April 21, 2025 • 41 mins
Layla Santanello, a young mother from Tennessee, was last seen on June 27, 2023, in a field next to the Americourt Hotel.
Employees and guests reported that she appeared erratic and paranoid. Surveillance footage captured Layla walking around the hotel, reportedly knocking on doors and searching for someone.
The events leading up to her disappearance began on June 24, three days earlier. Jennifer Santanello, Layla’s mother, received a message from Layla’s Facebook account. The message, sent by Layla’s boyfriend, asked if Layla was in jail or the hospital, saying he hadn’t seen her in more than 24 hours. Later that night, Layla messaged her mother from the same account, writing, “I’m fine mom,” and adding, “I been with a friend. I don’t have a phone to text or call. I’m using someone else’s.”
About two weeks later, a series of strange Cash App requests were sent from Layla’s account to both her stepmother, Brittany Zeitler, and her mother. One request for $100 included the subject line “twlmg.” Several more requests followed in quick succession with the same subject line. Jennifer sent $1 to the account and asked if Layla was okay. As the transactions continued, she came to believe that “twlmg” meant “they won’t let me go.”
Another message allegedly read, “We have Layla. She owes a drug debt, and if she doesn’t pay, you’ll find her chopped up into pieces.”
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Brittany Zeitler - Stepmom to Layla Santanello
- George Emmett - Dad to Layla Santanello
- Ben Powers - Criminal Defense Attorney; Facebook: Legal Powers PLLC
- Caryn Stark - Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and consultant; Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
- Rick Shaffer - Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent
- Rebekah McNerney - Writer / Reporter at Kingston Times News; Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekah-mcnerney/INSTA:- https://www.instagram.com/rebekahmcnerney
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, the family of a missing
woman last seen running barefoot from a hotel, just told
she would be chalked into pieces and a sick ransom text.
(00:21):
I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for
being with us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Leila Santanello is a young Tennessee mom living with her
boyfriend Michael and baby daughter Nova. Things take a turn
when Laila and her boyfriend get into an argument and
Layla leaves the house.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
This is Leila Santanello, a young mother from Kingsport, Tennessee,
who hasn't been seen in nearly two years. Leila is
mom to now four year old Nova Grace, who now
lives with her grandmother, Jennifer Santanello. Jennifer, Layla's father George Emman,
and stepmother Britney Zeitler are all desperate to bring Laila
(01:02):
home and reunite her with her daughter.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Where is Layelah? Again? Thank you for being with us
tonight and our search for missing mom? Leelah? What do
we know? Joining me and Allstar panel to make sense
of what we're learning right now? But first listen to this.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
She had to sit on and there was a pink
Teddy Bear exactly like literally the same color and everything.
And he was sitting in the chair and he was
holding her like this right, and he had his I'm
like this, she's in his lap. I took the pink
Teddy Bear and I'll put it in teddybears.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You see Leela telling a story about her most precious prize,
and that would be her daughter, Nova Grace, talking about
a pink Teddy Bear. You know what, I want to
see that one more time, guys. Look at Leelah now missing.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
She had to suit on, and there was a pink
Teddy Bear exactly like literally the same color and everything.
And he was sitting in the chair and he was
holding her like this right and the end of the
arm like this, she said his lap. I took the
pink Teddy Bear and I put it in.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Teddybeary.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Let me go straight out now to Leyelah's father and stepmom,
George Emmett and Brittany Zeiitler. To both of you, thank
you for being with us. George, tell me about Leela.
When I see her singing along to music or talking
about her baby, Nova Graces, it's hard to believe that
(02:43):
she's out of Nova's life. I mean, tell me about her.
I understand she was a very, very loving mother.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
Yeah, she was a very loving mother. She loved her
daughter very much. She loved her family. She was always
doing things with her daughter. You know, she was always
trying to strive to do better in life. So she's
she's she's a wonderful person, and I just want her
back home.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
What has it been like, George without her?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Miserable?
Speaker 6 (03:15):
I can't sleep, I can't think right, it's hard to work.
I got other kids I got to take care of.
It's just been very stressful. It's every parent's worst nightmare.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Brittany is Wala's stepmother. Brittany, thank you for being with us.
What has it been like for you guys trying to
move forward? You've got Nova Grace that doesn't have her mother.
You're missing Layla. What has that been like since she
went missing?
Speaker 7 (03:41):
It's been really difficult, especially on all of us. It
definitely impacted us in many different ways, especially with having
to take on a little girl that is definitely missing
her mom and needs her need to be met. Or
that little girl she needs all the extra TLC that
(04:02):
she could eventually get, and we can all as a whole,
blended family give her the best life that we could
possibly give her at this time.
Speaker 8 (04:12):
I mean, we've learned during this.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
Unexpected tragedy that we've been faced with. Life doesn't stop.
Life keeps going whether we want it.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
To or not.
Speaker 7 (04:22):
And we still have to pick up all the pieces,
and there's still a lot of work that has to
get done, and we just keep holding on to the
little bit of hope that she is in fact still
out there.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
You said something very striking, Brittany. I remember when my
fiance was murdered. I felt like the whole world had
just stopped. And then I look back and was stunned
to say that the world just kept turning. I was
the only one that stopped. It feels like everything froze
in time. George, what do you tell Nova Grace about
(04:56):
her mom? What does she ask?
Speaker 6 (05:00):
She just basically, I guess, where's mommy, where's mommy?
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Where's mommy? Looking not my mom? Yeah, she doesn't really know.
Speaker 6 (05:09):
She was she was really young, really young at the
time we're talking to you, or so she's was, didn't
really know much at that time.
Speaker 8 (05:18):
But she is starting to question where her mom is
and in fact, do I have a mom. You know, she'll.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
See cartoons, she'll watch other kids call mom, dad whatnot,
you know, and here she is wondering, where's my mom?
So she is starting to ask those questions, where where
is my mom? And of course we get stumps, all
of us too, and we try to you know, rechange
(05:48):
you know, the topic, and show her her face and
show great pictures of Leila and Nova together so she
can at least see the good times that they did
have together and just hope that she can have more.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Brittany, you just broke my heart to think of baby
Nova Grace saying do I even have a mom? Do
I have a mom? What did you do when she
said that?
Speaker 7 (06:17):
When she just started talking about mom, I just sat
right back, all my tears. Then she's say, oh, you know,
you'll see mommy soon, and just try to redirect her
into a different topic or do something different just to
kind of get that off the topic, because I honestly
(06:39):
don't know what to even say at this point.
Speaker 8 (06:41):
We could say so much and we're.
Speaker 7 (06:44):
Going to run out of things to say, and there's
going to come a point in time where what do
we say?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Guys? Uh, The family of a missing woman Leela last
scene running barefoot from a hotel. I don't want to
put the cart before the horse. Let's start at the beginning. Listen.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Just a few months after having her daughter, Nova Grace,
Layla Sentinela loses her grandfather, with whom she was very close.
In the roller coaster of emotions between the joy of
becoming a new mom and the grief of doing so
without her grandfather, Layla leans on Michael Thompson for support.
The too quickly become inseparable, and Layla moves in with
Michael's family in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
The grief that she went through when the grandfather died unexpectedly.
To Karen Start joining me, renowned psychologist joining us out
of Manhattan, Manhattan, Radio trauma expert consultant at Karenstart dot com, Karen,
you never know how the loss of that father figure
or grandfather figure will affect you the rest of your life.
(07:50):
And for Leila, the loss of her grandfather was devastating.
It was a real turning point in her life.
Speaker 9 (07:56):
I have no doubt, Nanta, that she was feeling that
she would be able to share her daughter with him.
She was very very.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Close to him.
Speaker 8 (08:04):
And get them in many.
Speaker 9 (08:05):
Forms, as you know, and in this case, with somebody
so close, it could have led to devastation. Here she is,
she's so confused. She loves her daughter and is excited,
but a tremendous loss and trauma when it came to
her grandfather.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And you know, very often we don't understand why people
do the things they do when they're functioning with immense grief.
How did the death of the grandfather affect her.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
George really really bad?
