Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

The lawyer for Elizabeth Thomas’ dad tells Nancy Grace about “disturbing” new details suggesting the 15-year-old girl did not want to go with Tad Cummins. The former high school health teacher had an “extreme dark side” only being discovered after he allegedly kidnapped the girl, attorney Jason Whatley says. Grace talks with the family’s two lawyers about the search for Cummins and the hope he’ll...

The disappearance of Chase Massner on March 27, 2014, has stumped police and devastated the Iraqi War vet’s family. As the probe is handed over to a cold case unit, Nancy Grace leads her own investigation at the request of Chase’s mom. She shares what she's finding over the next weeks in a special “Crime Stories” series, starting with episode 1 on the 3rd anniversary of Chase’s vanishing. (music b...

The Tennessee teacher now on the run with a freshman student frequently gave the 15-year-old girl back rubs and held hands with her at school, according to the lawyer for the teen’s father. There is a nationwide lookout for Tad Cummins, 50, wanted for aggravated kidnapping of Elizabeth Thomas. Nancy Grace interviews attorney Jason Whatley in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https:...

A prosecutor offers new clues suggesting Elizabeth Thomas did not leave voluntarily with former teacher Tad Cummins. The 15-year-old told her sister “if I’m not back by six o’clock tonight, call the police or come looking for me,” District Attorney Brent Cooper tells Nancy Grace. “My biggest fear is that she had changed her mind about going with Mr. Cummins and that she expressed that to him and h...

While Elizabeth Thomas’ father complains he was never told a teacher was romantically involved with his daughter, it’s revealed Tad Cummins’ wife works for a high-ranking school official. Police fear the teacher and the 15-year-old girl may be hiding far away from their Tennessee hometown. They reveal Cummins had search the web for info on marrying a teen. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke look at the lat...

An alarming number of kidnappings, rapes and murders have been linked to messaging applications that can easily be downloaded onto smartphones for free by pre-teens and teens. Police are warning about one especially popular mobile chat app called Kik, which the creator claims is used by 40% of US teens. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke explore the dangers in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices...

The male teacher who is on the run with a 10th grade girl could be “far away” from their Tennessee town hometown, according to investigators. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is calling on people across the country to keep an eye out for Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas, who they think may be camping in rural areas to avoid being found. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke update the search for Cummins,...

A high school teacher is allegedly on the run with a 15-year-old female student and investigators warn he is armed and dangerous. Elizabeth Thomas was last seen stepping into Tad Cummins’ SUV at a Columbia, Tennessee gas station Monday. A nationwide Amber Alert was issued when police determined the teen was in extreme danger. Cummins lost his teaching job last month amid accusations about his clos...

David Temple spent a decade in prison after a jury convicted him of murdering his wife, but the former high school coach is free while a Texas DA decides if he’ll be tried again for Belinda Lucas Temple’s death. She was 8 months pregnant when killed by a shotgun blast in her Katy, Texas, home in 1999. Prosecutors argued her husband wanted to get rid of her so he could marry his mistress. The convi...

Georgia investigators are close to declaring the disappearance of Iraq War vet Chase Massner to be a cold case. Nancy Grace, however, won’t let the search for the father of two young girls go cold. Grace has literally taken to the streets to track down witnesses and clues about what happened to Massner, who was 26 years old when he vanished. The results of her personal investigation will be presen...

Roman Polanski fled the United States 40 years ago because he feared a Los Angeles judge would send him to prison for years after he admitted having sex with a 13-year-old girl. The filmmaker, who found refuge in Europe, has renewed his legal effort to be allowed back in California with no more jail time so he can resume his movie-making career. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke debate Polanski’s case in...

Casey Anthony appears to blame her parents — specifically her father — for the death of her two-year-old daughter in a new interview with the Associated Press. She tells the AP reporter that she doesn’t know what happened to Caylee, but that the child was in the care of her parents. Nancy Grace believes George and Cindy Anthony are the Tot Mom’s “other victims.” Learn more about your ad-choices at...

Rhonda Stapley kept her near-death encounter with serial killer Ted Bundy secret for decades, fearing the judgment that could come if she told how he kidnapped and raped her. The Utah college student hitched a ride with someone she thought was a cute law student, but he took a detour and coldly announced he was going to kill her. It was only because she fell into a river and was swept away by a sw...

