breaking news tonight, live, arizona, a gorgeous 23-year-old mom takes off from her home, tempe, arizona, by car, for a 978-mile road trip with this beautiful 8-month-old baby boy, gabriel. she ends up spending christmas in a local motel alone. san antonio, texas, along the way, calling the 25-year-old biological father threatening he'd never see the baby again, even telling him baby gabriel is dead. turns out mommy was trying to give the baby away the whole time to an arizona couple.

december 30, mommy's located in a miami beach, florida, youth hostel, minus the baby. her car abandoned somewhere between tempe, arizona, and miami beach. in the last hours, mommy's car located, san antonio, motel 6. baby's car seat, still inside. tonight, we learn mommy, alone, no baby gabriel. takes the greyhound bus to florida december 27th. the last day of any credible sign of baby gabriel alive. primetime exclusive tonight, the arizona couple, that couple set to secretly adopt baby gabriel, with us live. tonight, what did mommy tell them from behind bars? does she really claim she gives the baby away to an anonymous

couple she just met at a public park? tonight, can we save the little baby with an angel face, baby gabriel. the case of missing arizona boy, 8-month-old gabriel johnson. the fbi is currently processing the car on gabriel's mother. found outside a motel in san antonio, texas. >> we do know that elizabeth took gabriel from arizona to texas and that she stayed in two different hotels while she was down there. >> investigators are hoping evidence in the abandoned car will lead them to the missing toddler, gabriel johnson. >> it's got to provide some sort of clues, mileage, information left inside it. >> authorities believe elizabeth johnson, gabriel's mother, bought a bus ticket headed to florida. >> it's from the point from december 26th, december 27th of 2009, up until this point, that we don't know where the child

is. >> at this point, elizabeth johnson has not provided us any information on even gabriel's condition, much less his whereabouts. >> johnson told the adoptive couple, tammi and jack smith, that she gave gabriel to a couple she met at a park in san antonio. but can't remember their last name, address or phone number. >> she texted that i killed him. >> she killed him? >> yes. >> past tense? >> i killed him. that's what she said. >> and tonight, live, to utah, the mystery surrounding the sudden suspicious disappearance of a young stockbroker, the mother of two little children. investigators combing the family home. the family van and a rented vehicle. why did daddy take his two little boys camping at midnight in freezing weather the night mommy goes missing. i don't like it. at this hour, still, no sign of the 28-year-old mother of two. the story taking even more

bizarre twists and turns. tonight, where is susan powell? -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com do you have any idea what happened to her? >> no. thank you. any help to try to find her would be appreciated. >> west valley police say joshua powell remains their only person of interest in susan's disappearance. >> speculation comes from josh's story, that he took his 2 and 4-year-old sons camping in the freezing cold of the west deserts on the night susan disappeared from their west valley home. >> a lot of times i just go camping with my boys. i thought i'd just go overnight. and made s'mores and stuff like that. >> there was a huge effort out in the west desert looking for any sign of her. is that where you were camping? >> i just have to go get my

boys. >> it was at the vigilance in their hometown that josh arrived with one of their sons. friends surprised he would leave utah during the investigation. >> i would like to hear a credible story. i'd like to know the facts, what happened, what does he know, what does he not know, and if it clears him, that's great. because now we can get on to the main focus which is, where is my daughter at? >> i didn't do anything. i mean -- i don't know where she's at. >> good evening. i'm nancy grace. i want to thank you for being with us. live to arizona, a 23-year-old mother takes off from her home, tempe, arizona, by car for a 978-mile road trip with this beautiful 8-month-old baby boy, baby gabriel. she ends up spending christmas alone with the baby in a local motel, san antonio, texas. calling the 25-year-old

biological father telling him baby gabriel is dead. turns out she was trying to give the baby away the whole time to an arizona couple. mommy's located in miami beach, minus the baby. her car abandoned. bombshell tonight, in the last hours, mommy's car located, san antonio. baby's car seat, still inside. tonight, we learn mommy, alone, no baby gabriel, hops a greyhound pus to florida december 27th. now, that's the last day of any credible sighting of baby gabriel alive. she claims she gave the baby away during this road trip to a couple she had just met at a public park. >> new details emerge in the case of missing gabriel johnson. the vehicle elizabeth johnson was last seen in was found in san antonio, texas. >> that's where 8-month-old