Speaker 6 (08:37):
Uh, she wasn't really talking to nobody, wasn't eating right,
just crying, constantly, crying every day.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I've tried to hug her holder and love her. She
just didn't want to be bothered.
Speaker 7 (08:50):
Really, Now, we were lucky enough to have her present
when she found out that her grandfather passed away. She
was actually a majury taking her family vacation with Nova,
her mom and the mom's boyfriend. And I want to
say we were more fortunate enough to be there through
(09:11):
that traumatic time in her life as a whole. And yes,
she was very devastated over the loss of her grandfather.
Speaker 8 (09:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And you know, Karen, start with me, psychologist, You think
that someone it would be traumatized when they lose their
mom or their dad, which they are typically, But I
can identify that when I lost my grandmother, my mother's
mother who raised us, Lucy, that I then named my
daughter after my grandmother raised us while my mom worked,
(09:42):
and we were extremely extremely close. So a lot of
people can't relate to someone falling apart when they lose
a grandparent, right, but for many of us, it can
be devastating.
Speaker 9 (09:55):
Without a doubt, this is sort of a father figure
for her. Even though she had her dad and loves
her dad, she was extremely close to her grandfather, And
so the behavior that you have after a loss like that, Nancy,
anything is possible because you're in trauma. You're really feeling
extreme PTSD sometimes where you can't get over the event
(10:20):
and you can't get over the lost chap to come
to terms with it.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
It also makes me think, of course, I'm just an
armchair psychologist. Don't like you, Karen start, but it makes
me wonder if that's not why she then got so
attached to the boyfriend Michael Thompson. Listen.
Speaker 10 (10:36):
On Friday, June twenty third, Leayla gets in an argument
with her boyfriend Michael Thompson, and while the pair are
usually attached to the hip, Leayla takes off, leaving most
of her belongings, including the couple's shared phone behind. Layla
stays with several friends, but is not in contact with
family without her phone.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Oh my stars, this to me that starts the dominoes
falling when she leaves the boyfriend's place without a cell phone. Okay,
let me understand this, Brittany Zeidler. They were sharing one account.
Speaker 7 (11:08):
Yes, they were working off of one working phone. The
other phone had a Wi Fi connected phone, so that
was when they were able to get a hold of
one another. Leila would stay behind, Michael would go run
his errands, and the sleep with one phone on the
one account for many months.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
So those who were sharing one phone, then that phone disappears.
That right there marks for me the beginning of a timeline.
Why because nobody can be in touch with her. Rick
Schaeffer joining me, former FBI supervisory special agent. I mean,
(11:47):
in this day and age, Rick, your cell phone, I mean,
let's talk about the Alex Murdad case. For peace sake,
Murdod charged and the double murder of his wife and son,
Maggie and Paul. The digital footprint, the cell phone data
of the NAV system in his vehicle told a story.
I mean, as far as I was concerned, you put
(12:09):
that one digital analyst on the stand case closed because
it places murder like at the scene of the double murder.
At the time of the double murder, you hear his
voice in the background of a video taken and then
with the nav system you see what time he leaves
goes hies out at his grandmother's thirty minutes away. You
(12:29):
can even see where he slows down. Let's the window down. Yes,
you can tell that from a nav system and throws Maggie,
his now dead wife's phone out the window and then
takes off. You can tell all that from modern digital science.
So when you don't have a phone that greatly greatly
(12:52):
impedes a criminal investigation, absolutely.
Speaker 11 (12:55):
Or absolutely correct. Not only are you going to be
able to determine where that phone is, but who's in
possession of it at time, not only from the cell
tower it's painting off, but any metadata that can be
extracted from photos or text or anything.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Of that nature. It looks like the police department.
Speaker 11 (13:14):
Has done everything they can from a cell phone data
collection standpoint, looking at cameras, any digital technology that would
help track or whereabouts, and the reality of it is
is she's clearly vanished, and that's a very difficult thing
to do in today's environment out there where everything is
(13:36):
digitally captured.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Leila is last seen in an open field before seemingly
vanishing into thin air. Now her family is looking for
answers as to the whereabouts of the young Tennessee momus.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
And where is Leila after a sick money grab where
the family gets threatening ransom texts threatening to chop Leila
into bits if money isn't forked over. This during the
(14:35):
search for the missing mom As it goes on, we
were just describing how Leila and the boyfriend that she
suddenly moves into after the death of her grandfather have
an argument. They have an argument, she takes off without
a cell phone.
Speaker 12 (14:57):
Then what happens Saturday morning? Michael, Since Jennifer sendsanello a
message on Layla's Facebook profile, Jennifer is immediately worried. It's
unusual that Michael wouldn't know where Layla is. Michael says
he hasn't seen Leila in more than twenty four hours.
Jennifer spent several hours trying to track Layla down. Layla
isn't hospitalized anywhere. Finally, Jennifer's niece gets word from a
(15:20):
mutual friend that Layla spent the night at his house
and was okay when she left.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Okay, so there. Even after she takes off without a
cell phone, which destroys everybody because they can't get in
touch with her, we find out she's at a friend's house. Okay,
everything is okay. But finally we actually hear from Leelah herself.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Sunday morning, Jennifer Sonanela wakes up to another Facebook message,
this time from Layla. Laylah says she's okay and doing fine,
much to her mother's relief. Jennifer has a few questions,
but when Layla is vague, Jennifer assumes it's because Layla
knows Michael can access the count she doesn't want him
to know where she is. Leyla reminds her mom that
she isn't carrying a phone, but she'll do her best
(16:06):
to check in as much as possible. Jennifer's niece places
Leila out of friends again, confirming Layla borrowed their phone
to message her mom. Okay, Now we have a genuine lead.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I was suspicious about those messages because they didn't sound
like Leela and I don't have to talk about Gabby Petito,
who went on a cross country trip with fiance Brian Laundry.
He murdered her and was using her phone and her
Fortransit and her credit cards and her money, and was
(16:38):
texting odd texts. They wouldn't seem odd, probably to you
or to me, but to the family that was getting them,
they knew that wasn't Gabby. For instance, when she asked
about her grandfather, she said, in my case, well how's
Walter Malcolm and Grace Senior. She would never have said that.
She would be saying how's granddaddy? So they knew something
(17:01):
was wrong. Well, they were right. It wasn't her texting.
It was Brian Laundry trying to give the appearance that
Gabby was still alive. However, in this case, there was
another reason that Leela was not being forthcoming in her
text to Britney Zeitler, her stepmom, and George Emmett, her
father to Brittany, apparently because they shared the same cell phone.
(17:25):
And we had this occur recently in the case of
glam yoga instructor Caitlyn Armstrong, who murdered her boyfriend, Colin
Strickland's former girlfriend out of a fit of jealousy. She
the yoga instructor, was sharing an account with Colin Strickland,
the boyfriend, so when he was texting the victim Maureen,
(17:50):
she could see it all. She could see it all.
It pop right up on her iPad, right, So here,
do you believe that was Leila messaging but that she
was intentionally being vague because she shared that account with
the boyfriend that she just walked down on. Yes.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
Absolutely, We really did think that it was Leela for
the moment. So we you know, we're like, okay, maybe
she doesn't want to know where she is at. He
wants to stay away from her vice versa. So we
just let it be at that moment in time. But
when we didn't hear from her voice, we started to question.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
You know, what about it, George, When you found out
about that Facebook message, I'm fine, I'm at so and
so friend, and then that was corroborated by someone else. Yes,
that's where she is. Everything's fine. At that point, you
were not concerned, is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 13 (18:52):
At that point I thought maybe she did get an
argument with them and Joy I didn't want to get
away from them at first, but then when I tried
to reach out to her and didn't get a response back,
that's when I started getting a little nervous.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
The case moves forward. Now it's Monday morning. Monday morning,
Michael Thompson is becoming more insistent that he can't find Layla,
claiming she asked him to pick her up from a
friend's house but wasn't there when he arrived. Jennifer still
believes her daughter is avoiding Michael and doesn't want to
tip him off to where she is. Michael then reaches
out to Layla's dad, George Emmett, making him intensely worried.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Okay, right there, When did you become concerned, George? That
something was a mess.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
When I texted her and I didn't get no response
the next day, That's when.
