The Interrogator (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Missing on Christmas Eve - full transcript

Waters:
This kid, his only birthday wish
was to spend

Christmas with his mother.

Woman: Your child is nowhere
to be found.

Your mind just goes crazy.

What could've happened?

I love my boy.
I love all babies.

I love you, baby.
Don't give up.

We're looking for you.

Within minutes,
fbi is mobilized.

It really takes a monster
to do something like that.

I don't think any of us
had any idea



What kind of evil
was perpetrated.

Waters: Houston, texas,
america's fourth largest city.

I served as a homicide detective

With houston's finest
for over 23 years.

I've investigated
over 400 murders

And solved 90%
with a confession.

Once I have a suspect
in the room,

I don't quit until I get justice
for the victims.

I am homicide detective
fil waters.

I'm a father.

I have a son, and this case
involves a child.

I knew this was going
to be tough.

There is a cacophony of
questions going on in my head.

What do we need to do?



What did we not do that
we should've done?

And when does this happen

Around the most joyous time
of the year,

Christmas, where families
are gathering together?

Scrimsher: My nephew, jonathan,
came to live with us in 2005

At the age of 6.

My sister, angela, was not able
to handle him or life,

So we told my mom that we would
be happy to take him

And raise him in our family.

Meyers:
Angela had had a rough past
with relationships

And the different men
in her life

And some financial troubles.

Scrimsher:
Raising three boys as is wasn't
any different than raising four.

Jonathan would be
the first person to come

And give you a hug and say,

"hey, uncle glenn.
How was your day?"

Jonathan was living with us
for 5 years until he turned 12.

His wish for his birthday
was to go

And live with his mom
here in houston

And spend that next
christmas with her.

In November 2010, his mother,
angela, had been doing better.

She had a new husband,
and she had a good job.

I remember taking him
to the airport

To send him
on the plane to houston.

Jonathan told us
that he loved us

And was going to miss us.

On christmas eve,
angela was working

At a specialty food store
as a cashier.

Her job was only a couple
of minutes from where she lived.

Her last words to jonathan
before leaving the house is,

"don't answer the door.

If you need anything,
give me a call."

Spence: Sometime that afternoon,

The manager received
a phone call from jonathan,

And he's asking
to speak to his mom.

They're telling him,
"honey, I'm sorry.

She cannot come to the phone.
She's very busy."

And he's insistent,
"I need to speak to my mom."

Jonathan did have a sense
of urgency that did alarm her,

And then the line
goes dead.

By the time angela
got to the phone,

There was nobody there,

And so angela had tried
to call back.

He did not answer.

I know that she tried
to call him several times.

Angela got out of there
as quickly as possible

And headed
towards the house.

She was only
about half a block away.

Angela rushes in and finds
this empty apartment.

There's a video game
still on the tv.

Nothing is disturbed except...

There's no jonathan.

Rogers:
She starts looking around
the neighborhood

Trying to figure out
where he must have gone,

And angela calls the police.

Waters: On christmas eve 2010,

Missing persons detectives
are called in,

And their initial report
was he may have run away.

Rogers: He's a 12-year-old kid.

He could've just wandered off
to play basketball

Or snuck off
to play video games.

Reporter:
Police say they're looking
for any clue

That may lead them
to the little boy.

An amber alert has been issued,

And detectives want everyone
to be on the lookout for him.

It was heartbreaking,
and it really sort of captured

Everyone's attention
at holiday time

That a 12-year-old
would just evaporate.

Scrimsher:
I received the call on christmas
day that he was missing.

All that went through
our minds was,

"where's my nephew?
Where's jonathan?"

Meyers: Just kind of get thrown
into a whirlwind.

It's just not normal.

Angela appeared on
television distraught.

You know, she pleads
with the community.

Find her son, jonathan.

Rogers: Angela, you know,
gets in touch with equusearch,

And houstonians know that
when equusearch is involved,

Then it's a serious,
serious case.

Everyone takes notice.

Bogess: Equusearch is a
search-and-recovery group.

Volunteers just come out
of the woodwork.

Everybody wants to help,

Especially the day
after christmas.

I was seeing 100 to 200 people.

