WATT'S UP WITH THIS? STEPH WATTS & TIM MILLER 9/19/2010 (PARTIAL) TRANSCRIPT
texasmom:
I've only transcribed portions of the show that referred to Beth Holloway and/or the Natalee Holloway Case, along with other segments of my choosing. Much of the show's discussion centered around the Caylee Anthony case.
I'm sure there are mistakes and/or typo's and misspellings. Please forgive those.
For a full understanding of the show and the statements made; the podcast is available for downloading at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/watts-up-with-this/2010/09/20/watts-up-with-this
I'm posting what I was able to finish this evening tonight and will post the rest when I finish it either tomorrow evening or Saturday.
Steph Watts: Good evening. Face to face with Joran van der Sloot. What really went on when Natalee Holloway’s mother confronted Joran van der Sloot in a Peruvian jail? Was Beth Holloway on a journey for justice for her murdered daughter; or a mission for money?
Joining me is Texas Equusearch founder, Tim Miller. But first breaking news, we just learned Dave Holloway due to the stress of this case and what’s happened to his daughter collapsed on a boat. He is now hospitalized, uhh Robin’s on her way to the hospital and uhh Tim tell us..Tim what’s happening with Dave?
Tim Miller: Well they was actually fishing trying to get away and relax a little bit in Louisiana (Falker Louisiana) and I got a call very late last night from Robin and they was afraid Dave had a heart attack. Ummm he is going to be getting out of the hospital tonight and then Robin is taking him to a cardiologist tomorrow. Uhhh we’re hoping it was just heat exhaustion uhhh combined with uhhh the stress of what he’s going through and but you know what we know stress can cause many illnesses and uhh heart problems is one of them. So let’s just keep Dave in our prayers and our thoughts and uhhh umm you know for a quick recovery...once again let’s just hope uhhh this is just uhhh exhaustion and stress related and there’s no long term effects from it. So again, you know I talked to Robin several times today and uhh Dave has became just a real real close friend of mine, uhhh I regret not meeting Dave Holloway twenty years ago you know and I just love him as a person and for what he’s gone through and I’m there to support him.
Steph Watts: O.K., you guys are like brothers and I remember when all three of us were together in Aruba, uhhh Dave was on pins and needles, his stress level was high, again and with all the happenings this week and you as the father of a murdered child understand it makes it like it’s yesterday again and all over every single time correct? So I can just imagine what Dave’s going through.
Tim Miller: Uhhh yeah, and I mean Dave is a very, very strong person, uhhh Dave uhhh certainly has a lot of faith and uhhh is a very God fearing person and uhhh I think the support he gets from uhhh all his friends and supporters and the trust he has in God and stuff is the only thing that’s gotten Dave through it as well as he’s gotten through it and I give him a big pat on the back and an A+. He’s stayed very very humble through this whole thing...very, very focused and ummm he’s been very, very patient and again he’s...I’m just very, very proud to say that Dave’s my friend and ummm and certainly right now I’ve got concerns about his health. And again I know everybody...you know keep him in your prayers and uhhh let’s all work together to get through this.
Steph Watts: Absolutely, everybody that’s Tim Miller from Texas Equusearch. Our hearts and prayers go out to Dave Holloway tonight, hospitalized. Hopefully he’ll be out tomorrow. Dave, we’re all thinking about you, we know how stressful a time this is. Tim Miller, thank you for joining us. I’m Steph Watts, host of Watt’s Up With This? Tonight Tim Miller from Texas Equusearch speaks out.
snipped
Tim Miller: You know we have nearly turned Casey Anthony and Joran van der Sloot into celebrities with all this money the media has given them. Uhhh you know, we’ll talk about that one later Steph. (laughing)
Steph Watts: And Tim you know I’m writing my book The Cottage Industry of Murder, we’ve turned missing children into entertainment, we’ve turned murderers into celebrities, we pay them money to continue to finance their crimes; it’s despicable. And I have organizations like you and tons of other wonderful organizations that are starving to death for money. Everyone I don’t want to turn this into Jerry Lewis Telethon but if you can donate any money to Texas Equusearch, please go to their website (snip) You know they’re a wonderful organization. I’m proud to call Tim Miller my friend, he’s like a brother to me as is Dave...I’m worried sick about Dave tonight and uhhh I really appreciate you being here and filling us in on what’s going on. Ummm I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore (both laughing).
