Three Years Missing | Police Reveal a Disturbing New Lead in Layla Santanello's Case

On June 27, 2023, 20-year-old mother Layla Santanello disappeared from Kingsport, Tennessee, after being seen barefoot near the Americourt hotel. Investigators now believe Layla died after leaving the hotel and that a small group of people knows what happened. Her mother says the search is now focused on recovering her remains, while detectives continue urging those with answers to come forward.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:12Derrick Levasseur?

  Welcome back to Crime Weekly News. I'm Derrick Levasseur.

• 0:15Stephanie Harlowe?

  And I'm Stephanie Harlow.

• 0:17Derrick Levasseur?

  And you may be looking at the title of this episode and saying, oh, that looks familiar. And that's because we have talked about Layla Santanello before. She was 20 years old, a young mom from Kingsport, Tennessee, and she vanished in June of 2023. Since then, we've been in contact with her mother, Jennifer, who has been generous enough to share some of Leila's story with us. And what we want to do today is something we don't always get to do. We wish we could do it more. We wanted to let you guys know about Leila and who she was before she became a missing persons flyer, where she came from, what she loved, what she survived, and how she ended up walking barefoot along a Kingsport road on the last morning anyone

• 1:00Derrick Levasseur?

  ever saw her. Then we're going to get into what police have told us since, including some pretty significant updates from this past June. So let's get into it.

• 1:09Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah. So when Derek said, we don't get to do this as much as we want to, it's not because we don't make the time to do it. It's because we often don't know as much about these people as we want.

• 1:18Derrick Levasseur?

  Especially first person perspective from her own mother.

• 1:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, but I've been in touch with Jennifer since we covered Leila's story initially years ago, and it was years ago that this happened. It was right in 2023. So I told her, you know, let me know if anything pops up. And she did hit me up a few weeks ago. And here's where we are. So Layla Santanello was born in Neptune, New Jersey on August 5, 2002. And her mother Jennifer will tell you she was almost two weeks late. So she did things on her own schedule from day one. Her parents were Jennifer and George Emmett. They brought Leila home to Jennifer's parents' house, Barbara and Michael. And that detail matters because those grandparents become the backbone of this entire story. So George

• 2:02Stephanie Harlowe?

  and Jennifer's relationship wasn't healthy, and they split when Leila was just three months old. Jennifer started working nights as a waitress. So it was Barbara and Michael, the grandparents, doing dinner and bedtime with Leila. Leila bonded with them from birth and loved them deeply. In January of 2004, George, Leila's father, was incarcerated. By March of 2005, Jennifer decided to start fresh. So she moved to Florida with a man named Robert Wells. Robert would go on to raise Leila as his own for nearly the next decade. They were only in Florida for about a year. After Leila's little brother Robbie was born, the family moved to Tennessee to be closer to Robert's extended family. But Leila never lost New Jersey. Every summer, she spent six weeks back with her grandparents, Girl Scout

• 2:46Stephanie Harlowe?

  camp, and weekends with her biological dad, George, and his family. By then, George had another daughter, Bianca, and he was enjoying family life, too. So picture this little girl, two homes, two states, a lot of people who love her. On paper, it's working so far. Now, Leila started kindergarten right after she turned five, and she thrived. Then, for first grade, her family moved from Elizabeth Town to Kingsport because Robert got a full-time job as a firefighter with the city of Kingsport. And that's where things got hard. That fall, Robbie, who was Leila's little brother, he was diagnosed with developmental delays, and Leila was diagnosed with ADHD and possible dyslexia. Jennifer and Robert fought hard to get both kids individual education plans. Jennifer actually took two years off work

• 3:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  to manage it all. She worked with Robbie while Leila was at school, then tutor Leila every evening. The school suggested Leila repeat first grade, and it helped her confidence. She learned to read, though reading comprehension stayed a struggle her whole life. Now, when Leila was eight, her baby brother Elijah was born, and around then Barbara and Michael, Leila's grandparents, they moved to Tennessee to be near their grandkids. With her parents there, Jennifer went back to work. This is when Leila's creative side came out. Art camps, youth drama clubs, Jennifer says she has a real flair for theater and a beautiful, soulful voice. Then, when Leila was 10, Robert and Jennifer split up. At first, Robert took all three kids for visits, but his new partner was uncomfortable with Leila being there. So

• 4:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  for a while, Leila was shut out of the life of the man who had raised her. Jennifer says that this affected her deeply. That same year, her biological father, George, began struggling with heroin addiction, and he disappeared from her life altogether. And a year later, Jennifer herself was struggling with an addiction to prescription opioids. I really do respect Jennifer for being so open about that because it's an important part of Leila's story and understanding Leila. But a lot of people wouldn't want to be so open about that, knowing that there's a lot of judgment around drug use.