gabriel was last seen with her. and she won't tell authorities where her baby is. >> the car was located at a motel across the street from a bus station. cops reportedly believe johnson bought a bus ticket on december 27th and boarded the bus alone. the bus going to florida, where johnson was later arrested for custodial interference. >> she tells the bio dad that the baby is dead. >> i was scared when she first said it and went right to the police station. i didn't know what to do. >> police say johnson has previously made threats to harm her son and just recently lost custodial rights to the child. >> now everybody's saying, oh, she said that because she wanted to sign the papers to give the baby away for adoption. >> basically didn't want me to have him. and wanted to put him up for adoption, a better life. that's what she kept saying. >> authorities say there are no signs of obvious violence in the vehicle. police are still working to find gabriel who johnson allegedly claims she left with a couple she met at a park in san antonio. but cannot remember their last

name, where they live or how to get in touch with them. >> we are getting information in even now as i'm going to air, i have just learned in my ear that there are four security cameras there, that san antonio bus station, that the fbi has come -- has just come and taken all of the surveillance video on and around december 27. now, that is the day that this mother -- should she deserve that title, i don't think so -- last time she was spotted, that was december 27th, the baby was spotted that day. there's a credible sighting of the baby alive december 27. so we're waiting to find out the results of that video footage that the fbi has taken from the san antonio greyhound bus station. straight out to michael board, reporter woai news radio,

joining us from san antonio. michael, what can you tell me? >> i talked to the fbi this afternoon and they said they are still combing the san antonio area. they believe there are maybe possibly clues in san antonio as to where this beautiful 8-month-old baby boy is. nancy, i put this question to the fbi when i spoke to them this afternoon. how does a single mother without a job pay for a bus ticket to miami, pay for hotel rooms, pay for gas? i asked the fbi, are you looking into the possibility that this so-called mother sold the baby. they would not answer my question. they say that is still under investigation. they're not talking about any leads in this particular case. but nancy, you have to think, where does a single mother without a job get the money to drive from arizona to san antonio, stay in hotels and get a bus ticket to miami? >> did she have a job, matt? >> and she never checked out of the hotel. so for all we know she never actually paid the hotel bill. >> so she has no job, no means of support. and so michael board, let me ask you this, how much does it cost

to get a one-way greyhound bus ticket from san antonio to miami beach? >> well, we know she had to pay for gas money to get from arizona to san antonio. she borrowed her grandfather's car to get from there to here. that's a couple hundred bucks in gas money right there. a lot of money if you don't have a job and are paying for a child. plus you have to feed that child. you have to put diapers on that child. you may have to buy a bus ticket, which for this busline, a couple hundred bucks. where do you get that kind of cash? nancy, what are the ideas we could think about here? i don't want to go to some of the areas where you think of, but one possible idea i put to the fbi, did she sell this child? it's definitely a possibility. we've got to think about that. >> with me right now in a primetime exclusive, two very special guests. special to me. jack smith and tammi peters smith. they are the phoenix, arizona, couple that pinned their hopes

and dreams, attached their heart to this little baby, baby gabriel, in the hopes that they were going to get to call him their baby boy. that they were going to adopt baby gabriel. they had been on the string with this woman, elizabeth johnson, age 23, for some time. jack and tammi, thank you for being with us. first to you, jack smith -- >> hi, nancy, how are you? >> i'm very disturbed. i'm disturbed about why -- why didn't she just go ahead and give you the baby? why give the baby to some people she had just met at some public park, for pete's sake? jack smith, what do you think? >> well, you know, again, we don't know what's in her mind. and i would love to think i know what's in her mind, but i don't. if i did, baby gabriel would be us, and back here in arizona. the reason she didn't give him

to us is the father was saying he wasn't going to do that. this was the first time we'd had a chance to be with the father -- to talk with the father. so he was saying he wasn't going to do it. so that basically left her with no alternative in her mind but to go. >> tammi smith, did she ever want money from you guys? >> never once did she ask for anything. not a ride, not a meal, not to borrow a quarter. >> do you think, tammi, that she is capable of killing this baby? >> you know, from what i know of her, i don't believe so. but i've only known her maybe three or four weeks.

