February 25, 2025 • 41 mins
A Pennsylvania family is worried sick about 14-year-old Enci “Aubrey” Wu, who disappeared six weeks ago. Aubrey’s parents say based on her secret social media use, Aubrey could be anywhere from California to Saudi Arabia. Her parents terrified she was lured out of their home by a predator and may be a victim of sex-trafficking.
Just over six months after Aubrey gets her own phone, her parents discover a second, older iPhone hidden in her room. When confronted, Aubrey admits she convinced a boy at school to give it to her, and he told his parents he lost it. Aubrey paid for a new iCloud account to use on the phone, bypassing both her parents’ blocks and rules on when she can use a phone. Aubrey’s extremely upset when her parents take both phones away and ground her.
10:00 p.m., January 10th, Palmer Township PD knock on Aubrey Wu’s door, asking her parents to wake her up for a welfare check. Officers say Aubrey’s boyfriend, a boy the parents don’t know, begged his parents to call police, as he hadn’t heard from Aubrey in more than 24 hours. Stepfather John Gehrmann calls upstairs for Aubrey several times—but receives no answer. The family’s security cameras reveal Aubrey crawled out her bedroom window, crept across the roof, shimmied down a grate, and disappeared into a back alley behind their home more than three hours ago.
Where is Aubrey?
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- John Gehrmann - Stepdad
- Jade Wu - Mother
- Alexandria “Ally” Crouthamel - Attorney for Aubrey Wu's Family, Attorney at Crouthamel Law Offices
- Anna Sonoda - Child sex abuse, Grooming expert, Clinical Social Worker, Counsels convicted sex offenders, Author, “Duck Duck Groom”
- Caryn Stark - Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio trauma expert and consultant, www.carynstark.com, Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
- Brian Fitzgibbons - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, Leads a team of investigators specializing in locating missing persons, website: www.uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security
- Alicia Kozakiewicz - Survivor of an abduction as a teen via internet site. Motivational speaker and internet safety expert, aliciakozak.com, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube: @ItsAliciaKozak
- Sydney Sumner - Crime Online Investigative Reporter
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, please help us find Aubrey.
The parents of a missing Lehigh Valley girl are pleading
for your help Tonight. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
Thank you for being with US police desperately searching for
(00:21):
a missing fourteen year old amidst a family's fears of
sex trafficking. Joining us an all star panel to make
sense of what we are learning about missing Aubrey Tonight
as the days pass her parents are desperate and they
are joining us now straight out to John German, joining us,
her stepdad.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And her mom Jade. To both of you, thank you
for being with us. John. From what you have told me, there.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Was no indication at all that Aubrey would just run
away and disappear. Why are you concerned Aubrey could be
sex trafficked?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Thank you, Nancy.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Our concerns are there stem from the fact that we
learned that there was extensive use of a hotspot in
our home from a real phone that we provided her
that had multiple layers of parental controls. Saturday morning, one
of Aubrey's closest friend, if not her closest friend, provided
(01:25):
us feedback that she had tried to reach out to Aubrey.
I said to her, well, I have Aubrey's phone and
I don't see an inbound call or a text, and
the young girl uttered the phrase to us, that is
the beginning of our living nightmare here, which is I
contacted your daughter through her secret snapcat.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
And she proceeded to Okay, whoa, whoa wait, wait, guys
with me, Aubrey's mom and stepdad, Jade and John, you
just fell want you put a dagger in my heart
secret snap Chat hold on just a moment.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Joining me is a special guest, an a sonoda, a
grooming expert. Snapchat can be innocent, but it can also
be every parent's worst a nightmare and a nutshell, because remember, Anna,
you're very well versed in all of this, a digital
the digital scare parents live through.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
In a nutshell? What is Snapchat? What is he talking about?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Nancy?
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Snapchat is one of the most popular apps that teens
are using these days to not only share messages, but
also share pictures and videos. The unique part about Snapchat
is that whatever you send, you get it and.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Then it disappears.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
However, we all know that it still lives on in
the cloud on the web itself. But this is an
app that is used by most teenagers can through smart devices,
and it is a playground for potential predators.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, you know it can be innocent too, Anna, because
the other day the twins send out a snapchat to
a group about homecoming get together and it can be
useful and wonderful.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
And they keep in touch that way. But you're right.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It disappears virtually as soon as you send it, and
it's among other media platforms, is very popular.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
If anybody says email, just wipe that out of your mind.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Tweens, preteens scenes, that's a thing of the past. Don't
even say FB, Facebook.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Forget it, not happening. They don't care. It's over for them.
Maybe you and your friends all do Facebook. They don't.
Back to John.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
German and Jade, the mom and stepfather of this little girl.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
To Jade, this is Aubrey's mom, Jade.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
What went through your mind when you realized Aubrey was
not in her room's parents' worst nightmare because just the
week that she left, she was good morning, good.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Night, love you mom, love you Dad. And discover her
disappearance and knowing the next day of the snapchat, we
know it's very bad news, and the nightmare begins.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
What were you telling you at the hotspot? And snapchat
what you learned? Because as Jade, mom is telling us
right before she disappears, I.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Love you, Mom, I love you guys and goes to bed.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
That's Aubrey most nights. Actually we have to fight her off.
She's going to bed. She says good night, I love
you over and over. It's very endearing of her. She
is a very loving and kind young girl, and she
wants to hear it back. She doesn't want us to
(05:09):
nod and just go uh huh okay. Sometimes I could
be a little bit like that and Aubrey would just
come over, give her mom a big hug, give me
a hug, and say, all right, guys, I'm going to bed,
And yeah, I agree with Jade. We were very blind sided.
But I know your question is about the hotspot. So
the night before we did have an opportunity to take Aubrey.
(05:32):
She had dance plass that evening, so we took her
out to eat our favorite spot. You'd like to go
to a popeyees. We get some chicken, We sit in
the parking lot, listen to some music and that that's
our space, and we began to talk, and the conversation
was a little difficult, a little bit more difficult than
usual get into the to the truth of what some
(05:53):
of the things were we were talking about. So we
asked for Aubrey's cell phone, and right away some things
looked off. There was no recent phone calls for the
prior month, there was no recent text messages for the
prior month. And to know Aubrey is to know Aubrey
is a social butterfly. There ever, was one and all
(06:13):
winter break she had been going out to the mall,
to the library, so we were a little concerned that
we saw like the lack of coordination on her phone.
So as Jade and her are talking, I grabbed my phone,
which gives me the billing details, and actually, surprisingly the
calls and the text they match up, so I'm actually thinking, Okay,
(06:36):
this is good. And then I noticed there's a third
tab on my bill that I've never seen before, which
is hotspot. Now, in our own home, we have Wi Fi.
Jade and I both work remotely from home, so I
was a little surprised to see that there was a
hotspot being used on the account. So I went into
the details, and when I clicked on the details, and
(06:58):
now this is January ninth, my ninth day on a
thirty day billion cycle, a twenty three page result is
returned to me. So immediately I turned to Jade in
the front seat of the car and I said, Jade,
we've got a major problem, kind of you know, just
kind of whispering between parents here. I turned to Aubrey
and I handed to my phone and I said, I'd
like you to help us understand why there's twenty one
(07:19):
pages of hotspot activity, and let's start with what the
device is, just trying to cut right to the case.
But Nancy, unfortunately that conversation we didn't get to the
end state of any acknowledgment that there was even a
device in our house. It was a challenging conversation for us,
(07:41):
and we've had many of these.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Oh my goodness, do you know how much I hate
confronting the twins over being on the phone too much.
I have to practically wrestle it away from my son.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
They're both seventeen.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
They're twins at the dinner table, which is a major
no no. And you'll say, Mom, I'm just filling the
blank and it always seems so legit. I'm checking what
time the game is, I'm this, I'm that, but it's
there attached to it. I actually think it's some psychological thing,
and I'm going to go to our shrink in just
a moment. But this is what we learned about the
(08:18):
additional tab.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (08:21):
Just over six months after Aubrey gets her own phone,
her parents discover a second, older iPhone hidden in her room.
