --> 00:34:55,658 He's going to pretend to help Stephen Poaches move the body. 693 00:34:55,745 --> 00:34:59,097 And maybe we get lucky and catch Stephen right in the act. 694 00:35:03,057 --> 00:35:04,928 And so now you have this massive operation 695 00:35:05,059 --> 00:35:07,321 where you have to bring in surveillance teams and planes. 696 00:35:07,322 --> 00:35:09,411 You had to have people waiting in the woods. 697 00:35:11,283 --> 00:35:13,023 Stephen picks up Myatt 698 00:35:13,154 --> 00:35:15,852 and they're headed down to Chester. 699 00:35:15,939 --> 00:35:17,898 Myatt was wired so that police could hear 700 00:35:17,985 --> 00:35:19,073 the entire conversation. 701 00:35:19,204 --> 00:35:21,119 And they also had undercover detectives 702 00:35:21,206 --> 00:35:22,990 following close behind him. 703 00:35:23,077 --> 00:35:25,166 At this point, the stakes are high. 704 00:35:25,253 --> 00:35:28,865 Walter Myatt is someone who has a shady past. 705 00:35:28,996 --> 00:35:31,390 Plus, Stephen Poaches is someone 706 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,784 who they suspect as being a murderer who has a gun. 707 00:35:34,871 --> 00:35:36,699 If something happened to Walter Myatt, 708 00:35:36,786 --> 00:35:38,397 we wouldn't look too good, will we? 709 00:35:38,527 --> 00:35:41,965 I know we'll have hell to pay if it goes wrong. 710 00:35:42,052 --> 00:35:45,926 But she deserves our best. 711 00:35:46,056 --> 00:35:47,406 Although we know she's dead, 712 00:35:47,536 --> 00:35:51,801 but for the family to put her in a proper grave, 713 00:35:51,888 --> 00:35:53,586 the police says, we're taking that chance. 714 00:35:55,544 --> 00:35:58,590 At headquarters, we monitored the radio. 715 00:35:58,591 --> 00:36:00,940 And they were willing to move at any time 716 00:36:00,941 --> 00:36:02,856 if it looked like Myatt was in trouble. 717 00:36:04,727 --> 00:36:07,687 The police are following that vehicle to Chester. 718 00:36:07,774 --> 00:36:10,429 Everything works fine until they hit a pothole. 719 00:36:12,953 --> 00:36:15,085 And the transmitter that was attached 720 00:36:15,173 --> 00:36:17,044 to Walter Myatt goes out. 721 00:36:19,002 --> 00:36:20,700 And now police can't hear anything 722 00:36:20,830 --> 00:36:22,528 that's happening in the van. 723 00:36:22,615 --> 00:36:23,746 They have no idea the conversations 724 00:36:23,833 --> 00:36:25,531 that are taking place. 725 00:36:25,661 --> 00:36:29,622 And they don't know if Walter is ultimately now in danger. 726 00:36:29,752 --> 00:36:32,885 Panic sets in. Can't communicate with him. 727 00:36:32,886 --> 00:36:34,104 You get a lump in your throat saying, 728 00:36:34,235 --> 00:36:36,411 oh, God, this is the worst-case scenario. 729 00:36:43,113 --> 00:36:45,246 An undercover operation to catch Stephen Poaches 730 00:36:45,377 --> 00:36:48,728 moving LaToyia Figueroa's body goes sideways 731 00:36:48,858 --> 00:36:51,644 when they lose the live feed to their informant. 732 00:36:53,646 --> 00:36:57,302 You have a cooperating witness in a car 733 00:36:57,389 --> 00:36:59,172 with a person who's just committed murder. 734 00:36:59,173 --> 00:37:00,957 He has a gun. 735 00:37:01,044 --> 00:37:04,613 This witness is not trained to handle this situation. 736 00:37:04,700 --> 00:37:08,051 We were so worried, like, don't lose this guy. 737 00:37:08,138 --> 00:37:12,055 And they continue to Chester to Javar's grandmother's house 738 00:37:12,142 --> 00:37:13,840 with the police following. 739 00:37:13,927 --> 00:37:15,363 They pull in 740 00:37:15,450 --> 00:37:18,236 and it's like this open field behind the house. 