always moving around doing stuff. loved to play. >> intense search for a baby boy, cute little gabriel johnson. an 8-month-old who vanishes days after christmas. now his mother's arrested. the baby's father says she sent text messages that his little boy was dead. >> she called the dad a couple of times to say you'll never see the baby again. i've killed the baby. all along, apparently, she's tried to adopt the baby out, possibly for money. >> whether it's true or false, that's a terrible way to tell a

father anything about his own son. and she's playing games, obviously doesn't want the father to have any contact with his child. >> this is a pretty destructive woman. and as it's been said so many times, she's very manipulative. >> the mom is not concerned with the child's safety. if she was, she would have been focused on being a better mom and she's worried about control over those child. it's about spiting the father. >> according to court documents, she had hidden this child one other time and had it at a friend's house. and accused logan of taking, or hiding the child. >> this is about a long-standing issue that she's had with the father of the child. this is really about these two fighting, and the child is collateral damage. >> we spoke about some of the threats that were potentially made by -- that were made by elizabeth to harm gabriel. so we had that information initially. now some information that possibly gabriel was given up in

an adoption situation. we're still trying to confirm if either of those stories is true. the car was located yesterday probably about 4:40 arizona time. about 5:40 in the san antonio time zone. and the great thing that came out of that for us is that gabriel was not in the vehicle. and investigators are still trying to sort through that vehicle, process that vehicle for evidence. >> we are taking your calls live. i want to go back to jack and tammi smith, the arizona couple that had planned to adopt baby gabriel. thank you for being with us. >> you're welcome. >> have you spoken to her since she has been behind bars, mr. smith? >> we did. we talked to her, and we had the local channel here tape it, so that there was no questions about what was said and what was done and how it was done. >> what did you learn? >> well, one thing we learned is

where the car was, because it was right after that upfeed -- or upload, it's our understanding right after the upload we did find out where the car was. so they were able to find the car after we did the interview. nobody said that it was attributed necessarily to that. but they found it at 4:00 and we did the interview at 2:00. so that came from it. to be honest with you, we had a list of questions. the questions, you know, we wanted to -- the main question that we wanted, obviously, was, where is gabriel? where is this little sweet, wonderful baby? and at that point she said that she met a couple in the park. and i do have the name of the park. we didn't know this until the afternoon. raymond russell park. >> raymond russell park? so she remembered that but she didn't remember the -- >> no, no.

forgive me, no, this come from -- and i don't mean to go off track here. >> that's okay. >> but we have focused our life for the last few days, since all this happened, we're on the phone all day trying to find out as much information. we have contacts. we have sources. isn't that cool? we have sources in san antonio, with the radio station and -- the radio and television. >> so you figured out it was raymond russell park? >> raymond russell park is where they -- and we also found out through that source that when she bought the bus ticket, she bought it as elizabeth jones. >> is it true, miss smith, that you learned she checked in and paid for the hotel room a week ahead of time is this. >> yes. she told me that she was paid up until sunday. and we had her basically ready

to come back sunday morning. she was going to come back. we had offered to help her with an attorney so that she could keep the custody. and the custody would not go to the father. >> and then out of the blue, she just takes off? >> yes. >> where do you think she got the money, miss smith, to buy the ticket? it's about 150 bucks a ticket. plus the gas she needed to get from tempe down to san antonio. >> all i know is that a few days prior to her leaving, she had told me she had -- we saw her dog. she had two yorkies. and she sold the two dogs for $500. she rented a room to her roommate for $400 cash. and he confirmed that. and then i believe she got her last -- what is it called -- unemployment check. and she did have -- she did have money for the baby for all his food.