Speaker 5 (19:46):
I was really worried because that's not like my daughter.
She picks up for me and I'm no matter what.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
So that's when I really got worried and decided I
was going to call and.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Make a police report on my.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
You know, I want to talk about what you just said, George,
joining me is Leila's father, George and stepmom Brittany Joining
me now is a renowned defense attorney Ben at Powers.
You can find them at Legal Powers online. Ben. Thank
you for being with us. Ben. It's called routine evidence.
(20:20):
And I don't like that description because it sounds like
you're talking about the typical, run of the mill, standard evidence.
But what it means is evidence of someone's routine.
Speaker 14 (20:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
A routine a routine that you unintentionally carry out or
repeat every day. I do the same thing every single
morning in an effort to get my children to school,
take care of my mother who lives with us, take
care of a multitude of pets before I can start
my real job. Right. It's a routine that has been
(20:56):
perfected to save time and accomplish things. Right. That's a routine.
And here, when George Emmitt says she didn't call, a
lot of people will go, hey, I don't hear from
my daughter for two weeks at a time, and that's okay.
I called my mom and dad, say what you want
every single day in the morning and at night, at
a bare of minimum. That has been my routine. I
(21:19):
wanted to hear from them. I wanted to hear their voice.
So routine evidence is very powerful, being powers. I guess
some defense attorneys would argue it means nothing.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
I would say routine evidence can be important.
Speaker 14 (21:30):
But under these circumstances, the routine was clearly turned upside.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Down and inside out.
Speaker 14 (21:36):
You know, she has a big argument with her boyfriend
that they're basically attached at the hill because of extenuating circumstances,
they're relegated to one phone instead of two, and so
she could be separated from him and the phone. She
could be separated from him with the phone. You know,
that type of distinction in the timeline definitely throws the
(21:56):
routine into question and isn't as reliable as maybe under
regular circumstances that the routine usually exists within.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
She had to sit on and there was a pink
Teddy Bear exactly like literally the same color and everything,
and he was sitting in a chair and he was
holding her like this right, and I'm like this just
in his lap. I took the pink Teddy Bear and
I put.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
It in.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Teddy Bear George with me. This is Layla's dad. Why
are you crying?
Speaker 6 (22:32):
Devastating? That's been too long it's very stressful on me,
my family. I just it's a lot. That's why I'm crying.
That's every parent's worst.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Nightmare, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
And I was thinking, George, after you know, my fiance
was murdered, I never ever thought that I could ever remarry,
that I would ever have children. I thought that was
just a dream that was just over and it was.
It was for over twenty years. Then suddenly I have
(23:11):
a family. Can I tell you the greatest thing that
happened to me was having the twins. And let me
see those videos in your control room. I mean, this
was the time of Leela's life. She finally has Nova Grace,
(23:33):
just the love of her life, finally happiness, she has
this beautiful baby girl. I mean, I guess most moms
out there would agree that's the best time of your
life when you finally have your children. And to think
(23:56):
she's snatched away from her daughter and now her daughter
George has patures in these videos that's it and says
things like do I even have a mommy? I mean,
I get while you're crying, George.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Yeah, she's all my granddaor is all I have left
of my daughter as of now? For two years Oh,
it's really hard and devastate. I just want to answers
hell loove closure.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Guys, we left off, we left off where George is
now becoming extremely worried. Listen.
Speaker 10 (24:34):
George calls Jennifer to discuss whether they should report Layla missing.
Extremely concerned after his last conversation with Michael based on
her last text conversation with Laila, Jennifer doesn't want to
jump the gun. The parents decide to report Layla missing
the next morning, which will be forty eight hours since
Layla's last contact with family. However, George can't shake the
feeling he needs to do something, and after several sleepless hours,
(24:57):
makes an official report that Laylah Santonello is missing in
the early morning hours of June twenty seventh.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So George, since Michael Thompson, the boyfriend, and Layelah had
been so close joined at the hip following her grandfather's death,
When he is starting to ask you, where's Laila, you
know something is really wrong. What prompted you to report
her missing at that time?
Speaker 6 (25:22):
Well, when I couldn't get a hold of her and
she didn't respond back to me, I already knew something
was wrong.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Something something was not right.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
So when he was reaching out to me and sending
me text messages about not being able to find my
daughter and everything, that just made it ten times worse
for me. I mean I went right out there right away.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
We hired a private detective.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
We have a private detective that's been on the case
since day one.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
We have a private detective.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
We've been We've drove from boys you Jorge to Tennessee
out several I can't many times already on behalf of
my daughter.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Then the searches on was George reports her missing and
finally a lead listen.
Speaker 12 (26:09):
Kingsport Police immediately began investigating, speaking with Michael Thompson and
his family around two am June twenty seventh. By the
end of the day, investigators have a lead. Layla checked
into the Americourt Hotel for the night of June twenty sixth.
Employees and other guests say Leyla seemed paranoid. Laila is
caught on CCTV knocking on doors to look for someone.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Join me now, a very special guest. Rebecca McNairy, reporter
writer at Kingston Time News. Rebecca, thank you so much
for being with us. So who was she looking for
why are people there at the hotel describing her as
afraid of something?
Speaker 15 (26:49):
You know, going based off the facts that we have
received from the Kingsport Police Department and other local authorities,
we have not been sure of who specifically she was
looking for.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
We know that witnesses testified that she.
Speaker 15 (27:06):
Was acting paranoid and looking for something, but the Kingsport
Police Department has not released any specific details regarding that
certain matter.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
You know, Rebecca McNary, you're so right speaking of a
witness perceived good samaritan, this is what we learned.
Speaker 16 (27:24):
Please let me help you. I have a room, My mom,
my son are inside. You can sit down. I will
talk to you. How would do any tag him to
help you? She froze for a moment, full a breath,
and he was like, and she looked at my room,
She looked at me, and then she said no, I
can't and she.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Just ran out and through the park came lot and.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
That was a life I saw her.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Is that right, Rebecca mnary? She this good Samarita said, look,
what's wrong? Who are you looking for? Why are you afraid?
And apparently Lila goes, no, no, I can't talk to
you about it. It takes off running. Yeah, that is.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Several witnesses accounts.
Speaker 15 (28:03):
I believe the police department and local authorities have told
me that, But again I can't comment on that specifically
because the police department has not come forward with that
specific information.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Where is a mom of one little nova grace? We're
talking about Layela? Do we finally have a bead or
where she may be? And now is this a break? Listen?
Speaker 10 (28:29):
As police tried to determine Layla's next move, employees at
the nearby warehouse provide another lead. Around six or fifteen
in the morning, Layla asks if she can bump a cigarette.
None of the men have smokes on them. Layla thanks
them anyway and walks away. The men say Layla was
perfectly polite and seemed coherent. Layla did appear slightly disheveled
with messy hair and grass and leaves on her back,
(28:50):
like she maybe had laid down in the field.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Now, how does a marble slab creamery fit into this
search for Laylah? We all know what that is? Very
popular ice cream place a shop. Listen.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
An employee at a nearby ice cream shop, the Marble
Slab says, a blonde woman came into the store around
noon on the twenty seventh, with no shoes on. She
says the woman was very disheveled, wearing a white T
shirt and black luggings. The woman seemed somewhat incoherent and
made a comment about her husband wanting to kill her
before asking to borrow the employee's phone.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
The woman walked.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Back out of the store, saying she wanted to head
to a nearby five below to buy shoes. When shown
a photo of Leila, the employee is convinced that's the
woman she spoke to.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Okay, we've all heard attacks on eyewitnesses, and in this
particular case, we hit a dead end.
Speaker 12 (29:44):
Kingsport police intensely focused on the marble slab lead, checking
with several more nearby establishments. Authorities believe they are zeroing
in on Layla, but CCTV and phone records eventually proved
the employee was mistaken about the woman's identity. Officers tracked
the woman down, who confirms it was her in the
ice cream shop that afternoon, not Leila.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Santanello. Ah Crime Stories with Nancy Grace joining me, investigative
reporter and writer at the Kingsport Time needs Rebecca McNairy, Rebecca,
(30:27):
that's devastating to get an eyewitness tip. The woman is
absolutely convinced this is Leelah that comes into Marble Slab
Creamery and she's disproved. Tell me what happened. The woman
was so convinced it was Leilah.
