Teke Buggs`s mother on Nancy Grace with emotional plea for her missing daughter
NANCY GRACE: 12-Year-Old Missing, Teketria Buggs
(Guests: LARONALD FOY, TERRIANN COLSON, FORT BEND SHERIFF`S DPT, TIM MILLER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH, ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST
December 5, 2005
Nancy Grace interview’s LARONALD FOY, the mom of the missing 12 year old, Teketria Buggs. In an emotional interview Teke’s mom pleas for th safe return of her daughter.
FOY: No, she`s in the 3rd grade because she missed too many days out of school last year. So she`s in the 3rd grade, but she`s a smart girl. Last year, she passed the highest in her school (INAUDIBLE) She`s really, really bright. She`s a really bright girl, really, really bright. And I just can`t see somebody coming in my grandmother`s home and taking her and her not trying to put up a fight or anything. She`s too bright. I just feel like if she had time to put on her shoes, whoever she left with, she trusted him. She knew (INAUDIBLE) her heart.
And all I`m asking is, if you have her, please bring her back to me! I can`t make it without her! Please bring her back to me, please!
The rest of the interview:
But first, tonight, please help us. We are searching for a 12-year- old missing Texas girl. She disappeared from her own home, Orchard, Texas, Friday, last seen sleeping on her own sofa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARONALD FOY, MISSING GIRL`S MOTHER: She (INAUDIBLE) to go to her aunt`s house right here without her sisters and her brothers. So for her just to get up and put on her shoes, that`s impossible for me to believe. God himself would have to come and tell me that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Very quickly, I want to go straight out to the news director with KFNC, Laurie Kendrick. Laurie, bring us up to date.
LAURIE KENDRICK, KFNC NEWS DIRECTOR: Hi, Nancy. How`re you doing? Well, the Amber Alert has been issued for Teketria Buggs. She`s age 12, as you mentioned, last sleeping on the couch in her living room in the small rural community of Orchard in Fort Bend County, maybe about 30 miles southwest, due southwest of Houston proper. Her family issued — or reported her missing around 10:00 AM Saturday morning.
And what has authorities so baffled, Nancy, is what they`re not seeing. They found no signs of struggle, no signs of foul play. And what`s more disconcerting is they have absolutely no indication that a crime occurred, and they can`t find this 12-year-old child to save their lives, despite the fact we have quite a few experienced searchers checking about a 12-mile area not far from the community of Orchard. The land was adjacent to the Brazos River. It`s a very woody are. But so far, absolutely nothing, and that is perhaps the most disconcerting sign about this entire event.
GRACE: Here is what police had to say.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRIANN COLSON, FORT BEND SHERIFF`S DPT: There also is some small bodies of water, and that is something that they`re not ruling out, that they may also take in consideration is searching the waters.
FOY: From my heart and my good (ph) feelings (ph), if my child left, she left with somebody that she trusted, that she trusts, because for her not to scream, the child she is, no matter what it would have been done, she would have screamed her grandma`s name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Back to Laurie Kendrick with KFNC. Everybody, we have an Amber Alert tonight for a little girl missing out of Texas, missing from her own sofa.
Joining me now, a very special guest, Laronald Foy. This is Teketria`s mother, Teke Buggs`s mother. Welcome, Ms. Foy. Thank you for being with us.
LARONALD FOY: Thank you.
GRACE: Ma`am, who was home when your daughter went missing?
FOY: Her 10-year-old sister and her 2-year-old brother and her 2- year-old cousin and her grandmother.
GRACE: And where did they last see her?
FOY: Well, her stepfather about 10:30 told them to get ready for bed, and that was the last time that anybody talked to her, around 10:30.
GRACE: At 10:30. Where did her stepfather go?
FOY: PM. I`m not sure. I`m not sure. I don`t know. He probably — I don`t — I`m not sure.
GRACE: Did he leave the home that night?
FOY: Yes, ma`am. When he came back in, he came in and woke my 10- year-old up and asked her was she — where was Teketria at, and she just said she didn`t know.
GRACE: Ms. Foy, where did the stepfather go that evening, and how long was he out of the home?
FOY: I`m not quite sure where he went because I wasn`t there, but…
GRACE: Has he told you?
FOY: No, ma`am.
GRACE: Why?
FOY: We`ve really just not had any bunch of communication, he and I, because he`s been one place and I`ve been one place. So we really haven`t talked, but Fort Bend police department…
GRACE: Ms. Foy — Ms. Foy…
FOY: Yes, ma`am?
GRACE: Ms. Foy?
FOY: Yes, ma`am?
GRACE: I`m putting your daughter on the air tonight to try to find her…
FOY: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: … but I need straight answers from you. Now, she went missing — what day, Ellie (ph), did she go missing, on Friday?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Friday (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: You haven`t had a chance to talk…
FOY: Ma`am…
GRACE: … to the man you live with since Friday?
FOY: I haven`t had a — who said…
GRACE: You haven`t talked to him about where he went that night?