When confronted, Aubrey admits she convinced a boy at school
to give it to her, and he told his parents.
Speaker 9 (08:33):
He lost it.
Speaker 8 (08:34):
Aubrey's extremely upset when her parents take both phones away
and ground her after.
Speaker 10 (08:38):
School, Aubrey only comes out for a quiet dinner, then
goes straight back upstairs. Aubrey's parents tuck in for an
early night, assuming Aubrey has done the scene behind her
closed bedroom door.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
As I mentioned earlier, we have an all star panel
joining with Aubrey's parents, trying our best to help bring
this fourteen year old little girl home her parents, and
you'll learn why fear that she has been sex trafficked.
In Joining me right now, a long time colleague that
(09:10):
I now consider a friend, Alicia Kozykevitch. She goes by
Alicia Kozak and she is the survivor.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Of a teen abduction. She was lured via the Internet.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
She was held hostage, abused, beaten, and it was the
evening her kidnapper had planned to kill her after sharing
images of her to other pedophiles. One of the pedophiles
(09:51):
felt sorry for her and called police. That is how
her life was saved within hours of her death. Her
being with us is a miracle, and tonight we have
a chance to save another young girl. Aubrey, Alicia, I
(10:14):
don't know how you managed to tell your story over
and over, bringing up the worst thing that has ever
happened to you.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
How were you as a little girl lord online?
Speaker 11 (10:30):
Yes, Nancy, I am so lucky to be here. And
it's a really hard story to share that I've been
sharing since I was fourteen years old, and it is
such an important story to share because it's what so
many kids are facing today. When I was thirteen, I
was really shy. I was quiet. I was the good kid.
I was curious. I was just a kid. But I
(10:52):
was vulnerable, as all kids are, and predators are seeking
out kids who are vulnerable, which Unfortunately, all kids are vulnerable,
and so what they do is they look for those
vulnerabilities to exploit and they groom and act as though
they are a friend. And it's really so simple. It's
(11:13):
just being into what the child is into, saying what
the child wants to hear, versus what they need to hear.
Always being there for them, always on their side, always
somebody that they can count on, somebody who makes them laugh,
somebody who makes them feel connected, and somebody who feels
like they know the real them. We have so many
different versions of ourselves, especially as kids. We have the
(11:36):
US at school, with US at the dinner table, the
US at church, the US here, the S there, But
who is the real you? And kids are still trying
to figure out certainly who they are. They're trying to
figure out what they like, literally their identity, and predators
come in, swoop in and say, well, I know the
real you, and I think the real you is amazing.
(11:57):
While they're trying to discover all this slowly breaks down boundaries,
and they are so good at doing what they do.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It's amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Alicia Koseykevich that you were very loved by your family.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You loved them back.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
But you met a friend online that first posed as
a girl and later said, hey, I'm really a boy.
But you know, I was just trying to get close
to you. And I don't think you talked to me
if you I was.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
A boy, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And so you overlooked that adults wouldn't do that children would.
And then one night around Christmas time, you're sitting at
the table having dinner.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
It starts very lightly.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Snowing outside, and your friend says, come meet me outside,
and between dinner and dessert, you vanish.
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (12:50):
And that's something that I talked to children about, definitely
and to adults, is that I felt so loved. I
knew I was loved. I had such a close relationship
my family, and yet deep down I still felt lonely,
and that loneliness was one of my big vulnerabilities. And
on New Year's Day two thousand and two, I agreed
(13:10):
to meet this person, which was completely out of my character.
Like I said, I was really shy, I was really quiet.
I was a kid who didn't raise their hand in class.
I wasn't the kid who would go to walk to
the grocery store. I was a very quiet at home
kind of kid. And what predators do is they are
able to wear down who which child is in so
(13:31):
many ways and to change who they are characteristically and
get them to do things that they would never do.
If you had talked to me the night before this
happened and said, hey, Alicia, this is what you're going
to do in the future, I would say absolutely not.
I would never do that. I'm so much smarter than that,
I'm so much more careful than that. And yet on
that night, against every bit of who I am, I
(13:54):
went against that because that's how good predators are at
what they do.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Alicia, with a ten minutes of leaving the supper table,
where did you find yourself?
Speaker 11 (14:06):
I found myself in this man's car and he began
driving from Pittsyl, Pennsylvania, where I lived, to Virginia, where
he held me captive in his basement.
Speaker 8 (14:18):
Dungeon, A Pennsylvania family is worried sick about fourteen year
old inc Aubrey WU, who disappeared six weeks ago. Aubrey's
parents say, based on her secret social media use, Aubrey
could be anywhere from California to Saudi Arabia. Her parents
terrified she was lured out of their home by a
predator and may be a victim of sex trafficking. Pennsylvania
(14:40):
teen in c Aubrey wu critically missing as a search
intensifies after the fourteen year old girl was last seen
at home over six weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
We may have a chance to bring Aubrey home alive.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Look at her. Here is the number to call if
you think even think you have seen her.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Six one zero seven five nine to two hundred repeat
six one zero seven five nine two to zero. Crime
Stories with Nancy Grace. Her parents joining us tonight. Now,
(15:27):
the dad and mom just told you that they took
her phone away when they realized she had a secret phone,
and then she didn't like it.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Of course, and then this.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's our ruler.
Speaker 12 (15:49):
Is he here?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
She should be hold on, hold.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
On or Mom and I are hitting that.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
I'm wait all right, hold on, hey.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Aubrey.
Speaker 13 (16:02):
Aubrey.
Speaker 14 (16:03):
John German calls upstairs for Aubrey several times, but receives
no answer. The family security cameras reveal Aubrey crawled out
her bedroom window.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Oh my stars, straight back out to the parents, joining us, Mom, Jay, Stepdad, John,
what did you guys think, Quen, you go to the
door and it's police. John, What were police doing at
your door? And we see you steal in your bathrobe?
Start calling Ay Aubrey, come down. What did they tell you?
(16:36):
Why were they looking for your girl?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Well, thanks for the question, Nancy. You know that video
shows me at the front door. But actually what woke
us up because we do take a nap and use
a sound machine. They were banging on our bedroom windows
on the side of our house. They were banging on
our back door. So actually I first checked the back door,
thinking maybe it was just some kids in the neighborhood,
you know, kind of goofing around, and that's why I
(17:01):
have my bathrobe on. I go to the door, but
when I look through the blinds, I see police lights
light lit up all around our property. It was about
five cards out there. And then as soon as I
hollered up to her that actually I wasn't so worried. Honestly,
Nancy Aubrey has a tendency to be in her room
with headphones on listening to music. It is Friday night,
(17:23):
so I just thought maybe she didn't hear me, And
then I asked Jade to go upstairs and check. But
when Jade said she's not there, that is a feeling
that I don't ever want to feel again, and I
don't want any other parent to have to feel it
was It brings me to tears out even to talk
about it. It's just in this moment when we know
(17:46):
she's not there, and that window, Nancy, it is configured
to only open as much for a window fan, so
it's maybe only eight inches of an opening, so and
it goes out onto a rickety old roof and probably
hasn't had a new shingle at it since nineteen thirty
when it was built, so it's very dangerous. It's not
(18:06):
even just you know, like she's got to go onto
one roof, then she's got to climb or jump onto
the adjoining roof and then climb over this tiny balcony
where our neighbor keeps a big grill.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And it's a lot.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
I was actually quite stunned, I at first, until we
got our neighbor's camera. Jade and I were actually completely
puzzled as to how she left the house and we
didn't see it on our cameras because I kept telling
Jade that opening is just small and then we saw
the footage, so she really you know, I would have
(18:41):
had a difficult time getting out of that window, that's
for sure, and it was really unsafe.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Joining me now is Karen Start, renownced psychologist, TV radio
trauma expert. You can find her at Karenstart dot com.