741 00:37:18,323 --> 00:37:20,455 They drive back straight back 742 00:37:20,629 --> 00:37:22,630 to where the railroad tracks were. 743 00:37:22,631 --> 00:37:25,243 And before Stephen can even open his door, 744 00:37:25,373 --> 00:37:26,940 they move in and they grab him. 745 00:37:29,377 --> 00:37:31,858 The police converge on Stephen Poaches 746 00:37:31,945 --> 00:37:33,773 and he is placed under arrest. 747 00:37:35,731 --> 00:37:37,603 And of course, that's when they found 748 00:37:37,733 --> 00:37:39,952 LaToyia Figueroa, her body. 749 00:37:43,565 --> 00:37:46,045 It's severely decomposed, 750 00:37:46,046 --> 00:37:49,919 but we found that she was clearly strangled. 751 00:37:50,006 --> 00:37:53,792 And Stephen has the tools, a shovel and other items, 752 00:37:53,793 --> 00:37:55,795 he's got a ...45-caliber handgun, 753 00:37:55,882 --> 00:37:58,188 he has a bulletproof vest. 754 00:37:58,276 --> 00:38:00,234 Based on how Poaches was dressed, 755 00:38:00,365 --> 00:38:03,629 we believe he was also going to kill Mr. Myatt. 756 00:38:03,759 --> 00:38:07,240 He was not going to leave any loose ends this time. 757 00:38:11,071 --> 00:38:12,725 We were in bed sleeping 758 00:38:12,812 --> 00:38:16,771 and the police were knocking at the door. 759 00:38:16,772 --> 00:38:19,166 I was still just trying to hold on to hope. 760 00:38:19,253 --> 00:38:22,908 Then we got the news that she was gone. 761 00:38:22,909 --> 00:38:26,694 That was a tough pill to swallow. 762 00:38:26,695 --> 00:38:28,697 And the police took us out 763 00:38:28,871 --> 00:38:32,222 to where they found LaToyia's body. 764 00:38:32,310 --> 00:38:34,833 All I remember is that me and Melvin held each other 765 00:38:34,834 --> 00:38:37,271 and we just broke down and started crying. 766 00:38:37,358 --> 00:38:39,273 Full of grace, the Lord is with thee. 767 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,666 Family and friends of LaToyia Figueroa 768 00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:44,887 say the Rosary as they comfort one another next to the field 769 00:38:45,018 --> 00:38:47,542 where her body was discovered around midnight in Chester. 770 00:38:47,673 --> 00:38:49,849 Her father, Melvin, shakes with grief. 771 00:38:51,372 --> 00:38:54,200 That was very hard, watching the pain 772 00:38:54,201 --> 00:38:58,640 that my sister and Melvin was going through was unbearable. 773 00:38:58,727 --> 00:39:01,774 And LaToyia was no longer here. 774 00:39:01,904 --> 00:39:04,298 Her mother was murdered just about the same mannerisms 775 00:39:04,472 --> 00:39:08,128 that she was murdered, so that was like déjà vu. 776 00:39:08,258 --> 00:39:10,522 Like a nightmare that you couldn't wake up from. 777 00:39:12,567 --> 00:39:16,353 The night that Poaches is arrested, he's sitting there. 778 00:39:16,354 --> 00:39:18,659 He's warned of his rights. 779 00:39:18,660 --> 00:39:21,315 So he's in the room and he's not saying a word. 780 00:39:21,446 --> 00:39:24,187 And then he goes, what am I looking at? 781 00:39:24,318 --> 00:39:28,843 I said, you strangled and dumped a 24-year-old female 782 00:39:28,844 --> 00:39:30,585 that you had a relationship with that was carrying 783 00:39:30,672 --> 00:39:31,847 your baby at five months. 784 00:39:31,934 --> 00:39:33,022 What do you think is going to happen? 785 00:39:33,153 --> 00:39:34,154 You're going to get the death penalty. 786 00:39:34,284 --> 00:39:36,286 At which point, he made a statement 787 00:39:36,374 --> 00:39:38,724 trying to at least minimize what he did. 788 00:39:42,554 --> 00:39:45,470 He says they get into an argument. 789 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:49,212 He says that she smacked him. 790 00:39:49,343 --> 00:39:51,910 He doesn't confess completely because 791 00:39:51,911 --> 00:39:53,651 as most people don't want to admit 792 00:39:53,652 --> 00:39:56,523 that they are an animal and pure evil. 793 00:39:56,524 --> 00:39:59,178 He says, well, she was attacking me and hurting me, 794 00:39:59,179 --> 00:40:02,095 and that's why I strangled her by accident. 