• 4:48Derrick Levasseur?

  Of course. And there's always people out there that are going to try to say, and we see it with sex workers a lot as well, where it's like, oh, because of the business they were in or what they were doing, they somehow may have deserved this. Or, you know, you get what you

• 5:01Stephanie Harlowe?

  Or it's your fault that your daughter went missing because you had an addiction kind of thing. Yeah.

• 5:05Derrick Levasseur?

  Absolutely. And at the end of the day, whatever happened to Leila, and I hope she's still out there somewhere, you know, I mean, but it doesn't look promising. And regardless of what she was doing, or how she was doing it, or what problems she was having behind closed doors, it doesn't justify what happened to her. And the person responsible isn't exonerated from that because of whatever issue she was dealing with. And so, yeah, I couldn't agree more. There are family members out there now, even when I'm covering cases about missing people, where the parents will ask me not to divulge that information. And a lot of the times, I try to talk to them about it and say, listen, I really think we should. That transparency actually will garner

• 5:43Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's relatable, I think.

• 5:45Derrick Levasseur?

  It's relatable. 100%. There's a lot more people than you think out there who have similar issues. And it allows them to have empathy for your loved one because they've been there and they know how that can impact their lives. So

• 5:56Stephanie Harlowe?

  And maybe it gives them courage to be brave and honest about their own struggles as well.

• 6:00Derrick Levasseur?

  So I try to tell people, hey, don't run from it.

• 6:02Stephanie Harlowe?

  You're human. Yeah. Well, so now, Leila's father has a drug addiction. Her mother has a drug addiction. And for the next four years, the most stable people in Leila's life were her grandparents, Barbara and Michael. Robert, so this was Jennifer's ex, who raised Leila for 10 years, he also slowly worked his way back in and became an amazing support. But it was Leila's grandparents who kept her peace. So the summer before Leila's freshman year, Jennifer decided to go to rehab. Leila's paternal grandmother, Laurel, in New Jersey, took Leila for a few months, but Leila was unhappy there and came back to Tennessee when school started. Jennifer entered rehab that October, and she got sober. But four years of damage had been done. And Jennifer does acknowledge this, and once

• 6:47Stephanie Harlowe?

  again, is really honest and open about it. She's not like, oh, I had an addiction, but it wasn't a big deal. She's understanding of the impact on her children. While Jennifer was getting better, Leila was spiraling. Over the next two years, she broke house rules, snuck out after curfew, ran away from home, and got what Jennifer calls kitchen sink tattoos. She was rebelling in every way she could. Jennifer and Robert came together as co-parents. They enrolled her in every therapy and program they could find. Leila was put on probation a few times at 15 and 16. The first time she finished her program and seemed better, the second time, she rebelled against everything and everyone. In January of 2019, Leila violated probation for the last time and was placed in state custody

• 7:29Stephanie Harlowe?

  to complete a program. And the judge said something at that final hearing that Jennifer has never forgotten. Quote, "State's custody is no place for a child," end quote. Jennifer describes the rehabilitation as more than lacking, practically devastating. Leila finished the program in three months and was released shortly before her 17th birthday into her grandmother Barbara's custody. That was Leila's wish. In every family therapy session, she tried to convince her mom it's what she needed. After three months, Jennifer agreed, hoping it would help. And here's where the story starts turning somewhat hopeful. That same year, George, Leila's father, got out of a halfway house after a short prison sentence and rehab. He pushed hard to rebuild things with his firstborn. It took a lot of time

• 8:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  and effort, but they did. In the summer of 2019, Jennifer and Leila spent almost two weeks in New Jersey with George, father and daughter mending fences. Jennifer says it was a really good visit for everyone. And despite everything, Leila graduated early just before the pandemic hit in 2020. She got a job cleaning a healthcare building. She seemed to be growing out of the rebellion and into a more responsible version of herself. She started dating a young man known as Smokey, who stayed with the family during the COVID shutdowns.

• 8:44Derrick Levasseur?

  Could have been a better name. We'll just say that. We'll just not trying to be a boomer here, but could have been a better name.

• 8:49Stephanie Harlowe?

  A young man named Smokey. Well, he was known as Smokey. That wasn't his name.

• 8:53Derrick Levasseur?

  I can only imagine why.

• 8:54Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yes, I'm sure there's a few reasons.

• 8:56Derrick Levasseur?

  It's not because, you know, he was an artist.

• 8:58Stephanie Harlowe?

  But then the day

• 8:59Derrick Levasseur?

  Or maybe he was an artist with smoking. I don't know.

• 9:02Stephanie Harlowe?

  Maybe he was really good at smoking things out and making it shaded.

• 9:05Derrick Levasseur?

  Yes, yes. We'll go with that.

