04x05 - Innocence Lost

[bunniefuu]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Narrator: some time during a

Neighborhood christmas party in



Disappeared.

She loved it.

She really did.

We had a great time.

But it's late.

We're gonna have to go.

Melissa, will you go get the

Coats?

Narrator: none of the adults

Or other children at the party

Saw where she went or noticed

Anything unusual.

It took science to see what

Witnesses did not.

Tammy brannen and her 5-year-old

Daughter melissa had moved from

Texas into this suburban

Apartment complex in

Lorton, virginia.

Tammy was a single mother,

Recently divorced, working as an

Accountant and beginning a new

Phase in her life.

Tammy is a very good mother.

She's a very sweet, very caring

Person.

Kept to herself more or less.

You know, she wasn't what I

Would call extremely outgoing,

Although she did participate in

Just about everything.

Narrator: one of the

Attractive features of the

Apartment complex was the active

Social program for the

Residents.

Every friday night was some sort

Of social gathering in the

Clubhouse.

And during the holidays, there

Were special events.

The night of december 3rd, at

The christmas party, that's

Something that they basically

Did for almost every holiday.

People looked forward to it.

They always had a nice layout

Within the clubhouse, and people

Spent time getting to know their

Neighbors.

Narrator: tammy brannen and

Her daughter, melissa, both

Attended that christmas party in



Altogether, about 200 residents

Of the complex were there.

Everybody was very upbeat,

Having a very good time.

The children played with each

Other all through the night,

Going around and snatching all

The food and having a good time.

Narrator: when it was time to

Leave, tammy asked melissa to

Get their coats.

Oh, man.

You know how that is.

[ Laughs ] yeah.

Oh, sure.

It's ridiculous.

Yeah, packages and

Everything.

Narrator: shortly after

Handing the coat to her mother,

Melissa disappeared.

Merry christmas.

Merry christmas to you, too.

Yeah.

I've got to get going.

Okay.

Oh, I know.

Yeah, where is...where

Is...where is melissa?

She was just here a minute ago.

Narrator: tammy looked for

Her daughter throughout the

Clubhouse.

Melissa.

Yeah, where is melissa?

Narrator: in the utility room

Off the lobby marked "private,"

A full-length window leading to

The outside was wide open.

The window faced a wooded area

Behind the apartment complex.

It's a possibility that

Somebody could have went out

That window and not been seen

By anybody outside.

And it's in an area where it's

Secluded so the inside

Partygoers wouldn't have seen

Anybody exiting through that

Window, also.

Narrator: fairfax county

Police searched the entire area

And questioned everyone who

Attended the party.

It was very cold out that

Night.

It was pretty imperative that we

Try to locate her as quickly as

Possible.

It was hard to imagine a young

Child with a dress on and a

Small coat surviving the

Temperature that night.

Narrator: although no one at

The party noticed anything

Unusual, police feared that

Melissa had been abducted.

Tammy brannen pleaded for her

Daughter's safe return during a

Televised news conference.

The person who took melissa,

I beg you to please call

Somebody, anybody, and tell us

Where she is.

[ Sobs ]

No matter what's happened, she's

All that I have.

Please bring her back to me.

Melissa...if you can hear mommy

And get to a telephone...call

Our number like I taught you to

And call me.

We love you and miss you very

Much.

Please come back to us.

Mommy is waiting.

All the way down to davis

Fort road.

Narrator: police could find

No trace of 5-year-old

Melissa brannen, despite the

Help of hundreds of volunteers.

We had hundreds of police

Officers down there.

We had hundreds of people from

The military bases.

We had people volunteering their

Airplanes, their helicopters.

The search was phenomenal.

It just showed how this case

Touched so many people.

Narrator: yellow ribbons were

Placed throughout the

Neighborhood, a symbol of

Concern and hope for melissa's

Safe return.

Police questioned melissa's

Father, who was in texas on the

Night of melissa's

Disappearance.

He was immediately ruled out as

A suspect.

I also ask that if the

Person who took my daughter can

Hear me, please let her go.

