ANN CURRY, co-host:
We're going to make a turn now to
Kansas City
and new developments in the case of that missing baby,
Lisa Irwin
. Her mother is opening up in a new interview about what she was doing the night her
daughter
was last seen.
NBC
's
Peter Alexander
is in
Kansas City
this morning with details. Hey,
Peter
, good morning.
PETER ALEXANDER reporting:
And good morning to you.
Lisa Irwin
's parents have been silent for more than a week until now. They tell
NBC News
that this awful experience has brought them closer together than ever before. And they also say that they are hopeful that their baby
daughter
will be returned home safely. During our 45-minute interview,
Deborah Bradley
,
Lisa
's mother, revealed that she was drinking that night, and she also says that she thinks she could be arrested because of her
daughter
's disappearance. I began by asking her why.
Ms. DEBORAH BRADLEY:
Well, I was the last one with her. And from judging on how the questioning went, that's kind of a fear that I have. And the main fear with that is, if they arrest me, people are going to stop looking for her. And then I'll never see her again, and I'll never know what happened.
ALEXANDER:
Nearly two weeks have passed since baby
Lisa
's parents,
Deborah Bradley
and
Jeremy Irwin
, say their infant
daughter
, seen here in
home video
shot earlier this year, vanished from her crib. You told us that
police
even accused you of killing your
daughter
.
Ms. BRADLEY:
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
ALEXANDER:
How has that been for authorities to focus on you at times?
Ms. BRADLEY:
Terrible. Because my
daughter
's missing. The last thing that I want to have to worry about is something like that. I shouldn't have to put any energy, any time or effort into anything but finding her.
ALEXANDER:
Just before 5:00 on the night
Lisa
disappeared,
Deborah
, who's 25, was spotted on surveillance tape with her brother at a grocery store buying baby supplies and boxed wine. Now,
for the first time
,
Deborah
admits she was drinking at home in the hours before she says
Lisa
vanished. Were you drinking that night?
Ms. BRADLEY:
Yes.
ALEXANDER:
How much?
Ms. BRADLEY:
Enough to be
drunk
.
ALEXANDER:
So you were
drunk
.
Ms. BRADLEY:
Mm-hmm.
ALEXANDER:
A lot of people are going to say, '
Deborah
, you were
drunk
that night. Is there any chance you did anything that hurt your
daughter
that you're just not telling us?'
Ms. BRADLEY:
No, no, no. And if I thought there was a chance, I'd say it. No, no. I don't think that alcohol changes a person enough to do something like that.
ALEXANDER:
Deborah
now says she last saw her
daughter
when she put her to bed at
6:40 PM
, not
10:30
, as the
family
first reported. It was the first time
Lisa
's father
Jeremy
, an electrician, had ever worked an overnight shift making repairs at this
Kansas City Starbucks
. Do you in any way question that she's not telling you or
police
everything she knows?
Mr. JEREMY IRWIN:
No. There's no question to be had there. I know who she is. I know what kind of mother she is.
ALEXANDER:
When
Jeremy
got home just before
4 in the morning
, he says he found the front door unlocked, several lights on, and a window screen tampered with.
Police
have tried to recreate how an abductor might have broken into the home through that window. Does it seem feasible to you that someone could have gotten in while you and your two boys were sleeping and you wouldn't have heard a thing?
Mr. IRWIN:
Our bedroom is on the exact opposite corner of the house, and she sleeps with the fan on high.
Ms. BRADLEY:
Yeah, but they must have been doing it much quieter than the
police
were.
Mr. IRWIN:
Yeah, quieter.
ALEXANDER:
You told us that
police
said you failed a lie detector test. What question or questions did they say you failed?
Ms. BRADLEY:
They said that I failed when they asked me where she was.
ALEXANDER:
Deborah
and
Jeremy
say they've refused to let detectives reinterview
Lisa
's eight- and five-year-old half-brothers.
Ms. BRADLEY:
They said they heard noises, but I don't know if that was before we went to sleep or after. I have not sat down and talked to them about it specifically to not have to put them through anything else.
