♪ ♪
( children laughing, shouting)
Jesse?
Jesse... Jesse, can you hear me?
Jesse, please!
Jesse!!
Jesse Matthews, six years old.
GRISSOM: Is this an old photo?
Yeah, it's the only one the mom had.
She said one minute, he's on the swing, the next minute
he's gone.
Abduction.
The search radius is over a mile--
no sign of the boy.
What about the father?
The father is, um...
Army sergeant, uh... Dwight Matthews.
Killed in Afghanistan four years ago.
Any other family members? Grandparents? Boyfriends?
BRASS: No, her parents are dead
and her husband's parents--
she lost communication with them since he died.
Mrs. Matthews... this is Gil Grissom
and Warrick Brown from the Crime Lab.
I, uh... I never bring Jesse to the park.
But this afternoon, the backyard just couldn't hold him,
so we came here and... uh... he was on the swings;
I couldn't even get him off,
and then I look around and he's gone; he's just...
Mrs. Matthews, there's really nothing more you can do here.
Why don't you let us give you a ride home?
I'm not leaving.
Not without Jesse.
I called the team.
They always look so vulnerable.
They are.
Captioning sponsored by CBS, C.S.I. PRODUCTIONS
♪ Who... are you? ♪
♪ Who, who, who, who? ♪
♪ Who... are you? ♪
♪ Who, who, who, who? ♪
♪ I really wanna know ♪
♪ Who... are you? ♪
♪ Oh-oh-oh ♪
♪ Who... ♪
♪ Come on, tell me who are you, you, you ♪
♪ Oh, you! ♪
It's like trying to get an i.d. on swimmers
from ripples in the pool. How about you?
Lots of little fingers... and some big ones.
Helping hands?
( camera shutter clicks )
( sets case down )
So, ma'am, do you remember this boy?
It's not a recent photo.
( sighs )
I had my hands full.
I don't take my eyes off him ever.
Sure. I understand.
But there was this man near the swings--
he kept looking around like he was waiting for something.
What'd he look like?
He was a white guy, blue baseball cap...
That's all I remember.
Did he seem interested in one of the kids?
Yeah. A boy.
Could be that boy.
Mm... it's hard to tell.
Okay...
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Mrs. Matthews...
I know this is difficult for you,
but I have to ask you again--
do you remember seeing anyone
hanging around near the swings?
Anyone. Maybe, maybe a man in a blue baseball cap?
Yes.
Can you describe him?
He was white...
White...
Uh... just under six feet, I think.
Six feet. Great.
Jeans.
Did he take Jesse?
We don't know.
Our K-9 officers are going to need
something that Jesse's worn recently.
Uh... his jacket.
It's in the car. I'll get it for you.
( panting )
Whoa! Whoa! What are they doing?
Pull the dogs back, please.
Can I see this jacket?
Has Jesse ever worn this?
I just bought it for him.
He's been growing so fast. I'm sorry, I...
That's okay; we'll get something from your house.
( camera shutter clicking )
What do you make of this?
Possible struggle...
That could've been used as a weapon.
The blood drops could be
castoff.
Maybe the poor kid had to pee while his mom was in the car.
Mrs. Matthews, I need you to take a look at something.
Do you recognize these?
They're...
( retching )
( siren whoops )
WILLOWS: Mrs. Matthews inside?
BRASS: Yeah.
Every mother's worst nightmare.
I checked her answering machine: no calls.
Well, I'll get a DNA exemplar for Jesse
and let her get some sleep.
She won't sleep.
Okay, Greg, let's do a little legwork, what do you say?
You take this side of the street,
I'll take the other-- find out if anybody's
seen anything suspicious.
Mrs. Matthews?
I'm Catherine Willows from the Crime Lab.
Sorry about the mess.
It's okay.
Jesse was so full of energy this morning.
He didn't give me time to clean up.
I understand.
This photo...
Is it recent?
Uh, yeah, that's, uh, that's from last month.
If it's all right with you, I'd like to borrow it.
