http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1210/23/ijvm.01.htmlJANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
Toxic Secrets Emerge in Missing Woman`s Family; High Schoolers` Fantasy Sex League?; Honey Boo-Boo`s Candid Interview
Aired October 23, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, a sickening development in the search for missing Brittney Wood. One of her uncles is facing charges of raining a 13-year-old relative. It would appear that this beautiful young woman was surrounded by some very toxic family secrets that are just unbelievable. We`re going to bring them to you. Did it have anything to do with her disappearance? We`re investigating that and talking to a relative next.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Incomprehensible developments in the case of Brittney Wood, the beautiful Alabama teen who mysteriously disappeared six months ago. Her uncle killed himself two days after Brittney vanished while on a visit to him.
Now, in a separate case, police accuse Brittney`s other uncle of raping a 13-year-old relative as the girl`s father watched. And Brittney`s brother and a cousin have also been arrested and accused of raping a 12- year-old girl. We are uncovering the terrible toxic secrets in this family. And we are taking your calls.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want you, baby. We love you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thursday Brittney Wood told family members that she was headed to this house near Styx River to see her Uncle Donny. Donny Wood returned home to Fair Hope on Friday and shot himself. Brittney hasn`t been heard from since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her uncle has committed suicide. And supposedly he was the last one she was with. And so we`re worried about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m hoping to God and I really don`t think he`d hurt my baby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we haven`t talked to her in over a week. And we need some help finding her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know your children`s routine. She has not done nothing routine. She always calls me. She ain`t called me.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, truly shocking family secrets revealed. Beautiful young mother Brittney Wood vanished back in May, and she`s been missing. She was last seen visiting her uncle`s house. But what would happen next would stun everyone. Just as Brittney is reported missing, that uncle, Donny Holland, committed suicide with Brittney`s own gun.
Now another uncle, Dustin Kent, is facing charges that he allegedly raped and sodomized a 13-year-old relative. What on earth, what the hell is going on here?
Good evening. Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.
Brittney Wood disappeared from Mobile, Alabama, leaving her 2-year-old daughter behind. She has not been seen since. Look at this beautiful young woman.
Her last cell phone transmission happened less than a mile from this rural Alabama area where her uncle reportedly had a home near the Styx River. She reportedly told her friend she was visiting her Uncle Donny there. When she didn`t return, her frantic mother called the cops.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brittney, come home. We love you. Please come home to your family.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Since Brittney disappeared, several members of her family have been caught up in lewd, really lewd, sex crime charges, including her own brother.
Derek Wood, 22, arrested just last week by a fugitive task force. Back in July he was charged with rape and sodomy charges.
As the search continues for Brittney, you`ve got to wonder what happened to this family that cops call sadistic. How did so many of them get caught up in alleged sex crimes? And does it have anything to do with Brittney`s disappearance?
I want to hear from you. Call me: 1-877-586-7297, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Straight out to our very special guest tonight, Brittney`s stepmother, Stephanie Hanke.
Stephanie, thank you for joining us. I know this is difficult for you. What do you make of the arrest?
STEPHANIE HANKE, STEPMOTHER OF BRITTNEY (via phone): Thank you for having me.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. What do you make of the arrest of Brittney`s Uncle Dustin?
HANKE: The whole thing has us all by shock. That is all on her mother`s side. So I don`t really know that family that well.
As far as she has two uncles that are arrested. Her own mother`s brother`s one of them. And you`ve got Dustin, which is married to Brittney`s aunt, which is the twin of Donny`s wife, who Donny`s wife is also charged in this with child endangerment for having knowledge of these crimes and not reporting them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m going to do a list of the family tree. And then I want to get your reaction, Stephanie, to did you notice anything? Because I mean, I`ve been a reporter for many years, and I`ve never seen anything quite like this. We`ll break it down and then get your insight.
I know this is not your side of the family. So we are making that very clear. But OK, let`s take a look. There`s Brittney who vanished five months ago. The uncle Brittney went to visit on May 30, Donald Holland Senior, shot himself to death two days after Brittney went missing. He was reportedly under investigation for molestation. His wife, Wendy, has been arrested on child endangerment charges.
Now that dead uncle`s son, who is Brittney`s cousin, Donald Holland Junior, has been arrested for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl.
More than a year before Brittney vanished, Brittney`s 22-year-old brother, Derek Wood, has also been charged for allegedly having sex with the same 12-year-old girl. And another of Brittney`s uncles, Randall Wood, the brother of the missing teen`s mom, was arrested on charges of incest, sodomy and sexual abuse.