the main thing is that she wanted him with a good family that loved him and that would actually take care of him. >> tammi smith remembers the day almost eight months ago she met elizabeth and gabriel johnson. >> i could just read it in her face, that she did not want to be a mother. >> tammi says the father wasn't around. and when he was -- >> yes, there were a lot of threats. and a lot of things, underhanded things that were done. because of his record and because of what the things he had done to her, and the baby, there was no way she was going

to give him that baby. >> tammi says months went by. then last month, she received a call from elizabeth. >> she finally called and said, are you ready to adopt them? >> the two party signed legal guardianship papers and gabriel moved in with the smiths. >> we fell in love with him. >> but the dad wouldn't signed adoption papers. gabriel quickly became part of the smith family, visiting santa, playing with 4-year-old hannah. then december 18th elizabeth picked up her son to visit his father. little did the smiths know the two were taking off to san antonio. >> we were trying so desperately to get her back here, and every time she was ready to come back, she would get a phone call threatening her. >> the smiths believe the baby is safe and that his mother, now behind bars, will never say where. >> she loved that baby enough that i believe that she would probably stay in jail the rest of her life to make sure he was safe from the person that she wants to keep him from. >> we are taking your calls. out to jessica, nevada.

hi, jessica. >> caller: hi, nancy. your twins are beautiful. my question is, has the alleged couple, that the mother gave the baby to, is she -- are they going to be facing criminal charges? if they don't come forward? >> good question. first to you, daniel horowitz, joining us out of san francisco. could that couple be facing charges? >> well, nancy, every state has a different set of laws. but i think it's a kidnapping. the father has rights to that child. and whoever's keeping the child, is taking him away from the father. we may be picking on the father now saying he's not a good dad. but his rights are superior to anyone else's until the court says differently. >> i'm not picking on anybody, except a mom that gives the baby away to a couple she meets in a public park. all right. don't start with that. >> we're presuming the dad's not a good dad. >> i'm not presuming anything. so let's just stick with the program of trying to find the baby. all right? if you can just focus, you know.

keep it in the middle of the road, daniel horowitz. burris, you know, i don't know that this couple, if they exist, thinks they took the baby away from the father. they may not even know that the father's in the picture. >> well, i agree with that. i don't think that that family, without more information, is liable for any criminal conduct. they don't really know anything. as far as they know, the paeb was given in a consensual way. they certainly don't have any criminal conduct, that they engaged in. >> marc klaas, weigh in, marc. what's the likelihood we can find this baby still alive, now the would-be adoptive parents, tammi and jack smith, have given us the name of the park? that they believe she handed the baby over? it's raymond russell county park. we've got shots of it, elizabeth, if you could show those to the viewers.

everyone, our tip line, i believe we've got a new tip line. the one i have right now is 4803-45 oh 8311. what do you think, macmacklaas? >> i think if her story is true, the chances of recovering the child are very good. and what you need to do is draw a radius around that park of maybe two or three miles. and then look for a couple that has a new baby that just came into their life. this beautiful little child. and it would be a couple that has a baby that came into their life unexpectedly. if one is going to adopt a baby, that's a long process that you oftentimes talk to your neighbors and your friends about before it ultimately occurs. so if in fact the child is alive, the smiths just made it a lot easier for the authorities to be able to find the child. but i also have to agree with what daniel said, because the smiths have done nothing more

than vilify this father, since they came on the show, with a variety of the statements that they've made. and as i understand it, they didn't even meet the guy until recently. they seem to be buying everything that this woman is saying, hook, line and sinker. and all she's done is lie. >> wait. i am not here -- none of us are here tonight to vilify anybody. >> but it's been done. >> i do find it very disturbing that the mother gave the baby away to a couple she had met 20 minutes before in a public park. that's my focus. all right? now, speaking of the smiths, i want to go back to jack and tammi smith. two questions. number one, i think that it would be crucial, since you were around her, you spent time with her and the baby, you've spoken to her, since she's been behind bars, what was her state of mind when you spoke to her last, miss