Tim Miller: I’m mad too and you know what Steph, I want the Caylee Anthony and Natalee Holloway cases to go away. (Talks about Valerie Hamilton case) But you know what..still...I don’t know why...I don’t know why...Casey Anthony and Beth Holloway are the big stories. People, you need to get somethin’...Caylee and Natalee are not the only two people that have ever been abducted and murdered. Those are not the only two people that have suffered.
Steph Watts: I agree Tim, and Tim Miller, the more time we waste and I’m guilty as charged talking about these two is time we’re not talking about cases like what you just mentioned. Time, and you know the first 48 hours is the most crucial time. It’s time we could be talking about missing children, missing people that need help right now.
Tim Miller: Right now, not five years down the road, now. Right now.
Steph Watts: And everybody...Tim Miller is constantly updating his website and has all these cases, not all the cases but as many as he can get up there as quickly as he can get them up there. Visit his website.
snip
Tim Miller: We’re searchers, we let the investigators do their job...
snip
Steph Watts: And I want to explain to everybody what I thought was really interesting in spending some time with you which I so enjoyed over the last year as we worked on a project together and that was right before we actually left for Aruba. Tim, coincidentally we happened to be in Dave’s hometown...strictly coincidentally...and I went along with you...filming you and doing some work on a sh..a..a.. you were searching for an unfortunate cat that...an older man that had committed suicide and you guys skimmed the pond...and skimmed the pond...and skimmed the pond. You know everybody...the police had skimmed the pond and everybody’d skimmed the pond. And you know you guys decided to lower the pond and there the poor guy was standing straight up and the sonar equipment missed him, you went over it a hundred times, because of the position of the body. The connection here Tim is it’s not uncommon for stuff to get missed. Sometimes stuff can be right under our nose, we’ve all done it...I can’t find my glasses, my glasses are on my head.
(Talk about Caylee Anthony case)
Another appeal for money...
Steph Watts: People coming up we’re gonna talk about Beth Holloway, what’s been going on this week.
(Continue talking about Caylee Anthony)
Steph Watts: Moving on...this week Beth Holloway face to face with Joran van der Sloot. What really went on in that Peruvian jail? Then...called to Aruba, Beth Holloway and Peter DeVries are allegedly called by Prosecutors to get their butts over to Aruba because they may have interfered with an ongoing investigation. Tim Miller, I know you’re knee deep in this case as well. What is going on? From what I understand Tim, Beth...and listen...I’m getting a lot of emails, people saying I’m being hard on Beth. I’m not being hard on Beth, I understand and I know you do...the passion of a mother of a missing child. She’ll do anything to get answers, but Tim, why do you have to bring a media crew along? Why do you have to allegedly be paid to do this and other stuff? That’s what my issue is with Beth. I have no disrespect for her, I understand she wants answers. She was infuriated by his interview that he did, again, Tim Miller, was sold to NBC news...they paid money for that, they didn’t hand them , they didn’t get it for free. Somebody made money on that I’m sure his mother did to pay for his defense. Ummm so Tim Miller what are your thoughts on that?
Tim Miller: You know what I’m trying to digest that whole thing Steph you know I’ve...like I said I was going to Alabama and I was actually in Meridian Mississippi, in Dave’s town when I got the phone call that Flores had been murdered and Joran van der Sloot was a suspect. And I was like “Oh my God, I can’t believe it”, so I called Dave up and then we went down to Alabama and we did that search and I was only probably less than seven miles away from Beth and I called Beth, and she never did return my phone call; and I’m sure she was you know certainly tied up with things after the Stephany Flores deal. And then I uhhh...I ended up in uhhh...remember you got the uhhh...the map that Joran van der Sloot drew.