• 9:08Stephanie Harlowe?

  But the day after she turned 18, Leila came to her mom and announced she was pregnant. And as terrifying as that news was for Jennifer, Leila was so overjoyed that the excitement was contagious. By November of 2020, she'd broken up with Smokey and was moving into her first apartment, getting ready to raise her daughter on her own. In April of 2021, Leila became a mom. She named her daughter Nova with the middle name Grace, after her grandmother Barbara Grace. Jennifer calls it a truly joyful day for the whole family. Jennifer and her partner had bought their first home three months earlier. Leila moved in for the first six weeks to recover, and Jennifer gave her space to spread her mothering wings. Leila went back to work right at six weeks. She, Barbara, and Jennifer raised

• 9:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  Nova together, a little village. But in Nova's second month, Leila started showing signs of postpartum depression. She threw herself into work, taking extra hours and shifts. Barbara and Jennifer watched Nova, but they worried about how much Leila was taking on so soon. Meanwhile, there's something else happening in the background. About a year before, Leila's grandfather, Michael, her pop-pop, had gotten sick. During the pandemic, with the medical system stretched thin, nobody could diagnose or treat him. He deteriorated quickly. He'd lost about 80% of his hearing. He was in a lot of pain, and Jennifer says he became a shell of himself. In July of 2021, Jennifer and her partner took Leila and Nova to New Jersey. Leila wanted Nova to meet her dad's side of the family. Nova

• 10:33Stephanie Harlowe?

  had a living great-great-grandmother, and Leila was so excited to get a five-generation photo. George and his partner Brittany had just welcomed Leila's third little sister a few months before Nova was born. So it was time for everyone to meet. A few days into that trip, Leila and Jennifer got the worst phone call of their lives. Pop-pop was gone. Believing he'd become a burden, he had taken his own life at home, while Barbara had run out to the store for milk and water. This was obviously devastating for Leila. She was already struggling with postpartum depression, and now she'd lost the one person she felt truly understood her. Her dads had both let her down at some point, but pop-pop never had. And it's very sad. I have goosebumps. Like, Leila's relationship with her grandfather

• 11:16Stephanie Harlowe?

  Is has always been a focus of of her story and how deeply it impacted her. And how it probably did have something to do with what happened to her afterwards.

• 11:27Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, I I can relate. I my father left when I was very young. My stepdad came into the picture a few years later. I was probably seven or eight years old. But in the meantime, it was my grandfather, Vinnie, who I'm named after. My middle name is Vincent and he he kind of took on the father role. And I remember the time we had together and when he passed away, it was horrible. Now, for anybody who's from Big Brother, I I lost another grandfather, my dad's side on Big Brother. I'm not talking about that one. I lost my my grandfather, my mother's father, much earlier, and he was a father figure to me. And when he left, it was luckily, I had my mother, who I was extremely close with. But if I hadn't had her,

• 12:08Derrick Levasseur?

  I could only imagine the direction I went down. I can relate to Jennifer and Leila in a lot of ways, not only as a parent, but also as that troublemaker. I was a problem child as a kid.

• 12:18Stephanie Harlowe?

  Rebellion.

• 12:19Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, I got in a lot of fights and I was able to turn it around. But it having people in my life that I could rely on and who could keep me on that right path was critical to to me being able to turn it around. I didn't do it on my own.

• 12:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, yeah, that's it's very sad. So we have more to talk about, including newer updates. We'll be right back after this break.

• 12:41Stephanie Harlowe?

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• 12:58Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, I mean, you live there. You should get to enjoy it.

• 13:00Stephanie Harlowe?

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• 13:25Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, and it's super easy to. It has this magnetized setup. So you have no pouring, no measuring, and there's no water tank to have to refill or clean. And each fill lasts about 30 days.

• 13:35Stephanie Harlowe?

  You can also control it through the app. So you can turn it on or off. You can adjust the intensity. You can set a schedule. So you could schedule it to go on at a certain time every day. And that's useful when you want a subtle fragrance during the day rather than something that introduces itself before you do.

• 13:49Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, a little goes a long way, or so I've heard.

• 13:52Stephanie Harlowe?

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• 14:19Derrick Levasseur?

  So how do you choose online?

• 14:20Stephanie Harlowe?

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• 15:00Stephanie Harlowe?

  All right, we're back. So in October of 2021, Leila started dating Michael Thompson. It was actually the second time. They dated for a few weeks back in 2019. And according to Jennifer, this time, the relationship began with Leila helping Michael detox off heroin before a court appearance on felony charges. So Leila felt that bonded her and Michael together. She felt like his savior and she fell deeply in love. Jennifer believes Leila thought Michael could fill the hole Pop Pop had left, but the pain didn't go away. Eventually, Jennifer says, Michael started using again and convinced Leila to join him just for fun. And this is the part that breaks my heart out of the many parts that break my heart.