I'll get it to Nevada Child Search,
and they can get it out to the media.
Sure.
Thank you.
Jesse's home-schooled.
We do art together... music...
Everything.
Do you have children?
I have a daughter. Thirteen.
WILLOWS: "Thirty-six and a half inches."
We'll add it to the physical description.
And, Mrs. Matthews,
our K-9 Unit will need something
with Jesse's scent.
Oh, right, right.
Um... maybe... maybe his stuffed dinosaur?
He holds it while he's sleeping.
That'll work.
And I will need something with his DNA:
a toothbrush, hairbrush,
pillowcase...
Why do you need that?
Well, if we locate anything that could lead us to him,
we want to make sure we've got the right boy.
Well, I'll get those things for you.
Hi.
Captain Brass asked me to drive the lady's car home.
Oh... okay.
Yeah, I'll let her know.
Thanks.
Mm-hmm.
Since her husband died,
Kids' toys always laying around.
I'm always tossing balls
over my fence back into her yard
They keep to themselves, which is fine by me.
Sir, have you seen any suspicious cars
in the neighborhood, or strangers?
I work all day and I don't spend my nights
looking at the neighbors, okay?
Well, what about the weekends?
( dog snarling )
Aggressive little pooch.
Oh, she's my sweetie.
Who's my good girl?
Queenie's my good girl.
Yes, you are. Yes, you are.
Interesting how things work out.
What do you mean?
Her kid getting killed.
This is Queenie.
My last dog, Princess...
Princess died,
and she did it.
Karen Matthews?
Four years ago.
I found Princess hanging off the back fence.
Supposed to look like it was an accident,
like she got caught on collar and choked.
Did you see her do that?
No,
but I knew.
See, Princess used to bark through the fence at her kid.
She just wanted to play.
If you ask me, you know what?
the kid liked it,
but Karen she just went off the deep end.
Mr. McCracken,
who told you her son was killed?
Who takes care of the hamsters?
Jesse. When he remembers.
which is about as often
as he remembers to brush his teeth.
Mrs. Matthews,
has Jesse ever run away from home?
He'd never do that.
Was he upset about anything?
No. No. No.
You're going to find him.
If something happened,
I'd know.
I'd know here.
Of course. I'd feel the same.
Mrs. Matthews, when the officer
brought your car back,
I noticed that there were gifts
in the garage that were
from your husband's parents.
The, um... the colonel
and his wife.
We're, uh, we're not in touch anymore.
Ever since
Dwight was...
Ever since Dwight died,
my father-in-law thinks he should be raising Jesse, not me.
He runs that house like an Army barracks.
Do you know what that does to a boy?
Well, I saw what
it did to Dwight, and I will not let him do that to Jesse.
I'm still going to need some contact information.
They took him.
We haven't seen Karen or Jesse since, um... uh...
since...
We haven't seen them in four years,
since the day we buried our son.
Here. Here's your toy soldier.
Warren, not today.
He's my grandson.
It-it's, it's a toy.
I will raise my own son-- not you.
Jesse comes from a, from a long line of military men
going all the way back to
Bull Run.
Were you in the service?
Yes, sir. Marine Corps.
I bet your dad was, too, right?
You know, we're here to talk about your family, not mine.
If we hadn't seen
Jesse's picture last night on TV,
we wouldn't know what he looked like now.
She blames me.
I do not.
Don't tell me
what I know and don't know,
all right?
Can I please just go to the bathroom?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
Where is it?
It's. uh... down the hall
to the right, through the door.
Excuse me.
This is just between
you and me.
I saw Karen last week.
Oh, hi, Karen, uh, could I see Jesse
please?
No.
Karen, he's my only grandson.
You can't have him, okay?
I don't want to keep him, Karen.
I just want to give him these. Please.
Just leave us alone.
Jesse! It's Grandpa. Jesse!
No, please.
Jesse! It's Grandpa. Jesse!
No, please.
Colonel?
Where's my wife?