Steph Watts: Let me explain everybody. I was in contact with a friend of Joran van der Sloot’s back in Holland. He had contacted me with a hand drawn map that Joran had drawn allegedly saying what he had done with Natalee Holloway’s body. Yet another story in the trilogy, or whatever it is in the millions of stories that Joran van der Sloot has told. We had the map long before Nancy Grace aired the map, long before anyone else had the map we had the map, and decided upon Dave’s request not to publicize it because he didn’t want you know all the attention on us.
snipped
Steph Watts: Let’s jump back to the Beth Holloway case. So Tim, I just want to paint the landscape for everybody. Beth decides, unbenounced to everybody including her own attorney, John Q. Kelly to go to Peruvian jail. There’s reports that night that Beth Holloway’s arrested, the reports were false, Beth was not arrested...she didn’t just walk into the Peruvian jail. She obviously was allowed in, she had permission. I think from what I understand Tim, the gray area is they probably didn’t realize she had brought Peter DeVries who was the ummm reporter, journalist from The Netherlands who was the one who broke the story ...got the tape of Joran van der Sloot confessing inside the car, inside the Range Rover in a tape we saw a few years back. She was with him from what we’ve learned; we’ve tried to put the pieces of this puzzle together...that Beth was being paid by him. They somehow managed to sneak a camera in which I don’t understand that because even Jean Casaraz from TruTV went through how detailed you have to get...you know go through the security camera. It’s a prison; we have to get rid of our cell phones when we go to court here with cameras. Somehow allegedly they got a camera through...uhhh into the Peruvian jail. (?) and got an interview with Joran van der Sloot. Here’s the problem Tim Miller, this is the issue I’m gonna have with that. That interview is going to be sold. It’s going to go to the highest bidder (Tim, big sigh)and I understand the intentions of Beth were for her to try to get answers, but then why do it on camera?
Tim Miller: You know what Steph...I have to agree. I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to touch on that subject, but you know what I’ve gotten many many other calls and emails on this and I think...let’s go back to the map. Remember when we went to Aruba, we did not let anybody know that we were going uhhh because we went to go ahead and look at that area just to see if by chance maybe this time Joran van der Sloot was telling the truth, and possibly it was Natalee at this spot. Media found out we was there but you know what Steph, we stayed in a house...they could not find us in any motels. We did absolutely no media stuff on it uhhh and I think we did it uhhh only for the best interest of Natalee. You know Dave came over there and uhhh and I remember meeting with the two FBI agents out of Alabama, then I remember meeting with the uhhh lead FBI agent out of Barbados. Uhhh Dave was gone just about all the time with the investigators and stuff in Aruba and with the FBI. I know that they had a plan that uhhh that they were gonna pursue and actually go to Aruba...I mean Peru and actually question Joran van der Sloot. Uhhh I can’t uhhh share what that plan was but a tremendous amount of work has went into this, for it to be the right time and the right way to do it and everything. And so for Beth to go over there...it’s one thing if she goes with herself and somebody else (?) When you’re going over there and you’re taking cameras, now the reports are it’s gonna be about another documentary. Ummm unfortunately (crosstalk) there is gonna be money involved and stuff and I..I..I..just have to totally disagree with her choice. Totally disagree.
Steph Watts: Tim, beyond what you just said...and people in the chat room are asking me, how could they interfere with an ongoing investigation. Here’s how. Beth went over there without even informing her attorney. There’s Peruvian authorities working on this case, there’s Aruban authorities working on this case, and there’s American authorities working on this case. People remember, he’s being charged with extortion in this country. So, how does she interfere with an ongoing investigation? She has no idea if they’re about to crack him, if they’re working some kind of a deal with Aruba. If they’re working some kind of a deal...she has no idea because they don’t tell families everything. So how does she interfere with an ongoing investigation? She goes over there, confronts him, spooks him, scares him, gets him to tell them the story and now he doesn’t want to talk to you know the people he was talking to before. He throws his hands up in the air and says all this is off...you guys sprung Beth on me. That’s how she interferes with an ongoing investigation Tim Miller. Agree or disagree?