Speaker 15 (30:42):
Yeah, according to report, she was convinced that she had
seen Layla. Again, the Kingsport Police investigated and that was
indeed not the case based off the records and the
surveillance footage that they had. But again, something like that
where you think that you have a lead and then
instead is definitely devastating for the family that's trying to
(31:04):
bring Leila home.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
To Ben Powers joining US criminal defense attorney, Ben it's
also bad for an investigation, a potential trial in the
future because when you get a lead, an eyewitness lead,
and the woman is absolutely convinced she sees Leyla right
later on, a defense attorney can say, see, she saw
(31:26):
Layelah at this time on this date, and my client
on trial now was here in another state or whatever
fill in the blank. When you try, when you try
a case, you have to go down every avenue to
get to the truth. You can't leave anything out. But
(31:47):
when you go down those avenues, for instance, if you
name a person of interest or suspect too soon it
turns out to be wrong, that's a field day for
the defense, just like a false tip.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 14 (31:58):
I think the significance of the witness being mistaken as
it shows that police.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
Went down the wrong thread. You know, it ultimately led to.
Speaker 14 (32:08):
A Tom commitment from the investigation that ended with a
dead end in the investigation. So then they've got to
go back and figure out what direction do they take
the investigation. And so now that tim, that effort, that
dedication has been spent on something that wasn't fruitful. Oh yeah,
and something like this. You know, Tom is the enemy
of an investigation. The longer time goes on, the harder
(32:30):
the investigation gets.
Speaker 10 (32:32):
Two weeks after Layla's disappearance, both mother and stepmother start
getting cash apt requests from Layla's account, but the message
is attached to the requests send chills down their spines.
They're keeping me hostage. I owe someone fifteen minutes or
you'll find her. In pieces and the acronym TWLMG panics,
(32:53):
the women send various amounts of money with messages like,
are you okay and call me in the hopes that
Laila would see them, also reporting the activity to Believes.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Oh my stars, sick ransom text to Leilah's family, George Emmitt,
what happened at that point?
Speaker 6 (33:11):
We got really scared, We got really nervous, and we
were willing to do whatever it took to try to
get a hold of her.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
At that point.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
I mean, in all of her history, had Leyela ever
sent you a text or an email like that.
Speaker 5 (33:25):
Never?
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Never, So that's why we were very discerned and worried.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
That somebody might actually threatened to chop her up.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
Yes, correct, Yes, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
It's just actually making my stomach hurt. After all you
had been through, and someone is threatening to chop her
up unless they get money. Look, we're showing you the
sick ransom text. I mean, Brittany, what went through your
mind when you get this?
Speaker 7 (33:54):
I was in utter shock, and of course I reached
out to Jennifer. I reached out To's boyfriend Michael, and
while I am on the phone with Michael, I'm like,
are you getting any cash up requests? Because I'm getting
some right now, saying for abbreviations, and I gave him
(34:15):
you know TWMLG and he goes, oh, well, my brother
says they won't let me go or they will let
me go.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
And I'm not processing everything that's going on at that moment.
Speaker 7 (34:26):
I'm just thinking, oh my god, how do we do this?
I want to hear her voice. I want to know
that she is in fact, okay, do they really have her?
Speaker 8 (34:34):
So there were so.
Speaker 7 (34:35):
Many things just running through my mind as well as George's,
and we were just dumbfounded, like, oh my, what do
we do?
Speaker 8 (34:42):
Do we send all this money?
Speaker 7 (34:44):
Do we I dragged it out as much as I
possibly could to be able to get as much information
as I possibly can, and Jennifer and I were asking
questions like, you know, what's your youngest brother's name, what's
your pop secret pass code?
Speaker 8 (34:58):
Only things that Leila can answer, and they were left
and answered.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
So how did he the boyfriend know what t w
l MG means. It's not like he's I DK. I
don't know. I had to figure out what does t
w l MG mean? And he knew it off the
tip of his.
Speaker 7 (35:15):
Tongue, That's what I was saying, And like I, of course,
wasn't processing it at that exact moment.
Speaker 8 (35:21):
But once I had a moment to process everything.
Speaker 7 (35:23):
On what was going on and rereading all of the
messages and everything that I had sending it to the investigators,
I was just like, wow, Like, I know, I got
a lot going on, but how do you know exactly
what that meant?
Speaker 5 (35:39):
In an instance?
Speaker 8 (35:40):
I was just I was roud.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
I was roud. This is what Leila's mother has to
say about that ransom text.
Speaker 15 (35:48):
It's one thing for a stranger to try and capitalize
on something.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Like that the way that they that he did.
Speaker 15 (35:57):
It's a whole other thing when it's someone.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
That you care about.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
From our friends at News five wcy B to Rebecca
McNary joining US reporter Kingsport Time News, who is he
who sent the ransom text threatening to talk Lala into bits?
Speaker 15 (36:15):
Yeah, So police later found out during their investigation of
that was her boyfriend at the time, Michael Thompson, who
was sending those pretty alarming messages to Leyla's family about
two weeks after she was reported missing. He was later
indicted by a grand jury here in Sulliwyn County on
financial exploitation, credit card fraud, and identity theft.
Speaker 12 (36:38):
Thompson otherwise cooperates with the investigation, and neither family nor
cops believe Thompson had anything to do with Layla's disappearance,
but obviously tried to take advantage of this situation. Jennifer
Santanello claims Thompson has taken a polygraph test, but the
results were inconclusive because he was not sober for the
five hour exam.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
George, jam And, I want to confirm with you. Our
sources have told us that you do not believe Thompson
had anything to do with Layla's disappearance.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
No, I don't believe. Well, they cleared them first. First
they cleared them.
Speaker 8 (37:12):
How do you feel.
Speaker 6 (37:15):
I feel he might know something or know some people
that could be involved are whereabouts. That is possible, but
he's not saying nothing for nobody.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
So guys, what about the search now.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
In addition to grid searches near the Americ Court Hotel,
Kingsport PD have searched the home Laylah shared with Michael
Thompson and served at least thirty more search warrants. Officers
have also issued at least twenty five subpoenas. Officers remain
tight lipped about their most current leads to protect the investigation,
but have searched several other locations in addition to the field,
totaling six ground searches.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
To Rebecca McNary joining us from Kingsport, Time News tell
me about the search as it stands right now and
the reward.
Speaker 15 (37:59):
I know that the search the ground searches were subsided
a little bit during the colder winter months, but that
those are expected to pick up again here in the
near future. As far as any kind of reward money,
I'm not sure. I believe the last number that I
heard was around seven grand that her family was offering
(38:21):
do whoever had information about her whereabouts and disappearance.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
To George and Brittany. This case has taken so many
twists and turns, false reports of false siding that seems
so credible. The ransom text just cold blooded ransom text,
money grab. So where are we left? In my mind,
(38:45):
we're left with the warehouse workers that didn't have a
cigarette seeing her walk off into a field. That's where
we are.
Speaker 6 (38:55):
What about it, George, That's where we are as of
right now. That's the last known place that she was
actually seen.
Speaker 5 (39:05):
So that's all we know is of right now?
Speaker 1 (39:08):
What about it? Brittany.
Speaker 7 (39:09):
Well, so even though that's all that we have at
this time, we're going to continue to work as hard
as we can to figure out what direction she went.
Speaker 8 (39:20):
And I call it the direction of the unknown.
Speaker 7 (39:23):
Since it's been two years almost now, and I know,
any type of surveillance footage that we have tried to
grab off of weather cameras or any type of surveillance
that our investigator had tried to pull, I know at
this time it's definitely going to be extremely difficult.
Speaker 8 (39:46):
To be able to pull. So we're got to just
keep on search in and.
Speaker 7 (39:52):
Put ground searches in place to be able to gather
as much resources that we possibly can from nonprofit organizations.
Speaker 8 (40:00):
That offer out of our dogs.