• 15:41Stephanie Harlowe?

  But Leila had seen what drugs had done to her parents. For years, she wanted nothing to do with them. She was very against it. She caught off friends who struggled with addiction. She never wanted to go through what she'd watched her mom and dad go through. But the drugs numbed the pain that she was feeling from losing Pop Pop. So in spring of 2022, Barbara bought Leila a trailer in the same park she'd moved into after Pop Pop died. Leila and Michael fixed it up and moved in. Then they stopped paying for the bills. So by that October, Leila was evicted.

• 16:09Derrick Levasseur?

  You know, I have a question for you, and this is also a question for everybody listening or watching right now. And this may be something that's polarizing for people. But I'm more just asking from someone who doesn't have experience. I don't know if it's better or worse to be a recovering addict and to be in a relationship with another recovering addict. I know there's some incredible success stories out there where you can help each other through this because you understand what it's like to go through it. But I think the other side of that coin would be having someone who doesn't have the same issues, who can be there for you as kind of like that bumper on the bowling lane, where when you start to go off track, they can say, no, this isn't this isn't where you want to be. This isn't who you want to be.

• 16:55Derrick Levasseur?

  So I guess I ask you the question, but I ask people out there who have experienced it. I know we've had people who have been open enough with us to discuss their own demons in their past and how it's affected them. And I guess it's it's a case by case basis. But we hear so often when we're covering cases, Stephanie, where you have someone who's doing well, but they're surrounded by people who have similar issues that they're dealing with, similar demons, and they're able to knock them off track, whether it's a friend or a partner. I I feel like we hear it. Maybe it's only we hear the bad side of it. And I'm I can't wait to hear your guys' thoughts on this because it sounds like it's you're relatable. It's relatable to them and you that's why you bond. But it also could be part of the problem.

• 17:34Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, so I don't I've never been in the throes of drug addiction, but I have I have some experience with it. They actually discourage you when you're in rehab from being in a relationship of any kind. They say like you have to.

• 17:46Derrick Levasseur?

  Any relationship.

• 17:47Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, like you have to you should be fixing yourself, focused inward. And relationships are often triggers for people who have addiction. So in those times when you're in recovery, they encourage you to not be in a relationship of any kind. I mean, obviously, unless you're already married or whatever. But they also do discourage you from being in a relationship with another person who struggles with drug addiction in those early stages of recovery for the reasons you said.

• 18:12Derrick Levasseur?

  Where it's like, how could they be there for you if they're trying to deal with their own stuff?

• 18:15Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, one person relapses, then the other person, you know, but Leila did not have an issue with the drug addiction. Her parents had. So that wasn't.

• 18:25Derrick Levasseur?

  A major thing for her, but.

• 18:27Stephanie Harlowe?

  But it did get her into it.

• 18:28Derrick Levasseur?

  Yes, that's my point.

• 18:30Stephanie Harlowe?

  It reminds me of what the case we just covered, Hayden Panettiere, right? That's that's kind of the boyfriend is like, hey, I'm doing this. So like, why don't we have fun? And we'll do it. And if you're in love with someone and you trust them.

• 18:40Derrick Levasseur?

  Well, because my my thought is like with Jennifer having her struggles, right? Not saying it's like a genetic thing, but I do think a lot of this stuff can be passed down to generation, alcoholism, all these things. So.

• 18:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  Jennifer and George, both Leila's parents.

• 18:54Derrick Levasseur?

  And so having Leila, who may have a predisposition to it, being around someone who is struggling with it, she although she doesn't have an issue, that's something she's probably had to battle on many occasions, being surrounded by it.

• 19:08Stephanie Harlowe?

  Definitely not the best situation for sure.

• 19:11Derrick Levasseur?

  Just a thought. I'm I'm looking forward to hearing what people have to say about it and your own personal experiences.

• 19:14Stephanie Harlowe?

  I'm not trying to be like judgmental, but I don't think anybody wants their teenage daughter in a relationship with somebody who's suffering and struggling.

• 19:21Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. Yeah, definitely weigh in in the comments. Let us know what you guys think. And tell us some of of your own personal experiences. Love to hear them.

• 19:28Stephanie Harlowe?

  So Leila left Nova with Jennifer full time and moved in with Michael's family on Dale Street in Kingsport while applying for government housing. That's when Jennifer and Barbara started suspecting drug use. Jennifer offered to let them both move in with her on one condition. One of them had to work. Neither of them had a job at that point and they turned her down. So in February of 2023, Michael was arrested on drug charges. He'd been using Leila's phone because Barbara paid that bill and he his wasn't paid up. So after the arrest, Michael's mother kicked Leila out. Leila couch surfed for a bit and once Michael bonded out, they both came to stay with Jennifer for a week. By the end of that week, Jennifer found drugs in an open drawer, low enough for little Nova Grace to reach.