texasmom:
continued:
Tim Miller: I one hundred percent agree... I one hundred percent agree... I .. I think she should have... Beth needs to understand, Beth is the mother, Beth is not the investigator. I know for a fact the FBI is working this very, very hard right now, very methodical. Uhhh they’re working very, very close with the authorities in Aruba, they are all on the same page and ummm... were mistakes made in the very beginning? Yes, they were, they were.. o.k. let’s face it. But you know what everybody’s on the same page now and ummm they could have done absolutely nothing except damage all the work that’s gone into it now. And again I would like to say I believe this is in Natalee’s best interest... and I would believe that if she wouldn’t have went over there with film crews and reports are already out it’s about another documentary. Money’s going to be paid. I ... I (crosstalk) It is almost like exploiting...and I know I’m going to get criticism over this but it’s only my opinion and uhhh uhhh it’s almost like... I feel like she’s exploiting Natalee’s disappearance and death for financial gain. And I hate to say that...those are very, very hard words that just came out of my mouth. (crosstalk) And I apologize... I apologize in advance...I apologize in advance for that but it’s kinda upsetting I mean...I ...I’ve been there too, I’ve suffered the same thing. Uhhh people can say that I’m doing Equusearch for the money and that ... you know there’s no money in this...there’s no money in this. (crosstalk by the idiot) You know I’m still doing construction and I’m still doing maintenance on four different shopping centers. I, myself, personally put over six thousand dollars into Equusearch in this last month to keep the doors open. Uhhh, I have everything that I want and everything I need. I don’t need a big house, I’ve got a little fifteen hundred square foot house that’s thirty five years old...and...(interrupted)
Steph Watts: Tim let me ask you this... I want to ask you this... a couple of tough questions. First of all, I’ve always said three people have profited off of Natalee Holloway’s murder; her murderer, the media, and her own mother. Let me ask you this Tim, What’s the name of Beth Holloway’s organization?
Tim Miller: I don’t even know.
Steph Watts: Beth Holloway has an organization in the name of her daughter. You’ve spent countless hours in Aruba, traveling, working on this case.
Tim Miller: Nine different times, nine different...nine different trips to Aruba. You know what...
Steph Watts: How much money?
Tim Miller: Oh my God...Louis Schaefer...when we went over there for three weeks...ended up there almost three months in the deep water search. Spent...put a million dollar budget on it...spent 1.8 million. I’ve been there nine different times...(interrupted)
Steph Watts: 1.8 million?
Tim Miller: 1.8 million, I.8 million...let me tell you this...there’s way, way, way over two million dollars and then you know when we was over there searching... anybody can say what they want about Aruba but you know what...they gave us free motel rooms, they gave us free meals, they did everything to accommodate us...to help us out when we was doing the search for Natalee. And then uhhh I certainly would not support the boycott. And you know what Steph, I’m gonna say this...I’m gonna say this and I get out of line when I get fired up ... every once in a while I get out of line...(Steph cackling laughter) But this case has been so focused on so very, very, very, much over five years. If Beth really wants to make a difference and help people...you know we had more people disappear in the United States of America in the last twenty four hours... do you hear this ... twenty four hours, than Aruba has in their entire history. This was a very isolated incident, I will not boycott Aruba. The last time we was in Aruba, they was just friendly with us again and... and uhhh my Gd you know what let’s start at home to try to make a change. Yes my sympathy goes out to Dave and Beth and everybody involved but when you start putting some money in the pockets, uhhh I don’t get it.
Steph Watts: I agree, and everybody... I don’t know if people know this about you Tim and I’m going to reveal a little secret about you that I learned and you never talk about. You turned down... correct me if I’m wrong on this... millions of dollars in a lawsuit from the police department in exchange for getting your daughters...