Casey Anthony, the Florida woman Nancy Grace dubbed “Tot Mom,” says she has no idea how her daughter Caylee died, but she has no trouble sleeping at night. Anthony’s controversial comments came in an Associated Press interview. Grace, who covered the search when two-year-old Caylee was missing and the acquittal of her mother on murder charges, has her own words for Anthony in this episode. Learn m...

OJ Simpson could be months away from walking out of the Nevada prison where he’s served nine years of a 33-year sentence for a Las Vegas armed robbery. The former NFL star is expected to be freed on parole in October. Jim Moret covered the trial where Simpson was acquitted on murder charges in the killings of his ex-wife and a Brentwood waiter and later for when Simpson was convicted in a robbery...

Payne Lindsey, whose podcast about the disappearance of Tara Grinstead is credited by many with helping to solve the cold case after more than a decade, is still digging into the the Georgia teacher’s murder. The “Up & Vanished” creator has new details about Ryan Alexander Duke, who was charged with assaulting and murdering Grinstead and then disposing of her body in a pecan orchard to conceal...

Video shows Dalia Dippolito telling an undercover cop she wants her husband dead, but screaming later when police tell her he had been killed. Still, two Florida juries have refused to convict Dippolito of hiring a hit man. Dippolito lawyer Brian Claypool argues Boynton Beach police pressured an informant to set her up so the “Cops” reality show could record it. Nancy Grace debates the Dippolito c...

Michael Jackson’s mother signed sworn statement alleging her nephew abused her, stole her money and isolated her from friends and family. The allegations are in a court filing. Trent Jackson denies the charges and accuses several of Katherine Jackson’s sons and daughters of scheming to get rid of him to get closer to her money. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss the latest Jackson family feud in th...

A judge will soon decide if a retired police captain was within his rights to shoot to death a man who threw popcorn at him during an argument over cell phone use in a movie theater. It is the latest controversial case involving Florida’s “stand your ground” law. Curtis Reeves testified that he feared for his life when Chad Oulsen tossed a bucket of popcorn at him. If the judge decides Reeves’ fea...

A Pennsylvania mother allegedly used her 8-year-old daughter’s breath to bypass the breathalyzer device installed to prevent her from driving while drunk, but she was busted after crashing her car, according to police. Judges allow many convicted drunk drivers to stay behind the wheel as long as they only drive cars with ignition interlock devices, which tests a driver’s breath before cranking. Th...

Fitness guru Jackie Warner blames the sleeping pill Ambien for her drunk driving arrest in which she allegedly tried to hit a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy with her Porsche. Warner, best known for her Bravo TV show “Work Out,” said she took one pill before laying down to sleep. She was in a hospital when she woke up, she said. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke explore Warner’s Ambien defense in this episod...

The mystery of Tara Grinstead’s disappearance 11 years ago is solved with the arrest of a former student of the high school where the beauty queen taught history. Ryan Alexander Duke’s arrest comes weeks after someone who knew the secret of Grinstead’s fate decided to talk. Payne Lindsey, whose “Up & Vanished” podcast is credited with renewing interest in the case, joins Nancy Grace and Alan D...

Lisa Irwin’s parents thought the 10-month-old was sleeping n her crib until her father checked on the infant at 4 a.m. on October 3, 2011. Lisa’s crib and baby clothes are still in place after more than five years earlier. It’s filled with wrapped gifts marking every birthday and holiday since. Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley believe their daughter is still alive, perhaps being raised by a family...

Two Ohio parents face child endangerment and drug charges after their eight-year-old son nearly died from a heroin overdose in their home. Emergency room workers found a bag of heroin and prescription pills stuffed in a toy watch in the boy’s sock, according to police. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke share the father’s dramatic 911 call and discuss the destructive heroin epidemic in this episode. Learn...

Indiana police want to know the identity of a man photographed walking near where two teen girls were murdered on February 13. They believe he killed Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, in the small town of Delphi, Indiana. The girls were last seen in a Snapchat photo walking an abandoned railroad bridge at the end of a hiking trail. Nancy Grace looks at the mystery and speaks with an in...