If jonathan was still alive,

We were determined
we would find him.

Rogers: It was packed.

There were reporters and cameras
and volunteers out the door.

There were too many
people to fit in the church.

Bogess:
We started where jonathan
had gone missing.

There was a abandoned
apartment complex.

We spread out to
the abandoned fields,

All the empty lots
in those areas.

We were looking in barrels,
ditches, dumpsters.

No one had seen him.

It was just like
he just disappeared.

Waters:
After the third day, my partner,
brian harris, and I,

We received a call to meet
missing persons detectives.

We know that, after 48 hours,

The results are not
going to be good ones.

This was definitely a situation
that my gut was telling me

It wasn't going to end well.

At the makeshift command post
set up on texas equusearch,

Everybody we needed
to talk to

Was essentially there
at that church.

Waters: We're playing catch-up
at this point.

The missing person detective
is speaking with norma suarez

Who is the manager
of the meat market

That angela davis,
jonathan foster's mother, works.

Our spidey senses were tingling.

Something wasn't right
about this case.

And all we know at that point
is that a woman

With a angry voice
might have jonathan.

Waters: On christmas eve 2010,
12-year-old jonathan foster

Has been reported missing
from his home.

Reporter:
Detectives with hpd think
someone snatched him

From this northwest
houston neighborhood.

After the third day
of jonathan missing,

We were all hoping
and praying

That jonathan
would be found alive.

At this point
in the investigation,

Brian and I
are behind the eight ball,

So we want to first talk to the
most immediate family members.

We make a decision to bring
jonathan's mother, angela davis,

And his grandmother,
mary gifford,

To homicide for interviews.

Unfortunately,
from the very beginning

Of the interview with angela,

It was quite clear that she was
much too distraught,

Much too confused that was going
to prevent a coherent interview

From taking place.

Meyers: Your child is nowhere
to be found.

Your mind just goes crazy.

I don't think you're ever
prepared to be faced

With a situation like that.

Waters:
And I interviewed angela.

Brian was going to
interview mary.

Harris: I sat down with mary,
the grandma.

"tell me about jonathan.

Tell me about angela."

Mary said that angela had a lot
of problems in her history.

She had struggled with
questionable partners

In her life.

Jonathan's father,
he was not a very good person.

Mary tells a story to me
about jonathan's young life.

I was about blown away.

Richard was eventually
tracked down to a field

Where we actually
found him asleep.

That was the beginning
of his criminal career.

Waters: He's been handled
for harboring a runaway.

He's been charged with burglary
of a habitation,

And he's been charged
with making terroristic threats.

We need to find richard foster.

We find out that richard foster

Is currently living
in corsicana, texas,

Which is an hour
or so south of dallas.

Because this particular case
of missing child,

We take the resources from the
fbi to locate richard foster.

Within minutes, the fbi
is able to find him.

Richard foster explains,

"look, I haven't seen
jonathan in years.

I was nowhere
near houston, texas.

I've been here."

The fbi is able
to alibi him out.

They're able to prove
there's physically no way

Richard foster
was in houston,

That he could've physically
himself done the kidnapping.

They were able to completely
clear richard foster.

Waters:
Brian and I are both fathers.

Finding this child is paramount.

We learn that angela
had married again.

Rogers: That previous easter,
before jonathan was abducted,

Angela had married jonathan's
stepfather, david davis.

We had seen david at the church
where equusearch was setting up.

We had seen him in sound bites
with the media.

He came across as being mature
and, a key word here,

A stabilizing factor
in angela's life,

Therefore would be a positive
influence on jonathan.

And the grandmother, she thought
that was true as well.

But david davis was not happy

That jonathan came
to live with angela.

David even said that jonathan
was a pest

And was getting in the way of
angela and david's relationship.

Spence:
Angela said, "you are not
going to touch my child."

She wanted to keep
her child safe,

And she needed to leave quickly,

And sharon opened
her doors to her.

Strangely enough, 12 days
later, jonathan is missing.

Harris: Is this motive?

Did jonathan's stepfather
kidnap him?

Did jonathan's stepfather
kill him?

Waters:
So in my most charming way,

I asked david to come
with me to homicide,

And I would like
to talk to him.