Speaker 7 (40:02):
Drones, extensive, yes, extensive, wide varieties of you know, needs
for Layela to be able to be found, since we
feel like we're working next little of nothing at this time.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
If you know or think you know anything about the
disappearance of Layelah Santanello, please dial four two three three
four three nine seven eight zero or toll free eight
hundred TB I find eight hundred eight two four three
four sixty three. There is a seven thousand dollars reward
(40:40):
for information in the disappearance of Leyela, and that reward
is growing. We now remember an American hero, Senior Deputy
Christopher Corzilias, Travis County Sheriff, Texas, passed away in the
line of duty, survived by grieving partner Bethany, mother Nancy,
(41:03):
father Paul, stepmom Patty. American hero Senior Deputy Christopher Grasilius,
Goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, the family of a missing
woman last seen running barefoot from a hotel, just told
she would be chalked into pieces and a sick ransom text.
(00:21):
I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for
being with us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Leila Santanello is a young Tennessee mom living with her
boyfriend Michael and baby daughter Nova. Things take a turn
when Laila and her boyfriend get into an argument and
Layla leaves the house.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
This is Leila Santanello, a young mother from Kingsport, Tennessee,
who hasn't been seen in nearly two years. Leila is
mom to now four year old Nova Grace, who now
lives with her grandmother, Jennifer Santanello. Jennifer, Layla's father George Emman,
and stepmother Britney Zeitler are all desperate to bring Laila
(01:02):
home and reunite her with her daughter.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Where is Layelah? Again? Thank you for being with us
tonight and our search for missing mom? Leelah? What do
we know? Joining me and Allstar panel to make sense
of what we're learning right now? But first listen to this.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
She had to sit on and there was a pink
Teddy Bear exactly like literally the same color and everything.
And he was sitting in the chair and he was
holding her like this right, and he had his I'm
like this, she's in his lap. I took the pink
Teddy Bear and I'll put it in teddybears.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You see Leela telling a story about her most precious prize,
and that would be her daughter, Nova Grace, talking about
a pink Teddy Bear. You know what, I want to
see that one more time, guys. Look at Leelah now missing.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
She had to suit on, and there was a pink
Teddy Bear exactly like literally the same color and everything.
And he was sitting in the chair and he was
holding her like this right and the end of the
arm like this, she said his lap. I took the
pink Teddy Bear and I put it in.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Teddybeary.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Let me go straight out now to Leyelah's father and stepmom,
George Emmett and Brittany Zeiitler. To both of you, thank
you for being with us. George, tell me about Leela.
When I see her singing along to music or talking
about her baby, Nova Graces, it's hard to believe that
(02:43):
she's out of Nova's life. I mean, tell me about her.
I understand she was a very, very loving mother.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
Yeah, she was a very loving mother. She loved her
daughter very much. She loved her family. She was always
doing things with her daughter. You know, she was always
trying to strive to do better in life. So she's
she's she's a wonderful person, and I just want her
back home.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
What has it been like, George without her?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
Miserable?
Speaker 6 (03:15):
I can't sleep, I can't think right, it's hard to work.
I got other kids I got to take care of.
It's just been very stressful. It's every parent's worst nightmare.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Brittany is Wala's stepmother. Brittany, thank you for being with us.
What has it been like for you guys trying to
move forward? You've got Nova Grace that doesn't have her mother.
You're missing Layla. What has that been like since she
went missing?
Speaker 7 (03:41):
It's been really difficult, especially on all of us. It
definitely impacted us in many different ways, especially with having
to take on a little girl that is definitely missing
her mom and needs her need to be met. Or
that little girl she needs all the extra TLC that
(04:02):
she could eventually get, and we can all as a whole,
blended family give her the best life that we could
possibly give her at this time.
Speaker 8 (04:12):
I mean, we've learned during this.
Speaker 7 (04:14):
Unexpected tragedy that we've been faced with. Life doesn't stop.
Life keeps going whether we want it.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
To or not.
Speaker 7 (04:22):
And we still have to pick up all the pieces,
and there's still a lot of work that has to
get done, and we just keep holding on to the
little bit of hope that she is in fact still
out there.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
You said something very striking, Brittany. I remember when my
fiance was murdered. I felt like the whole world had
just stopped. And then I look back and was stunned
to say that the world just kept turning. I was
the only one that stopped. It feels like everything froze
in time. George, what do you tell Nova Grace about
(04:56):
her mom? What does she ask?
Speaker 6 (05:00):
She just basically, I guess, where's mommy, where's mommy?
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Where's mommy? Looking not my mom? Yeah, she doesn't really know.
Speaker 6 (05:09):
She was she was really young, really young at the
time we're talking to you, or so she's was, didn't
really know much at that time.
Speaker 8 (05:18):
But she is starting to question where her mom is
and in fact, do I have a mom. You know, she'll.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
See cartoons, she'll watch other kids call mom, dad whatnot,
you know, and here she is wondering, where's my mom?
So she is starting to ask those questions, where where
is my mom? And of course we get stumps, all
of us too, and we try to you know, rechange
(05:48):
you know, the topic, and show her her face and
show great pictures of Leila and Nova together so she
can at least see the good times that they did
have together and just hope that she can have more.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Brittany, you just broke my heart to think of baby
Nova Grace saying do I even have a mom? Do
I have a mom? What did you do when she
said that?
Speaker 7 (06:17):
When she just started talking about mom, I just sat
right back, all my tears. Then she's say, oh, you know,
you'll see mommy soon, and just try to redirect her
into a different topic or do something different just to
kind of get that off the topic, because I honestly
(06:39):
don't know what to even say at this point.
Speaker 8 (06:41):
We could say so much and we're.
Speaker 7 (06:44):
Going to run out of things to say, and there's
going to come a point in time where what do
we say?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Guys? Uh, The family of a missing woman Leela last
scene running barefoot from a hotel. I don't want to
put the cart before the horse. Let's start at the beginning. Listen.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Just a few months after having her daughter, Nova Grace,
Layla Sentinela loses her grandfather, with whom she was very close.
In the roller coaster of emotions between the joy of
becoming a new mom and the grief of doing so
without her grandfather, Layla leans on Michael Thompson for support.
The too quickly become inseparable, and Layla moves in with
Michael's family in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
The grief that she went through when the grandfather died unexpectedly.
To Karen Start joining me, renowned psychologist joining us out
of Manhattan, Manhattan, Radio trauma expert consultant at Karenstart dot com, Karen,
you never know how the loss of that father figure
or grandfather figure will affect you the rest of your life.
(07:50):
And for Leila, the loss of her grandfather was devastating.
It was a real turning point in her life.
Speaker 9 (07:56):
I have no doubt, Nanta, that she was feeling that
she would be able to share her daughter with him.
She was very very.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Close to him.
Speaker 8 (08:04):
And get them in many.
Speaker 9 (08:05):
Forms, as you know, and in this case, with somebody
so close, it could have led to devastation. Here she is,
she's so confused. She loves her daughter and is excited,
but a tremendous loss and trauma when it came to
her grandfather.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And you know, very often we don't understand why people
do the things they do when they're functioning with immense grief.
How did the death of the grandfather affect her.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
George really really bad?
Speaker 6 (08:37):
Uh, she wasn't really talking to nobody, wasn't eating right,
just crying, constantly, crying every day.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I've tried to hug her holder and love her. She
just didn't want to be bothered.
Speaker 7 (08:50):
Really, Now, we were lucky enough to have her present
when she found out that her grandfather passed away. She
was actually a majury taking her family vacation with Nova,
her mom and the mom's boyfriend. And I want to
say we were more fortunate enough to be there through
(09:11):
that traumatic time in her life as a whole. And yes,
she was very devastated over the loss of her grandfather.
Speaker 8 (09:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And you know, Karen, start with me, psychologist, You think
that someone it would be traumatized when they lose their
mom or their dad, which they are typically, But I
can identify that when I lost my grandmother, my mother's
mother who raised us, Lucy, that I then named my
daughter after my grandmother raised us while my mom worked,
(09:42):
and we were extremely extremely close. So a lot of
people can't relate to someone falling apart when they lose
a grandparent, right, but for many of us, it can
be devastating.