• 20:13Stephanie Harlowe?

  She and Leila had a long talk. Jennifer begged her to get treatment. Leila cried. She said she knew what she was doing to Nova, what her father had done to her, but she thought she could control it and she had a plan to recover on her own. Jennifer says Leila looked just like her, but her personality was her father's to a T. Prideful, stubborn, with a flair for the dramatic. So mother and daughter cried in each other's arms that day. And when Leila left with Michael, Jennifer had a sinking feeling that she was going to lose her daughter to these drugs. Over the next months, Jennifer cared for Nova and her two boys and kept her fear locked up tight. She'd been through addiction herself. She knew Leila had to want to be saved. But several nights a week, she'd wake up with chest pains and racing thoughts.

• 20:56Stephanie Harlowe?

  She wanted so badly to run to her daughter and steal her away from all of it. And the more time went on, the more that she felt she was going to lose Leila. On April 14, 2023, Jennifer filed for temporary custody of Leila's daughter Nova. She'd avoided it for months, but on Nova's second birthday, she realized that without custody, she couldn't keep Nova safe, even in her own home. On May 30, the judge asked Leila to take a urine screen. She refused. That meant Jennifer got temporary custody and court was reset for one month later, June 28, 2023. Leila told the judge she had no concerns with her mom having Nova. Saturday, June 24th. Jennifer is cooking dinner at home for a house full of kids ages two to 18. It's summer break.

• 21:38Stephanie Harlowe?

  Her house has always been the place where everyone's friends end up. Her phone starts going off. She almost ignored it, but it's from, it's a message from Leila's Facebook. And with court coming up, you know, Jennifer's like, let me check it. And it's not Leila, it's Michael, writing from Leila's Facebook account. He said, do you know if Leila's in jail? Obviously Jennifer panics. Leila and Michael are never apart. How does he not know where she is? So Jennifer writes back, what do you mean? Why would she be in jail? What, what's going on? No response from Michael. So she hands the stove to her eldest son and runs downstairs. Her niece, Tish, was staying there, recovering from fentanyl withdrawal. Jennifer had offered Leila that same help and Leila had said no, but Trish had said yes.

• 22:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  And Trish was still connecting enough to the local drug world to know who to ask. So Jennifer asked Trish to check out every jail and hospital. Later, Trish mentions that she talked to Michael, who said he and Leila had argued recently and he told her she needed to get her act together. Trish wasn't sure exactly when that argument happened. Leila wasn't in any jail or hospital in the area. So that night, the house got cleaned up. Everyone went to bed. Around 6:00 AM on Sunday, Jennifer woke up to a reply on her phone from Leila's Facebook. And the message said, I'm fine, mom. I don't have a phone. I'm with some friends. I had to borrow a phone to send you this message. And then Jennifer wrote back, okay, baby, I love you.

• 23:04Stephanie Harlowe?

  And then Leila wrote back, I love you so much more. Jennifer Santanello read those words in her kitchen in Tennessee and felt her whole body exhale. Her daughter was okay. She didn't know it yet, but this was the last message she would ever get from Leila. So from here, I've, I'm working with what police and local reporters have made public. According to Kingsport Police, Leila was last seen around 6:15 AM on Tuesday, June 27th, 2023. That's the day before her custody hearing. She was in a field next to the AmeriCourt Hotel at 1900 American Way in Kingsport. She was reported missing that same day. Surveillance video showed her walking barefoot through the area. Case timelines compiled from witness accounts describe a rough couple of days before that.

• 23:47Stephanie Harlowe?

  Hotel guests reportedly saw Leila going door to door in distress and turning down help. That morning, she reportedly asked a nearby worker for a cigarette and headed in the direction of the Kingsport Green Belt. There was an early reported sighting at a marble slab creamery on Northeastman Road. Police later confirmed through phone records and by tracking down and interviewing the woman that this was not Leila. On June 28th, Leila didn't show up for court. Then came something cruel. In the days and weeks after she went missing, Cash App requests started coming from Leila's account to her family and friends, including her dad's partner in New Jersey. Jennifer sent small amounts, desperate for any sign of life. Then according to the family, the messages turned into ransom style threads.

• 24:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  In February of 2024, a Sullivan County grand jury indicted Michael Thompson on identity theft under $1,000, fraudulent use of a debit or credit card and extortion. Police said evidence showed he had posed as Leila and sent those Cash App requests. He was arrested March 4th, 2024 with bond set at $15,000. But I want to be really clear here. In the same announcement, KPD said there's no evidence to support that Michael Thompson had any involvement in Leila Santanello's disappearance.