He was more than a willing
participant, almost too willing.

What I found out quickly was is
that david davis liked to talk.

I believe he's out there.

I believe he'll be found.

And, whoever has got him,

Let him go and let him
come home, please.

Reporter:
A desperate plea from jonathan
foster's grandmother,

Mary gifford.

Waters:
It was apparent that jonathan
foster's stepfather,

David davis, was exhibiting
a little of jealousy

Because the attention that
he had been given from angela

Was now shared with jonathan,

Despite the impassioned
pleas to the media.

I love my boy.
I love all babies.

My observations of david
davis at the church,

The media, and from angela --

He was overly concerned
about jonathan's welfare

With no degree of sincerity.

It was now time
to talk to david.

So...

Well, right, right.

What I first notice about
david, he likes to deflect

And say absolutely nothing.

Okay. Okay.

David denies there is
any type of animosity

Towards jonathan,
that he grew to love jonathan

And wanted to be
a good father to him.

What I thought was most
interesting, I cannot remember

At any point
during this interview with him

Where he ever said
jonathan's name.

But what was most important
to me was the timeline.

Start with christmas eve,

And tell me where you were,
what you did.

I'm not buying that
for one minute.

Now all of a sudden,
he's so excited to see davis.

Now he wants him to play
video games with him.

I cannot imagine jonathan
in any way, shape, or form

He would ask david davis
to come in and play video games.

David said that he went inside
only for a few minutes

Harris:
Fil is picking up mr. Davis
feels very guilty.

He keeps on saying,
"I might have been the last one

To see jonathan,"
and so that stands out.

David eventually said,
"I'm going to go get your mom

Because we're going to go
christmas shopping."

I did not find david's story
believable.

They were split up.

He was going to go out
last-minute

Christmas shopping with angela,
and they weren't even together.

Waters:
He's telling these huge lies.

I don't think he has
an understanding ever

That I'm not buying any
of his bullcrap.

When he decides to shut
down the operation

Of in search of a coffee
grinder, where does he go?

Well, he goes to the bar.

I know that's where I would go

If I couldn't find
a coffee grinder.

It's time to hit a beer, right?

Time to get a drink.

Certainly gives me an idea
about his character.

Jonathan is missing,

And this boy
that he says calls him dad

Is not near
as concerning to him

As finishing that beer
that he just bought.

Harris:
He waits a couple of hours.

By now, angela is going door
to door looking for her son.

He sheds no tear.

Other than this
feigning concern,

He is void
of any kind of emotion,

So the concern comes across
as being hollow.

He knew exactly
what happened to jonathan.

He knew exactly who the woman
is on that phone,

And you know where
jonathan is right now.

Fil waters has a heart
as big as texas,

But I'll tell you what,
he is as tenacious as they come.

I've had folks swear on their
baby's eyes, and I'm like,

"oh, please don't do that
because what you're swearing to

Is obviously false."

But I'm going to take him
up on his offer.

He wants to take a polygraph.

And you know what?

Detective fil can
make that happen.

I'm going to go out and try
to verify his time line.

I find that there is no video
at the cvs.

I'm going to go to the bar.

Fortunately for david,

He went to a bar
that had video surveillance,

And he stayed at that bar
for hours,

And while he was at that bar,
he made phone calls.

The results of the polygraph
that david took

Showed deception.

That leads me to believe
that he may somehow be involved,

And so my question is,

Is he in contact
with the woman on the phone,

The person that we believe has
jonathan in their possession?

Reporter:
Everyone is still looking for
jonathan -- his family,

Texas equusearch
and the police.

Investigators spent the
afternoon with jonathan's mom,

Angela davis,
and his stepdad, david davis.

Little fella, I love you.

I love you, baby.

Don't give up.

We're looking for you.

Waters:
It's christmas holiday 2010,

And we are still no closer
to finding jonathan foster.

My prime suspect, david davis,

It appears that he may have
an alibi for the time

That jonathan foster
went missing.

Oh, they drilled me like I
thought I was in vietnam, baby,

But, you know,
I know that's their job.

You know, "it's you. It's you.
It's you," they kept saying.

I love my boy.