Speaker 9 (09:55):
Without a doubt, this is sort of a father figure
for her. Even though she had her dad and loves
her dad, she was extremely close to her grandfather, And
so the behavior that you have after a loss like that, Nancy,
anything is possible because you're in trauma. You're really feeling
extreme PTSD sometimes where you can't get over the event
(10:20):
and you can't get over the lost chap to come
to terms with it.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
It also makes me think, of course, I'm just an
armchair psychologist. Don't like you, Karen start, but it makes
me wonder if that's not why she then got so
attached to the boyfriend Michael Thompson. Listen.
Speaker 10 (10:36):
On Friday, June twenty third, Leayla gets in an argument
with her boyfriend Michael Thompson, and while the pair are
usually attached to the hip, Leayla takes off, leaving most
of her belongings, including the couple's shared phone behind. Layla
stays with several friends, but is not in contact with
family without her phone.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Oh my stars, this to me that starts the dominoes
falling when she leaves the boyfriend's place without a cell phone. Okay,
let me understand this, Brittany Zeidler. They were sharing one account.
Speaker 7 (11:08):
Yes, they were working off of one working phone. The
other phone had a Wi Fi connected phone, so that
was when they were able to get a hold of
one another. Leila would stay behind, Michael would go run
his errands, and the sleep with one phone on the
one account for many months.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
So those who were sharing one phone, then that phone disappears.
That right there marks for me the beginning of a timeline.
Why because nobody can be in touch with her. Rick
Schaeffer joining me, former FBI supervisory special agent. I mean,
(11:47):
in this day and age, Rick, your cell phone, I mean,
let's talk about the Alex Murdad case. For peace sake,
Murdod charged and the double murder of his wife and son,
Maggie and Paul. The digital footprint, the cell phone data
of the NAV system in his vehicle told a story.
I mean, as far as I was concerned, you put
(12:09):
that one digital analyst on the stand case closed because
it places murder like at the scene of the double murder.
At the time of the double murder, you hear his
voice in the background of a video taken and then
with the nav system you see what time he leaves
goes hies out at his grandmother's thirty minutes away. You
(12:29):
can even see where he slows down. Let's the window down. Yes,
you can tell that from a nav system and throws Maggie,
his now dead wife's phone out the window and then
takes off. You can tell all that from modern digital science.
So when you don't have a phone that greatly greatly
(12:52):
impedes a criminal investigation, absolutely.
Speaker 11 (12:55):
Or absolutely correct. Not only are you going to be
able to determine where that phone is, but who's in
possession of it at time, not only from the cell
tower it's painting off, but any metadata that can be
extracted from photos or text or anything.
Speaker 5 (13:12):
Of that nature. It looks like the police department.
Speaker 11 (13:14):
Has done everything they can from a cell phone data
collection standpoint, looking at cameras, any digital technology that would
help track or whereabouts, and the reality of it is
is she's clearly vanished, and that's a very difficult thing
to do in today's environment out there where everything is
(13:36):
digitally captured.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Leila is last seen in an open field before seemingly
vanishing into thin air. Now her family is looking for
answers as to the whereabouts of the young Tennessee momus.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
And where is Leila after a sick money grab where
the family gets threatening ransom texts threatening to chop Leila
into bits if money isn't forked over. This during the
(14:35):
search for the missing mom As it goes on, we
were just describing how Leila and the boyfriend that she
suddenly moves into after the death of her grandfather have
an argument. They have an argument, she takes off without
a cell phone.
Speaker 12 (14:57):
Then what happens Saturday morning? Michael, Since Jennifer sendsanello a
message on Layla's Facebook profile, Jennifer is immediately worried. It's
unusual that Michael wouldn't know where Layla is. Michael says
he hasn't seen Leila in more than twenty four hours.
Jennifer spent several hours trying to track Layla down. Layla
isn't hospitalized anywhere. Finally, Jennifer's niece gets word from a
(15:20):
mutual friend that Layla spent the night at his house
and was okay when she left.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Okay, so there. Even after she takes off without a
cell phone, which destroys everybody because they can't get in
touch with her, we find out she's at a friend's house. Okay,
everything is okay. But finally we actually hear from Leelah herself.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Sunday morning, Jennifer Sonanela wakes up to another Facebook message,
this time from Layla. Laylah says she's okay and doing fine,
much to her mother's relief. Jennifer has a few questions,
but when Layla is vague, Jennifer assumes it's because Layla
knows Michael can access the count she doesn't want him
to know where she is. Leyla reminds her mom that
she isn't carrying a phone, but she'll do her best
(16:06):
to check in as much as possible. Jennifer's niece places
Leila out of friends again, confirming Layla borrowed their phone
to message her mom. Okay, Now we have a genuine lead.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I was suspicious about those messages because they didn't sound
like Leela and I don't have to talk about Gabby Petito,
who went on a cross country trip with fiance Brian Laundry.
He murdered her and was using her phone and her
Fortransit and her credit cards and her money, and was
(16:38):
texting odd texts. They wouldn't seem odd, probably to you
or to me, but to the family that was getting them,
they knew that wasn't Gabby. For instance, when she asked
about her grandfather, she said, in my case, well how's
Walter Malcolm and Grace Senior. She would never have said that.
She would be saying how's granddaddy? So they knew something
(17:01):
was wrong. Well, they were right. It wasn't her texting.
It was Brian Laundry trying to give the appearance that
Gabby was still alive. However, in this case, there was
another reason that Leela was not being forthcoming in her
text to Britney Zeitler, her stepmom, and George Emmett, her
father to Brittany, apparently because they shared the same cell phone.
(17:25):
And we had this occur recently in the case of
glam yoga instructor Caitlyn Armstrong, who murdered her boyfriend, Colin
Strickland's former girlfriend out of a fit of jealousy. She
the yoga instructor, was sharing an account with Colin Strickland,
the boyfriend, so when he was texting the victim Maureen,
(17:50):
she could see it all. She could see it all.
It pop right up on her iPad, right, So here,
do you believe that was Leila messaging but that she
was intentionally being vague because she shared that account with
the boyfriend that she just walked down on. Yes.
Speaker 7 (18:10):
Absolutely, We really did think that it was Leela for
the moment. So we you know, we're like, okay, maybe
she doesn't want to know where she is at. He
wants to stay away from her vice versa. So we
just let it be at that moment in time. But
when we didn't hear from her voice, we started to question.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
You know, what about it, George, When you found out
about that Facebook message, I'm fine, I'm at so and
so friend, and then that was corroborated by someone else. Yes,
that's where she is. Everything's fine. At that point, you
were not concerned, is that right? Yeah?
Speaker 13 (18:52):
At that point I thought maybe she did get an
argument with them and Joy I didn't want to get
away from them at first, but then when I tried
to reach out to her and didn't get a response back,
that's when I started getting a little nervous.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
The case moves forward. Now it's Monday morning. Monday morning,
Michael Thompson is becoming more insistent that he can't find Layla,
claiming she asked him to pick her up from a
friend's house but wasn't there when he arrived. Jennifer still
believes her daughter is avoiding Michael and doesn't want to
tip him off to where she is. Michael then reaches
out to Layla's dad, George Emmett, making him intensely worried.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Okay, right there, When did you become concerned, George? That
something was a mess.
Speaker 6 (19:41):
When I texted her and I didn't get no response
the next day, That's when.
Speaker 5 (19:46):
I was really worried because that's not like my daughter.
She picks up for me and I'm no matter what.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
So that's when I really got worried and decided I
was going to call and.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Make a police report on my.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
You know, I want to talk about what you just said, George,
joining me is Leila's father, George and stepmom Brittany Joining
me now is a renowned defense attorney Ben at Powers.
You can find them at Legal Powers online. Ben. Thank
you for being with us. Ben. It's called routine evidence.
(20:20):
And I don't like that description because it sounds like
you're talking about the typical, run of the mill, standard evidence.
But what it means is evidence of someone's routine.
Speaker 14 (20:32):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
A routine a routine that you unintentionally carry out or
repeat every day. I do the same thing every single
morning in an effort to get my children to school,
take care of my mother who lives with us, take
care of a multitude of pets before I can start
my real job. Right. It's a routine that has been
(20:56):
perfected to save time and accomplish things. Right. That's a routine.