Joining us from Manhattan today, Karen, thank you for being
with us. I'm going to circle back in a moment
to Annison who wrote duck Groom. But Karen, I get
the sense to that a cell phone, And here we
(19:06):
see the parents gave her a cell phone just before
her birthday, but before that she had convinced a little
boy at school to give her his cell phone okay,
and tell his mom he lost it. Smart girl, And
she created I guess a hotspot to use that phone
(19:27):
right because it didn't have internet service, so she arranged
for there to be internet service. So when dad is
looking at her phone and comparing it to his bill
and seeing big chunks of time, she's not using her
cell when she goes to the mall or wherever she goes,
she's not texting anything. It's because she's on this secret phone.
And what I'm getting at with you is I swear.
(19:49):
Sometimes I feel that cell phones, the internet TikTok. Adults
do it too. My best friend from law school, every
time I look at him, he's looking at it. I'm like, Frank,
get off your phone. You're with actual people right now.
It's an addiction like drinking. Are drugs, Karen.
Speaker 12 (20:08):
Without a doubt, Nancy phones anything with social media that's
taken over our culture. That's how everybody who is young
interacts with each other. And here we're talking about a
really smart little girl who understood how to get around rules,
who was rebellious. Maybe she felt that the constraints were
(20:29):
too tight on her. None if this is unusual for
a teenager, but keep in mind that their brains are
not fully developed. They really don't understand things in a
complex way. It's black or white. So here she is,
and she is manipulating the system and believing that what
she's doing is okay. That she doesn't understand negative consequences.
(20:53):
You just don't. That's why it's so hard to get
to teenagers.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
You have to be able to talk of your level.
Speaker 12 (21:00):
How that bone ship take it over and everyone is
constantly looking at them. That's the whole culture when it
comes to your children and everyone's children.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
You know, Anna Sna She's right, Anna, this is what
I've learned.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
There's no spanking, no hitting, no go to your room
at our home.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
If we want to make a point, which is I've
got to say, let me knock on what israere? Because
the twins are super well, they're practically perfect. I'll just
put it that way. But that's also that's what these
parents thought too. They had never had trouble with her.
She's great, grades, sweet, loving, the works. But if you
(21:46):
take their phone, it's like you've poured acid on them.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I think it's some sort of an addiction.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
And the way that she behaved, the way she reacted
when the parents took her phone, is entirely normal. She
was angry, she went to her room, she came out
that evening, she had a very quiet dinner, went back
to her room, and the next morning the cops were
at the door when the little friend can't find her.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
Yeah, and Nancy, everything you're highlighting here indicates that this
is a normal teenage girl, and normal teenage girls have struggles.
They have challenges, whether in their homes or at school,
with friends, and just with their own identities. As they're
going through adolescents. So it's not uncommon to see that
(22:38):
teens will turn to the Internet and apps and people
that they meet online for support, for validation. And unfortunately,
predators are well positioned to arm themselves in a position
of availability in the space that's available to them. Even still,
(23:01):
parents look and think, oh, well, my child's at home.
They are safe because they're not outside, But all the
while they're accessing the Internet from the comfort of their
bedrooms or their their homes themselves. And this is a
risk factor that all families need to be aware of,
just like this family was aware of it. That's why
they have parenting controls. And unfortunately, no, no level of
(23:24):
monitoring is enough when predators know exactly how to infiltrate
the minds and spirits of our young people.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
And I don't think yeah here, yeah, an order here,
she should be hold on, hold on our mom, and
I are thinking that I'm all right, hold on.
Speaker 13 (23:49):
Hey, Aubrey, Aubrey, You're.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
All has been forwarded to your voicemail. The person you're
trying to reach is not Ail at hells.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Recording your message had finished.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Recording, then I am astoring you as.
Speaker 15 (24:09):
A as you have my fourteen year old stepdaughter in
your custody.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
There you hear Aubrey's parents begging an older white female
to get in touch with them about Aubrey. Now, how
does she play into this scenario? Straight out to crimeonline
dot Com investigative reporter Sydney Sumner and a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Who is this woman?
Speaker 16 (24:35):
Sydney Fancy? So we believe this woman just happened across Aubrey.
So Aubrey has left her home, it's dark, it's cold outside.
This woman just happens to spot her as he if
she's okay, and Aubrey tells the story of having left
her abusive home and needing someplace to stay. So this
(24:59):
woman is acting with good intentions, maybe not the best intentions,
but she takes this young girl into her home thinking
she needs help.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Listen.
Speaker 10 (25:10):
About half an hour after the woman says Aubrey left,
another woman sponts Aubrey hitchhiking near the Ormrod Quarry. Fifteen
minutes later, Aubrey appears again, this time on surveillance at
a wah Wah convenience store. Aubrey is still wearing her
blue sweater with red sleeves, black yoga pants and her
white Billie Eilish sneakers, but she also has a gray
(25:32):
beanie and a bag. She did not leave her home
with Aubrey appears to be alone.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Straight out to Aubrey's mom, Jade Wu, there's no doubt
in my mind that that is a photo of Aubrey.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Yes, that's right now.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
When was that photo taken? As it relates to when
she left the home through the window.
Speaker 17 (25:49):
This picture was taken by a Wahwah convenience store at
January elevens, one day after Aubrey left home nine pm
at Whitehall, which is thirty minutes away from our home
in Palmer Township.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So we know she was alive the next day. So
who is this woman and what does she, if anything,
have to do with Aubrey. Listen.
Speaker 14 (26:18):
Using the phone number Aubrey contacted her boyfriend from Palmer,
PD tracked down the woman Aubrey is believed to be with.
The older woman lives in a wealthy area of Allentown,
more than twenty miles from Aubrey's home. The woman recognizes
Aubrey's picture and admits the teen was with her but
ran away just a few minutes ago. The woman claims
she crossed paths with Aubrey on the street around nine
(26:41):
pm Friday night and invited the teen into her home
as she was not dressed for the weather.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
All of this because her parents take away her cell phone.
Joining me now, expert the director of Operations USP, a
nationwide security who leads a team of investigators who specialize
in finding missing people. With me is Brian Fitzgibbons at
(27:07):
uspasecurity dot Com. Brian, at the beginning, I was highly
suspicious of this woman. Okay, a middle Asia, older woman
living in some wealthy enclave sees Aubrey. Aubrey gives her
a hard luck story. The woman takes her home, believes
(27:29):
the story, and before the woman can contact the parents
or anyone else, Aubrey runs away.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Now what do we do, Brian? Exactly? We're talking about
out of the frying pan and into the fire here.
Speaker 13 (27:46):
What likely the next step needs to be is to
look at forensically, look at this woman's cell phone, see
what apps were downloaded, what was logged into.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
We have to believe that Aubrey.
Speaker 13 (27:58):
Used her phone to communich kate in multiple ways with
multiple people, and that's that's the next hard lead in this.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Case, Alicia Kozakevitch joining us. I want you to hear this, Alicia.
Speaker 15 (28:10):
This woman, though, believes that we are physical using Aubrey
and is preparing to turn her over to people from
Pennsylvania to get her out of here. This woman, they said,
she seems.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
A nice older woman.
Speaker 15 (28:23):
That woman is convinced that we needed the torture awry,
and she thinks she.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Is helping all.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
This kid is connecting the pots of talking.
Speaker 15 (28:30):
Up her friends, realizing she ran away and that she's
beenigulating this oldly.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
But the old lady keeps hanging.
Speaker 17 (28:37):
Out on me.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
She wanted to answer my.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Alisha Kozykevitch was lured as a little girl about the
same age as Aubrey, lured online by a predator. She
was horribly abused and beaten, kept in an underground dungeon.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
But she actually lied to her family. But think about it.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
A child that doesn't tell mom and dad, hey, I
made a new friend online.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Is that lying? Well, of course it is to us,
but the child is innocent and doesn't understand.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
So, Alicia, are you surprised at all that Aubrey told
this old lady, hey, hey, I've got to get away from.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Home and spend the night there. I'm not surprised at all.
Speaker 11 (29:27):
No, it's not surprising, especially because to Aubrey it may
have been that something in her sphere of things was
happening at home that to her it did feel like abuse.