She's in the ladies' room. It's okay.
Do you get these
uh... these spells often?
There's some memory loss?
It's early Alzheimer's.
That's a tough one.
All I wanted was to see my grandson.
Find him for me.
We'll do our best, sir.
We'll do our very best.
BROWN: Any luck with those prints
from the swing?
Nothing on AFIS, but Brass did put out a bulletin
for the guy in the blue baseball cap.
I wouldn't get our hopes up--
it's a vague description.
What about the K-9 search?
Nothing.
What do you got for me?
Well, I ran the exemplar toothbrush
against a blood sample
from the men's room.
It's not a match.
What about the underpants?
Couldn't get enough epithelials for DNA
'cause the kid probably hadn't
been wearing them for very long.
I wonder why.
Well, I did confirm
a positive result for urea in the underpants.
and the quantity and distribution suggests that
the kid wet himself.
Ditched his wet tighty-whiteys and went back out to play.
( beeping )
I got a hit on your blood. Conner Daly.
Convicted of NRS 201.450.
Out on parole.
What's a 450?
That'd be "Sex With Dead Body."
Mr. Daly, where were you yesterday afternoon?
Playing nickel slots downtown.
I, uh.... I'm not trying to win
the big jackpot or anything
just passing time.
It relaxes me.
Where did you go next?
Walked in the park.
Fresh air.
I'm allergic to smoke.
Which park?
One near my apartment.
Would that be Mesa Valley Park?
Yeah.
Then I sat down on a park bench
and read a copy of the RJ that I picked out of the trash.
What's this about?
Did you go to the men's room at any time?
Only when nature called.
What did you do there?
I amused myself.
What did you do next?
We found your blood on the floor.
I get nosebleeds.
Too much cocaine back in the day.
I'm sure we'll find that on your medical records.
( seething )
My whole damn life is on record.
So, why don't you look at the freakin' records, huh?
You have anger issues, Mr. Daly?
Yeah.
Would you take a seat for me, please.
What's that cut
on your hand from?
Pick the wrong partner?
No.
Look, I'll send the county a buck 50.
They can buy a new one.
You recognize this boy?
Looks like a kid that this guy brought into the bathroom
but I didn't stay to watch.
Did you get a look at the guy?
51s fan.
His cap.
Las Vegas police may have a break
in the case of a missing boy.
An eyewitness has come forward
with a more complete description of the suspect
Authorities are now seeking this man
in connection with the disappearance yesterday
of six-year-old Jesse Matthews.
Initial reports from the scene
only mention a man in a blue cap, but the police artist
had a lot more to work with
after the eyewitness came forward.
Uh, uh... I'm ju... I'm just trying to stay positive.
and, um, you know, I know that Jesse'll
be safe at home again soon. So.
I know he'll be safe.
The boy's mother, Karen, is holding out hope
that she'll see her son again.
She's seen tragedy enough.
Four years ago,
she lost her husband in combat in Afghanistan.
Sorry. Declined again.
You have another card?
Aw, come on.
That's the fourth time.
Maybe we got identity theft-ed or something.
Hey, hey, leave that candy alone.
It could be the card-reader.
My manager be right back.
If you guys want to get some coffee
it's on the house.
Las Vegas Police.
You're under arrest.
What?
You're under arrest.
What?
That's the kid from the news, right?
Yeah. You did good.
Yeah, what the hell is going on here?
Hey, let go of me.
What are you arresting us for? Huh?
What's going on?
What are you arresting us for?!
What's going on?
What are you arresting us for?!
Get away from him.
Get away from him!
It's all right, son.
You're safe now..
God, where is he?
He's in with a social worker. He's okay.
Jesse!
Oh, Jesse, thank God.
Thank God you're okay.
No, no, no, it's okay.
Mommy is here. You're safe now.
Mommy!
Mommy! Mommy!
Adam! Adam!
KAREN: No, your mommy's here, honey.
WOMAN: Get away from my kid!
What did they say to you?
What did they make you say, sweetheart?