And here, when George Emmitt says she didn't call, a
lot of people will go, hey, I don't hear from
my daughter for two weeks at a time, and that's okay.
I called my mom and dad, say what you want
every single day in the morning and at night, at
a bare of minimum. That has been my routine. I
(21:19):
wanted to hear from them. I wanted to hear their voice.
So routine evidence is very powerful, being powers. I guess
some defense attorneys would argue it means nothing.
Speaker 5 (21:28):
I would say routine evidence can be important.
Speaker 14 (21:30):
But under these circumstances, the routine was clearly turned upside.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
Down and inside out.
Speaker 14 (21:36):
You know, she has a big argument with her boyfriend
that they're basically attached at the hill because of extenuating circumstances,
they're relegated to one phone instead of two, and so
she could be separated from him and the phone. She
could be separated from him with the phone. You know,
that type of distinction in the timeline definitely throws the
(21:56):
routine into question and isn't as reliable as maybe under
regular circumstances that the routine usually exists within.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
She had to sit on and there was a pink
Teddy Bear exactly like literally the same color and everything,
and he was sitting in a chair and he was
holding her like this right, and I'm like this just
in his lap. I took the pink Teddy Bear and
I put.
Speaker 7 (22:22):
It in.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Teddy Bear George with me. This is Layla's dad. Why
are you crying?
Speaker 6 (22:32):
Devastating? That's been too long it's very stressful on me,
my family. I just it's a lot. That's why I'm crying.
That's every parent's worst.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Nightmare, you know.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
And I was thinking, George, after you know, my fiance
was murdered, I never ever thought that I could ever remarry,
that I would ever have children. I thought that was
just a dream that was just over and it was.
It was for over twenty years. Then suddenly I have
(23:11):
a family. Can I tell you the greatest thing that
happened to me was having the twins. And let me
see those videos in your control room. I mean, this
was the time of Leela's life. She finally has Nova Grace,
(23:33):
just the love of her life, finally happiness, she has
this beautiful baby girl. I mean, I guess most moms
out there would agree that's the best time of your
life when you finally have your children. And to think
(23:56):
she's snatched away from her daughter and now her daughter
George has patures in these videos that's it and says
things like do I even have a mommy? I mean,
I get while you're crying, George.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Yeah, she's all my granddaor is all I have left
of my daughter as of now? For two years Oh,
it's really hard and devastate. I just want to answers
hell loove closure.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Guys, we left off, we left off where George is
now becoming extremely worried. Listen.
Speaker 10 (24:34):
George calls Jennifer to discuss whether they should report Layla missing.
Extremely concerned after his last conversation with Michael based on
her last text conversation with Laila, Jennifer doesn't want to
jump the gun. The parents decide to report Layla missing
the next morning, which will be forty eight hours since
Layla's last contact with family. However, George can't shake the
feeling he needs to do something, and after several sleepless hours,
(24:57):
makes an official report that Laylah Santonello is missing in
the early morning hours of June twenty seventh.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
So George, since Michael Thompson, the boyfriend, and Layelah had
been so close joined at the hip following her grandfather's death,
When he is starting to ask you, where's Laila, you
know something is really wrong. What prompted you to report
her missing at that time?
Speaker 6 (25:22):
Well, when I couldn't get a hold of her and
she didn't respond back to me, I already knew something
was wrong.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Something something was not right.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
So when he was reaching out to me and sending
me text messages about not being able to find my
daughter and everything, that just made it ten times worse
for me. I mean I went right out there right away.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
We hired a private detective.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
We have a private detective that's been on the case
since day one.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
We have a private detective.
Speaker 6 (25:52):
We've been We've drove from boys you Jorge to Tennessee
out several I can't many times already on behalf of
my daughter.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Then the searches on was George reports her missing and
finally a lead listen.
Speaker 12 (26:09):
Kingsport Police immediately began investigating, speaking with Michael Thompson and
his family around two am June twenty seventh. By the
end of the day, investigators have a lead. Layla checked
into the Americourt Hotel for the night of June twenty sixth.
Employees and other guests say Leyla seemed paranoid. Laila is
caught on CCTV knocking on doors to look for someone.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
Join me now, a very special guest. Rebecca McNairy, reporter
writer at Kingston Time News. Rebecca, thank you so much
for being with us. So who was she looking for
why are people there at the hotel describing her as
afraid of something?
Speaker 15 (26:49):
You know, going based off the facts that we have
received from the Kingsport Police Department and other local authorities,
we have not been sure of who specifically she was
looking for.
Speaker 8 (27:02):
We know that witnesses testified that she.
Speaker 15 (27:06):
Was acting paranoid and looking for something, but the Kingsport
Police Department has not released any specific details regarding that
certain matter.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
You know, Rebecca McNary, you're so right speaking of a
witness perceived good samaritan, this is what we learned.
Speaker 16 (27:24):
Please let me help you. I have a room, My mom,
my son are inside. You can sit down. I will
talk to you. How would do any tag him to
help you? She froze for a moment, full a breath,
and he was like, and she looked at my room,
She looked at me, and then she said no, I
can't and she.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Just ran out and through the park came lot and.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
That was a life I saw her.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Is that right, Rebecca mnary? She this good Samarita said, look,
what's wrong? Who are you looking for? Why are you afraid?
And apparently Lila goes, no, no, I can't talk to
you about it. It takes off running. Yeah, that is.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Several witnesses accounts.
Speaker 15 (28:03):
I believe the police department and local authorities have told
me that, But again I can't comment on that specifically
because the police department has not come forward with that
specific information.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Where is a mom of one little nova grace? We're
talking about Layela? Do we finally have a bead or
where she may be? And now is this a break? Listen?
Speaker 10 (28:29):
As police tried to determine Layla's next move, employees at
the nearby warehouse provide another lead. Around six or fifteen
in the morning, Layla asks if she can bump a cigarette.
None of the men have smokes on them. Layla thanks
them anyway and walks away. The men say Layla was
perfectly polite and seemed coherent. Layla did appear slightly disheveled
with messy hair and grass and leaves on her back,
(28:50):
like she maybe had laid down in the field.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Now, how does a marble slab creamery fit into this
search for Laylah? We all know what that is? Very
popular ice cream place a shop. Listen.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
An employee at a nearby ice cream shop, the Marble
Slab says, a blonde woman came into the store around
noon on the twenty seventh, with no shoes on. She
says the woman was very disheveled, wearing a white T
shirt and black luggings. The woman seemed somewhat incoherent and
made a comment about her husband wanting to kill her
before asking to borrow the employee's phone.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
The woman walked.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Back out of the store, saying she wanted to head
to a nearby five below to buy shoes. When shown
a photo of Leila, the employee is convinced that's the
woman she spoke to.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Okay, we've all heard attacks on eyewitnesses, and in this
particular case, we hit a dead end.
Speaker 12 (29:44):
Kingsport police intensely focused on the marble slab lead, checking
with several more nearby establishments. Authorities believe they are zeroing
in on Layla, but CCTV and phone records eventually proved
the employee was mistaken about the woman's identity. Officers tracked
the woman down, who confirms it was her in the
ice cream shop that afternoon, not Leila.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Santanello. Ah Crime Stories with Nancy Grace joining me, investigative
reporter and writer at the Kingsport Time needs Rebecca McNairy, Rebecca,
(30:27):
that's devastating to get an eyewitness tip. The woman is
absolutely convinced this is Leelah that comes into Marble Slab
Creamery and she's disproved. Tell me what happened. The woman
was so convinced it was Leilah.
Speaker 15 (30:42):
Yeah, according to report, she was convinced that she had
seen Layla. Again, the Kingsport Police investigated and that was
indeed not the case based off the records and the
surveillance footage that they had. But again, something like that
where you think that you have a lead and then
instead is definitely devastating for the family that's trying to
(31:04):
bring Leila home.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
To Ben Powers joining US criminal defense attorney, Ben it's
also bad for an investigation, a potential trial in the
future because when you get a lead, an eyewitness lead,
and the woman is absolutely convinced she sees Leyla right
later on, a defense attorney can say, see, she saw
(31:26):
Layelah at this time on this date, and my client
on trial now was here in another state or whatever
fill in the blank. When you try, when you try
a case, you have to go down every avenue to
get to the truth. You can't leave anything out. But
(31:47):
when you go down those avenues, for instance, if you
name a person of interest or suspect too soon it
turns out to be wrong, that's a field day for
the defense, just like a false tip.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker 14 (31:58):
I think the significance of the witness being mistaken as
it shows that police.