Tim Miller: Sixteen million dollars...uhhhhh You know what...I just want...because the law enforcement uhh lied to me, they kept my daughters remains for three and a half years. I finally got to bury her seven years after that. I finally had the courage to go to the medical examiner’s office and umm get her autopsy reports ... and I buried her in 1989 in November... her body was found of course in February 1986 which was three more years of hell that we couldn’t bury her. Seven years later I go to the medical examiner’s office, I get her autopsy reports in May of 1992, a League City police officer or League City detective goes to the medical examiner’s office, gets all of Laura’s remains from her shoulders to her hips and sends off to some college for research. And then two years later they go get some more body parts. So anyhow... uhhh I finally had to get an attorney involved, we exhumed Laura’s body, there were only twenty eight bones there, filed a lawsuit...uhhh we won. We went...of course there was going to be appealment and I told my attorney I said listen you know what talk to their attorneys. You know Lee Hamil who’s my attorney I said you know we did not get in this for the money, you tell them to give me the rest of Laura’s remains with the remains that I’ve got and I will walk away from this quietly. They agreed on that of course and then we turned the remains I had and the remains they had to the University of North Texas to Doctor Gilking and I said it’s finally going to be over. Within a week later my attorney calls me and says Tim we’ve got a new problem. I said Lee how can we have a new problem? He said now Laura has thirty one ribs and a human body only has twenty four. Now I’ve been through that ringer...I’ve been through that ringer, I’ve turned down money. And you know what Steph, I also turned down money on a reality show that they wanted to do with Equusearch and it (?) big money. Said you know what we cannot really do a reality show. You’re not gonna turn us into Dog the Bounty Hunter and we’ve got the (protective) these families. Law enforcement is not gonna work with us the way they work with us when there’s cameras there. And you know what we can’t do the same stuff that we’ve been doing, and that’s going to interfere with the way we search. You know what, we turned it down...turned it down.
Steph Watts: I understand...I completely understand. Here’s my question, and I want to ask you. Has Beth Holloway ever donated any money towards Texas Equusearch from her organization which I know for a fact from which I understand made millions and millions of dollars in donations.
Tim Miller: Can everybody just kind of read between the lines, then let’s go to the next subject. I can say this. Beth was supposed to come to one of our fundraisers this year. She was supposed to come to one earlier in the year and then at the last minute had to back out and that was o.k. And we had... you know she never travels alone...you know we had two airline tickets ummm that of course we lost. And she was supposed to come to our other one that we had in April and the day before the Fundraiser she canceled and it was advertised all over that Beth was gonna be here. And I’ve never forget what Beth said...she said well Tim I didn’t realize I was supposed to speak. And I said Beth it’s not gonna be your (?) speech that you normally do on the dangers of traveling abroad, they’ve got you penciled in for four minutes just to say you know how much you appreciated Equusearch and what they did you know to try to find your daughter. And she said well you know I get paid for speaking and it was like alright...so anyhow she wasn’t there uhh at that fundraiser so anyhow and you know I wish we wouldn’t of touched on that subject but the truth is the truth.
Steph Watts: No, it’s not uncommon for the fa...you never ask... you’re a humble man...you never ask for anything. But it’s not uncommon for the families that you help to secretly or privately or openly to make a donation to your organization. That’s not uncommon. If you’re going to look for my missing child, I’m gonna... I understand you’ve got expenses...hotels...food...travel...gas...flying people in and flying people out I mean...this stuff doesn’t happen for free.
Everybody, Tim Miller, from Texas Equusearch
crosstalk
Tim Miller: I’m gonna say one other thing about our organization. Even when we are almost penniless broke, we’ll go out there searching for somebody and we find them ...God bless them... they’re... we know this family doesn’t have much money...but they’ll send us a two hundred or a five hundred dollar check. We return that to them. You know they’ve already paid their dues. You know they’ve already paid their dues, they’ve lost a loved one and so we do not expect anything in return uhhh you know we uhhh...
texasmom:
continued:
Steph Watts: So Tim let’s jump ahead and move on now. I understand..what is...here are reports that after this incident... and everybody Beth was not arrested... they were obviously questioned perhaps about the camera. Obviously she wouldn’t be arrested because they allowed her to go into the prison. Now I’m hearing reports now that Prosecutors in Aruba were furious when they found out Beth was there and ordered her, called her and Peter DeVries and said you need to get over here to Aruba. Is that true?