• 25:02Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, we covered it before. There were a lot of people suggesting that, but

• 25:06Stephanie Harlowe?

  I understand why.

• 25:06Derrick Levasseur?

  We've had numerous cases that we've covered and, and we've read about, and I know I've researched where you have two different crimes, but they're completely unrelated. You have opportunists who try to take advantage of these tragedies. They understand there's an op, there's a, an angle here where they may be able to financially benefit from it. And yet they have no clue what actually happened to the victim. And when it comes to those people, we, we have definitely discussed this. Throw the book at them.

• 25:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  I agree.

• 25:32Derrick Levasseur?

  They're, they're, they're not as bad as the people responsible, but they're damn near close in my mind. Because we, we have it similar with the Nancy Guthrie case, right?

• 25:40Stephanie Harlowe?

  This horrible situation, yeah.

• 25:41Derrick Levasseur?

  You have these people who are sending letters to TMZ and, and, and calling in for ransoms and asking for Bitcoin. More than likely, they have no clue what happened to her. And yet they have the balls to go out there and request $36,000 in Bitcoin or whatever it is. It's insane. And if they find these people, and I think some of them have been found in Nancy Guthrie, where they've been charged, as they should be. And you should absolutely throw them in jail and let them sit there for five years to show everybody else out there considering it. This is what could happen to you if you decide to try and capitalize on the situation and put their families through even more. It's insane to me. I'm sorry, I'm getting frustrated about it, but it's, it's, but no, from what we've gathered,

• 26:23Derrick Levasseur?

  and I remember when we covered it, it doesn't seem like, obviously he was vetted, but it doesn't seem like he has any tie to what actually happened to Leila.

• 26:31Stephanie Harlowe?

  I mean, maybe not, but he's not concerned with the fact that she's missing and he's using her phone to try to get money. So it's like, does this person really care about her? Did he ever? Is he just an addict trying to get a fix, which is overruling everything else? I don't know, but I think we need to still keep an eye on him, so.

• 26:50Derrick Levasseur?

  Oh, no doubt. I mean, if you're willing to do something like that, for sure.

• 26:53Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, right. That's what I'm saying. It's already kind of showing your character, but the investigation itself has been pretty big. Per KPD, more than 30 search warrants and more than 25 subpoenas. A search warrant at 562 Dell Street, which is the home that Leila shared with Michael on August 4th, 2023. Six ground searches with drones, thermal imaging and canines, including a roughly 320 acre search that August with about 100 responders. Leila was entered into the FBI's ViCAP and NamUs databases. The Holly Bobo Act invoked bringing in the TBI, which issued an endangered young adult alert in October of 2023. And people also asked about a possible link to Holly Ann Snap, a 19-year-old who went missing in Kingsport that October.

• 27:38Stephanie Harlowe?

  The family said the two ran in the same circles. Police said they found no evidence connecting the cases. Now, this past June, right around the three-year mark, we did get some updates. So let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.

• 27:53Stephanie Harlowe?

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• 28:09Derrick Levasseur?

  The total has some questions.

• 28:11Stephanie Harlowe?

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• 28:39Derrick Levasseur?

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• 28:53Stephanie Harlowe?

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• 29:03Derrick Levasseur?

  Yeah, while you're looking at the charge.

• 29:04Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yes, that's the useful part, being able to follow through while it's in front of you. Because I should cancel that. That's a thought you can have several months in a row without actually canceling anything.

• 29:12Derrick Levasseur?

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• 29:24Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, for me, the appeal is making the information easier to understand. I love having everything in one place. You can decide what matters to you, see how your spending lines up with that and make changes from there, a little less trying to keep the entire month organized in your head.

• 29:37Derrick Levasseur?

  There's already enough in there. We don't need anymore.

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• 30:10Stephanie Harlowe?

  All right. So this past June, Kingsport Police shared the most significant update we've had. The lead investigator, Corporal William Clare, said the department got a significant break about six months in, in December of 2023, and they now believe the AmeriCourt Hotel was not Leila's last known location. Instead, they believe she left the area and met up with a small group of people somewhere else in Kingsport and spent the evening with them. Corporal Clare said, quote, "We're not positive how she got to her location, but she did meet up with a group of people," end quote. He also said police have evidence that Leila has died, that she's passed away, she's no longer with us. They haven't said what that evidence is, or how, or where, and here's the part

• 30:51Stephanie Harlowe?

  I can't stop thinking about it. Clare said he knows who that small group of people is. He said he believes they know where Leila is, and they refuse to cooperate. So just let that sink in. Police are saying there are people in Kingsport who know where this young mother is, this young woman is, and they're choosing to stay quiet while her family searches for her relentlessly. And Jennifer is always, I always see her on Tik Tok, raising awareness for Leila, talking about Leila, still talking about Leila. This is exactly how a parent should be handling this situation. It is the hardest way to live, but it is exactly the right thing. And I know that Jennifer probably feels some

• 31:32Stephanie Harlowe?

  guilt for things in the past, falling victim to drug addiction, and maybe not being the best that she could be for Leila during those times, but she is being the best that she could be for Leila right now. And she has continuously and tirelessly done that.

