Taylor Behl's Mother Reacts to Tragic News

This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," October 6, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Now to Virginia, where Taylor Behl's (search) loved ones have had their worst fears confirmed. Using dental records, police positively identified the body of the 17-year-old college freshman. Taylor's mother, Janet Pelasara (search), join us live in Washington, along with her lawyer, George Peterson.

Janet, I told you more than once, you know, how I feel and others feel. Viewers have written dozens and dozens of e-mails to express their condolences to you.

JANET PELASARA, TAYLOR BEHL'S MOTHER: Thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: Where do we begin?

PELASARA: It's the beginning of the true nightmare for me. I mean, therefore, the past four weeks have been just a blur, and reality is going to set in very shortly.

VAN SUSTEREN: You were notified yesterday that a body had been found. How is that done? I mean, do the police call you? Are they gentle about it?

PELASARA: They were very gentle. The Richmond police called my cousin and told her that the police were coming and for her to come to my house. And she called and said that she was in the neighborhood and would stop by. And so she was there for when the two officers came by to tell me that they had found a body in a shallow grave and they believed it to be Taylor, but they couldn't confirm it, and it wasn't to go out of, you know, this room. And three hours later, the media had it on the TV.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did they say why? Was it clothing, identification, anything that gave them a level of certainty?

PELASARA: Taylor's black sweatshirt, her black hoody that she was last seen in, was there.

VAN SUSTEREN: And so then today, they gave the official word. The same procedure?

PELASARA: Yes. Yes. They came in, and the pain on the officers' faces were — you know, was sad for them. I know it was hard for them to come and tell me that. But they were, you know, very, very nice, very nice about it.

VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, it's pretty amazing, what this sort of joint task force — there's a different — the Richmond police, the FBI, even the VCU, I mean, there's been a bunch of police organizations looking for her, right?

PELASARA: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, they've done an unbelievable job considering, you know, the difficulty of it.

PELASARA: And it was actually the VCU police that was with Ben Fawley's ex-girlfriend, that found her.

VAN SUSTEREN: And what was it? They looked at some photographs?

PELASARA: On Ben Fawley's Web site. They tried to identify each place, and the ex-girlfriend said, Yes, I know where this picture was taken, and took them there.

VAN SUSTEREN: George, the investigation now, you know, goes in earnest. I mean, it's been going on, looking for Taylor, but now it goes to a new level. Have they told you, given you any idea of, you know — I mean, Ben Fawley's everyone's suspect. Have they indicated whether they think there are other people involved?

GEORGE PETERSON, BEHL FAMILY ATTORNEY: Not at present. I know that they are looking for a link between other people who may be involved, but I think that their prime person of interest or their prime suspect at this point is Ben Fawley.

VAN SUSTEREN: What about in terms of, you know, grand jury investigations going on?

PETERSON: I understand that there is a grand jury investigation going on. It actually met yesterday and had, I think, eight witnesses before it. And I understand it's going to convene again on October 19, where additional witnesses will appear.

VAN SUSTEREN: Ben Fawley has not been charged yet in the disappearance. We expect it, is that right, in the death of Taylor?

PETERSON: I certainly would expect it in the near future.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did the police say anything to you about that?

PETERSON: Not at present.

VAN SUSTEREN: Janet, did they say it to you? Do they say that Ben Fawley — I mean, I suspect him, and I think probably the rest of the nation does. But did the police officially say anything to you?

PELASARA: I believe they used the word "suspect."

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, it's hard to understand, you know, how you send a child off to college — and in fact, you saw her that day. She goes off, happily going off after her second week of school, and then not a month later, you're sitting here with me, talking about this.

PELASARA: Yes. And I still can't fully comprehend that Taylor's never coming home again.

VAN SUSTEREN: She's your only child?

PELASARA: Uh-huh.

VAN SUSTEREN: I know how you've gotten through this last month. You've been determined to find her. We've now, unfortunately, gotten in the position where you now have found her. So I mean, I know it was just today and yesterday that you've confronted this horrible reality. So what do you do? I mean, have you even thought about it? I mean, do you get involved with the investigation and keep pushing it?