We love her very much.

If anyone has any information

That may help, please contact

Someone who will pass the

Information on to us.

Thank you.

Narrator: police questioned

Everyone who lived at the

Apartment complex, as well as

All of the employees.

State department.

Narrator: caleb hughes worked

At the apartment as a

Maintenance man and attended the

Christmas party.

Police interviewed hughes at his

Home a few hours after the party

Around 2:00 a.m.

Mr. Hughes, mr. Caleb hughes?

I'm sergeant garcia from the

Fairfax police department.

I'd like to ask you a couple

Questions about the party at the

Apartment complex that you work

At.

Narrator: they asked him

Where he had been since leaving

The apartment complex.

What did you do after you

Left the party?

I drove straight home.

I stopped off for a six-pack,

And I got home about 12:30,

Quarter to 1:00.

He said he stopped just

Before he got home near his

House.

Well, if he got home at 12:30,

Quarter to 1:00, they stop

Selling beer in virginia at



So he didn't stop for beer.

He couldn't.

What did you do after you got

Home?

I did chores, laundry, you know,

Stuff like that.

You mind if we look around?

No, go ahead.

Narrator: during the search,

Police noticed something

Unusual.

Hughes told police he had been

Doing his laundry, but the

Clothes he was washing were the

Ones he wore to the party.

Do you always wash your sneakers

With your clothes, mr. Hughes?

Narrator: he was also washing

His belt and the knife holder.

I said, "why would you wash

All your clothes?

You don't have another pair of

Blue jeans?

And why would you wash your

Sneakers?

Caleb had no response.

Narrator: the side of hughes'

Sneakers had been shaved away.

Although the sneakers had been

Washed, tests showed traces of

Human protein, possibly blood,

Deep in the fibers.

Caleb hughes wasn't cooperating,

Either.

Hughes told police he did not

Speak to melissa brannen at the

Christmas party, but several

Witnesses contradicted him.

Hello.

Hi.

Did you have something to

Eat?

I said, "caleb, I think you

Know more.

I think you took melissa out of

That party."

And all caleb would do is just

Sit there.

And finally, caleb said, "prove

It."

Looked me straight in the face

And no emotion at all.

Narrator: and that's what

Investigators set out to do.

Narrator: weeks passed, and

Still, there were no signs of



The community of

Lorton, virginia, held a

Candlelight vigil at the

Brannens' apartment complex

Just a few feet from the

Clubhouse where melissa was

Abducted.

Bumper stickers, yellow ribbons,

And flyers with melissa's

Picture were everywhere.

It was all anybody talked

About because this wasn't one

Girl and one family.

This was any child, all of our

Families.

If this could happen to

Tammy brannen's daughter, this

Could happen to anyone's

Daughter, and there was a

Desperate outcry to find who

Would have taken this child.

Narrator: the remaining

Suspect was caleb hughes.

Hughes attended the christmas

Party, but he denied having

Anything to do with melissa's

Disappearance.

Forensic scientists began their

Investigation with a look inside

Hughes' car.

The interior of the car was

Cluttered with a lot of

Debris -- dirt, bags of books,

Dog hair.

I just looked at it and thought,

"Holy mackerel, how am I going

To be able to find any type of

Evidence that will link melissa

To this car?"

Narrator: the car was sprayed

With the chemical luminol, which

Fluoresces when it comes into

Contact with the hemoglobin

Component of blood.

Luminol revealed blood on the

Steering wheel, foot pedals, and

Floor mat.

The blood was collected for dna

Analysis, but the results were

Inconclusive.

The car was also searched for

Trace evidence, specifically,

Hair and fibers, and was sent to

Special agent doug deedrick of

The fbi for analysis.

The first thing that I do is

Look at the tapings that came

From the front seat of the car.

I try to identify what types of

Materials are there and, if

Possible, anything that may have

Come from the victim if she had

Been in that car.

Narrator: deedrick discovered

Quite a bit of animal hair in

The car, most of it dog hair.

But three of the hairs from

Hughes' front seat were

Different.