Look at me. Don't say nothing to nobody.
You hear me, little man, huh?
KAREN: Don't look at those people.
Just look at me. Just look right here.
Jim?
What the hell's going on?
That's Victor and Valerie Esposito.
Transplants from Jersey.
Check this out.
It was with Mrs. Esposito's
personal belongings at booking.
WILLOWS: He's got the same scar
over his eye as in Karen's photo.
So this kid has two moms?
King Solomon threatened to cut the baby in half.
What are you going to do?
King Solomon didn't have a DNA lab.
Hey, is it all right if he goes with CSI Brown
for a little while?
It won't be long.
Okay.
My name's Warrick.
You want to go for a walk?
It's okay, sweetheart.
He's a friend.
Come on, we'll have some fun.
Oh, wait.
He gets cold.
Thank you.
Wow, everybody's so busy in there, huh?
I hear you like dinosaurs.
Which one's your favorite?
You know what mine is? T-Rex.
'Cause he's got teeth like this big.
I bet you wouldn't want him for a pet, would you?
You want to see something cool?
Come over here.
This is my special science kit.
Got all kinds of stuff in here.
Let me see... I got rubber gloves.
Yeah...
Put that on.
What else I got in here?
I got pens
that turn into flashlights.
You want to see
something invisible?
Go like this.
See, there's nothing there, right?
But take
my magic wand right here,
and I put it in my special magic powder
like this.
Watch this.
What appears
is our fingerprints.
Now shine the flashlight on it.
Good job.
Will you be my assistant?
See, no two people's fingerprints are alike.
Just like no two people's
spit is the same.
So if I took my spit
like this...
Now you do it.
See, even if I mix them up,
I have a machine to tell me which one is mine
and which one is yours.
Now, I need you to tell me something.
Which one of these
two pretty ladies
is your mom?
That one.
Thank you.
Yeah, whatever.
Can I see Adam now?
Adam?
Yeah.
My kid.
Well, once our lab confirms DNA,
he can go home with his mother.
Who the hell do you think I am?
Mrs. Esposito...
did you adopt Adam?
Give me a break.
26 hours in labor. Finally had a C-section.
Did you have twins?
Can I take Jesse home now?
I need your help
to tie up a few loose ends.
Of course, anything.
Let's start with a sample of your DNA.
What?
We have to follow procedure
for everyone's protection.
In fact, Jesse can't even be released
without a positive match.
He doesn't stay up this late.
I'll make it a rush, I promise.
Open your mouth, please.
WILLOWS: It's the same kid.
It's a doppelganger, with an identical scar.
He picked Mrs. Esposito.
WILLOWS: I know there's cases in which
the kidnappers threatened their victims,
"Tell them that I'm your mother
or I'll kill your real mom."
I don't think he's lying.
I don't think that Mrs. Esposito's lying either.
Karen Matthews had
a house full of photos of him.
Well, I'm sure the Espositos do, too.
There's something off
about this picture.
It seems kind of set up, doesn't it?
The pixel density's not the same.
Where'd she get this picture of Adam?
How'd she get it?
Maybe she's a stalker.
No, she wouldn't have stalked us to Cape May.
This isn't it.
It's the only shore we've been to.
Do you recognize anything in the picture?
Yeah, that's the shirt his Nana gave him
last summer. He only wore it that once,
at our family reunion.
Was Karen Matthews there?
No way.
Mr. Esposito...
several witnesses
saw a man matching your description
at Mesa Valley Park
when Jesse disappeared.
Yeah, I'm there all the time.
We live around the corner.
We just had Adam's birthday party there last month.
Yeah.
Were you there the day before yesterday?
Yeah, with Adam. Yeah.
You told me you were taking him for ice cream.
What were you doing in the park?
I had to meet a guy.
A guy?
Oh, my God.
You're putting money down on a game?
You promised you quit.
I did,
all right? It's for a guy at work.
( car horn honking )
Three-to-one, right?
Adam.
