GRACE: And tonight, the mystery surrounding a gorgeous young mom of three who vanishes into thin air, Mackinaw (ph), Illinois, the body of 30- year-old Melisa Cleary discovered just a few miles from her own home. Reportedly, she was bludgeoned to death. Tonight, the investigation in high gear to find the killer. We learn the young mom, in fear for her life, specifically stating, if she ever goes missing, she was murdered.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although they have a person of interest, police still have made to arrests in the brutal death of a young Illinois mom, the body of 30-year-old Melisa Cleary found Monday under a bridge next to railroad tracks in Lincoln County. And according to family, she suffered blunt force trauma to the head and the neck. Cleary`s estranged husband has been questioned by police, but is not a suspect at this time. Less than 24 hours after the young mom was found dead, Daniel Cleary is found in Peoria with the couple`s three children at a motel, all after an Amber Alert is issued. But tonight, who killed Melisa Cleary?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities haven`t really said why Daniel Cleary took the kids to Peoria, and Daniel Cleary not talking to the press at this point. So it`s kind of an unknown as to why he took off that night. At this point, we believe that the children are in protective custody with another relative of Melisa Cleary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had expressed to us several, several times that if something happened to her, that she was murdered, that her husband had murdered her.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mom of three, Melisa Cleary, found dead with severe trauma to the body, about three days after she is reported missing. Foul play now suspected and police on the hunt for who killed the devoted mom.
Loved ones reveal Cleary in fear of her life and close to divorcing her estranged husband. Police issuing an AMBER Alert after Daniel Cleary takes off with the children shortly after their mother is found dead.
The kids now safe with relatives, but tonight, no suspects nor arrests and a family without Melisa Cleary.
BRANDY GERARD, SISTER OF MURDERED MOM, MELISA CLEARY: Saturday morning I got a text message from a best friend who she`d been going and staying with on the weekend, because she was trying to leave her husband. And I knew immediately when I got the text message that she was missing. So we went directly to her house and called the cops on our way there.
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GRACE: Straight out to Shaun Newell with WMBC Radio. Shaun, what is the latest?
SHAUN NEWELL, NEWS DIRECTOR, 1470 WMBD RADIO: Well, the latest is Sheriff Bob Houston with the Tazewell County Sheriff`s Department says they`re still trying to follow up on leads at this time and looking into the latest information and waiting on some test results, but still nobody in custody.
GRACE: Man, she is absolutely beautiful. What can you tell me about the cause of death?
NEWELL: The cause of death at this point is not being released by officials around this area due to the fact that they don`t want it to impede their investigation.
GRACE: Well, that`s crazy, because I already know that she was bludgeoned to death, so they`re not keeping that tight of a lid on it.
I want to go to Pat Brown, criminal profiler and author. Pat, weigh in.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "KILLING FOR SPORT": Well, this woman said she thought her husband might kill her. And it`s so sad that when women think that don`t immediately get some protection, get somebody around her, because, obviously, she might have been right.
GRACE: Of course, the husband not named a suspect at this juncture.
I want get back to Shaun Newell with WMBD Radio. You know the husband is not doing himself any favors by taking off with the kids. Give me the timeline as to when she went missing, when her body was found, and when he left with the children.
NEWELL: She went missing on Friday afternoon, late Friday afternoon, then her body was found sometime Monday morning. And it`s believed that he left the house with the children sometime around 5 o`clock on Monday afternoon.
GRACE: And where was he discovered?
NEWELL: He was discovered at a motel in Peoria in the middle of the night, overnight, Monday night, into Tuesday.
GRACE: Why?
NEWELL: Because they issued an AMBER Alert for him and they ended up finding him at the motel.
GRACE: OK. Let me.
NEWELL: He was with his children and his mother were with him.
GRACE: Let me rephrase that, Shaun Newell. Why did he take the children? His wife`s body had just been found. Why did he take the children and go to Peoria?
NEWELL: That`s still unknown. Authorities aren`t saying why and Daniel Cleary not talking about it either to the media at this point.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Ebony in Washington. Hi, Ebony.
EBONY, WASHINGTON RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy. Thanks for taking my call.
GRACE: Thank you for calling. What`s your question, dear?
EBONY: My question first, I don`t know if you had spoke about it, but I don`t know what the age of the children are, but are the children talking? Are they acting normal or are they acting traumatized?
So that was my question, is what are the children -- and how are -- what are they acting like?
GRACE: Joining us tonight, a special guest is Melisa Cleary`s sister, Brandy Gerard.
Miss Gerard, thank you for being with us. How are the children?
GERARD: The children are good. They`re definitely traumatized. They`re definitely not -- they`re OK one minute and the next minute they`re, you know, really upset. They know that Lisa`s gone and she`s not coming back, but they don`t know the details on what, you know, has happened to her.
Definitely not acting normal, as if, you know, mom had gotten in an accident and came up missing. You know they definitely are a little bit standoffish, and they are not -- they have not given us any information, you know, like as far as if they know if anything happened at the house, they`re not really talking to us about it. So they show a lot of fear from their -- for their father, also.
GRACE: What do you mean?
GERARD: So.
GRACE: What do you.
GERARD: Excuse me?
GRACE: What do you mean, they show fear for or of their father?
GERARD: Fear of their father. Fear of their father, yes.
GRACE: Where were they -- where were the three children at the time of the killing?
GERARD: I don`t know, because I don`t know what time the killing was, but Friday night was the night that she, obviously, didn`t go to her friend`s house and Caitlin stayed at a friend`s house that night, and she`s the oldest, she`s 12. And the two younger were in the house.
GRACE: With whom?
GERARD: With Dan.
GRACE: And tell me again, Brandy Gerard, when was it that it first dawned on everyone that something was wrong?
GERARD: When I got that text message from Nicole, I immediately knew that something wasn`t right because she would have not ever -- first of all, she was the most unindependent person. Like she always had to have someone with her.
And when she -- first of all, she would have never left that house without calling somebody. Second of all, she would have never like -- she wouldn`t have done anything without contacting Nicole, because she`d already expressed to us that if she came up missing with, something bad had happened to her and that -- and call the cops.
If you haven`t talked to me in an hour, call the cops. I mean there were at least seven good friends and the family that she had that was talking to her like every hour on the hour. You know what I mean? Like we were keeping close tabs on her.
GRACE: The husband in this case, Daniel Cleary, is not named a suspect.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0806/12/ng.01.html