To her, it did feel like that. And kids are
going through so so much and they want help, and
often we tell them go to a trusted adult, but
(29:48):
it's who they trust as an adult, not necessarily an
adult that they can trust. And that may very well
be what happened here. And that if this woman was
acting with the best intentions, which maybe she was, possibly
possibly she wasn't that she didn't take the best actions.
She did need to call the police immediately, she did
(30:09):
need to go to the hospital. As he had said,
there needed to be an action taken immediately, and not
that this young girl needed to be hidden away. That's
where everything fell apart. And now this girl is lost
when we were able to tell.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Where she was prior to this, and here is another
chance that she could have been saved. Aubrey convinces the
old woman to take her to her little boyfriend's family.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Listen, Yah, this.
Speaker 18 (30:40):
Person partlandand Aubrey's boyfriend reaches out to her parents to
tell them about the encounter with Aubrey and the woman
outside his home.
Speaker 10 (30:55):
He says Aubrey appeared physically okay and describes the woman
she was with as an older white woman driving an SUV,
but he can't speak to the make or model of
the car. He sends them screenshots of several texts from Aubrey,
but says she isn't answering him anymore.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Crime stories with Nancy.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Grace straight back out to Jay, this is Aubrey's mom,
so here's another chance. The old lady could have saved Aubrey,
but she believed Aubrey. She believed what Aubrey said in
her attempt to run away. Then Aubrey convinces the older
(31:40):
woman to take her to her little boyfriends. They get
there and the boyfriend's mom will not let her stay,
so she takes off. There was another chance to save
her right there.
Speaker 17 (31:55):
Jade, Yes, when I hear about Aubrey's have met conn
that was this boyfriend and it happens to me. I
was luckily on Aubrey's Snapchat account and boyfriend was try
to apologize to Aubrey, say that I wish I could
have help you, And I immediately told him that I'm
(32:16):
her mom and she's been missing, and please tell me
what happened.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
So he told me that half hour ago, this woman
with the suv come to their front door. It's not
exactly at their front door. They meet them at a
corner of their place. And this woman, like both boyfriend's
mom and this old woman, refused to call the police
(32:45):
and refuse to save my little throat And how entitled
are they to take it on their hands? The old
women say it to the mother of the boyfriend. If
you're going to take her, I'm no way to tend
it to police. I'm going to tear her out of
state tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
When this boy messages to Aubrey saying, I'm so sorry
that my parents did that to you and they weren't
able to help you. I hope, I hope you're going
to be okay. They do not have a relationship, as
he has depicted to his parents that necessity necessitated them
(33:26):
calling in a welfare check to begin with.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
The trail for their daughter, just fourteen years old, goes dead.
When she leaves the little boyfriend's family standing outside. They
say you can't stay here and send her off. Now
they are convinced their daughter has been sex trafficked, and.
Speaker 10 (33:47):
This is why since Aubrey's disappearance, her parents have dug
through her social media profiles, discovering Aubrey has thousands of
contacts on Snapchat from all around the world, and many
of her conversations are much older than her. Her dangerous
social media behavior has her parents terrified that Aubrey could
have plans to meet up with the predator and that
(34:08):
Aubrey could end up anywhere.
Speaker 19 (34:11):
A family's worst nightmare becomes a reality after their fourteen
year old daughter in c Aubrey Wuh goes missing amidst
fears the young girl may have fallen prey to online predators.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Joining us tonight, Aubrey's mother Jay and stepfather John joining us.
But now to the family attorney, Alexandria Ali Crothammel, thank
you so much for being with us and for what
you were doing for her family. Let me understand what
exactly was the last siding of Aubrey.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Ali for the.
Speaker 20 (34:46):
Last sighting of Aubrey was that she was seen at
the South Whitehall wall walk. There is video surveillance of
that and then she was subsequently seen by a person
at the Panera Bread, which is about a five minute
to ten minute walk from the wah Wah in the
same town, which is South Whitehall, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
I'm curious, Allie, this is Allie Crothwell speaking the family lawyer. Allie,
what time of the day or night were these sidings
at the wah Wahs which is like a convenience store
grocery store and the Panera Bread.
Speaker 21 (35:22):
It was approximately nine pm because we know this because
the man that spoke to Aubrey at the Panera Bread
was picking up his child from the Panera and they
closed at approximately nine pm.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Guys, we have a confirmed siding of her at the
Panera Bread.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
After that, there's no social media.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
There's no contact with family, no contact with a little boyfriend, nothing,
nothing at all. No Insta, no Snapchat, nothing. So given
that Brian Gibbons, where do we go from there? She
was out at night alone and there's been no contact
(36:07):
with her by anyone ever since.
Speaker 13 (36:10):
The amount of time is extremely concerning here, Nancy, and
from a digital perspective, one of the few things that
we would be able to do is to see if
there were logins to those accounts. This is something that
police should be looking at. The second thing is any
other support networks that could be sending her money, friends, acquaintances,
(36:32):
any of these older male contacts that her parents found
on the phone. That this would be the next step
in the investigation.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
This girl is fourteen years old and out there on
her own. The parents find an almost accountable contacts of
people reaching out to her on social media. Who are
these guys? How old are these guys?
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Where are these guys?
Speaker 1 (36:59):
And sounds of very much like Sarah Merrill when she
wakes up and finds her daughter gone.
Speaker 20 (37:05):
I woke up in the morning.
Speaker 22 (37:06):
I made myself some coffee, kind of stalled and was
trying to enjoy a nice, quiet Saturday morning before everyone
got up, and I started to cook omelets. And then
I realized it was awfully quiet and it was getting late.
So I decided to go check on Ella and wake
her up, and that's when I discovered she was gone.
I was immediately frantic and panicking. I called her sister first,
(37:31):
and then I hung up on her and called the police,
And as in.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
The case of so many missing children, we find out
she had been lured online.
Speaker 21 (37:42):
The first friend's house I stopped at.
Speaker 22 (37:44):
I heard concerns that she maybe with someone they had
known she had been talking to online. They all had
one thing in common. They all had a man from online.
They all thought his name was Keith, and they all
thought he came from a different state.
Speaker 23 (37:57):
We don't get a lot of ride shares here in
and so we were able to narrow down who it was.
A subject name of Keith with an address in Michigan
that from.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Our friends at KI NJ, Seattle.
Speaker 24 (38:10):
So we had taken away her phone and her internet
access in our home. So every bit of conversation that
she had with the man that lured her away happened
at the school. On the school premises, she was kidnapped
and held against her will for three hundred and ninety
nine days. He starved her, He tortured her, He assaulted
(38:33):
her in every way that you can imagine. He kept
her in a dog cage for days and days at
a time.
Speaker 17 (38:41):
He treated her.
Speaker 24 (38:44):
The way that he treated her was inhuman. It is
so hard for me to even imagine the treatment that
she received.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
That is Haley's mom, Shanna Burns.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Hailey was found alive after being lured online from the school.
Kimp Sure found alive after being lured online. To John
and Jade, these are Aubrey's mom As stepdad, you believed
you were doing everything possible to keep your daughter safe?
(39:16):
Would you agree, John?
Speaker 4 (39:17):
Yes, I would agree, Nancy absolutely?
Speaker 2 (39:20):
And what do you mean by that? What were you
doing to keep her safe? Parents all over the country
are listening to you right now? What were you doing
to keep Aubrey's safe?
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Well, the first thing we did was we had a
very open and honest dialogue in our home. We didn't
shy away from discussing the threats of these situations. And
then we follow the guidance of the professionals from the
medical community, and we have a structured home where we
try to make sure that there's no devices laying around,
(39:50):
there's no money laying around, there's not We spend a
lot of time together as a family, right. I think
that's the most important thing we did, was try to
make sure you were really bonding and connecting.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
It's been six weeks with no sign of Aubrey. Where
is this little girl? Who did she meet online?
Speaker 1 (40:16):
The last known signing was at Panera Bread after nine pm.
If you know or think you know anything about Aubrey's whereabouts.
Please help us while there's still time to save her.