Well, you should have just took him for ice cream.
So Karen took a picture of herself at the beach
and Photoshopped Jesse in.
Right.
So if that's really
Adam Esposito, where did she get the pictures from?
Well, let us see.
Where are you going?
Image search.
Family home page.
My mom wants me to do one of these for our family.
Click on
where it says "Adam's Birthday Party."
That one.
Maybe Karen found the site.
Cut out the kid's picture.
That's Mesa Valley Park.
Karen Matthews faked those photos
that she gave Catherine.
How?
Cut-and-paste.
The photos that she got off the Internet.
The Espositos told Catherine
that they were at the park with their son
the day Jesse Matthews disappeared.
Is that a coincidence?
No. My guess is Karen's been downloading pictures
from the family Web site for a while.
The most recent being from Mesa Valley Park.
Could Karen have recognized the park
from the pictures on the Web site?
Yeah, and she went there hoping to see him there.
But she reported him missing.
That makes no sense.
Hey, I got the DNA results.
The boy is Adam Esposito.
Victor and Valerie
are his parents.
There you go, she's lying.
She doesn't have a son.
Uh, not quite.
She's got 13 alleles in common with the male DNA
that we got from the toothbrush exemplar.
So she does have a son.
WILLOWS: I was inside the house.
Believe me, a kid does live there.
And we're still looking for Jesse Matthews.
Karen Matthews.
Can I take Jesse home now?
I'm afraid not. No.
The DNA confirms the boy's not your child.
I... That's impossible.
Your actions
regarding the Espositos constitutes stalking
and possible kidnapping.
Please go with this officer.
No, no... What have you done with Jesse?
Ma'am...
Where is he?
OFFICER: Ma'am...
Jesse?
Please, ma'am...
Jesse? Jesse, where are you?!
Ma'am, please...
I need to see my son!
Jesse!
Jesse, where are you?!
Please! Please! Jesse!
Jesse!
Jesse, where are you?!
"Jesse David Matthews.
"Mother Karen, father Dwight.
"Born August 31,
1999."
I also checked
for a death certificate.
Nothing on file.
These are all in chronological order.
Archie confirmed that all the photos taken
along the top row were genuine.
Up until the photo taken
at the funeral in which he was two.
So, the rest of these were faked
using Adam Esposito?
Yeah.
You talked to the neighbors.
What did they say?
Jesse and Karen kept to themselves.
But he was always leaving
his toys around outside.
They saw his toys--
did they see him?
Well, when I asked, "When was the last time you saw Jesse?"
no one remembered exactly.
What about his grandparents?
They haven't seen him since the funeral.
Has anyone seen Jesse since he was two?
His teachers or a doctor, baby-sitters...?
Well, he was home-schooled.
And we're looking into a doctor and a sitter.
Well, I guess we can impound her car
and find out if there's any evidence
that he was even in there.
For four years she's created
an elaborate fantasy--
which collided with reality
at Mesa Valley Park.
Jesse.
Jesse?
Where are you?!
Jesse?!
I suppose she thought it was her son that was gone
when she looked back at that empty swing.
WILLOWS: When she couldn't find him,
she called the police.
Jesse's been missing for four years.
We're chasing a ghost.
We went to the park.
I-I brought Jesse's new jacket.
He was on the swings and when I wasn't looking,
a man in a blue cap took him.
Karen, tell me what happened four years ago
after your husband was killed.
I-I... that's a...
I am not the one that should be here.
You should be talking to the man that took Jesse.
Did Jesse get sick?
Was there an accident?
Karen?
Did something happen to Jesse?
Is Jesse dead?
You saw him.
You were... you were there while I held him in my arms.
Why are you putting me through this?
Tell me. Why?
So how do we do this?
Old school.
Soil probes.
The probe goes deeper where the soil's been disturbed.
SANDERS: And that's where we dig?
On the one hand, you really want to find the body.
Give it respect,
provide closure...
On the other hand...
Yeah.
She would have buried the body
where he would have still been close to her.
