BLOOM: Hello, everyone. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE. I`m Lisa Bloom, in tonight for Ashleigh Banfield. I`m a trial lawyer from the Bloom firm and a legal analyst for Avvo. It`s been nearly three weeks since anyone has seen Danielle Stislicki. Where is she? The 28-year-old was last seen driving out of the MetLife parking lot in Southfield, Michigan -- that`s where she worked -- after work on December 2nd. The very next day, Stislicki`s SUV was found outside of her apartment miles away in Farmington Hills. Her purse was still inside -- very significant. Police remain tight-lipped, but they have said they believe Stislicki`s disappearance is tied to a crime. Her friends and family are holding out hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN STISLICKI, DANIELLE`S MOTHER: As a mother, from the deepest of my heart, help us bring Danielle home for everybody! Although we stand here as a family, there is a huge community out there that Danielle belongs to. And we need to go ahead and bring her home. The gentleman that helped us originally for the search and rescue said, Stand on the top of the highest mountain you can and scream for her name. Do not stop screaming until she`s found.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLOOM: Absolutely heart-breaking. Erica Murphy is an anchor and reporter at WJR News in Detroit. She joins me now. Erica, tell us about the security guard that the police seem to be focusing on.
ERICA MURPHY, WJR NEWS: Well, this is a new piece of this case. Just last Thursday, officials announced that they searched a home in Berkeley (ph). But what we`re hearing is this is not the first time that they`ve searched this home, Lisa. Apparently, this is the home of a security guard who may have worked with Danielle at MetLife in Southfield. He lives in this home with his wife. And we`re told that investigators and a forensic team took a mattress out of that house.
BLOOM: Well, that`s a very disturbing detail. And of course, he`s presumed innocent. He`s not arrested. He`s not even called a person of interest yet, at this point, right, Erica?
MURPHY: Not at this point. Not at this point, no. They`re not giving us any names. So he`s not a person of interest yet Officially.
BLOOM: OK, and Erica, there`s a large pool of money that`s been set aside as a reward in this case. Tell us about that.
MURPHY: Absolutely. So the apartment where Danielle lived, the company she worked for, Crimestoppers and even family and friends started a page. And so now there is a reward of almost $130,000 for tips.
BLOOM: Well, we`re seeing way too many crimes of violence against women in this country. We hope that`s not what happened here, but I think we can be realistic and say after three weeks, there certainly is a realistic chance of that happening.
[20:05:05]I hate to think of people as just crime victims, as just a missing person as defined by their last day before they went missing? What can you tell us about Danielle? I hear, for example, that she has an "I Love Lucy" kind of sense of humor.
MURPHY: Yes, I`m hearing from family members and friends that she was a very funny girl. We know that she was very responsible. She had been at MetLife for some time, and she`s just not the kind of person to just take off without contacting her friends or family. We do know that (INAUDIBLE)
BLOOM: Yes, I don`t believe people just take off anymore anyway. It`s very, very rare. Of course, it`s possible. But in this day and age, it`s almost impossible to be completely off the grid. And if somebody disappears, they are usually findable. Well, joining me now is trial attorney Monique Pressley and defense attorney Joey Jackson. Welcome to you both. Monique, let me start with you. Why do you think that the police are focused on this security guard who worked with Danielle at MetLife?
MONIQUE PRESSLEY, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, look, Lisa, you know the first and most likely place where you can find a suspect is closest to home. If it`s not the person who is going to end up being the main suspect committing a crime -- if there is a crime, we don`t even know at this point -- then that person is most likely to have the most current information. So I`m not surprised to find that police have been there, not just this one time that we just found out about but multiple times searching the home, trying to find out as much information as possible. And what`s interesting to me, of course, is that his attorney has not permitted him to cooperate with police and give any information. So what does that tell us? Maybe something, maybe nothing.
BLOOM: Well, that`s right. And Joey, listen, we all have the right to lawyer up. We all have the right to remain silent. We have the right not to cooperate. But it certainly does not look good when this security guard makes that choice.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: It does. And great to see you, Lisa. A sad and horrific case, particularly to talk about during the holidays, even though I know she disappeared three weeks ago, December 2nd. But of course, listen, as you mentioned, innocent until -- of course, you`re presumed innocent until found guilty. And they`re focusing -- that is police -- on him. That`s not to say that there`s not anything else out there that may be significant. I just take it as -- and you know, Lisa, very well as a trial attorney -- Monique, you too -- that we instruct our clients at all times not to say anything, not necessarily because they`re guilty, but if the focus and attention is on you, then it could become problematic, anything you say. But I certainly think that the police could and will resolve this for many reasons. We all have a social blueprint, right? Any text messaging that you do, the police I`m certain have that, any e-mailing that you do, any Facebooking that you do. And so as a result of that, this, you know, beautiful woman, certainly there has to be some clues and some trail that would lead to people who she was in contact with, and so...
BLOOM: OK, that`s true, but...
JACKSON: ... let`s just be hopeful in that regard.
BLOOM: That is true, but on that point, Monique, you know, our phones -- our phones are always such important pieces of evidence in these cases, as Joey said, because of our texts and our calls and our social media, right? If any of us loses our phones for five minutes, you know, it`s like we can`t breathe anymore, right? Well, her phone is missing and her purse was still in the car. And her keys are missing. What does that tell you?
PRESSLEY: It says that there is a crime likely afoot. And what bothers me -- I don`t disagree with Joey. I`m loathe to do that. Certainly, this person who may be suspected of committing a crime has a right to remain silent, and that`s good advice from his attorney. However, we don`t know if there`s a crime. What we know for sure is that a woman is missing and may be in danger. So it just looks terrible for a spouse (sic) who may have information vital to keeping her safe, vital to bringing her home, vital to solving whatever happened not being willing to offer anything to the police. This is dangerous. This is dangerous for a woman -- we don`t know -- who may be out there and in a precarious situation like...
BLOOM: That`s right.
PRESSLEY: ... a few weeks ago, we had a woman to return home, who had been abducted for many weeks.
BLOOM: And we know, Erica, that every day that goes by in an investigation with a missing person, the odds are smaller and smaller that that person is going to be found alive. I mean, I think we have to just say the truth here. It`s getting less and less likely. It is always possible. Sometimes people do turn up. But does anyone among the family and friends of Danielle think that it`s possible that she just disappeared?
MURPHY: Well, Lisa, that`s a great question. I actually spoke to Danielle`s parents this evening before coming in, and I`ve got to tell you that they are -- you know, of course, they`re going through it. But this community and the family and friends of Danielle remain prayerful and hopeful that she`ll return home safely.
[20:10:14]BLOOM: Yes. Well, absolutely. And I think any of us -- listen, I have a daughter about that age and I would like to remain hopeful. God forbid if something horrendous like this happened. And I`d like the family to know -- Erica, please tell them that she is in our thoughts and prayers, and we certainly hope that she is found in good health.