Six one zero seven five nine two two hundred repeat
(40:40):
six one zero seven five nine two hundred. To Jade
Aubrey's mom, what is your message to your daughter tonight?
Speaker 17 (40:52):
Jade Aubrey, No matter who you encounter, what you've been through,
I'm here for you. I'm here for you always, yesterday, today, tomorrow.
I miss you every second and I'm worried sick. If
you are there, you can see this. Let me know
you are safe, and reach out and call nine one
(41:15):
one if you are in danger.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
I know you're a smart girl.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
You can't do this. I'm waiting for you.
Speaker 13 (41:20):
Just let me know.
Speaker 9 (41:22):
And if anything called nine one one, Please I wait
for you to come home. I can't wait to see you,
and I miss you so much every second I'm awake.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Guys, please help us find Aubrey again. There is a
chance to bring her home alive.
Speaker 18 (41:41):
That number.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Six one zero seven five nine two two hundred. Nancy
Gray signing off, goodbye friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, please help us find Aubrey.
The parents of a missing Lehigh Valley girl are pleading
for your help Tonight. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.
Thank you for being with US police desperately searching for
(00:21):
a missing fourteen year old amidst a family's fears of
sex trafficking. Joining us an all star panel to make
sense of what we are learning about missing Aubrey Tonight
as the days pass her parents are desperate and they
are joining us now straight out to John German, joining us,
her stepdad.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
And her mom Jade. To both of you, thank you
for being with us. John. From what you have told me, there.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Was no indication at all that Aubrey would just run
away and disappear. Why are you concerned Aubrey could be
sex trafficked?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Thank you, Nancy.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Our concerns are there stem from the fact that we
learned that there was extensive use of a hotspot in
our home from a real phone that we provided her
that had multiple layers of parental controls. Saturday morning, one
of Aubrey's closest friend, if not her closest friend, provided
(01:25):
us feedback that she had tried to reach out to Aubrey.
I said to her, well, I have Aubrey's phone and
I don't see an inbound call or a text, and
the young girl uttered the phrase to us, that is
the beginning of our living nightmare here, which is I
contacted your daughter through her secret snapcat.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
And she proceeded to Okay, whoa, whoa wait, wait, guys
with me, Aubrey's mom and stepdad, Jade and John, you
just fell want you put a dagger in my heart
secret snap Chat hold on just a moment.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Joining me is a special guest, an a sonoda, a
grooming expert. Snapchat can be innocent, but it can also
be every parent's worst a nightmare and a nutshell, because remember, Anna,
you're very well versed in all of this, a digital
the digital scare parents live through.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
In a nutshell? What is Snapchat? What is he talking about?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Nancy?
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Snapchat is one of the most popular apps that teens
are using these days to not only share messages, but
also share pictures and videos. The unique part about Snapchat
is that whatever you send, you get it and.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Then it disappears.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
However, we all know that it still lives on in
the cloud on the web itself. But this is an
app that is used by most teenagers can through smart devices,
and it is a playground for potential predators.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, you know it can be innocent too, Anna, because
the other day the twins send out a snapchat to
a group about homecoming get together and it can be
useful and wonderful.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
And they keep in touch that way. But you're right.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It disappears virtually as soon as you send it, and
it's among other media platforms, is very popular.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
If anybody says email, just wipe that out of your mind.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Tweens, preteens scenes, that's a thing of the past. Don't
even say FB, Facebook.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Forget it, not happening. They don't care. It's over for them.
Maybe you and your friends all do Facebook. They don't.
Back to John.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
German and Jade, the mom and stepfather of this little girl.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
To Jade, this is Aubrey's mom, Jade.
Speaker 7 (04:05):
What went through your mind when you realized Aubrey was
not in her room's parents' worst nightmare because just the
week that she left, she was good morning, good.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Night, love you mom, love you Dad. And discover her
disappearance and knowing the next day of the snapchat, we
know it's very bad news, and the nightmare begins.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
What were you telling you at the hotspot? And snapchat
what you learned? Because as Jade, mom is telling us
right before she disappears, I.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Love you, Mom, I love you guys and goes to bed.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
That's Aubrey most nights. Actually we have to fight her off.
She's going to bed. She says good night, I love
you over and over. It's very endearing of her. She
is a very loving and kind young girl, and she
wants to hear it back. She doesn't want us to
(05:09):
nod and just go uh huh okay. Sometimes I could
be a little bit like that and Aubrey would just
come over, give her mom a big hug, give me
a hug, and say, all right, guys, I'm going to bed,
And yeah, I agree with Jade. We were very blind sided.
But I know your question is about the hotspot. So
the night before we did have an opportunity to take Aubrey.
(05:32):
She had dance plass that evening, so we took her
out to eat our favorite spot. You'd like to go
to a popeyees. We get some chicken, We sit in
the parking lot, listen to some music and that that's
our space, and we began to talk, and the conversation
was a little difficult, a little bit more difficult than
usual get into the to the truth of what some
(05:53):
of the things were we were talking about. So we
asked for Aubrey's cell phone, and right away some things
looked off. There was no recent phone calls for the
prior month, there was no recent text messages for the
prior month. And to know Aubrey is to know Aubrey
is a social butterfly. There ever, was one and all
(06:13):
winter break she had been going out to the mall,
to the library, so we were a little concerned that
we saw like the lack of coordination on her phone.
So as Jade and her are talking, I grabbed my phone,
which gives me the billing details, and actually, surprisingly the
calls and the text they match up, so I'm actually thinking, Okay,
(06:36):
this is good. And then I noticed there's a third
tab on my bill that I've never seen before, which
is hotspot. Now, in our own home, we have Wi Fi.
Jade and I both work remotely from home, so I
was a little surprised to see that there was a
hotspot being used on the account. So I went into
the details, and when I clicked on the details, and
(06:58):
now this is January ninth, my ninth day on a
thirty day billion cycle, a twenty three page result is
returned to me. So immediately I turned to Jade in
the front seat of the car and I said, Jade,
we've got a major problem, kind of you know, just
kind of whispering between parents here. I turned to Aubrey
and I handed to my phone and I said, I'd
like you to help us understand why there's twenty one
(07:19):
pages of hotspot activity, and let's start with what the
device is, just trying to cut right to the case.
But Nancy, unfortunately that conversation we didn't get to the
end state of any acknowledgment that there was even a
device in our house. It was a challenging conversation for us,
(07:41):
and we've had many of these.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Oh my goodness, do you know how much I hate
confronting the twins over being on the phone too much.
I have to practically wrestle it away from my son.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
They're both seventeen.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
They're twins at the dinner table, which is a major
no no. And you'll say, Mom, I'm just filling the
blank and it always seems so legit. I'm checking what
time the game is, I'm this, I'm that, but it's
there attached to it. I actually think it's some psychological thing,
and I'm going to go to our shrink in just
a moment. But this is what we learned about the
(08:18):
additional tab.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Listen.
Speaker 8 (08:21):
Just over six months after Aubrey gets her own phone,
her parents discover a second, older iPhone hidden in her room.
When confronted, Aubrey admits she convinced a boy at school
to give it to her, and he told his parents.
Speaker 9 (08:33):
He lost it.
Speaker 8 (08:34):
Aubrey's extremely upset when her parents take both phones away
and ground her after.
Speaker 10 (08:38):
School, Aubrey only comes out for a quiet dinner, then
goes straight back upstairs. Aubrey's parents tuck in for an
early night, assuming Aubrey has done the scene behind her
closed bedroom door.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
As I mentioned earlier, we have an all star panel
joining with Aubrey's parents, trying our best to help bring
this fourteen year old little girl home her parents, and
you'll learn why fear that she has been sex trafficked.
In Joining me right now, a long time colleague that
(09:10):
I now consider a friend, Alicia Kozykevitch. She goes by
Alicia Kozak and she is the survivor.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Of a teen abduction. She was lured via the Internet.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
She was held hostage, abused, beaten, and it was the
evening her kidnapper had planned to kill her after sharing
images of her to other pedophiles. One of the pedophiles
(09:51):
felt sorry for her and called police. That is how
her life was saved within hours of her death. Her
being with us is a miracle, and tonight we have
a chance to save another young girl. Aubrey, Alicia, I
(10:14):
don't know how you managed to tell your story over
and over, bringing up the worst thing that has ever
happened to you.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
How were you as a little girl lord online?