• 31:46Derrick Levasseur?

  I also think it's kind of what I was saying earlier, where she knows what she's been through with addiction and probably always was concerned in the back of her mind, like, I really hope that Leila doesn't have to go through something similar because of, you know, hereditary traits or whatever. And, you know, I think about like allergies and stuff that you pass down to your kids and you're like, oh, man, I feel bad. I feel bad that I put that on you. But Jennifer needs to know that she's in no way, shape or form responsible for this. In fact, not only being a mother, but going from being a grandmother to back to being a mother again, taking care of Nova, taking on that responsibility because that was someone that she could actually help in that moment. And I'm sure in her mind, she was helping Nova and Leila.

• 32:29Stephanie Harlowe?

  Oh, absolutely.

• 32:30Derrick Levasseur?

  So she doesn't need me to tell her this. I shouldn't need anybody to tell her this, but she did everything she could. She was trying to be there for her daughter while also helping her to survive on her own. Because we have this weird balance where you want to be there and you want to protect your children, but you also don't want to enable them.

• 32:49Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah, you want to also have them learn and fall and pick themselves up. Yeah, it's hard. It's hard. It's the hardest job in the world. Being a parent is the hardest job in the world.

• 32:57Derrick Levasseur?

  You talked about, you know, this, the situation earlier where Leila's living with her boyfriend, and the only requirement that Jennifer's asking is that one of you two to get a job, not both. I'm taking care of the kid, but one of you two get a job. And it's like, nope.

• 33:13Stephanie Harlowe?

  Nah, we'll pass.

• 33:14Derrick Levasseur?

  So at that point, what do you, what do you do? You can only do so much. And I just hope that as Jennifer is carrying on right now, still fighting for her daughter, that she knows we're fighting along with her. We want justice for her. We want the people responsible to be held accountable. And I hope she knows that as she's going through this process, she's doing it because she loves her daughter, not in any way, shape or form is she responsible for what happened. That's, that's important here because I'm sure there's guilt. And probably anything I'm saying isn't going to change that. But I think sometimes it's good to hear it from other people who are looking at this objectively. And you and I call balls and strikes. And if I didn't feel this way, or you didn't feel this way, we may not criticize her, but we wouldn't be complimentary of her.

• 33:59Stephanie Harlowe?

  We wouldn't be defending her, yeah.

• 34:00Derrick Levasseur?

  So, you know, I think it's important that she knows if, if nobody's told her lately, she did nothing wrong here. And she's doing what every other mother would do, and a great mother would do, to try to assist your daughter in getting off, you know, getting off her butt, getting back on her feet, but not doing it for her. And that is always a, that's a tight rope.

• 34:21Stephanie Harlowe?

  It's hard. I'm saying it's hard.

• 34:22Derrick Levasseur?

  There's no book on it. There's no book on it. But man, based on what law enforcement has said, and based on the amount of time that's gone on, and based on the circle that Leila was with, it is an assumption that she may no longer be with us, and that there are people who know what happened. And I think that's absolutely the case.

• 34:41Stephanie Harlowe?

  Well, yeah, the cops say, we believe they know what happened. Yeah.

• 34:45Derrick Levasseur?

  They just have to get the right person, because now the question people are going to ask you and I is, well, where do we go from here? If the cops know that there's a specific group that is aware of what happened to her, what do you do? Well, this is the real cat and mouse game. Because me as Detective Derek, I'm watching them. Candidly, I'm probably having an off record conversation with them, one that's not going to make it into a police report. And it's going to be something along the lines of, hey, listen, I know you know where Leila is, but I can't prove it. But what I can do is be a constant shadow over your shoulder. And when you [bleep] up, I'm going to be there. And there will be no grace. There will be no deals.

• 35:28Stephanie Harlowe?

  Not if you don't come forward. If I have to dig it out of you.

• 35:30Derrick Levasseur?

  Not if you don't. Yeah, that's the final thought. Unless you help me help you. Unless you give me what I need to bring Leila home. Then maybe I'll owe you a favor. But more than likely, the people that he's referring to have a criminal past as well. That's why he's aware of them.

• 35:47Stephanie Harlowe?

  And they may have been, it sounds kind of like, from talking to Leila's mother, it sounds kind of like, maybe they were complicit in it. Maybe they're afraid of everybody kind of getting in trouble because of whatever part they played or whatever they saw. So...

• 36:01Derrick Levasseur?