Speaker 5 (32:02):
Went down the wrong thread. You know, it ultimately led to.
Speaker 14 (32:08):
A Tom commitment from the investigation that ended with a
dead end in the investigation. So then they've got to
go back and figure out what direction do they take
the investigation. And so now that tim, that effort, that
dedication has been spent on something that wasn't fruitful. Oh yeah,
and something like this. You know, Tom is the enemy
of an investigation. The longer time goes on, the harder
(32:30):
the investigation gets.
Speaker 10 (32:32):
Two weeks after Layla's disappearance, both mother and stepmother start
getting cash apt requests from Layla's account, but the message
is attached to the requests send chills down their spines.
They're keeping me hostage. I owe someone fifteen minutes or
you'll find her. In pieces and the acronym TWLMG panics,
(32:53):
the women send various amounts of money with messages like,
are you okay and call me in the hopes that
Laila would see them, also reporting the activity to Believes.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Oh my stars, sick ransom text to Leilah's family, George Emmitt,
what happened at that point?
Speaker 6 (33:11):
We got really scared, We got really nervous, and we
were willing to do whatever it took to try to
get a hold of her.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
At that point.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
I mean, in all of her history, had Leyela ever
sent you a text or an email like that.
Speaker 5 (33:25):
Never?
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Never, So that's why we were very discerned and worried.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
That somebody might actually threatened to chop her up.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
Yes, correct, Yes, you know.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
It's just actually making my stomach hurt. After all you
had been through, and someone is threatening to chop her
up unless they get money. Look, we're showing you the
sick ransom text. I mean, Brittany, what went through your
mind when you get this?
Speaker 7 (33:54):
I was in utter shock, and of course I reached
out to Jennifer. I reached out To's boyfriend Michael, and
while I am on the phone with Michael, I'm like,
are you getting any cash up requests? Because I'm getting
some right now, saying for abbreviations, and I gave him
(34:15):
you know TWMLG and he goes, oh, well, my brother
says they won't let me go or they will let
me go.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
And I'm not processing everything that's going on at that moment.
Speaker 7 (34:26):
I'm just thinking, oh my god, how do we do this?
I want to hear her voice. I want to know
that she is in fact, okay, do they really have her?
Speaker 8 (34:34):
So there were so.
Speaker 7 (34:35):
Many things just running through my mind as well as George's,
and we were just dumbfounded, like, oh my, what do
we do?
Speaker 8 (34:42):
Do we send all this money?
Speaker 7 (34:44):
Do we I dragged it out as much as I
possibly could to be able to get as much information
as I possibly can, and Jennifer and I were asking
questions like, you know, what's your youngest brother's name, what's
your pop secret pass code?
Speaker 8 (34:58):
Only things that Leila can answer, and they were left
and answered.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
So how did he the boyfriend know what t w
l MG means. It's not like he's I DK. I
don't know. I had to figure out what does t
w l MG mean? And he knew it off the
tip of his.
Speaker 7 (35:15):
Tongue, That's what I was saying, And like I, of course,
wasn't processing it at that exact moment.
Speaker 8 (35:21):
But once I had a moment to process everything.
Speaker 7 (35:23):
On what was going on and rereading all of the
messages and everything that I had sending it to the investigators,
I was just like, wow, Like, I know, I got
a lot going on, but how do you know exactly
what that meant?
Speaker 5 (35:39):
In an instance?
Speaker 8 (35:40):
I was just I was roud.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
I was roud. This is what Leila's mother has to
say about that ransom text.
Speaker 15 (35:48):
It's one thing for a stranger to try and capitalize
on something.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Like that the way that they that he did.
Speaker 15 (35:57):
It's a whole other thing when it's someone.
Speaker 5 (35:59):
That you care about.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
From our friends at News five wcy B to Rebecca
McNary joining US reporter Kingsport Time News, who is he
who sent the ransom text threatening to talk Lala into bits?
Speaker 15 (36:15):
Yeah, So police later found out during their investigation of
that was her boyfriend at the time, Michael Thompson, who
was sending those pretty alarming messages to Leyla's family about
two weeks after she was reported missing. He was later
indicted by a grand jury here in Sulliwyn County on
financial exploitation, credit card fraud, and identity theft.
Speaker 12 (36:38):
Thompson otherwise cooperates with the investigation, and neither family nor
cops believe Thompson had anything to do with Layla's disappearance,
but obviously tried to take advantage of this situation. Jennifer
Santanello claims Thompson has taken a polygraph test, but the
results were inconclusive because he was not sober for the
five hour exam.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
George, jam And, I want to confirm with you. Our
sources have told us that you do not believe Thompson
had anything to do with Layla's disappearance.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
No, I don't believe. Well, they cleared them first. First
they cleared them.
Speaker 8 (37:12):
How do you feel.
Speaker 6 (37:15):
I feel he might know something or know some people
that could be involved are whereabouts. That is possible, but
he's not saying nothing for nobody.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
So guys, what about the search now.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
In addition to grid searches near the Americ Court Hotel,
Kingsport PD have searched the home Laylah shared with Michael
Thompson and served at least thirty more search warrants. Officers
have also issued at least twenty five subpoenas. Officers remain
tight lipped about their most current leads to protect the investigation,
but have searched several other locations in addition to the field,
totaling six ground searches.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
To Rebecca McNary joining us from Kingsport, Time News tell
me about the search as it stands right now and
the reward.
Speaker 15 (37:59):
I know that the search the ground searches were subsided
a little bit during the colder winter months, but that
those are expected to pick up again here in the
near future. As far as any kind of reward money,
I'm not sure. I believe the last number that I
heard was around seven grand that her family was offering
(38:21):
do whoever had information about her whereabouts and disappearance.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
To George and Brittany. This case has taken so many
twists and turns, false reports of false siding that seems
so credible. The ransom text just cold blooded ransom text,
money grab. So where are we left? In my mind,
(38:45):
we're left with the warehouse workers that didn't have a
cigarette seeing her walk off into a field. That's where
we are.
Speaker 6 (38:55):
What about it, George, That's where we are as of
right now. That's the last known place that she was
actually seen.
Speaker 5 (39:05):
So that's all we know is of right now?
Speaker 1 (39:08):
What about it? Brittany.
Speaker 7 (39:09):
Well, so even though that's all that we have at
this time, we're going to continue to work as hard
as we can to figure out what direction she went.
Speaker 8 (39:20):
And I call it the direction of the unknown.
Speaker 7 (39:23):
Since it's been two years almost now, and I know,
any type of surveillance footage that we have tried to
grab off of weather cameras or any type of surveillance
that our investigator had tried to pull, I know at
this time it's definitely going to be extremely difficult.
Speaker 8 (39:46):
To be able to pull. So we're got to just
keep on search in and.
Speaker 7 (39:52):
Put ground searches in place to be able to gather
as much resources that we possibly can from nonprofit organizations.
Speaker 8 (40:00):
That offer out of our dogs.
Speaker 7 (40:02):
Drones, extensive, yes, extensive, wide varieties of you know, needs
for Layela to be able to be found, since we
feel like we're working next little of nothing at this time.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
If you know or think you know anything about the
disappearance of Layelah Santanello, please dial four two three three
four three nine seven eight zero or toll free eight
hundred TB I find eight hundred eight two four three
four sixty three. There is a seven thousand dollars reward
(40:40):
for information in the disappearance of Leyela, and that reward
is growing. We now remember an American hero, Senior Deputy
Christopher Corzilias, Travis County Sheriff, Texas, passed away in the
line of duty, survived by grieving partner Bethany, mother Nancy,
(41:03):
father Paul, stepmom Patty. American hero Senior Deputy Christopher Grasilius,
Goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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