Speaker 11 (10:30):
Yes, Nancy, I am so lucky to be here. And
it's a really hard story to share that I've been
sharing since I was fourteen years old, and it is
such an important story to share because it's what so
many kids are facing today. When I was thirteen, I
was really shy. I was quiet. I was the good kid.
I was curious. I was just a kid. But I
(10:52):
was vulnerable, as all kids are, and predators are seeking
out kids who are vulnerable, which Unfortunately, all kids are vulnerable,
and so what they do is they look for those
vulnerabilities to exploit and they groom and act as though
they are a friend. And it's really so simple. It's
(11:13):
just being into what the child is into, saying what
the child wants to hear, versus what they need to hear.
Always being there for them, always on their side, always
somebody that they can count on, somebody who makes them laugh,
somebody who makes them feel connected, and somebody who feels
like they know the real them. We have so many
different versions of ourselves, especially as kids. We have the
(11:36):
US at school, with US at the dinner table, the
US at church, the US here, the S there, But
who is the real you? And kids are still trying
to figure out certainly who they are. They're trying to
figure out what they like, literally their identity, and predators
come in, swoop in and say, well, I know the
real you, and I think the real you is amazing.
(11:57):
While they're trying to discover all this slowly breaks down boundaries,
and they are so good at doing what they do.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It's amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Alicia Koseykevich that you were very loved by your family.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You loved them back.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
But you met a friend online that first posed as
a girl and later said, hey, I'm really a boy.
But you know, I was just trying to get close
to you. And I don't think you talked to me
if you I was.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
A boy, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And so you overlooked that adults wouldn't do that children would.
And then one night around Christmas time, you're sitting at
the table having dinner.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
It starts very lightly.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Snowing outside, and your friend says, come meet me outside,
and between dinner and dessert, you vanish.
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 11 (12:50):
And that's something that I talked to children about, definitely
and to adults, is that I felt so loved. I
knew I was loved. I had such a close relationship
my family, and yet deep down I still felt lonely,
and that loneliness was one of my big vulnerabilities. And
on New Year's Day two thousand and two, I agreed
(13:10):
to meet this person, which was completely out of my character.
Like I said, I was really shy, I was really quiet.
I was a kid who didn't raise their hand in class.
I wasn't the kid who would go to walk to
the grocery store. I was a very quiet at home
kind of kid. And what predators do is they are
able to wear down who which child is in so
(13:31):
many ways and to change who they are characteristically and
get them to do things that they would never do.
If you had talked to me the night before this
happened and said, hey, Alicia, this is what you're going
to do in the future, I would say absolutely not.
I would never do that. I'm so much smarter than that,
I'm so much more careful than that. And yet on
that night, against every bit of who I am, I
(13:54):
went against that because that's how good predators are at
what they do.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Alicia, with a ten minutes of leaving the supper table,
where did you find yourself?
Speaker 11 (14:06):
I found myself in this man's car and he began
driving from Pittsyl, Pennsylvania, where I lived, to Virginia, where
he held me captive in his basement.
Speaker 8 (14:18):
Dungeon, A Pennsylvania family is worried sick about fourteen year
old inc Aubrey WU, who disappeared six weeks ago. Aubrey's
parents say, based on her secret social media use, Aubrey
could be anywhere from California to Saudi Arabia. Her parents
terrified she was lured out of their home by a
predator and may be a victim of sex trafficking. Pennsylvania
(14:40):
teen in c Aubrey wu critically missing as a search
intensifies after the fourteen year old girl was last seen
at home over six weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
We may have a chance to bring Aubrey home alive.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Look at her. Here is the number to call if
you think even think you have seen her.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Six one zero seven five nine to two hundred repeat
six one zero seven five nine two to zero. Crime
Stories with Nancy Grace. Her parents joining us tonight. Now,
(15:27):
the dad and mom just told you that they took
her phone away when they realized she had a secret phone,
and then she didn't like it.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Of course, and then this.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's our ruler.
Speaker 12 (15:49):
Is he here?
Speaker 4 (15:50):
She should be hold on, hold.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
On or Mom and I are hitting that.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
I'm wait all right, hold on, hey.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Aubrey.
Speaker 13 (16:02):
Aubrey.
Speaker 14 (16:03):
John German calls upstairs for Aubrey several times, but receives
no answer. The family security cameras reveal Aubrey crawled out
her bedroom window.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Oh my stars, straight back out to the parents, joining us, Mom, Jay, Stepdad, John,
what did you guys think, Quen, you go to the
door and it's police. John, What were police doing at
your door? And we see you steal in your bathrobe?
Start calling Ay Aubrey, come down. What did they tell you?
(16:36):
Why were they looking for your girl?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Well, thanks for the question, Nancy. You know that video
shows me at the front door. But actually what woke
us up because we do take a nap and use
a sound machine. They were banging on our bedroom windows
on the side of our house. They were banging on
our back door. So actually I first checked the back door,
thinking maybe it was just some kids in the neighborhood,
you know, kind of goofing around, and that's why I
(17:01):
have my bathrobe on. I go to the door, but
when I look through the blinds, I see police lights
light lit up all around our property. It was about
five cards out there. And then as soon as I
hollered up to her that actually I wasn't so worried. Honestly,
Nancy Aubrey has a tendency to be in her room
with headphones on listening to music. It is Friday night,
(17:23):
so I just thought maybe she didn't hear me, And
then I asked Jade to go upstairs and check. But
when Jade said she's not there, that is a feeling
that I don't ever want to feel again, and I
don't want any other parent to have to feel it
was It brings me to tears out even to talk
about it. It's just in this moment when we know
(17:46):
she's not there, and that window, Nancy, it is configured
to only open as much for a window fan, so
it's maybe only eight inches of an opening, so and
it goes out onto a rickety old roof and probably
hasn't had a new shingle at it since nineteen thirty
when it was built, so it's very dangerous. It's not
(18:06):
even just you know, like she's got to go onto
one roof, then she's got to climb or jump onto
the adjoining roof and then climb over this tiny balcony
where our neighbor keeps a big grill.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And it's a lot.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
I was actually quite stunned, I at first, until we
got our neighbor's camera. Jade and I were actually completely
puzzled as to how she left the house and we
didn't see it on our cameras because I kept telling
Jade that opening is just small and then we saw
the footage, so she really you know, I would have
(18:41):
had a difficult time getting out of that window, that's
for sure, and it was really unsafe.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Joining me now is Karen Start, renownced psychologist, TV radio
trauma expert. You can find her at Karenstart dot com.
Joining us from Manhattan today, Karen, thank you for being
with us. I'm going to circle back in a moment
to Annison who wrote duck Groom. But Karen, I get
the sense to that a cell phone, And here we
(19:06):
see the parents gave her a cell phone just before
her birthday, but before that she had convinced a little
boy at school to give her his cell phone okay,
and tell his mom he lost it. Smart girl, And
she created I guess a hotspot to use that phone
(19:27):
right because it didn't have internet service, so she arranged
for there to be internet service. So when dad is
looking at her phone and comparing it to his bill
and seeing big chunks of time, she's not using her
cell when she goes to the mall or wherever she goes,
she's not texting anything. It's because she's on this secret phone.
And what I'm getting at with you is I swear.
(19:49):
Sometimes I feel that cell phones, the internet TikTok. Adults
do it too. My best friend from law school, every
time I look at him, he's looking at it. I'm like, Frank,
get off your phone. You're with actual people right now.
It's an addiction like drinking. Are drugs, Karen.