Upon checking david's apartment,

We found that not
the neatest guy,

But there were no traces
of jonathan,

And it didn't look like
he had been there recently.

Harris: Canvassing jonathan's
neighborhood, we needed to know

If davis actually was
the last one to see jonathan.

The neighbor says, "I remember
seeing a silver pickup truck

In the driveway
when jonathan went missing.

I remember a very burly
black male wearing,

I think, a ball cap
and a white t-shirt."

Now we got a vehicle.

We have a black male
that we got to find.

Is this the person
that took jonathan?

Waters: As brian and I are now
running on fumes,

We've gone way beyond 24 hours
in this investigation straight.

We're running out of time
finding jonathan alive.

We're directed by our lieutenant
to go home and get some sleep.

I can tell you
from experience though,

It's hard to sleep when we've
got a 12-year-old missing boy.

My phone rings, and they said,

"we believe we found
your missing person."

I said, "how do you know
it's him?"

"we're pretty sure,
but it's bad."

A witness walking down
the street sees a form

In the ditch in the culvert,

And her first impression
is that it's a dead dog.

It was burned
all the way around.

There's no way to even determine

Whether this person
was a boy, was a girl.

That body was so badly charred.

It was horrifying.

My mother calls me and tells me
that they found a body,

But they don't know
if it's jonathan.

I was hoping and praying
that it was not him.

That body was 12-year-old
jonathan foster.

I don't think any of us
had any idea

What kind of evil was
perpetrated on this young boy.

Spence: Jonathan was identified
by his dental records.

His manner of death was ruled
as homicidal violence.

The medical examiner
was not able

To determine
the actual cause of death.

Jonathan was alive
when he was taken

Because his hands were found
bound behind his back.

It was like the world fell away.

This little 12-year-old boy
was murdered,

Rolled up in a piece of carpet
and burned

And then thrown into a ditch
on the side of the road,

Just discarded like it
was nothing.

Meyers:
It felt almost like an elephant
was sitting on my chest,

And then I had to sit
my children down and tell them.

That was one of the hardest
things as a parent to do.

Now the question in our mind
was, what kind of a monster

Would do something like this
to a 12-year-old little boy?

Harris: Detectives notice
in the distance a camera

On the side
of an industrial building,

And they're able
to get the video,

And what they see in that video
looks like a silver pickup truck

With some distinctive bumper
stickers in the back window,

And then we see a big
burly person manhandling

What is believed to be a garbage
can dumping jonathan

As if he is
a piece of trash.

Jonathan's grandmother said
without a shadow of doubt

The owner of that vehicle
is mona nelson.

Everyone suspected it was
the stepfather, david davis.

It was mona nelson.

Spence: Mona nelson was a former
maintenance worker

At an apartment complex

Maybe half a block away
from sharon's duplex.

Sharon and mona
had been drinking buddies.

They were friends.

Sharon invited mona nelson
to celebrate christmas

With them as well.

Harris:
Sharon said, "there's going
to be a little boy

There named jonathan.
He's not going to let you in.

You just tell him
his aunt sharon said it's okay,

And I'll be home
in a couple of hours."

But the witness who's thinking
it was a male,

Now we have a female.

Light clothing, well, a lot
of people wear light clothing.

We were nervous about it,

But you got to go
with what you have.

You got to go with
what you've been dealt.

What is interesting is that mona
from a distance resembled a man.

The next step is,
we want to talk to mona nelson

And see if she's the woman
on the phone.

Reporter:
The big question everyone
wants answered is,

Could a close family friend
kill a 12-year-old boy?

On December 28th, 2010,
12-year-old jonathan foster

Was found brutally murdered
just a few miles from his home.

There's no more christmases.

They're done for this family.

Scrimsher: It was heartbreaking.

It really takes a monster
to do something like that.

We now have a prime suspect,
and her name is mona nelson.

Harris:
She was a professional boxer,
even fought muhammed ali's kid.

She had a checkered history
herself.

She was a coyote, somebody
who transport illegal immigrants

Across the border,
and they get paid for it.

We have decided that we're going
to conduct this interview

As a two-man interview,
and we're going to alternate.

We have to be careful
not to interrupt.

Okay.

