" Time for cake, Uncle Bill." " Ok, pal." "You having any fun at all?" "You bet." "Well, you're lying, but that's very festive of you." "I just thought..." "I hoped the party would be good for you" "Get out, you know, be with people." "I know." "Besides, there's cake." "I called a bunch of times, but he didn't answer, so I came by here." "The papers were still on the stoop, and he hadn't brought the mail in." "What about his car?" "I know he drove it to my house, but it's not in the garage." "Oh... here's everybody who was at the birthday party." "I talked to a few of them before I called the police." " And what'd you find out?" " He didn't talk to anyone at the party." " I would like to look around." "Is it okay?" " Of course." "I didn't touch anything." "You watch detective shows." " Well, the first 15 minutes, then I fall asleep." " Right." "Now, you said that your brother didn't talk to anybody at the party." " Not a very social guy?" " Oh, he used to be." "This is Bill's daughter, Lauren." "She died of leukemia eight months ago." "His whole life just fell apart." "He and his wife got separated, he took a leave from his job." "But recently, you know, I thought he was starting to come out of it." "At least a little." "Martin" "Um, can I borrow you for a minute?" "What do you got?" "Kiddie porn" "Little girls." "He might have downloaded them" "There's a high-speed Internet connection behind the desk, but the laptop's missing." "The sister did say her brother was coming out of some kind of funk." "Maybe he found a new hobby, or he went back to an old one." "Without a trace 4x07" " The innocents" "Transcript Cfsmp3 Adaptation Cookiefief, Vivi69  Lucile76." "A lot of these look like they might have been pulled off the Net." "Did you show the sister?" "She was having a hard time believing me, so I showed her one." "Bet that went down well." "Stormed off and refused to talk to us anymore." "Okay, thanks." "Shields withdrew $2,000 from his checking account this week." " Maybe blackmail." " Yeah, or he's off buying more porn." "But regardless, why are wasting our time with this scumbag?" "Let's just turn it over to local P.D." "No, it's too early." "What about that text message he received at the birthday party?" "Wasn't from a cell phone ,but we're tracking it." "Okay." "Um, do me a favor?" "See if you can track down the original source of these." "Thanks." "I'm sorry, but we needed to know whether you knew anything about this." "Bill would never be involved in something like this." "Does Bill have an online handle?" "I don't know what you mean." "It's a name people use instead of their real name on the Internet for privacy reasons." " Why do you want to know that?" " Well, because of the pictures." "We just need to know whether he's been hanging out in any chat rooms." "Well, I don't know anything about that" "And your daughter, Lauren?" "Is there any chance that Bill..." "No." "Look, whatever he may have gotten himself into... he loved Lauren." "He would never have hurt her." "His sister said that he's... well, been different." "We waited so long for something." "Gene therapy, chemotherapy, alternative medicine... something... to make Lauren better." "But nothing did." "And all we could do was just hold her hand and watch her die." "And how did Bill react when she did?" "He, um, sort of disappeared." "Like he couldn't stand to talk about it." "And then...he got arrested" "Assault, Bill?" "who was it?" "Why were you beating people up?" "I-I'm sorry, Julie, I'm really..." "I-I need more than an apology." "What do you need?" "An explanation for why you're acting this way." "What is going on with you?" "I-It'll be better soon, Julie." "I promise." "Better how?" "You going to go back to work?" "Are you going to start talking to me again?" "she wasn't just your daughter." "I miss her, too." "I know." "I just... can't keep doing this." "Not with everything else." "I'm sorry." "Julie..." "So whoever he beat up, didn't press charges, and the, um... and the sheriff let him go home." "And that's all you know about the assault?" "Yeah." "and I moved out of the house a couple of days later." "Okay, the fight was with a guy amed Jamie Wolff, a registered sex offender." "The guy lives 90 miles from here." "He couldn't find another pervert to have a fight with closer to home?" "I don't know" "Maybe they're business partners." "Nothing starts a fight faster than money." "We're bringing him in, so he should be here in half an hour, okay?" "Okay." "Delgado." " How's it going?" " So far, more than, um, half of these are of the same girl-- different ages,ranging from six to maybe 12." "If he shot these photos, the chances are if we find her, we'll find him." "Yeah, we're checking with his friends, family, neighbors... see if, uh, any of them can ID her." "I have no idea who he is." " The guy assaulted you." " Yeah." "And I didn't know who he was when he attacked me, either." "You were convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor." "Then some guy who also likes kids beats you up." "And you expect us to believe that it's random violence?" "I didn't say it was random." "I just said I didn't know him." "Then what did he want?" "That