GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: What about other kidnappings? Is Michael Devlin suspected of others? That question just won&apos;t go away, and now tonight, there&apos;s another case, an old case, being investigated. Now, this one&apos;s a murder. Four years ago, Dalton Mesarchik vanished in Illinois from right outside his own home. The next day, the 7-year-old boy was found dead in a nearby river.
Joining us is Dalton&apos;s mother, Michelle Mesarchik. Welcome, Michelle.
MICHELLE MESARCHIK, DALTON&apos;S MOTHER: Hi, Greta. Thanks for having me.
MESARCHIK: He was told to wait on the porch. He was waiting for a church van. And it never arrived. The church said it was still on its way at 7:15. They knew to pick him up there. And it never came. My daughter was waiting to be picked up at her girlfriend&apos;s house roughly two blocks to the north. And she walked in about 7:35, 7:40, and she said, Where is Dalton?
Well, we immediately assumed that the church had picked him up and forgotten to pick up some of the other children. We called the church, and they said, No, we hadn&apos;t picked him up. A fill-in driver was supposed to be taking the route that night, and no one showed up to take the route. So none of the children on that route were picked up.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, the police have not connected this case to Michael Devlin, but of course, they are looking through every single case unsolved in the region to see whether or not there&apos;s any possible connection to Michael Devlin. I take it you don&apos;t know him or — you know, in 2003, you&apos;d never heard of him.
VAN SUSTEREN: Since we&apos;re unfamiliar, about how far is your home from St. Louis?
MESARCHIK: It&apos;s probably about a four-hour drive.
MESARCHIK: I&apos;m in touch with the police several times a week, with Illinois state police.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did they — are they certain that your son was murdered? There wasn&apos;t an accident falling into the river, is that right, Michelle?
MESARCHIK: I couldn&apos;t hear.
VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, your son was found — unfortunately, your son&apos;s body was found in the river. Did the police at the time determine that it was a murder, it wasn&apos;t an accident, he hadn&apos;t wandered down to the river by himself.
MESARCHIK: Oh, no. They knew because we had tracking dogs that came to my house that night, and they tracked him from my front door and about a car&apos;s length out in the street. So a vehicle did stop in the street because his scent stopped. So we knew he had been taken away.
VAN SUSTEREN: Michelle, I must — I mean, obviously, a tragedy like this never leaves a parent. Is it more difficult when a number of years later, you know, the media starts calling, like we have? There&apos;s a lot of attention on it. The police start calling. Does it make it so much worse for you, or does it help at all?
MESARCHIK: It&apos;s always there. It never goes away. And you know, this is great that you&apos;re getting these cases out there. Whether this is connected or not, we might be able to reach someone tonight that knows something or might be hiding something for someone. We have a substantial reward available. And you know, if someone knows something, they need to turn them in. You know, we need to get this person off the streets.
VAN SUSTEREN: And of course, you know, we&apos;re always hopeful that when people see the picture of your son, that maybe someone has heard something. Maybe whoever did this to your son is talking and maybe the person can make a call, make a call to the police because it certainly would be helpful. It&apos;d be nice to solve this case for you, Michelle.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: What about other kidnappings? Is Michael Devlin suspected of others? That question just won&apos;t go away, and now tonight, there&apos;s another case, an old case, being investigated. Now, this one&apos;s a murder. Four years ago, Dalton Mesarchik vanished in Illinois from right outside his own home. The next day, the 7-year-old boy was found dead in a nearby river.
Joining us is Dalton&apos;s mother, Michelle Mesarchik. Welcome, Michelle.
MICHELLE MESARCHIK, DALTON&apos;S MOTHER: Hi, Greta. Thanks for having me.
MESARCHIK: He was told to wait on the porch. He was waiting for a church van. And it never arrived. The church said it was still on its way at 7:15. They knew to pick him up there. And it never came. My daughter was waiting to be picked up at her girlfriend&apos;s house roughly two blocks to the north. And she walked in about 7:35, 7:40, and she said, Where is Dalton?
Well, we immediately assumed that the church had picked him up and forgotten to pick up some of the other children. We called the church, and they said, No, we hadn&apos;t picked him up. A fill-in driver was supposed to be taking the route that night, and no one showed up to take the route. So none of the children on that route were picked up.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, the police have not connected this case to Michael Devlin, but of course, they are looking through every single case unsolved in the region to see whether or not there&apos;s any possible connection to Michael Devlin. I take it you don&apos;t know him or — you know, in 2003, you&apos;d never heard of him.
VAN SUSTEREN: Since we&apos;re unfamiliar, about how far is your home from St. Louis?
MESARCHIK: It&apos;s probably about a four-hour drive.
MESARCHIK: I&apos;m in touch with the police several times a week, with Illinois state poli
ce.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did they — are they certain that your son was murdered? There wasn&apos;t an accident falling into the river, is that right, Michelle?
MESARCHIK: I couldn&apos;t hear.
VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, your son was found — unfortunately, your son&apos;s body was found in the river. Did the police at the time determine that it was a murder, it wasn&apos;t an accident, he hadn&apos;t wandered down to the river by himself.
MESARCHIK: Oh, no. They knew because we had tracking dogs that came to my house that night, and they tracked him from my front door and about a car&apos;s length out in the street. So a vehicle did stop in the street because his scent stopped. So we knew he had been taken away.
VAN SUSTEREN: Michelle, I must — I mean, obviously, a tragedy like this never leaves a parent. Is it more difficult when a number of years later, you know, the media starts calling, like we have? There&apos;s a lot of attention on it. The police start calling. Does it make it so much worse for you, or does it help at all?
MESARCHIK: It&apos;s always there. It never goes away. And you know, this is great that you&apos;re getting these cases out there. Whether this is connected or not, we might be able to reach someone tonight that knows something or might be hiding something for someone. We have a substantial reward available. And you know, if someone knows something, they need to turn them in. You know, we need to get this person off the streets.
VAN SUSTEREN: And of course, you know, we&apos;re always hopeful that when people see the picture of your son, that maybe someone has heard something. Maybe whoever did this to your son is talking and maybe the person can make a call, make a call to the police because it certainly would be helpful. It&apos;d be nice to solve this case for you, Michelle.