795 00:40:04,445 --> 00:40:06,621 Stephen Poaches's trial was set to begin 796 00:40:06,708 --> 00:40:10,059 on Thursday, October 12th, 2006. 797 00:40:10,190 --> 00:40:13,845 The defense asked us would we consider not seeking death? 798 00:40:13,846 --> 00:40:16,457 I said you'll have to take a bench trial. 799 00:40:16,544 --> 00:40:19,765 I'm not putting this family through a jury trial. 800 00:40:19,852 --> 00:40:22,898 A bench trial meant that instead of having his fate 801 00:40:23,029 --> 00:40:25,466 decided by 12 jurors of his peers, 802 00:40:25,597 --> 00:40:27,903 it's decided by the judge. 803 00:40:27,990 --> 00:40:29,644 A jury trial takes a long time. 804 00:40:29,731 --> 00:40:31,994 The family is sitting there day in and day out 805 00:40:32,081 --> 00:40:35,998 watching their daughter get murdered every day. 806 00:40:36,085 --> 00:40:38,131 I said to my sister and to Melvin, 807 00:40:38,218 --> 00:40:39,479 I know that y'all want him 808 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,134 wiped off the face of the Earth, 809 00:40:41,264 --> 00:40:43,789 but I think that'll be a little too easy for him. 810 00:40:43,876 --> 00:40:46,052 He needs to spend every day of his life behind bars 811 00:40:46,139 --> 00:40:49,229 to think about what he did to LaToyia, 812 00:40:49,316 --> 00:40:54,103 you know, suffer for years the consequences of his actions. 813 00:40:54,190 --> 00:40:56,671 So the family, with their permission, 814 00:40:56,802 --> 00:40:58,934 we withdrew death for a bench trial. 815 00:41:01,894 --> 00:41:03,112 After a four-day trial, 816 00:41:03,199 --> 00:41:05,463 the judge finds Stephen Poaches guilty 817 00:41:05,593 --> 00:41:07,812 of two counts of first-degree murder, 818 00:41:07,813 --> 00:41:09,728 one count for LaToyia 819 00:41:09,815 --> 00:41:12,731 and one count for their unborn baby, Nyla. 820 00:41:12,861 --> 00:41:16,430 Poaches is sentenced to life in prison without parole. 821 00:41:16,517 --> 00:41:19,259 It's not an easy to lose a child just like that. 822 00:41:19,433 --> 00:41:21,566 And deep in my heart, I always knew it was him. 823 00:41:29,051 --> 00:41:30,966 We were very, very thankful that 824 00:41:31,097 --> 00:41:33,665 what happened to her went national. 825 00:41:33,752 --> 00:41:36,929 It really brought the light to her being a Black Latina woman 826 00:41:37,059 --> 00:41:39,496 who was missing and that was worth looking for 827 00:41:39,497 --> 00:41:42,369 because she was somebody. 828 00:41:42,500 --> 00:41:45,198 Since 2005, the stories of missing and murdered 829 00:41:45,285 --> 00:41:47,983 Black women and girls and other people of color 830 00:41:48,114 --> 00:41:50,638 has begun to get more attention than it used to. 831 00:41:50,769 --> 00:41:53,728 It's still not anywhere near where it should be. 832 00:41:53,815 --> 00:41:56,426 And I hope that LaToyia's story 833 00:41:56,557 --> 00:41:58,777 continues to show people that 834 00:41:58,864 --> 00:42:01,388 race and class shouldn't matter, that LaToyia mattered, 835 00:42:01,475 --> 00:42:02,737 and that her story mattered 836 00:42:02,824 --> 00:42:06,524 and her unborn daughter mattered. 837 00:42:06,654 --> 00:42:10,614 LaToyia had a beautiful personality. 838 00:42:10,615 --> 00:42:13,313 And one thing that I would like for everyone to know 839 00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:17,665 to just keep her beacon of light shining forever 840 00:42:17,752 --> 00:42:20,233 because she did not deserve to leave the world 841 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:21,408 the way that she did. 842 00:42:23,758 --> 00:42:25,412 She was such a beautiful person. 843 00:42:25,499 --> 00:42:28,414 And that I wish the world could be more like LaToyia.