You know, I'm not finding any density changes.
SANDERS: Me neither.
Somebody replaced this fence board right here.
These other ones look like they've been chewed on.
Guy said that Karen freaked out when his dog barked at her kid.
Maybe the dog chewed through the fence.
There's definitely a change in density there.
Let's start digging.
I found this
in Karen's medicine chest.
Olanzapine.
That's a heavy-duty antipsychotic.
Yeah.
But the prescription is over four years old.
I'll have Brass subpoena her medical records.
You know, if she was being treated for psychosis,
it could explain all of this,
because she didn't overlook a single detail.
I think she even did the fingerpaintings.
It's hard for anyone to let go of someone they love.
Yeah.
After my dad died,
my mom would still get him a present every Christmas.
She'd put it under the tree.
Christmas morning, the wrapping paper would be
all crumpled up and, uh...
the tie or the sweater, whatever it was,
would be hanging in the closet.
How old were you when he died?
Nine.
Little guy.
I'll get started in Karen's room.
He taught botany.
He, uh...
came home from school one hot, humid day,
laid down on the couch.
I was watching TV.
My Mom brought in some cold drinks...
but she couldn't wake him up.
No one would tell me why.
( over P.A. ): Nick Stokes, you have a visitor in Reception.
Nick Stokes, you have a visitor in Reception.
Hey, Hodges.
Oh, hey, Nick.
Did you hear you had a visitor?
Yeah, and you have a tissue sample with adherent hairs.
Examine the hairs and get the tissue sample to DNA.
Priority.
I'll just drop everything I'm doing.
Priority, Nick Stokes.
You're coming around, Hodges.
Hey. I, uh, I have a visitor?
Kelly?
Hi.
You... you got out.
Couple days ago.
Mm...
Parole hearing board liked my smile.
You know, I thought I saw you at a crime scene the other day.
You did.
I did?
Just checking it out.
You know how, when you came to see me,
what you said
about when I get out, not taking it with me?
I've been thinking a lot about that.
I wanted you to know.
You all right?
Perfect.
( dog barking )
That would be Queenie.
( barking continues )
Even after four years,
you'd expect to find some bones.
There's nothing.
Jesse liked dinosaurs.
Let's see what Hodges can tell us.
The GCMS soil analysis found Cadaverine,
Putrescine and several other organic compounds.
Yeah. English, please?
It means there was a body buried in Karen's backyard.
Just too long ago to get any DNA.
But Hodges also found traces of Olanzapine.
Well, that's interesting, becasue a warrant came through
on Karen Matthews' medical records,
and after her son was born,
Karen was treated for postpartum psychosis,
which her doctors treated by prescribing
Olanzapine.
Even a small amount of that stuff
would be lethal to a two-year-old.
Karen is already mentally fragile
when her husband is killed.
She gets into a very heated argument with the in-laws
at his funeral, goes over the deep end,
poisons Jesse and buries him in the backyard near the fence.
BRASS: But then she digs him up. Why?
GRISSOM: We have evidence to suggest that the neighbor's dog
was digging in Karen's backyard.
The neighbor claims that Karen
killed his dog.
If the dog detected decomp
and dug near the grave,
Karen may have moved the body to protect him.
BRASS: So, where's Jesse's body?
WILLOWS: Nick found a patch
of tissue and hair in the trunk of Karen's car.
The DNA matches the toothbrush.
If Karen doesn't tell us where to look,
I doubt we'll ever find the body.
You know, as long as I do this job, I can never understand
how a mother can kill her child.
GRISSOM: Euripedes tried to understand it when he wrote Medea.
"I will slay my children without delaying long enough
to hand them over to some more savage hand."
Medea, like Karen, was a soldier's wife.
WILLOWS: His father was a soldier,
his grandfather was a soldier,
Karen did not want that for Jesse.
Well, it's still murder.
( faintly ): Mommy... Mommy!
Captioning sponsored by CBS, C.S.I. PRODUCTIONS nough