smith? >> i'm sorry, that was at me? what was her state of mind when i spoke to her yesterday? >> right. >> you know, to be honest with you, she sounded a little bit cheery. whenever she was dealing with the whole custody issue, she was not cheery, she was very depressed and distraught. it seems as though she's -- she seemed happier and safer being in jail than she did out of jail and going through this whole custody issue. >> mr. smith, when you were dealing with her about adopting baby gabriel, what was her state of mind at that point? >> you know, we -- honestly, we had some concerns. i mean, again, we're looking, as i mentioned earlier, we're looking through normal eyes. it feels -- it felt a little odd. but you know what, we felt like we could be helping this baby also. if this mother did have any kind

of potential emotional problems. so we were basically -- our theory at that point is we were a babysitter. we understand the whole principle. we've adopted our -- hannah is adopted. so we know the process. we got hannah in our house at 4 months old and the adoption wasn't final until she was 2. >> let me ask you guys something. you have come forward and been very forthright. what, if anything, do you have to gain from coming forward, miss smith? i mean, you did not have to put yourself in the public eye at all. but you have. why? >> and it's been extremely exhausting. i've only had a couple hours sleep since yesterday. we're doing this because we fell in love with this baby. we have nothing to gain except for the fact that we know that we have gotten to the point where we kind of know elizabeth's mentality from getting to know her over the past few weeks, and we believe we can help find this baby and

return -- or help to return him to his family. >> we are taking your calls, everybody, to tammi in nevada. hi, tammi. >> caller: hi, nancy. >> hi, dear. what's your question? >> caller: listen, i just want to tell you, i love your show. i never miss it. i've watched you from the old days. i want to thank you and tell you how much i appreciate your dedication to help seek the truth for the innocent out there. >> thank you. >> caller: i was wondering, i know you talked about cameras at the station. but do you know if there were any at the motel 6 or the park perhaps? and my heart goes out to everybody involved in this. and i just pray that this is not another casey anthony story. i mean, you know -- >> i've been thinking the same thing, tammy in nevada. i mean, her answers are so vague and ambiguous. exactly the way tot mom's were. to michael board, do we know if there were surveillance cameras at the motel 6? >> we know that there might have

been. but the chances are of them having the tapes are pretty slim. this isn't a high-class joint. probably not around. as for the park, there's no security tapes around there either. the chance of the actual handoff or whatever it was, very unlikely to have happened out there. >> tonight as we go to break, we're taking your calls live and we're asking for your prayers for a tiny crime fighter, georgia jack. he's just 8. this beautiful boy is battling cancer. jack, please, stay strong. to send well wishes or to donate go to caringbridge.org/visit/campjack.

how have the past few days been for you and your family? >> stressful. very emotional. >> do you know if your son is still alive at this point? >> yes. >> and houp? >> just a feeling. hope. >> is there something you want to tell your son? >> i love you. i hope you come home safe. >> what do you want to tell elizabeth? >> i really at this time, further down the road, you could see, you know, i always wanted gabriel to be a part of his mother's life, too. i just want to find him.

>> we are optimistic at this point. we're still receiving some indications that gabriel is alive. that's the premise that we're operating under. and really, that's what's keeping our investigators going on a daily basis is that hope, that gabriel is still alive. >> we are taking your calls live. i want to go out to bill, former nypd detective, president of kinder shield agency. bill, thank you for being with us. what do you make of it? >> thanks very much, nancy. i have to tell you, we have to pray for the best but we have to expect the worst. i have to say i agree with karen stark, the psychologist, there are way too many loose ends here. this is a woman who changes her story the way the wind blows. i have not heard of any diminished mental capacity on her part. so her story about not wanting to know who this person is who she alleged si gooding to give this child to. she was able to get contact with the smiths after her original

meeting. there are too many loose ends here. i bet that in the end of this story, we're going to find out some disastrous outcome. i pray not. but this could happen. >> to dr. gwen o'keefe, pediatrician, joining us out of boston. dr. o'keefe, if the child is alive right now, what position is that child in healthwise? >> i'm pretty concerned, nancy. we don't really know where the baby is or who the baby's with. but the baby's clearly going to be stressed out. we have to be concerned that the baby's not getting fed enough, not getting the emotional needs that gabriel needs. and i think that we have to be just concerned that the baby is going to be environmentally in an unsafe situation. because 8-month-olds are fairly mobile. so depending where he is, he can get himself in a lot of trouble