FOY: No, I — the only thing I asked him is when he came in the house, why didn`t he go and look at 2:00 o`clock in the morning to see where she was? My state of mind right now — I`m not in a good state of mind and…
GRACE: I know. I know. Let me show the little girl again. Everybody, this is Teke Buggs. She is just 12 years old. Look at this little girl. She`s only 4 feet 10 inches. The little thing is only 95 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, light brown skin. She was — December 2, last seen Friday night, 10:30 PM, sleeping on the couch of her own home. Everybody, look at Teke Buggs. There`s a $5,000 reward for information relating to this little girl, tip line 281-342-TIPS. That`s 281-342-8477. Please help us bring this little girl home.
I want to straight back to the news director with KFNC, Laurie Kendrick. Laurie, I don`t want to press Teke`s mother right now. She was not in the home at that time. Where was the boyfriend?
KENDRICK: I think that`s a question that authorities are asking themselves. It`s my understanding that the boyfriend has a criminal record of sorts. I`m not familiar with what it is. I don`t know what role that`s going to play in this investigation, but I`m sure that`s going to be something the authorities in Fort Bend County are going to have to look into.
GRACE: The record is not — it`s not great, but it`s not bad — resisting arrest, driving DUI, an assault in 2001 — I notice that`s not an aggravated assault…
KENDRICK: Right.
GRACE: … which is with a weapon, `96 he`s got a theft, `98 theft dismissed. He got a controlled substance in 2002. Oh, we`re not looking at his record. Elizabeth (ph), do you have his record? There you go. Resisting arrest, driving intoxicated, assault. OK.
yes, he`s got a record, Laurie Kendrick, but I mean, if you dug up about a third, maybe less, of men out there, you`re going to find maybe a DUI, a resisting arrest, something. You`re going to find something. I`m not seeing anything in that record that would point to him.
What`s more disturbing to me, Laurie, is that — has he taken a polygraph?
FOY: Yes.
KENDRICK: I believe he probably — he may have, I believe…
GRACE: I think I heard Ms. Foy — is that correct, Ms. Foy, he did take a polygraph?
FOY: Yes, ma`am. We both took one. Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Did he pass?
FOY: I`m not sure. I had to leave and come here.
GRACE: You know, Ms. Foy, thank you for taking that polygraph. I remember when Marc Klaas`s little girl went missing, the first thing they asked him to do was take a polygraph. He took it. He passed it. Then they went on to look for the guy that really took the little girl from the home. Speaking of little girls taken from a home, nobody can forget Elizabeth Smart, Elizabeth Smart taken from the home, from her own home. She was just 14. Danielle Van Dam, just 7 years old. Jessica Lunsford, 9 years old. Sarah Lundy, just 13 years old. All of them taken from their own home.
And very quickly, when it comes to polygraph — let`s do trial 101, Elizabeth. You can throw that back up again. Everybody, polygraph tests are lie-detector tests, and they are normally not allowed in court. The only way they`re allowed in a criminal proceeding in most jurisdictions is when both sides stipulate or agree up front, before the test is even taken, that they`ll come in.
Ms. Foy, why did you feel it was important for you to go in and take that polygraph test and pass it?
FOY: Because at the point right now, they`re saying that everybody is a suspect. And I told them, I don`t care if I`m a suspect. I`ll do whatever they need me to do and go wherever they need me to go to bring my baby back home to me!
GRACE: (INAUDIBLE) Teke`s mother. Everybody, Teke just 12 years old. She`s been missing since Friday night. It`s every mother`s worst nightmare, the little girl at home alone in the den, watching TV on the sofa. No sign in the home of any disarray, of burglary, of break-in. And this little girl 12 years old. What grade is that? What, the 5th grade, Ms. Foy?
FOY: No, she`s in the 3rd grade because she missed too many days out of school last year. So she`s in the 3rd grade, but she`s a smart girl. Last year, she passed the highest in her school (INAUDIBLE) She`s really, really bright. She`s a really bright girl, really, really bright. And I just can`t see somebody coming in my grandmother`s home and taking her and her not trying to put up a fight or anything. She`s too bright. I just feel like if she had time to put on her shoes, whoever she left with, she trusted him. She knew (INAUDIBLE) her heart.
And all I`m asking is, if you have her, please bring her back to me! I can`t make it without her! Please bring her back to me, please!
GRACE: Elizabeth, let`s show Teke`s picture again. She`s 4 foot 10 inches. She only weighs 95 pounds. This little girl now going to the third day missing.
Luckily, there in Texas, Tim Miller, the director of Texas Equusearch — you know him from the Aruba case — has joined in the search for this little girl. Tim Miller, what are you doing to find Teke?
TIM MILLER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: You know, you get a little bit emotional over these. You get close to these families. And Nancy, when I got the call last night from the detective on the case, I says, I understand this looks like we may have a little runaway girl, and she says, No, Tim, I think we got a little bit more than that.