They were rabbit hairs that had

Been dyed black.

The rabbit hairs were

Microscopically similar to a

German rabbit-hair coat

Tammy brannen wore to that

Christmas party.

When tammy brannen was

Leaving the apartment, she told

Melissa to get her fur coat.

Melissa got the fur coat.

And as a child will do, she

Draped that coat across her

Shoulders.

And, of course, those hairs from

That coat, certain of them,

Transfer to her.

Narrator: deedrick also

Discovered blue and red fibers

On hughes' front passenger seat.

The red fibers were cotton, an

Extremely common fiber.

But the blue fibers were

Extremely rare.

The 50 blue fibers were man-made

And acrylic.

They were all the same shape,

Length, and diameter, an

Indication they were from the

Same manufacturer.

Gas chromatography revealed that

The blue fibers were dyed with

The same blue dye.

But the chemical composition of

The blue dye was unusual.

Melissa brannen was wearing a

Blue sweater and red plaid skirt

On the night she disappeared.

The outfit had been a gift from

Melissa's grandmother, who could

Not recall where she bought it.

All she could remember was that

The sweater had a picture of

Big bird on it, a character from

The "sesame street" television

Series.

Prosecutors needed more evidence

Than the three rabbit hairs from

Mrs. Brannen's coat found in

Caleb hughes' car.

They knew that any good defense

Attorney would argue that

Caleb hughes could have brushed

Up against tammy brannen's coat

At the party and transferred

Those rabbit hairs onto the seat

Of his car.

Doug deedrick was convinced

That the blue fibers held the

Key to melissa brannen's

Disappearance.

But there was no way to tell if

The fibers were from melissa's

Clothing.

After work one night,

Doug deedrick shared his

Frustration with his wife.

He told her he needed to find

The manufacturer of the outfit

Melissa was wearing at the

Christmas party.

Some sort of blue

Winnie the pooh thing or a

"Sesame street" outfit with a

Red plaid skirt.

I don't know anything about

Winnie the pooh, but if it's

"Sesame street," that's sold by

Jcpenney.

Hold on a second.

Narrator: mrs. Deedrick had

Kept a number of store catalogs,

Some going back a few years.

Red plaid skirt.

I see that.

She proceeded to bring a catalog

Down from the year before

Christmas.

And, sure enough, on page 11 of

That catalog, there was an

Outfit that looked darn close to

What they were describing to me

As the one melissa brannen wore

The night of her disappearance.

Narrator: when tammy brannen

Was shown the picture from the

Catalog, she identified it as

The one melissa was wearing at

The party.

The fbi asked jcpenney for one

Of the outfits in order to

Analyze the fibers, but they

Were sold out.

The item was a catalog-only

Item.

Jcpenney sold all 7,000

Garments in a matter of months.

But jcpenney located a customer

In kentucky who had purchased

One of these outfits a year

Earlier.

The customer bought the outfit

As a present for his

Granddaughter, but it was the

Wrong size, so it had never

Been worn.

The customer sent the outfit to

The fbi for analysis.

The idea of just being able

To find an outfit that's exactly

The same outfit that a victim

Wore in a case, that's an

Extremely good stroke of luck.

Narrator: when doug deedrick

Examined the garment, he made a

Startling discovery.

When jcpenney had this outfit

Manufactured, they wanted to

Make it unique.

Instead of using a standard dye,

And there are 10,000 of them,

Penney's decided to create a

Brand-new color.

Jcpenney specifies a

Particular color.

Then they'll work with the dye

Manufacturer to find some

Combination of chemicals that

Will produce exactly that tone.

In this particular case, they

Went an additional step and made

Sure that it was a dye that

Nobody else had access to so

That they could trademark this

Sweater from its color point of

View.

Narrator: they called their

New color "plum navy" number



Jcpenney patented that

Signature dye and used it only

Once, when they produced the



When deedrick compared the

Fibers from the duplicate

Sweater to those found in

Hughes' automobile, they were

The same.