depending where he is. so i think his health is at great risk. >> just thinking back at lucy and john david at 8 months, and they were so helpless. and if this child has any special needs, you know what's amazing to me, dr. o'keefe, is even with this mother obviously not wanting the baby, the baby probably loved the mother. you know, just -- >> absolutely. 8-month-olds are so endearing and they just love unconditionally. i can only imagine how stressed out this child is right now. >> to burris and horowitz. first to you, john burris. is there any way that a plea can be made to this anonymous couple, that they will not be prosecuted if they bring the baby back? >> absolutely. i think that's something that can be done. i don't think they've committed a crime at this stage. and so i think now that notice is out, the community knows, that information can be given to them and they could bring that

baby back. any day at any time without fear of prosecution from my point of view. >> david horowitz? >> if the couple thinks that the father is such a bad guy, that he would hurt the child, and they're protecting the child, i can see why they might hide gabriel. but now you know the bdad is no so bad, bring him home. maybe to the smiths. maybe to the smiths. maybe this couple wants to do the right thing, i hope so. >> karen stark, i would like you to finish your thought before we went to break. >> my thought was, nancy, think about this. she just met this couple. her story is that the father is terrible. the father, you know, can't be trusted. she wants the baby to be safe. she knows nothing about this couple. how does she know the baby's going to be safe? it doesn't make a lot of sense. >> so you don't think that any of that is true? >> well, it doesn't sound true to me. >> well, it doesn't sound true to me either. but again, the only glimmer of hope that i have here is back to tammi and jack smith, she just

met them at an airport, at a public airport, befriends them and plans to give the baby to them. it's very similar to a scenario that she's telling police. back to jack and tammi smith, jack smith, isn't it true that when she was dealing with you guys, she didn't even want to know where you lived. she didn't want to know anything about you. >> no, she didn't. we actually invited her over. don't you want to see where his room would be? don't you want to come and see where his play area is? she said, no, i don't want to know where he lives. in her mind, that was the -- that was a closed adoption. again, i can't think like her. i wish i could and we'd find the baby. but that's my only reasoning, is that she wanted a closed adoption. she wanted this part of her life, and wanted to go on -- i don't understand that. my maternal --

>> but that was the same -- it's almost like a script, that she's reading from, the very same thing she did is what she basically did with you. she didn't want to know anything about you, your address, she just wanted it to be a done deal. to have the baby in a happy family, good-bye baby gabriel. >> it don't make sense to us. that's the reason we kept hanging on to her, and trying to better understand her. because it didn't make any sense. but you know what, we understand private adoptions happen every day. and, you know, so i don't believe -- you know what i'm saying. >> yeah. if this is true, that she thought she was doing anything wrong. i just pray to god in heaven that it is true, and the baby is alive tonight. tip line 480-350-8311. take a look at baby gabriel. whoever you are out there with this baby, if the story's true,

please, please, bring the baby back. we're switching gears. i want to tell you about a missing mom. take a listen. >> we just miss her. we want her back. her back and -- and i love her and my boys love her. i've been trying to figure out what i can do so i don't sit idle. >> straight to you jim kirkwood, ktkk news radio. we are talking about susan powell, 28-year-old mother of two goes missing. the father says he takes the kids camping, midnight, freezing temperatures to make s' mores in the snow. >> he's quite a stonewaller. tom mcglock lynn, the kpts, police captain at westvale police department in utah describes him as demonstrating a frustrating look of cooperation. i think you've heard this story before, nancy. >> we're going to be back with more on susan powell. as we go to break, happy 80th birthday to massachusetts friend

benny good luck, a world war ii veteran. he invented the elastic waistband for women's slacks. thank you, benny. he's the proud uncle of 14 nieces and nephews. happy birthday, benny. %%%%%