Tim Miller: I don’t know, I don’t know. I heard that report too, and you know Steph all the time and you know this, and I know this, and the whole world knows this; you know whenever anything like this happens, the rumors start flying around and flying around. I did hear that she is in Aruba.
Steph Watts: She is in Aruba...alright. So she’s in Aruba for whatever reason. She’s back in Aruba. And again everybody I know I’m gonna get hit for this, I’m not being hard on Beth...she’s the mother of a murdered child, I can’t even imagine what it’s like...I don’t have a missing child. Tim does, you’ll go to any length and Tim what you’ve gone through... I remember being in...I remember I’ll never forget this Tim with you and Dave. We picked Dave up at the airport in Aruba and Dave wants to go directly to a graveyard, because somebody gave him a tip that his daughter’s body might have been there. And it’s a hundred and ninety five degrees and we’re going through a graveyard going through this way and that way because a psychic had told Dave that (his) body’s there. And I just thought look at these two men of missing children that will go to any length...any length.
Tim Miller: You know what, I was with Dave Holloway ahhh the year that Natalee disappeared I was with Dave Holloway on Natalee’s birthday. And I’ll never forget, I rented a helicopter that morning because Dave was interested in some abandoned wells that were out in the middle of nowhere. We rented the helicopter, we flew over and found...and seen them from the air. And Natalee’s birthday Dave Holloway and I went to a hardware store and Natalee’s birthday present was a good sized metal washtub, a rope, a shovel, and a flashlight. And on Natalee’s birthday, Dave Holloway was down in the bottom of these wells with that shovel digging stuff because he thought if Natalee was put in one of them and they probably put trash and stuff on top of her. Shoveling these pans full and I would lift them out, dump them, and drop them back down. And then I finally just looked at Dave down there and just wanted to cry...still do... and I said Dave get out of there...let me go down. So I went down there for about an hour doing the digging and Dave was lifting the stuff up... and then Dave said Tim get up out of there... and I’ll never forget this...Dave threw the tub, the flashlight, the shovel, the rope down in the well and he said well you know...he said you know get me to the airport I’ve got to get off this island and I never want to return. That was the birthday present. Dave was in that landfill every day for two weeks digging through the trash with us...uhhh Dave went into that area in the Bird Sanctuary (?) actually got in the sea because (?) and stunk so very, very bad. Got in the sea to go ahead and try to wash off. We went to the motel, he washed his pants, after he took them out of the washing machine they still stunk so bad that he had to throw them away. Dave has been out there, on...in the search and out in the mud, in the pit, and has stayed very, very humble and very, very quiet with absolutely not one camera and Dave Holloway will say Thank You to everybody that’s helped. And I’ve been with Dave Holloway when he’s cried and I’ve been with Dave Holloway when he’s laughed.
Steph Watts: Well Tim Miller I’m gonna have to wrap the show up shortly but I’d like to say this and you don’t have to comment on this. But I’d like to see the accounting for Beth Holloway’s foundation. And I’m gonna leave it at that.
Tim Miller: You know what, I have got uhhh some cases that I’ve got to go find and people’s missing loved ones so uhhh I don’t have time for that, so ya’ll keep me abreast in what’s going on with that.
(both laugh)
Steph Watts: Hey Tim listen our last word and we’re gonna wrap up. I really appreciate you being here. Everybody Dave Holloway, please send out your thoughts and prayers to Dave tonight. He’s under a lot of stress and was hospitalized, we’re hearing rumors...maybe a heart attack...hope it’s not. We certainly send our prayers to Dave, love the man to death, he’s like a brother to both of us.
Tim Miller: One more thing keep our prayers out for Valerie Hamilton’s family...again we’ve got another girl, uhhh daughter of a police chief in Concorde North Carolina. And believe me people, her parents are suffering just as much as the Holloway family and many, many other families. Let’s don’t focus on just the Natalee’s and Caylee’s and high profile cases. All these other families love their children just as much and I know that God loves them all the same so you know what...
crosstalk
Steph Watts: Tim right let’s shine the spotlight on these cases, the thousands of missing children’s cases without turning them into entertainment. Let’s do that.