guy's already gotten me in enough trouble." "I don't need anymore." "Too late." "It's about her." "He wanted her." "Hey." "Who are you?" "What are you doing hanging around back here." "I'm Bill." "I'm looking for this girl." "I think she might live nearby." "Listen, I'll pay you if you just tell me how to find her." "Why would I know anything?" "Come on..." "I know you're on the sex offender's list." "Hey!" "How did you know that?" " Mrs. Graff put you up to this?" " No, nobody put me up to it." " I'm just looking for the girl!" " That's not my problem" "Hey." "Listen." "I know how it is." "I just..." "I have a thing for her." " Get the hell out of here." " Not until you tell me how to find her." " I have to find her!" " Let go." "Thank God, the cops didn't look in the garbage can." "If they had found that picture..." "Did he say anything about her?" "What her name was?" "No." "So you didn't press charges because you didn't want anymore attention?" "Yeah, fat lot of good that did me." "That bitch, Mrs. Graff, she'd been after me ever since I moved in." "She saw him loitering, called the cops." "I got kicked out of my apartment a week later." "Where were you Sunday?" "At a friend's house watching football." "Write his name down." "You know, that 5390 conviction was a long time ago." "I haven't touched anyone since." "I'm sure that's very comforting to your victims." "If all he has is pictures, maybe he hasn't, found her yet." "we should put the local P.D. on it and have them talk to all the sex offenders in the area." "See if he's talked with them." "I'll check it out." "And I have a friend at the Center for Exploited Children." "See if she knows how someone could find one of these girls." "Guys... give me one second, please." "The text message came from a guy named Ruben Davila-- petty crimes, mostly theft." "Okay, excellent." "Thank you." "Local P.D. just found Shield's car at a motel near where Davila works" "Great." "Bill Shields!" "FBI!" "Open up!" "Com'on!" "Put your hands where I can see them!" "She's not here." "Turn around and face the wall." "Turn around" " Where is she, Shields?" " I don't know." "Someone sent you a message: "Bring money," "Night Lights Motel, Stonington."" "What, were you gonna try and buy her?" "No!" "What happened?" "Davila didn't like the way you treated her and cracked you" " on the head?" " I was trying to save her." " Is that what you tell yourself to make it okay?" " I swear..." " I would never hurt her." " Then how come you got all these pictures?" "My daughter... she loved to dance." "And after she died, I wanted to sponsor a little girl's dance lessons." "You know, as-as, like, a memorial." "So I-I put a couple of words in Google and-and clicked on a link, and... and there she was, in a pink tutu." "She was so cute." "Except... there were these other pictures, naked, doing things." "I turned off my computer, but I couldn't forget." "And I wanted to stop... to stop it!" "So... so I started to look for her." "What happened today?" "I thought I'd finally found her." "Shields?" "Davila?" "Where have you been?" " I waited all night." " Had to make sure you weren't a cop." " I'm not a cop." " I know." "No cop would've waited that long." "Only a man desperate to meet the girl of his dreams." "Yeah." " Uh... so where is she?" " Where's the money?" "$2,000, just like you asked for." "Not till I see the girl." "What's going on?" "Give me the money." "Hey, listen, I don't want any trouble." "Just-just tell me where she is." "How about, I'm holding the gun." "Good." "Ready to meet her now?" "Of course." "I bet you are... pervert." "And when I woke up, he was gone, and so was my money." "Nice story." "Doesn't fit." "We found over 200 kiddie porn pictures in your house." "I didn't know how to find her, except to use the pictures." "They're not all the same girl." "I-I-I only kept them if I thought they could help." "Like, uh, if they had something in common with one of her pictures." "You can check." "How?" "I used keywords." "For sorting." "They're attached to the photo files." "Why didn't you give all this to the police?" "I didn't know where she was... and..." "I didn't know how to explain what I'd been doing all this time." "But you can help, right?" "You have to find her" "We'll need you to stay here." "We may have more questions." "Local P.D. talked to Ruben Davila." "He never had the girl." "It was a scam." "Well, a pedophile's a great target." "It's not like he's gonna call the police, right?" "That's exactly what Ruben Davila said." "Apparently, he's done it before." "Yeah." "All right, look at this." "Looks like Shields is telling the truth." "All the photos that aren't of the girl in the tutu, have keywords on them and references back to her picture." "Can we I.D. this guy?" "This is the only picture we've got of him-- his arm, not his face." "She ages six yearin these pictures, and no one noticed what was going on?" "I'm thinking it's got to be someone with a lot of access without supervision, maybe a family member." "Or a kidnapping." " If so, she might be nin our case files." " It's worth a shot." "Yep." " Sam." " Wow, you're walking well." "Yeah, anything below a canter, I feel