And then there`s 36-year-old Dustin Kent, another uncle, who has been accused of raping a 13-year-old relative while that girl`s father watched.
OK, and cops say that assault occurred four years ago, long before Brittney vanished. So again, six of Brittney`s relatives, five men, one of whom killed himself, and a woman. I mean, what on earth? I`ve got to go back to the missing woman`s step mom. Stephanie, did you sense anything sick and toxic within that side of the family?
HANKE: No. I only had a couple of occasions as far as with around Dustin. I`m not going to lie, he did give me -- he did put off a weird vibe. Like I said, I only had one occasion with him. Now, he is facing seven charges. He`s facing charges for child molestation and also in Mobile all tied into the sex ring. He`s facing the most charges so far.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I mean, I am blown away by this. Can I ask you to stand by for one second, Stephanie? I want to bring in Vinny Parco, a famed private investigator out of New York City. You know him from a show he`s on.
Vinny, I honestly -- have never seen this. Is your understanding from all your years of investigating that -- sexual molestation, alleged, can run in families?
VINNY PARCO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Yes. You have to take the fabric of the family. Look at the charges against all the people in the family. They`re all molestation of young women.
I`m sorry to say this, but I`m sure Brittney was molested for many years also. I know she`s 19 years old, and her uncle killed himself. I`m sure that he had something to do with it, had some remorse and killed himself.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I got to tell you, if you take a look at this story, just take a look at one of the cases, this recent one that just came out that we`re just learning about now, charged with first degree sodomy, second degree rape and incest. Reports are the victim is a 13-year-old relative. She`s now 17. came forward this year because Brittney`s missing, we`re in crisis, I`ve got to tell the truth. I`ve got to talk.
Now, published reports say detectives testify that the alleged rape took place in front of the girl`s father. Jon Lieberman, I have no words.
JON LIEBERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I was at "America`s Most Wanted" for seven years. We helped hundreds of victims get justice. I have never ever in my life seen anything like this family.
Now, Jane, the only positive that we could pull out here is this. Police have a lot of ammunition to press the heat on all of these members of the family, hoping to get some answers as to where Brittney is, what happened to Brittney. There`s that very remote chance in our hearts, we want to keep hope open. There`s that remote chance she ran away. It`s unlikely. But somebody in this family knows where Brittney is, what happened to her, and the cops are going to use these charges to press them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s go to out the phone lines. Debbie, I missed what state you`re from. Debbie, Pennsylvania. Your question or thought, Debbie.
CALLER: Hi, Jane. We love you. We listen to you every night. I have two questions.
First, who is the father of the 2-year-old? And, second, are there any plans to remove that child from that family, since there is a history of pedophilia?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stephanie Hanke, again, you are the stepmother of Brittney Wood, the missing woman. This does involve your side of the family. But we`re seeing Brittney with a 2-year-old toddler. Who is the father?
HANKE: The father is Andrew Hamilton. He has custody of Peyton. Peyton is not in the Wood family. I get Peyton every weekend. Sandy and his grandmother, they are the caregivers of Peyton. She is not having anything to do -- we have kept her away from that entire side of the family. Andy has custody.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, that`s excellent news. That is wonderful news. Now we have to find out what happened to her mom, the beautiful -- and I mean beautiful, look at her -- Brittney. Where is she? An innocent in the web of what would appear to be, according to cops a family that is steeped in molestation and sexual crimes.
More on the other side.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His name came up in our investigation and with our cooperation with Baldwin County. We were able to determine that we have a juvenile victim three years ago with his name surfacing in that investigation, it`s certainly brought interest into other people.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: That officer is talking about this guy, Dustin Kent, who allegedly raped a 13-year-old relative as her father watched. And he`s the uncle of missing Brittney Wood. Is there a connection?
When Brittney vanished five months ago she was visiting another uncle, Uncle Donny, who was also under investigation for molestation. And he later -- two days after she disappeared shot himself in the head and killed himself. But apparently, many in the family didn`t consider him a threat. We talked to Brittney`s stepmother back in June. And here`s what she said. This is a different step mom. Listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via phone): I do not believe they had a relationship. He is married to my sister. My sons even went to their house a lot. We don`t know if she even made it to Donny`s. She was not actually seen with Donny. The reason we`re searching that area is because her phone was pinged there.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. And you just heard, actually, from the biological mother of Brittney Wood, saying she didn`t consider him a threat.
Now, I`ve got to go to Jayne Weintraub, criminal defense attorney. This is one of the sickest cases I`ve seen. I mean, how can you say that somebody, given everything now that we now know and the fact that he was being investigated for molestation is not considered a threat?
JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think that he is a threat. And I think that everybody in this family knew what was going on. And I think that it was an accepted behavior.
I think that. along with Jon, I hope that she did run away. I just can`t understand why she would leave a 2-year-old behind. But the bottom line here is this girl disappeared on May 30. They didn`t even call and report her missing until the end of the day June 2. So were they really so crying and screaming where is their child?
You know, family`s supposed to protect children. And a 17-year-old or 18-year-old girl is a kid. And they didn`t protect her. They exploited her. Shame on them. They don`t deserve to have children like these beautiful girls.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a very disturbing case. Just the sheer number of relatives that are involved allegedly in these heinous sex crimes.
Let`s go to the phone lines. Phyllis, Illinois, your question or thought, Phyllis?
CALLER: Miss Jane, I can`t believe it. Oh, I am just so thrilled to meet you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right back.
CALLER: I want to see you on "Dancing with the Stars."
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, OK. I`m there.
CALLER: Yes, ma`am. I just had a question. You know, there appears to be an increase in missing women and girls. Is it just because the times we`re living in? Or is it unprecedented? Or is it just because we learn more because we have access to the media? This is weird.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s so funny that you should say that. And I got to bring this back to Vinny Parco, private investigator. We were talking about this today, because there was another missing girl in Arizona. And thank God she was found. And we all in the newsroom went, yay, she was found. Because we were like what`s going on here with all these missing women and girls?
VINNY PARCO, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, a lot of these girls are on Facebook, on social media. And they tell their friends where they`re going to be. These degenerates, these pedophiles, they watch Facebook. They look at these things, and they know where these kids are going to be.
So what they do, they have a blueprint to do their perversion. They know where these kids are going to be by looking at Facebook, watching the kids in a neighborhood, stalking them. And then when they have the opportunity, they snatch them.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side of the break we`re going to talk to an investigative journalist who has been tracking this case in the Alabama area for a long time. Stay right there.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the last place her phone was pinged. They found the signal bouncing off one of these towers. And we haven`t talked to her in over a week. And we need some help finding her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know your children`s routine. She has not done nothing routine. She always calls me. She ain`t called me.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s Brittney`s devastated mother. Where is she?
This uncle just arrested, accused of raping a 13-year-old relative as her father watched. I want to go to Michael Dumont, investigative reporter who`s been on this case for a while.
So he`s accused of raping a 13-year-old relative while the father watched. The father`s not being identified to protect the identity of the accuser. But what happened to that father? Was he arrested? Is he another family member?
MICHAEL DUMONT, REPORTER: No. No. This is, I believe what they`re referring to in this case, is Donald Holland Sr., who committed suicide on June 2 and is suspected to be the last person that Brittney ever saw before she went missing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does any of this have a connection in terms of all of these family members being accused of something involving rape, or sodomy, incest and/or? Does it connect to her disappearance? How do we draw that link?
DUMONT: Well, when I spoke to investigators both in Mobile County and Baldwin County, you know, Brittney was a resident of Mobile County when she disappeared. But a lot of this family activity, and the extended family you`re speaking of, they live in Baldwin County, which is across Mobile Bay.
Investigators on both sides have not -- on the record have not, you know, tied these cases together. I`ve tried to speak with family members and other people to see if she had ever expressed any sort of, you know, concerns or shared anything about any sort of abuse that she herself was a victim of. And never heard where that had been identified.
But speaking with the investigators extensively, you know, there`s an underlying current where everybody wants to put one and one to equal two.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely.
DUMONT: In the case like one of your guests spoke about, but we -- we just don`t know.
All we know is that the person -- and just to talk about -- to address about the family not -- actually, reporting her missing for a couple of days. When I spoke to Brittney`s mother, she told me that it was not, you know, really unusual for Brittney to be gone for a couple or three days at a time.
And Ms. Hanke who you spoke with, she told me during an interview that, you know, at times Donald Holland, the deceased, would pick Brittney up from her father and stepmother`s residence, although he would not come into the home.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you have a depth of knowledge on this case that is extraordinary. Michael, thank you so very much. We`re going to stay on top of this. We`re not going anywhere. We want to find out what happened to Brittney.
Jayne Weintraub, very quick, is this learned behavior within the family?
WEINTRAUB: I hope not, but I would listen to the experts, and unfortunately, I think it is. And I think it`s beyond sick. I agree with you. And that`s as a mom.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Absolutely. Thank you, fantastic panel.
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