Speaker 12 (20:08):
Without a doubt, Nancy phones anything with social media that's
taken over our culture. That's how everybody who is young
interacts with each other. And here we're talking about a
really smart little girl who understood how to get around rules,
who was rebellious. Maybe she felt that the constraints were
(20:29):
too tight on her. None if this is unusual for
a teenager, but keep in mind that their brains are
not fully developed. They really don't understand things in a
complex way. It's black or white. So here she is,
and she is manipulating the system and believing that what
she's doing is okay. That she doesn't understand negative consequences.
(20:53):
You just don't. That's why it's so hard to get
to teenagers.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
You have to be able to talk of your level.
Speaker 12 (21:00):
How that bone ship take it over and everyone is
constantly looking at them. That's the whole culture when it
comes to your children and everyone's children.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
You know, Anna Sna She's right, Anna, this is what
I've learned.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
There's no spanking, no hitting, no go to your room
at our home.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
If we want to make a point, which is I've
got to say, let me knock on what israere? Because
the twins are super well, they're practically perfect. I'll just
put it that way. But that's also that's what these
parents thought too. They had never had trouble with her.
She's great, grades, sweet, loving, the works. But if you
(21:46):
take their phone, it's like you've poured acid on them.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I think it's some sort of an addiction.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
And the way that she behaved, the way she reacted
when the parents took her phone, is entirely normal. She
was angry, she went to her room, she came out
that evening, she had a very quiet dinner, went back
to her room, and the next morning the cops were
at the door when the little friend can't find her.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
Yeah, and Nancy, everything you're highlighting here indicates that this
is a normal teenage girl, and normal teenage girls have struggles.
They have challenges, whether in their homes or at school,
with friends, and just with their own identities. As they're
going through adolescents. So it's not uncommon to see that
(22:38):
teens will turn to the Internet and apps and people
that they meet online for support, for validation. And unfortunately,
predators are well positioned to arm themselves in a position
of availability in the space that's available to them. Even still,
(23:01):
parents look and think, oh, well, my child's at home.
They are safe because they're not outside, But all the
while they're accessing the Internet from the comfort of their
bedrooms or their their homes themselves. And this is a
risk factor that all families need to be aware of,
just like this family was aware of it. That's why
they have parenting controls. And unfortunately, no, no level of
(23:24):
monitoring is enough when predators know exactly how to infiltrate
the minds and spirits of our young people.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
And I don't think yeah here, yeah, an order here,
she should be hold on, hold on our mom, and
I are thinking that I'm all right, hold on.
Speaker 13 (23:49):
Hey, Aubrey, Aubrey, You're.
Speaker 6 (23:56):
All has been forwarded to your voicemail. The person you're
trying to reach is not Ail at hells.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Recording your message had finished.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Recording, then I am astoring you as.
Speaker 15 (24:09):
A as you have my fourteen year old stepdaughter in
your custody.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
There you hear Aubrey's parents begging an older white female
to get in touch with them about Aubrey. Now, how
does she play into this scenario? Straight out to crimeonline
dot Com investigative reporter Sydney Sumner and a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Who is this woman?
Speaker 16 (24:35):
Sydney Fancy? So we believe this woman just happened across Aubrey.
So Aubrey has left her home, it's dark, it's cold outside.
This woman just happens to spot her as he if
she's okay, and Aubrey tells the story of having left
her abusive home and needing someplace to stay. So this
(24:59):
woman is acting with good intentions, maybe not the best intentions,
but she takes this young girl into her home thinking
she needs help.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Listen.
Speaker 10 (25:10):
About half an hour after the woman says Aubrey left,
another woman sponts Aubrey hitchhiking near the Ormrod Quarry. Fifteen
minutes later, Aubrey appears again, this time on surveillance at
a wah Wah convenience store. Aubrey is still wearing her
blue sweater with red sleeves, black yoga pants and her
white Billie Eilish sneakers, but she also has a gray
(25:32):
beanie and a bag. She did not leave her home
with Aubrey appears to be alone.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Straight out to Aubrey's mom, Jade Wu, there's no doubt
in my mind that that is a photo of Aubrey.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
Yes, that's right now.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
When was that photo taken? As it relates to when
she left the home through the window.
Speaker 17 (25:49):
This picture was taken by a Wahwah convenience store at
January elevens, one day after Aubrey left home nine pm
at Whitehall, which is thirty minutes away from our home
in Palmer Township.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
So we know she was alive the next day. So
who is this woman and what does she, if anything,
have to do with Aubrey. Listen.
Speaker 14 (26:18):
Using the phone number Aubrey contacted her boyfriend from Palmer,
PD tracked down the woman Aubrey is believed to be with.
The older woman lives in a wealthy area of Allentown,
more than twenty miles from Aubrey's home. The woman recognizes
Aubrey's picture and admits the teen was with her but
ran away just a few minutes ago. The woman claims
she crossed paths with Aubrey on the street around nine
(26:41):
pm Friday night and invited the teen into her home
as she was not dressed for the weather.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
All of this because her parents take away her cell phone.
Joining me now, expert the director of Operations USP, a
nationwide security who leads a team of investigators who specialize
in finding missing people. With me is Brian Fitzgibbons at
(27:07):
uspasecurity dot Com. Brian, at the beginning, I was highly
suspicious of this woman. Okay, a middle Asia, older woman
living in some wealthy enclave sees Aubrey. Aubrey gives her
a hard luck story. The woman takes her home, believes
(27:29):
the story, and before the woman can contact the parents
or anyone else, Aubrey runs away.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Now what do we do, Brian? Exactly? We're talking about
out of the frying pan and into the fire here.
Speaker 13 (27:46):
What likely the next step needs to be is to
look at forensically, look at this woman's cell phone, see
what apps were downloaded, what was logged into.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
We have to believe that Aubrey.
Speaker 13 (27:58):
Used her phone to communich kate in multiple ways with
multiple people, and that's that's the next hard lead in this.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Case, Alicia Kozakevitch joining us. I want you to hear this, Alicia.
Speaker 15 (28:10):
This woman, though, believes that we are physical using Aubrey
and is preparing to turn her over to people from
Pennsylvania to get her out of here. This woman, they said,
she seems.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
A nice older woman.
Speaker 15 (28:23):
That woman is convinced that we needed the torture awry,
and she thinks she.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Is helping all.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
This kid is connecting the pots of talking.
Speaker 15 (28:30):
Up her friends, realizing she ran away and that she's
beenigulating this oldly.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
But the old lady keeps hanging.
Speaker 17 (28:37):
Out on me.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
She wanted to answer my.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Alisha Kozykevitch was lured as a little girl about the
same age as Aubrey, lured online by a predator. She
was horribly abused and beaten, kept in an underground dungeon.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
But she actually lied to her family. But think about it.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
A child that doesn't tell mom and dad, hey, I
made a new friend online.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Is that lying? Well, of course it is to us,
but the child is innocent and doesn't understand.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
So, Alicia, are you surprised at all that Aubrey told
this old lady, hey, hey, I've got to get away from.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Home and spend the night there. I'm not surprised at all.
Speaker 11 (29:27):
No, it's not surprising, especially because to Aubrey it may
have been that something in her sphere of things was
happening at home that to her it did feel like abuse.
To her, it did feel like that. And kids are
going through so so much and they want help, and
often we tell them go to a trusted adult, but
(29:48):
it's who they trust as an adult, not necessarily an
adult that they can trust. And that may very well
be what happened here. And that if this woman was
acting with the best intentions, which maybe she was, possibly
possibly she wasn't that she didn't take the best actions.
She did need to call the police immediately, she did
(30:09):
need to go to the hospital. As he had said,
there needed to be an action taken immediately, and not
that this young girl needed to be hidden away. That's
where everything fell apart. And now this girl is lost
when we were able to tell.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Where she was prior to this, and here is another
chance that she could have been saved. Aubrey convinces the
old woman to take her to her little boyfriend's family.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
Listen, Yah, this.
Speaker 18 (30:40):
Person partlandand Aubrey's boyfriend reaches out to her parents to
tell them about the encounter with Aubrey and the woman
outside his home.