She has now put herself there,
not just the witness.

So the difference that we have
is the timing.

We're banking on the witness'
time frame rather than hers.

It's the noncustodial interview
that amazed me the most

Because they can leave
at any time.

They don't have to take it,
but they do.

So why?

Perhaps they believe
they're smarter than us.

Mona was a licensed welder.

And that's when it snapped.

She tried to get rid
of the evidence.

Well, that's pay dirt
right there.

Now we've got her to make
an admission about her welding

And the use
of an acetylene torch,

Which is what we believe
was used on jonathan's body.

There's no real emotion about
the loss of this boy, jonathan.

I'm going pull up the actual
picture

Of what I believe she did
to this boy.

We discussed the video that we
get from the industrial area

Where jonathan's body
is dumped.

Waters: It's her truck.

It's her, and she's wearing
the same clothes that she wore

When she dumped jonathan
foster's body in that ditch.

Harris: What does the team
of detectives find?

She had an acetylene torch.

She had a garbage can
with some leaves

That look eerily similar
to the leaves

That were
under jonathan's body.

And then at the bottom
of that trash can

Is a child's sweatshirt that
would fit a 12-year-old boy.

And we turn around,
and we tell mona...

Ugh.

She looks at me and says,
"I'm not a monster, you know."

I simply say,
"could've fooled me."

And then she says, "I want to
explain to you what happened."

What does she confess to?

Driving the truck,
having a garbage can,

Going to the location
on hardy toll road,

Dumping something, but then
she says davis is with her.

She is simply telling us
a set of details

That adds david davis
into the play.

She's not admitting anything
about ever seeing jonathan.

She's trying to convince us

That the person
we see in the video

Isn't her,
but it's david.

On the video, there is no sign
of another person in that car.

No way was david davis
involved in this,

And david davis' saving grace
was being at a bar

That had video surveillance.

It is mona in her white welding
cap and her white t-shirt.

Mona nelson was charged
with capital murder.

Spence:
My theory of what happened is,

Sharon invites mona
to come to the house.

Sharon said, "jonathan is there.
Tell him that I said

That it was okay for you to wait
there until I get home."

Nobody tells this to jonathan.

The door was locked,
and jonathan said,

"she's not here,"
and he wouldn't let her in.

Jonathan had been admonished
very heavily by his mother,

"do not let anyone
in when we're not here."

We know that jonathan
places a phone call

To his mother's workplace.

So much time has passed.

By the time angela gets to
the phone, there's nobody there.

Mona gets aggressive
with that child,

Perhaps punches him
in the chest,

And then it's too far gone.

She knows that the mother
is on the way.

She just takes the kid

Because she doesn't want
to get in trouble.

Waters: Because of his hands
being tied behind his back,

That he may have been laid
in a place where he suffocated,

And then once that occurred,

The next thought
in mona's mind is,

"holy crap. I have got
to get rid of this body."

I'm praying that jonathan died
before she tried

To get rid of the body

By burning it
with that acetylene torch.

Any other scenario, I can't even
imagine the torture

That that young boy
went through.

And that's the horrible,
horrible reality of what we see

And what we know.

She burned him with this torch
at her house on that rug.

The evidence leads to one person
only, and that is mona nelson.

Reporter:
Now, with both sides done,

The judge will decide
nelson's future.

Spence:
Fil waters and brian harris

Honestly were responsible
for solving this case.

Mona admitted that she was the
person who was dumping the body.

Without that,
this would've been a much,

Much more difficult case.

We want to remember jonathan
as the wonderful boy

So willing to help anyone.

I feel that, with us, he had
a wonderful childhood

As short as it was.

I had this tattoo made
after jonathan had passed away.

Butterflies, for me,
symbolize a loved one,

And it has jonathan's
initials in it, jp,

Which is what
we called him.

When I think of jonathan today,
I think of his smile.

That's one thing that I wish
I could see again

Would be just his smile.

Waters:
Looking back over this case,
mona nelson ranks right up there

With some of those
most heartless,

Cold-blooded killers
that I've ever dealt with.

What kind of a mind can do
something like that

To a 12-year-old little boy
whose only birthday wish

Was to spend christmas
with his mother?