ALEXANDER:
On Sunday, the
Missouri National Guard
joined the exhaustive search for baby
Lisa
, combing open and wooded areas near the
Irwin
family
home. Also this weekend, inside the basement of this
abandoned house
in the neighborhood, investigators discovered a child's backpack and used diapers, but
police
discounted that finding. Meanwhile, detectives have now questioned a local handyman with a criminal history who'd been unaccounted for since before
Lisa
's disappearance. Still,
police
say they have no suspects, including
Lisa
's parents. If the person who took your baby
daughter
is out there watching this right now, what do you say to them?
Ms. BRADLEY:
She needs her
family
. We need her. We're losing more sanity as each day progresses.
ALEXANDER:
Also this morning,
NBC News
has learned that the
Irwin
family
is expected to announce later this afternoon,
Ann
, that they are bringing in an
attorney. Ann:
All right,
Peter Alexander
,
thank you so much
. Judge
Jeanine Pirro
is a former prosecutor and spent the last two weeks in
Kansas City
following this story.
Jeanine
, good morning.
CURRY:
Good morning.
Judge JEANINE PIRRO (Former District Attorney/Westchester County, New York):
So this news that
Deborah
was -- is now admitting that she was
drunk
the night that
Lisa
disappeared and actually the last time she saw the baby was at 6:40 and not at
10:30
. Now, why would a
family
essentially change its story?
CURRY:
Well, you know, when you have a missing 10-month-old baby, I mean, the truth is absolutely essential. Minutes count. Now, I spoke with the mother,
Deborah
, and the father at length eye-to-eye. I said to her, 'What time did you put baby
Lisa
to bed?' She said, I put her to bed several hours earlier than the last time I checked on her, which was at
10:30
. Now, two weeks later we come out with a new time. Why is that? Time is essential. It creates new windows and new areas of investigation. That is very, very concerning.
Ms. PIRRO:
Maybe concealing the fact that she was
drunk
, maybe being concerned about the repercussions from that?
CURRY:
Well, we know that she was buying alcohol and that box of wine just before 5:00. I spoke to the store clerk about that purchase. She seemed fine. She bought baby wipes, she bought
baby food
. But it would explain why she didn't hear the
baby monitor
, why the dog -- she didn't hear the dog barking. But, you know, now we -- she comes out and she says, 'I was
drunk
.' You know, people were believing her because her story was consistent. I spoke with her, she was very consistent. The neighbors said she loved that baby. The store clerk said she was a wonderful mother. The baby was always appropriately dressed and in good health. Now she comes out with, 'The last time I saw my baby was at 6:40; and, by the way, I was
drunk
.' You know, this isn't the kind of thing that you want to bring out after the fact when time is essential here.
A 10
-month-old is missing.
Ms. PIRRO:
Meantime,
Deborah
is saying they're not allowing -- the
family
's not allowing the boys, the stepbrothers of
Lisa
, to be reinterviewed. They're just ages eight and five. But What would explain why the
police
wants to reinterview them and why the
family
would refuse?
CURRY:
Well, first of all, I think they're eight and six. And here's the problem. If those boys have any information -- we know the mother was drinking with the next-door neighbor and her four-year-old
daughter
who was watching videos with her sons. I think that the opportunity to speak to the sons about someone they may have seen at or around the house and the
Kansas City
police
-- and they're doing a fantastic job; they picked up this homeless guy,
Jersey
, who was not seen since the baby's been missing. But every piece to the puzzle becomes extremely important. Time is essential. Now you come out and say it was at 6:40, four hours before I told you last week? Not good.
Ms. PIRRO:
Hm. It's clear the
Kansas City Police Department
-- you just said they're doing a great job -- are keeping their sights on the
family
. But are they at the same time also conducting a parallel investigation, looking at the possibility this could be a stranger abduction case?
CURRY:
Oh, there's no question. They're looking at all avenues. They have left no stone unturned. They have gone and spoke to sexual predators who are like saying, 'You know, hey, we're waiting for you to come and talk to us.' I mean, this is a very competent department. They keep it close to the vest, and this whole idea about her saying she's being arrested, I don't believe that that's the case. Nothing that I've heard on the ground indicates that that is imminent.
Ms. PIRRO:
All right, Judge
Jeanine Pirro
.
Thank you so much
for your perspective this morning.
CURRY:
“ ”