pretty good." " Hmm." " Do me a favor." "A kid from the Center for Exploited Children thought she recognized our missing girl." "They're bringing her up here right now." "And, uh..." "I thought it might be easier for her to talk to a woman." " Where are they taking her?" " Interview two." "Okay, I'm expecting a call from tech about these pictures." " I'll cover it." " Great, thanks." "No." "Thank you." " Do you know why you're here, Brittany?" " They showed me a picture." "And you know the girl?" "Sort of." "Sort of...?" "I met her once at a house where there was a... party." "Can you tell me about it?" "It's okay, take..." "all the time you need." "While we waited, we watched TV." " I'm Brittany." " Melissa." "I don't really like this show." "Do you have a pet?" " Do you?" " A cat." " What's its name?" " Monarch." "'Cause he's got this shape on his side that looks like a butterfly." "Is he soft?" "Really soft." "What grade are you in?" "I don't really have a grade." "Brittany." "Let's go." "Bye." "And that was it." "You never saw her again?" "No." "My foster dad was arrested a few months later, and I went to the center." "Do you think... you can remember where this house was?" "No." "Did you see who Melissa came to the party with?" "I wish I could help." "You have helped, Brittany, you've helped a lot." "All right, Mac man, show me some..." "Oh, Agent Johnson thought he could help since he spent so much time with these photos." "All right." "Just make sure he has an escort when he's moving through the building." " I got it covered." " Good." "Okay, uh, anyway, Bill figured out that a lot of these pictures were taken at Hamlet Suites Motels." "Yeah, the chain uses the same furniture and paintings in all their rooms." "Well, that..." "that's, uh, that's good." "Unfortunately, it narrows it down to, like, mm, 500 motels." "Which is why I got stalled." "Was that how you ended up at Jamie Wolff's?" "Is there a Hamlet Suites Motel in his town?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Now, I analyzed the Hamlet Suites Motel's pictures for light and color, so I could determine which ones were taken at the same place at the same time." "You air brushed her out." "To focus on the details just in the background." "We're compositing, all these pictures together, kind of like a puzzle, right?" " Right." " And I got most of them in place, most of them finished." " I was hoping that this would be the last one." " Hold on a second." "What is that right there, that looks like a cup?" " Can you enlarge that?" " Yeah." "Hold on." "There you go." "Roger's Barbecue and Stuff." "It's gotta be near a Hamlet Suites Motel." "Yeah, I bet if we cross-referenced these, we'll get the town where the pictures were taken" "Carbondale." "The manager recognizes Melissa's picture." "She was here about a month ago." "He remembers because she cut her hand on a glass." " You got a name?" " The man she was with paid cash." "So I guess he doesn't want anybody to know who he is." "Hey, but the good news is, he made such a stink about the cut, that the manager paid for a trip to the local E.R." "Yeah, I remember." "Most kids with a cut like that would be screaming their lungs out." "She barely made a sound." " You get a chance to talk to her?" " No, dad stayed pretty close." "Too close?" "He didn't let her say a thing." "Wow, you're a brave girl." "That's a big cut." "I dropped a glass." "She tried to help me pick it up." "Next time you won't be so helpulf, I bet." "Oh, she's a really good girl." "I don't think you could stop her." "I've taken care of everything at the front desk." "Okay, we're just going to be a minute." "Do you need help, sweetheart?" "How we doing?" "We're all set." "Okay." "All right." "Let's go, sweetie." "I knew something wasn't right." "You know, it seemed like a pretty deep cut, for what he said happened." " So she cut herself to get help?" " Maybe." "You contacted CPS?" "Yeah, I called security to watch them, but they were gone by the time the officer got here." "Do you know the woman who came into the exam room?" "I assumed she was a stepmom or a girlfriend." "She didn't seem to have a relationship with the little girl." " But she completed all the paperwork?" " Yeah." "Can we see it?" "of course" "Sandra O'Neil?" "FBI, we need to ask you a few questions." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Let go of me!" " Let go of me!" " Where is Melissa?" "Where is she?" "!" "I don't know." "She left." "He took her." "When?" "Two weeks ago." "That was the last time I saw her." "I didn't do anything." "Then why'd you run?" "Because she finally got caught." "It was him." "And I didn't know until the end." "What's his name?" "George." "George Anderson." "I'm going to need an address." "I don't have one." "He travels for work." "Fixes mechanics' tools." "I only see him when he's got a job nearby." "Let me ask you something." "How did you, um finally figure out what he was doing?" "They stayed at my place that day" "I had to run some errands." "I guess George didn't expect me back so soon." " It's too little!" " I don't care!" "You put it on!" "I'm not a baby!" "What is the matter with you?" "I'm not going to put up with this anymore!" "You do what I tell you to do." "Put it on!" " What's going on?" " Get out!" " What are you doing, George?" " It's none of your business." "Are you okay, Melissa?" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Leave us alone!" "He didn't say anything about it later." "Neither did Melissa." "They left and I haven't seen them since." "Why didn't you call the police?" "He'd know it was me." "And he'd come back." "All right, um..." "What else can you tell me about him ?" "I think he grew up in Southern New Jersey." "and he was always complaining about how fast Melissa was growing up." "He refused to throw away any of her clothes." "He..." "There's a bag he forgot to take, in my closet." "We're gonna need that." "You know, Mr. Shields, if we need you, we can always call you at home." "I know." " That's not much of a dinner." " I'm not really hungry." "Yeah." "Me either." "You know, I've been, uh..." "I've been in some of these Usenet chat rooms." "See if I can find anything on Melissa, and..." " Melissa?" " Yeah." "You know her name?" " That's a good thing to figure out, right?" " Yeah, it's a really good thing." "But you were saying about the chat rooms?" "Yeah, right." "Well, I'm getting nowhere." "And I was wondering if you think it might help, if I log in with one of your online profiles." "It might." " I'll write them down." " That'd be great." "It's hard being in those chat rooms, isn't it?" "Yes, it is." "When... when I first saw Melissa, she was looking right at the camera." "And there was something in her eyes, like, she was begging me to make what was happening to her stop." "It reminded me of Lauren." "She used to look at me that way after she got sick." "Searching for Melissa has kept me going these last six months." "I don't want to go home." "All right." "Well, if that's the case, then I recommend the applesauce." "Melissa's 12?" "This is a 7-8 wide." "for a seven-year-old." "Apparently he likes to dress her in little girl's clothing." "Take a look at these." "These are her drawings." "They're all of the same thing." "The same barn, same cows, chickens, every single one." "My daughter likes to paint people in these fantastic colorful outfits." "It's her way of rebelling against Catholic school uniforms." "I didn't know you had a daughter." "Yeah, I do." "She's six." "There are 55 George Andersons in New Jersey." "Maybe we should focus on the ones in rural areas." "Kids like to draw whatever they're thinking, and she seems to have some kind of connection to a farm." "Okay." "I've got a credit card receipt." "All his bills go to a P.O. box." "But he used the credit card yesterday." "Yes, she and her father were in the store the other day shopping for clothes." "Poor thing." "Why poor thing?" "Well, she went into the dressing room to try some things on, and she didn't come out for a while, so I went to check on her." "Do you need any other sizes or colors?" "No." "What is it, honey?" "Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine." "Just tell me what happened." "Oh." "Do you know what's going on?" "Sort of." "Well, getting your period is totally normal for a young woman your age." "Do you have someone you can talk to about it" "A mom?" "I could explain it a little if you want." "What's going on?" "Don't tell him." "Um, some button problems." "We'll be right out." "Please, don't tell him." "She was embarrassed." "I understood that, but she was all alone." "I felt like I had to tell him." " And how did he react?" " Well, he seemed angry." "You know, I gave her a couple of tampons before she left, but someone has to show her how to use them." "Did he, uh, leave any personal information, phone number, address?" "For a credit card sale I would have checked his ID, but I don't remember what it said." "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "Um, thanks very much for coming in." "We'll have one of our agents escort you out." "Thank you very much." "Thank you." "If her period started-- she's going to lose her little girl appeal." "There's a lot of missing girls out there." "Yes, there are." "So what do you think he's going to do with her now?" "Oh, he could sell her to a prostitution ring." "Or trade her in for a younger girl." "Sometimes these guys, they can't handle the thought of their victims being with somebody else, and they... unfortunately, they kill them." "Not a lot of choices." "There are nine George Anderson's in the age range, but only one that lives in rural New Jersey." "Want to go for a ride" "Can you handle going through these files on your own?" "I'm fine." "Okay." "Is he, uh..." "Is he having...?" "look, we don't know anything for sure." "but the men who post these pictures are often sexually abusing their victims, yeah." "Why would he do that to Melissa?" "I don't know." "How did he get custody of her?" "My sister and her husband died in an auto accident." "George is the older brother, and they thought he'd be a better guardian, in case anything happened." "Do you have any idea where your brother is now?" "No, I haven't seen him in a long time, since the day they moved away." "Well, what if I don't want to go?" "I know it's not easy to move, Melissa, but your