With several hundred million

People in the country and only



Of that particular sweater being

Located in an individual car is

Very small.

You can just work out the ratios

Of the two.

And there is no question in

My mind that melissa brannen had

Been in the front seat of

Cal hughes' car.

And where she went from there,

Well, I guess that's a mystery

Right now.

Narrator: a mystery police

Were desperately trying to

Solve.

Narrator: the search for

Melissa brannen's body continued

For almost a year.

Statistics show that children

Abducted by strangers are

Usually m*rder*d within three

Hours of the abduction.

The prime suspect, caleb hughes,

Was asked to take a polygraph

Test.

Are you the one who abducted

Melissa?

No.

Right now, can you take me to

Melissa's body?

No.

Narrator: the results of this

Polygraph examination indicated

Deception.

As soon as he realized that I

Knew that he had failed that

Test, he didn't want anything to

Do with that room, didn't want

Anything to do with me, and

Pretty much bolted out of there.

Narrator: but there was a

Problem.

In the state of virginia,

Prosecutors must be able to

Prove where a homicide occurred.

Since the blood in caleb hughes'

Automobile could not be

Identified as melissa's,

Prosecutors could not reach the

Threshold of homicide.

They could only prove

Kidnapping, which carried a

Maximum sentence of only 10

Years.

But prosecutors were convinced

That the blue and red fibers in

Caleb hughes' car indicated more

Than kidnapping.

The last tammy brannen saw

Her daughter, she was wearing

The pink nylon coat, winter

Coat, over top of this big bird

Outfit.

If the child remained in that

Winter coat in the automobile,

You wouldn't have the collection

And the population of blue

Acrylic fibers that are found on

The seat because they'd be

Inside the nylon coat.

They weren't.

Narrator: prosecutors believe

That hughes removed melissa's

Ski jacket in the car, an

Indication that hughes committed

A sex act.

Hughes had the child's coat

Off in the automobile.

And it seems to me the

Inferences that flow from that

Are legitimate inferences of an

Intent to defile.

Are you all settled in, or

Are you still living with boxes?

Oh, man.

You know how that is.

[ Laughs ] yeah.

Narrator: while melissa was

Waiting for her mother to say

Her good-byes at the christmas

Party, prosecutors believe that

She left for a moment to get a

Drink from the water fountain in

The hallway near the utility

Room.

This is where hughes abducted

Her.

Hughes took melissa through the

Window in the utility room and

Fled in his car.

Hughes removed melissa's ski

Jacket in the car, causing the

Transfer of the blue and red

Fibers onto the front seat.

Also in the car, there were

Three rabbit hairs from

Tammy brannen's coat, the one

Melissa handed her mother

Seconds before she was abducted.

Where hughes took

Melissa brannen and left her

Body remains a mystery.

Hughes tracked blood onto his

Foot pedals and floor mat from

His sneakers.

Luminol revealed blood on the

Car's steering wheel as well.

When hughes arrived home, he

Immediately washed his clothes

In order to remove trace

Evidence.

He also scraped away the blood

Stain from the sides of his

Sneakers before washing them

Along with his clothes.

But he didn't remove evidence

That he couldn't see.

The tiny fibers from melissa's

Clothing left on the passenger

Seat of his car.

Caleb hughes was arrested and

Charged, not with kidnapping,

But with the abduction of

Melissa brannen with intent to

Defile her.

He was found guilty and

Sentenced to 50 years in prison

Without parole, the maximum

Sentence.

Caleb hughes has never confessed

To the crime, and the search for

Melissa's body continues to this

Day.

Each piece of evidence, no

Matter how small, whether it's a

Car or whether it's a strand of

Dna, all have a story to tell of

Where they've been, who they've

Been with, how long they've

Been around.

And this is the type of

Information that I look at and

That I decipher and try to

Determine what value it has.

So one piece of evidence can be

Significant when you add

Multiple pieces of this puzzle.

And you never get the whole

Puzzle.

You only get pieces, but you

Don't need the whole puzzle to

See what that picture's gonna

Say.

And in this case, 50 fibers,