  Right. Well, the, some of you may not like this, but I would be, as a detective, I'd be telling them, you're scared of other people, you should be scared of me too. Because I'm going to be there when you mess up. And like I said, no breaks. And we're going to be watching you guys. And maybe we wouldn't be watching you guys as closely if we didn't know that you know information that we need. And so maybe you'd get away with some of the things you're still doing if we weren't hovering over you. But until Leila's brought home, I'm going to be a pimple on your ass. It's not going to be fun.

• 36:34Stephanie Harlowe?

  I mean, at this time, we have to remember that this is a mother, a family, Leila's got tons of siblings, you know, a father, a stepfather, a grandmother still, who are wanting to know what happened to her. And there's a group of people out here that are just like, you know, we're just going to keep it to ourselves to protect ourselves. And it's, it's absolutely gross.

• 36:57Derrick Levasseur?

  I say one more thing, just to make sure I'm covering my bases. If there's somebody within that group, that may be a decent person, but is afraid, there's options for them as well. I've had that happen a million times, where I, there's services and resources available to get that information, probably doing it, do it in a way that they would, their crew wouldn't even know that they gave up that information. I've never had to turn over a CI in my entire career.

• 37:23Stephanie Harlowe?

  I guarantee you that crew knows who the weak link is, though.

• 37:26Derrick Levasseur?

  I'm sure. I'm sure. But there are resources and, and there's things available to help them. And so there's a couple of ways to play this. Like, I first gave you the bad cop for the, for the assholes who think they're getting away with something. But for the, the weak link that you're referring to, that may just be genuinely afraid, there is a way to go at them with, as a good cop, with the, with the soft kid gloves on, and let them know, one, you need to get out of this circle. You don't want to be there because you could be next.

• 37:52Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah. What do they say? Two can keep a secret if one of them's dead?

• 37:55Derrick Levasseur?

  It's not a secret if more than one person knows.

• 37:57Stephanie Harlowe?

  With the heat going on, that might be exactly what happens.

• 37:59Derrick Levasseur?

  I just wanted to say, for the law enforcement, knowing that, that group, they can identify the weak link as well. And they'll know the person who has committed, you know, who's the most implicit in all of this, and yet has the same amount to lose if they're somehow tied up in it. And you can play that on a person by person basis, as far as your approach from an investigative position, how you deal with them, and how you try to get the information you're looking for.

• 38:24Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah. Well, at this point, we obviously go back to Jennifer Santanello. She's told local news she still wants to bring her daughter home, regardless of what state she's in. She told another station, I just want my baby back. I want to wrap my arms around her. I will never stop searching. Leila's daughter, Nova Grace, is now five, being taken care of by Jennifer, who's really stepping up and, you know, doing the most and the best she can. But if you were with Leila in late June of 2023, or you've heard anything at all, it is not too late. Please call the Kingsport Police Department at 423-343-9780, or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND. Jennifer said something at the two-year vigil that I'll

• 39:09Stephanie Harlowe?

  leave you with. If you stop talking about the missing, they just disappear. So we're going to keep talking about Leila, just as Jennifer has. And thank you so much to Jennifer for trusting us with her daughter's story and with a portion of her own story.

• 39:21Derrick Levasseur?

  Absolutely. And just to add to that, we want to be part of the solution here. We want to help instead of just sitting here behind our computers talking about it. So if anybody does have information about Leila's disappearance, if you come forward and your information leads to an arrest, we will give you $5,000.

• 39:41Stephanie Harlowe?

  Yeah. Wow.

• 39:43Derrick Levasseur?

  Simple as that. So if it's not enough just to do the right thing, come forward. And like I just said, if you help solve this case and you put that person behind bars, if it leads to a conviction, we will be there. We got five grand waiting for you. Thank you to Jennifer for sharing that story. You don't have to do that. We're glad we were able to relay it to you guys, and we want to be part of this. We're not just going to be talking heads. So we're putting our money where our mouth is.

• 40:08Stephanie Harlowe?

  Thank you all so much for being here. Make sure you let us know what you think about this in the comments section. Don't forget that there are options. You can talk to somebody.

• 40:16Derrick Levasseur?

  Anonymously.

• 40:17Stephanie Harlowe?

  Anonymously. You can help add much needed information to this case, bring a daughter home to her mother, and wrap this up, because nobody should have to suffer like this for so long.

• 40:29Derrick Levasseur?

  Couldn't agree more.

• 40:30Stephanie Harlowe?

  Thank you all for being here.

• 40:31Derrick Levasseur?

  Absolutely. Thank you for being here. We'll be back later this week with Ashley Flynn, Part Four. Until then, please, everyone stay safe out there, and we'll see you soon.

• 40:40Stephanie Harlowe?

  Bye.