parents wanted what's best for you, and they thought Uncle George was the best." "You could come with us." "I have to stay here and take care of the farm, watch the cows and the pigs and your favorite chicken." "Little." "I have to make sure everything's tip-top for when you come to visit." " I can visit?" " As much as you want." "Okay, Melissa, come on!" "Let's go." "I'd like to visit." "I love you so much." "I love you, too." "Uncle George is going to take good care of you." "Chicken." "Little." "All right, come on." "Get in." "Watch your fingers." "George called regularly for a while, but now it's mostly birthdays, maybe the holidays." "Do you have a telephone number for him?" "I had one, but he moved and I kept asking for a new one, but George never got it to me." "Well, that old number might really help us, so..." "I'm sure it's in the house." "I'll go get it." "If you find her, what happens to her then?" "Well, she's been through a lot." "I'm married now." "and my wife and I..." "Please bring her here." "We'll make sure she gets everything she needs." "ise disconnected phone was from an address in Norwich Town." "That's like ten miles away from your children's clothing store" "But I can't find any listings in that area, for a George Anderson or a G. Anderson." "Nothing." "Maybe they're living out of motels?" "Maybe." " I'll go get the phone books." " Okay." "Hey, guys?" "I think I got something here." "You know, when we, when we found out that Melissa may no longer be appealing to Anderson because she got her period, I started checking out these chat rooms that focus on pubescent girls, and I found this organization called Plato's Vineyard," "They're having a meeting tonight, and someone with the handle "Farmboy61"" "says he has merchandise for trade." "That's a pretty rich target." "You shouldn't have any problem putting together a multi-agency surveillance team." "But Anderson might not show up, or he might not bring Melissa with him, and if we just case the party, we run the risk that we still won't get the girl." "So what's the plan?" "Well, you know, Bill Shields was a regular at these Usenet groups." "So, uh, I got you an invitation to the party." "and when you're talking to people, uh, ne-never use your name or ask theirs." "Should I tell them I'm from the FBI, Bill?" "No!" "Everyone goes by their online handle." "Got the invitation using Pirateship7." "and, uh, I'll let Farmboy know that you're interested in the transaction." "But even if he approaches you, don't bring it up." "He'll talk to you, see if he's comforble pursuing it." "Okay, Jack, give me a test." "Testing, one, two, three." "That'll work." "I'm going to make sure everything else is good to go." "Great." "This is a list I made of, uh, people I've encountered." "Their handles and what they're interested in." "Maybe it'll help you fit in." "this, uh, George Andersen guy um, how does he perceive Melissa?" "What do you mean?" "Well, on the Net, he referred to her as merchandise." "Is that a code, or does he really think of her property?" "Or does he think of her as uh, his daughter, or his girlfriend, what?" "I don't know." "All right." "Most poeple end up uninsured because their homeowner's policy has such a low liability ceiling." "Well, I guess that's one of the advantages of being a renter." "Bad move." "Now he's going to sell you a renter's insurance." "Well, if you're gonna do that, then I'm..." "I'm gonna need some more coffee." "Sugar?" "Thanks." "You're a new face" "Uh..." "Pirateship7." "I'm Farmboy61." "So, um..." "Want to sit down and we talk?" "Yeah, sure." "Oh, you know, computers do most of the work these days." "I mean, the toughest part about inventory management is making sure, that the employees don't steal everything." "Yeah." "Yeah." " That's true, lots of places." " Yeah." "I think you're right about that." "So... in the chat room, you said you were interested." "Yeah." "Why?" "When I saw her picture, you could tell that she'd started so young, that..." "Do you mind me asking what her name is?" "Melissa." "Melissa." "That's a sweet name." "Like I was saying, when I looked at her picture, you know, she seemed to have started so young and she could have been hardened by now, but she still had this freshness to her." "I mean, obviously you've done a great job grooming her for... you know, her future responsibilities." " She's a good girl." " Yeah, I can see that." "She deserves a good home." "I mean, it-it won't be the same kind of home that you gave her, but I will really take good care of Melissa." "Maybe we should see how the two of you get along." "Yeah, I'd like that." "Where is she?" "What's going on?" "She's not here." "Yes, she is" " Is that some kind of scam here?" " No, everything's okay." "Well, you can never be too careful." "Is she a runner?" "No, but you know, better safe than sorry, That's my feeling." "Can I talk to her?" "Just don't close the door." "Sure." "Hi, Melissa." "Let's do it." "Chicken Little says hi." "He sent me to help you." "FBI!" "Get on the ground!" "Get on the ground!" "Melissa!" "That'll work." "Keep your hands where I can see them." "Get up!" "Okay come on, he's not going to hurt you anymore."