Speaker 10 (30:55):
He says Aubrey appeared physically okay and describes the woman
she was with as an older white woman driving an SUV,
but he can't speak to the make or model of
the car. He sends them screenshots of several texts from Aubrey,
but says she isn't answering him anymore.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Crime stories with Nancy.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Grace straight back out to Jay, this is Aubrey's mom,
so here's another chance. The old lady could have saved Aubrey,
but she believed Aubrey. She believed what Aubrey said in
her attempt to run away. Then Aubrey convinces the older
(31:40):
woman to take her to her little boyfriends. They get
there and the boyfriend's mom will not let her stay,
so she takes off. There was another chance to save
her right there.
Speaker 17 (31:55):
Jade, Yes, when I hear about Aubrey's have met conn
that was this boyfriend and it happens to me. I
was luckily on Aubrey's Snapchat account and boyfriend was try
to apologize to Aubrey, say that I wish I could
have help you, And I immediately told him that I'm
(32:16):
her mom and she's been missing, and please tell me
what happened.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
So he told me that half hour ago, this woman
with the suv come to their front door. It's not
exactly at their front door. They meet them at a
corner of their place. And this woman, like both boyfriend's
mom and this old woman, refused to call the police
(32:45):
and refuse to save my little throat And how entitled
are they to take it on their hands? The old
women say it to the mother of the boyfriend. If
you're going to take her, I'm no way to tend
it to police. I'm going to tear her out of
state tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
When this boy messages to Aubrey saying, I'm so sorry
that my parents did that to you and they weren't
able to help you. I hope, I hope you're going
to be okay. They do not have a relationship, as
he has depicted to his parents that necessity necessitated them
(33:26):
calling in a welfare check to begin with.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
The trail for their daughter, just fourteen years old, goes dead.
When she leaves the little boyfriend's family standing outside. They
say you can't stay here and send her off. Now
they are convinced their daughter has been sex trafficked, and.
Speaker 10 (33:47):
This is why since Aubrey's disappearance, her parents have dug
through her social media profiles, discovering Aubrey has thousands of
contacts on Snapchat from all around the world, and many
of her conversations are much older than her. Her dangerous
social media behavior has her parents terrified that Aubrey could
have plans to meet up with the predator and that
(34:08):
Aubrey could end up anywhere.
Speaker 19 (34:11):
A family's worst nightmare becomes a reality after their fourteen
year old daughter in c Aubrey Wuh goes missing amidst
fears the young girl may have fallen prey to online predators.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Joining us tonight, Aubrey's mother Jay and stepfather John joining us.
But now to the family attorney, Alexandria Ali Crothammel, thank
you so much for being with us and for what
you were doing for her family. Let me understand what
exactly was the last siding of Aubrey.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Ali for the.
Speaker 20 (34:46):
Last sighting of Aubrey was that she was seen at
the South Whitehall wall walk. There is video surveillance of
that and then she was subsequently seen by a person
at the Panera Bread, which is about a five minute
to ten minute walk from the wah Wah in the
same town, which is South Whitehall, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
I'm curious, Allie, this is Allie Crothwell speaking the family lawyer. Allie,
what time of the day or night were these sidings
at the wah Wahs which is like a convenience store
grocery store and the Panera Bread.
Speaker 21 (35:22):
It was approximately nine pm because we know this because
the man that spoke to Aubrey at the Panera Bread
was picking up his child from the Panera and they
closed at approximately nine pm.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Guys, we have a confirmed siding of her at the
Panera Bread.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
After that, there's no social media.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
There's no contact with family, no contact with a little boyfriend, nothing,
nothing at all. No Insta, no Snapchat, nothing. So given
that Brian Gibbons, where do we go from there? She
was out at night alone and there's been no contact
(36:07):
with her by anyone ever since.
Speaker 13 (36:10):
The amount of time is extremely concerning here, Nancy, and
from a digital perspective, one of the few things that
we would be able to do is to see if
there were logins to those accounts. This is something that
police should be looking at. The second thing is any
other support networks that could be sending her money, friends, acquaintances,
(36:32):
any of these older male contacts that her parents found
on the phone. That this would be the next step
in the investigation.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
This girl is fourteen years old and out there on
her own. The parents find an almost accountable contacts of
people reaching out to her on social media. Who are
these guys? How old are these guys?
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Where are these guys?
Speaker 1 (36:59):
And sounds of very much like Sarah Merrill when she
wakes up and finds her daughter gone.
Speaker 20 (37:05):
I woke up in the morning.
Speaker 22 (37:06):
I made myself some coffee, kind of stalled and was
trying to enjoy a nice, quiet Saturday morning before everyone
got up, and I started to cook omelets. And then
I realized it was awfully quiet and it was getting late.
So I decided to go check on Ella and wake
her up, and that's when I discovered she was gone.
I was immediately frantic and panicking. I called her sister first,
(37:31):
and then I hung up on her and called the police,
And as in.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
The case of so many missing children, we find out
she had been lured online.
Speaker 21 (37:42):
The first friend's house I stopped at.
Speaker 22 (37:44):
I heard concerns that she maybe with someone they had
known she had been talking to online. They all had
one thing in common. They all had a man from online.
They all thought his name was Keith, and they all
thought he came from a different state.
Speaker 23 (37:57):
We don't get a lot of ride shares here in
and so we were able to narrow down who it was.
A subject name of Keith with an address in Michigan
that from.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Our friends at KI NJ, Seattle.
Speaker 24 (38:10):
So we had taken away her phone and her internet
access in our home. So every bit of conversation that
she had with the man that lured her away happened
at the school. On the school premises, she was kidnapped
and held against her will for three hundred and ninety
nine days. He starved her, He tortured her, He assaulted
(38:33):
her in every way that you can imagine. He kept
her in a dog cage for days and days at
a time.
Speaker 17 (38:41):
He treated her.
Speaker 24 (38:44):
The way that he treated her was inhuman. It is
so hard for me to even imagine the treatment that
she received.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
That is Haley's mom, Shanna Burns.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
Hailey was found alive after being lured online from the school.
Kimp Sure found alive after being lured online. To John
and Jade, these are Aubrey's mom As stepdad, you believed
you were doing everything possible to keep your daughter safe?
(39:16):
Would you agree, John?
Speaker 4 (39:17):
Yes, I would agree, Nancy absolutely?
Speaker 2 (39:20):
And what do you mean by that? What were you
doing to keep her safe? Parents all over the country
are listening to you right now? What were you doing
to keep Aubrey's safe?
Speaker 4 (39:29):
Well, the first thing we did was we had a
very open and honest dialogue in our home. We didn't
shy away from discussing the threats of these situations. And
then we follow the guidance of the professionals from the
medical community, and we have a structured home where we
try to make sure that there's no devices laying around,
(39:50):
there's no money laying around, there's not We spend a
lot of time together as a family, right. I think
that's the most important thing we did, was try to
make sure you were really bonding and connecting.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
It's been six weeks with no sign of Aubrey. Where
is this little girl? Who did she meet online?
Speaker 1 (40:16):
The last known signing was at Panera Bread after nine pm.
If you know or think you know anything about Aubrey's whereabouts.
Please help us while there's still time to save her.
Six one zero seven five nine two two hundred repeat
(40:40):
six one zero seven five nine two hundred. To Jade
Aubrey's mom, what is your message to your daughter tonight?
Speaker 17 (40:52):
Jade Aubrey, No matter who you encounter, what you've been through,
I'm here for you. I'm here for you always, yesterday, today, tomorrow.
I miss you every second and I'm worried sick. If
you are there, you can see this. Let me know
you are safe, and reach out and call nine one
(41:15):
one if you are in danger.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
I know you're a smart girl.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
You can't do this. I'm waiting for you.
Speaker 13 (41:20):
Just let me know.
Speaker 9 (41:22):
And if anything called nine one one, Please I wait
for you to come home. I can't wait to see you,
and I miss you so much every second I'm awake.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Guys, please help us find Aubrey again. There is a
chance to bring her home alive.
Speaker 18 (41:41):
That number.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
Six one zero seven five nine two two hundred. Nancy
Gray signing off, goodbye friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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