PELASARA: No. I actually — just since I've been home from Richmond, I let them tell me, you know, what they're doing. I've, you know, looked at the photograph of things that they had taken out of Ben's house. I found a couple little pieces of paper where Taylor had written names and phone numbers. I sent them to the police so they could check it out.

I made funeral arrangements today. They can take care of the investigation. I'm quite happy to only hear updates.

VAN SUSTEREN: Family from out of town here?

PELASARA: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: Everyone's gathered around?

PELASARA: They are starting today. My sister will be in on Saturday, and my brother will be here shortly.

VAN SUSTEREN: You must want to kill Ben Fawley.

PELASARA: If he is the person that did it, then I could feel like that.

VAN SUSTEREN: See, you get to know so many of these people, I mean, people who go through this hell, you know, Beth Holloway Twitty, Dave Holloway's going to join us later. I mean, you know, where they have children — we had a young woman, LaToyia Figueroa, in Philadelphia, where, you know, life seems to be going along rather joyously, and all of a sudden, everybody's life is ruined.

PELASARA: He'll get his.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you suspect anyone else?

PELASARA: I'm just wondering if they're going to tie in Jesse Schultz in any of those other skater guys. I don't know if they can. I don't know if they will. But if they do, then they'll all pay.

VAN SUSTEREN: Let me ask the uglier questions of you, George. Were there clues at the scene, do you know, that will help identify the killer? I don't want to ask Janet those questions.

PETERSON: I'm simply not aware of it, at this point.

VAN SUSTEREN: What about — Jesse — just so the viewers know, is that Jesse Schultz is also an acquaintance of Taylor.

PETERSON: Well, it's our understanding that he worked at the Village Cafe, where she had dinner the night she disappeared. It's also our understanding that when her car was found on September 17, that a dog tracked a scent from her car to a house that had been occupied by Jesse Schultz. And he took a polygraph test with the Richmond PD and failed two key aspects of that test, one, whether he knew Taylor Behl, and two, whether he had been in her car.

VAN SUSTEREN: Does Jesse Schultz know Ben Fawley? Is there a connection between those two?

PETERSON: I simply don't know, at this point.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do we know where Taylor's car was parked on September 5? It ended up near Jesse Schultz's house. Was it ever parked near his house before or hear Ben Fawley's or anyone else's?

PETERSON: It's our understanding that when Taylor went down there, she parked her car right near Ben Fawley's house, which was a couple blocks north of the VCU campus.

VAN SUSTEREN: Had you ever heard of Jesse Schultz before Taylor disappeared?

PELASARA: Yes. Yes. When she came home on Sunday, Labor Day weekend, she had said she had been skateboarding with three guys, and Ian, Jesse were two of the names that she had mentioned, so...

VAN SUSTEREN: Who's Ian?

PELASARA: Ian is one of the other skaters. And does he not work at Village Cafe?

PETERSON: It's my understanding that he does, and I believe he was called before the grand jury yesterday.

VAN SUSTEREN: In terms of Jesse Schultz and Ian and Ben, are there any other people that you know of, names that are sort of floated, that may have seen her on September 5?

PELASARA: The cook at the Village Cafe. He's one of the three skaters.

VAN SUSTEREN: And of course, I should add that we later hear that Ben Fawley had said that he was kidnapped himself, the early morning hours of the 6th. And you smile.

PELASARA: Truly, when I was reading that article, I expected to read about aliens — you know, that aliens had abducted him. I mean, it's just total — I believe it's just total fabrication.

PETERSON: And I think, with that alibi, he's essentially established the timeline of when something happened to Taylor, the fact that he's picked out, 5:00 AM or 6:00 AM in the morning to suggest that he was kidnapped, and then, of course, he reports it 12 hours later. I think that's the timeline we're looking at.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I hope Taylor gets justice, and I hope you do, too, Janet.

PELASARA: Thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: As well as the rest of her family because you know, we were all watching and hoping for a much different ending. Thank you, Janet.

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