Tim Miller: Nothing entertaining, nothing entertaining ... go on these searches with us and wipe the tears out of the parents eyes and see how emotional the searches are. It’s not entertaining believe me. So don’t anybody make ten cents off of it.
Steph Watts: I agree with you Tim. Please everyone if you can donate to Tim’s organization, help out, volunteer, he’s more than happy to have you on board. (website address)
snip
Tim Miller: Thank you Steph, and thank the listeners. And of course I’m ready for the criticism and I want to apologize in advance if I stepped on anybody’s feet.
Good nights to all by Tim and Steph
The end
texasmom:
Who is Steph Watts?
What's his interest in this case...and another question that comes to mind...where has he been?
Hopefully, the following posts will provide some insight.
texasmom:
http://sarstoriesnews.blogspot.com/2010/03/sar-impersonator.html
SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2010
A SAR Impersonator
This information was posted on the SAR-L email list and, with permission, I'm sharing it here in order to help spread the word:
During a massive search in the San Diego area, a man named Stephen Watts, a.k.a Steph (pronounced "Steff"), presented himself to the Sheriff's Department and coordinating agencies as a member of 1st Special Response Group (1SRG), a known and reputable organization, in an attempt to insinuate himself into law enforcement search efforts. Soon after, Mr. Watts began blogging about his actions, including sensitive search information.
1SRG has never had a member, past or present, by this name or any reasonable variation, nor have they ever received and/or denied an application by such a person.
1SRG launched an investigation and determined that Stephen Watts is a freelance "investigative" reporter who provides titillating and "newsworthy" information to on-air broadcasts such as Nancy Grace, Greta Von Susteren, CourTV (now HLN), and other entertainment providers.
1SRG is sharing this information because Mr. Watts appears to have repeatedly joined with Texas Equusearch in their efforts and has made a number of other attempts prior to his actions in San Diego to insert himself into other search missions. He falsely stated that he was with 1SRG in an effort to further his own cause. Apparently, he has done this before, and 1SRG is concerned that he may try to do so again in the future.
From information obtained during the investigation, Mr. Watts arrived in San Diego, along with Tim Miller and Texas Equusearch, in the search for the McStay family. You can read the McStay relatives' account of their experience with Mr. Watts at http://www.mcstayfamily.com/steph-watts-rumors.
While in San Diego with Texas Equusearch, Chelsea King disappeared, and Mr. Watts used that opportunity to get involved with a growing national news story.
After verifying their initial information with several agencies and individuals, 1SRG notified both the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and the California Emergency Management Agency, the local SAR coordinator, state SAR coordinator, and, since this was an investigative effort that included federal agencies, contacts within the FBI. Based on further discussion, this issue is said to have been "handled and considered resolved."
1SRG also attempted to contact Mr. Watts through his personal webpage, his Facebook page, a phone number he gives on his website, and through email, in addition to their posts on the SAR-L lister and elsewhere. Mr. Watts has not returned their contacts.
On March 12th, formal "cease and desist" letters were sent to Mr. Watts, CourtTV/HLN, Nancy Grace, Greta Von Susteren, and those agencies who employ Mr. Watts for their "news" services, instructing them that any attempt to use 1SRG's name, logo, reputation, or other team affiliation would be met with legal action and that 1SRG would assist other SAR teams who may find themselves in a similar position.
This information is being provided in the attempt to stop Mr. Watts from breaching law enforcement and search mission security as he seeks confidential or legally protected information, as well as to protect both 1SRG and other SAR teams from those same efforts.
POSTED BY DEB LAUMAN AT 6:22 AM
LABELS: MISCELLANEOUS SAR, NEWS EVENTS
2 COMMENTS:
Anonymous said...
Not much of a surprise. Steph Watts is a snake.
Tim Miller really should start doing better checks on the people he surrounds him with.
MARCH 29, 2010 6:20 AM
Anonymous said...
I totally agree with post #1.
APRIL 1, 2010 5:56 AM
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