Family Attorney

Tonight, the DNA battle over Anna Nicole Smith`s baby girl goes global, all the way to the Bahamas. Smith`s mother, boyfriend and lawyer all converge in Nassau, fighting for custody of 5- month-old Dannielynn. She stands to inherit an estimated $475 million.
And back in Florida, Anna Nicole`s body staying in a Broward County morgue under tight security, at least for now. Emergency motions over the Bahamas burial by Smith`s mother, still fighting to have her daughter buried in Texas.

And tonight, the mystery surrounding a 34-year-old Michigan mom of two. She vanishes into thin air from her suburban home. We investigate.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tara Grant is a wife, mother of two, and an executive for Washington Group, an international engineering construction company. Her husband, Stephen (ph), says Tara took off February 9 in a dark sedan. She left early for a business trip in Puerto Rico, after they had a disagreement concerning all her traveling. But there is no record of Tara Grant making that flight. Loved ones fear she`s in danger, since they are convinced she wouldn`t be out of touch for this long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is my only sibling, and I just want to know that she`s going to be safe, wherever she is.

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GRACE: Tonight, there is breaking news. A Florida court issues an emergency stay in the dispute over the remains of Anna Nicole Smith. So not so fast, Howard Stern! The body is not headed to the Bahamas yet. All parties have until 2:00 PM tomorrow to file opposition. And in the Bahamas, eviction proceedings to throw lawyer/boyfriend Howard K. Stern and the 5-month-old baby out of a seaside mansion. It`s all going down in the courtrooms.

Good evening, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First of all, let`s go straight to Florida and the Bahamas. First to the Bahamas.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He testified yesterday under oath that he was the natural father of Dannielynn under the laws of Bahama. Bahama does not recognize a biological father, and the laws in this state list the natural father as the biological father. Mr. Stern, are you or are you not the biological father of Dannielynn under the laws of this state?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best argument is that our motion to dismiss should have been granted because Mr. Stern had no standing to file that petition. He was not related to the baby. He was not married to the decedent. And that – our motion to dismiss should have been granted, and then this circus would not have ensued.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you the biological father of Dannielynn?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The guardian should never have been appointed in the first place. We had a child – we have a living grandmother who is ready, willing and able to serve in that capacity. And to go to an absolute stranger is – it makes no sense at all. And not only that, it`s against all Florida law to – that holds to the contrary. This mother is a mother who deserves the right to bury the remains of her child. It matters not that they had become estranged over the years. She was a mother, and the trial court treated her as though she were nothing to Anna Nicole Smith.

LARRY BIRKHEAD, ANNA NICOLE SMITH`S FORMER BOYFRIEND: I missed the delivery of my child. I`ve had to pay $4.99 for magazines to see what my child looks like. I`ve had to call and send gifts Fedex, Christmas gifts for my child. And I`ve missed everything that you can`t get back. There`s a lot of hurt and heartache.

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GRACE: It`s enough to make you demand cremation. That`s right, not so fast, Howard Stern. The body of Anna Nicole Smith is not headed to the Bahamas for burial. Two weeks and counting now.

Let`s go straight down to Court TV`s Jean Casarez. She`s joining us from the Bahamas. What`s the latest, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: Good evening, Nancy, from Nassau, Bahamas. Here in Nassau, we had two hearings today. The first one was guardianship. Should Virgie Arthur, as the grandma of baby Dannielynn, have custody and guardianship over the baby, or should it be Howard K. Stern, who is presumptively is the father and the legal guardian? The judge decided to continue the case until later in March. Today was mainly procedure.

Second up at 4:00 o`clock this afternoon was a real property issue. Who, in fact, owns the mansion, the white mansion that Howard K. Stern is living in with baby Dannielynn? Well, the judge in that case said, I don`t know if I can proceed in this case because it`s Anna Nicole Smith that was the first defendant, and she is now deceased. That has been continued until March 14.

GRACE: Jean, please tell me you`re wrong. You just told me about all these hearings going down in the Bahamas. You told me about guardianship. We`re not going to hear anything about that until March. You told me about eviction. Correct me if I`m wrong, but isn`t the big legal question about paternity? Paternity? Aren`t we going to have any filings, any motions, any DNA tests on paternity?

CASAREZ: Well, what I understand is that here in the Bahamas, you just can`t really file a paternity action, so Debra Opri, we understand, was successful to actually intervene in the guardianship action. Now, it`s not going to be heard until March 16, but she now has intervened, so you`ve got a guardianship and paternity action apparently going on at the same time.

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