So we got over there at 6:00 o`clock last night. It was cold. It was dark. And we did some searching last night. And today we brought in the four-wheelers and horses and ground searchers and boats. And we got side- scan sonar again in the river.
And you know, it`s — I just didn`t have a good feeling about this one going into it, Nancy, for some reason. When you do as many as we do, you know, at times you just get touched in a different way. Where this is at, out in the country, it`s so isolated. For her to just get up and walk out and run away and go someplace, I just know that did not happen. And I think that we did a tremendous job today searching and clearing…
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Where did you search, Tim? Where did you search?
MILLER: We started — we — you know, we started out, of course, where she was last seen, and we did the 12 acres of property. We did all the wooded area beside. I mean, we did, oh, gracious, 200 or 300 acres today. There was a helicopter up this morning…
GRACE: Is there a body of water nearby, Tim?
MILLER: You know, unfortunately, there is a body of water that we`re extremely concerned in. And we had five boats in that body of water today. It`s the Brazos River. And the boats are going back out in that water tomorrow morning and the next morning and the next morning and the next…
GRACE: Everybody, here is a shot of the location, Orchard, Texas. We are looking for 12-year-old Teke Buggs.
To Dr. Robi Ludwig, psychologist. What is your take on the case, Robi?
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, when I heard about this case initially, I wanted to know more about the stepfather, any boyfriends, any men that came into the house because those are really — when little girls leave, it`s usually these men who are observing them and are attracted to them, especially a 12-year-old girl. They`re right on the cusp of teenager. Pedophiles really are very attracted to this population. I did not get the sense that she just walked out on her own or she was a runaway. The fact that she slept in her clothes also concerned me…
GRACE: Very significant.
LUDWIG: … because I wonder if there`s repeated sexual abuse there and she`s trying to protect herself. So these are all things that need to be ruled out.
GRACE: I want to go to Teke`s mom. Teke`s mom has been working with the police, cooperating with the police. She was not in the home that evening. She`s passed a polygraph with flying colors. Ms. Foy, did your little girl always sleep in her clothes?
FOY: Well (INAUDIBLE) like I say, she`s a feisty little girl, and she`s a bossy (ph) little girl. She`s always (INAUDIBLE) they`re the first to always go to bed, so she can lay down and (INAUDIBLE) get out, and she`ll just end up sleeping. I have to get her up to put on her nightclothes.
GRACE: Ms. Foy…
FOY: Yes, ma`am?
GRACE: … what do you want to say to your girl tonight, wherever she is?
FOY: I know one — one thing I know in my heart, in my soul, my baby didn`t run away. Somebody she trusted — and I`m not trying to accuse nobody or nothing, but it`s my baby! Somebody she trusted and she believed in, to put on her shoes and to leave her cell phone in her purse and to put on her shoes, Teketria just didn`t run away. So I just have faith in the public. Someone has seen her. If anyone has her, please (INAUDIBLE) whatever, bring her here! Bring her home! Just bring her where she belongs! Just bring her to me because (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Ms. Foy, let me step in for you. Teke`s mother tonight can hardly speak. Please help us. Please help us help her. Elizabeth, could you please put that picture up again? We are looking for a little 12-year- old girl, Teke Buggs, tip line 281-342-TIPS. And I make a plea tonight to you that are listening to please help us. Thank you, Ms. Foy.
FOY: Thank you.
GRACE: Yes, ma`am.
Laronda BKA Scoop is my little cousin. I just want her to know that I am praying for her and our family. I’m from Cleveland, OH and our prayers are with her. I have two daughters and I can’t imagine what this child is going through. Her grandmother is my mother’s sister and our entire family is praying from all around the country. We love you Laronda and no matter what, we will always be in your corner. Please find my little cousin. Love Kita
Comment by Markita Williams | December 8, 2005
Everyone involved in this case needs to take a closer look at the people who lived with Teketria. There is much more to this story.
Comment by anonymous | December 19, 2005
I do not know these people but i have feel in love with kete bugg and i can only say that what ever happen to her or were ever she is i hope and pray she is okay . and i want to say to the mother ” gurl yo left yo babies in a safe home ture with a man you turst a boi friend no the least i can say i no one man who wants to stay at home with an old ladya 12 a 10 and two 2 year childern on a fraiday night in the country and i dont no a man (a boyfrien if i may say on a fraiday night go ta bed 10 year old the 12 year old is okay on the chair i can only no the two 2 year old had to be asleep or no or a worrie to him and the grand ma was probly out to i can thisman of yours seeing that gurl on the chair sleeping him whit a throuth telling that 10 year old to go to bed so she can see him and the 12 year old leave him haveing his way with her killing her cause he feels shes gonna tell then bright and early bout 2
o in the moring gonna wake that same 10 year old up and ask her if she seen her if i came home that early i would asume the grand ma did her job with the kids and go ta bed or if i did check id ask the grand ma were she was frist not a child “you need to ask that man make him tell you were yo baby is “but in good will i hope you find yo baby ……….. bye good luck mama love a very worried reader.
Comment by Sherese | December 28, 2005