TERROR IN THE HEARTLAND: BOY, 5, HURLED OFF MALL OF AMERICA BALCONY, PREDATOR STALKED MALL

TERROR IN THE HEARTLAND: BOY, 5, HURLED OFF MALL OF AMERICA BALCONY, PREDATOR STALKED MALL

In Minnesota, the Mall of America is not just a place to shop; being the largest mall in the Western Hemisphere, it is also a tourist attraction.

Located on the spot where the NFL Vikings and Major League Baseball Twins play in Metropolitan Stadium, in the mall's amusement park, a seat from Metropolitan Stadium marks the exact spot Harmon Killebrew's 520th MLB home run landed.

Spanning four floors, locals come to shop, while tourists come to gawk at the sheer size of the mall.

On a chilly April morning, with snow still on the ground, Kari Hoffmann, her 5-year-old son Landen, a friend, and her son Will arrive at the mall early, before all the stores open. Standing outside the Rain Forest Cafe, third floor, the boys play on a fake rock when a man Kari thinks is an employee walks up to the boys.

Asking if it was ok for the boys to be on the rock, the man tells the moms, very nicely, it's ok, "you can be here." The man then leans down and whispers something in Will's ear.

Later, details uncover that he says, "If you don't get off this rock, I'm going to throw you off.

As the boys nervously giggle, the man reaches around Will, grabs Landen, and throws the 5-year-old over the third-floor railing. Frozen for a moment, Kari Hoffmann screams as her boy is falling more than three stories to the ground; the shaken mother runs down the escalator to her broken little boy, telling onlookers to pray as she runs.

Falling 40 feet to the ground, Landen Hoffmann breaks his skull, facial bones, both arms, and a leg, as well as suffers a life-threatening injury to his vena cavae vein running to his heart. Two nurses who work in a cardiac unit happen to be near when this horrific event happens and perform CPR on Landen.

He is taken to the Minneapolis Children's Hospital, where he is immediately rushed into lifesaving surgery, and from there he is placed in the intensive care unit, doctors unsure if he will survive the trauma.

While stunned onlookers are encouraged by Kari Hoffmann to pray for her son, back up on the third floor, a 68-year-old man tackles the suspect as he runs away, slowing the man down enough so even though he jumped on the railway, cops are able to arrest the man.

This terror is caused by 24-year-old Emmanuel Aranda, a man known to the mall with a history of arrests for trespassing, cited for throwing items at mall patrons from the top floor of the mall.

Weeks later, he returns to the mall, this time harassing two women and throwing things in a mall restaurant.

Joining Nancy Grace today:

  • Kari Hoffmann - Landen's Mother, Author of "Miracle at The Mall"
  • Dr. Thomas Coyne - Chief Medical Examiner, District 2 Medical Examiner's Office, State of Florida; Forensic Pathologist, Neuropathologist, Toxicologist; X: @DrTMCoyne
  • Dave Mack - 'Crime Stories' Investigative Reporter

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episoder(4946)

Chase Massner's mom: ‘I just want the truth’

Chase Massner's mom: ‘I just want the truth’

The mother of missing Iraqi War veteran Chase Massner worries that Georgia police have run out of leads in the investigation of what happened to her son. Massner was 26 when he vanished from a friend’s home in Kennesaw, Georgia, on March 27, 2014. “I just want the truth,” Stephanie Cadena tells Nancy Grace in Wednesday’s “Crime Stories” podcast. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1 Feb 201738min

Missing Chase Massner: A Mother's Plea

Missing Chase Massner: A Mother's Plea

U.S. Army veteran Chase Massner was 26 when he vanished without a trace from a friend's home in Kennesaw, Georgia, on March 27, 2014. Nancy Grace re-examines the mystery after an emotional plea for help from Chase's mom. Calls from friends and family have flooded Nancy's "Crime Stories" hotline asking for Grace to look at the three-year-old case. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

31 Jan 201721min

Missing Maricela Garcia: Are  revelations relevant?

Missing Maricela Garcia: Are revelations relevant?

The family of Maricela Garcia hopes a private investigator will help them find the 26-year-old woman who disappeared while shopping at a Reseda, California, Goodwill store. Nancy Grace argues with reporter Alan Duke about the relevance of a new revelation -- that Garcia was arrested on a drug charge a year ago. The charge was later dismissed. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 Jan 201714min

Maricela Garcia: Missing two weeks, but is LAPD looking?

Maricela Garcia: Missing two weeks, but is LAPD looking?

The sister of Maricela Garcia, the California woman who disappeared while shopping at a Los Angeles area Goodwill Store, is desperately pleading with Los Angeles police to investigate the case that detectives labeled “voluntary missing.” A smashed cell phone, a torn necklace and a tracking dog’s reaction convinced her family that the 26-year-old woman was kidnapped. Nancy Grace discusses the LAPD’s reluctance to work the case with Alan Duke, who walked Maricela’s last path with her family. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

27 Jan 201729min

Lost & Found: Maricela Garcia & Laura Stacy Missing Person Cases

Lost & Found: Maricela Garcia & Laura Stacy Missing Person Cases

This is a follow up to the "Vanished in the Valley" episode with a surprising new development in the disappearance of Laura Lynne Stacy. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke also take a closer look at what is known about Maricela Garcia, the Los Angeles woman who disappeared while shopping for a costume at a Goodwill store. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

26 Jan 201722min

Vanished in the Valley: Young women gone missing in Los Angeles

Vanished in the Valley: Young women gone missing in Los Angeles

(UPDATE: Laura Stacy was found alive hours after we posted this podcast! Details in next episode. ) Maricela Garcia and Laura Lynne Stacy didn’t know each other, but the young women share a common fate — both have gone missing in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles in recent days. Garcia disappeared just blocks from where another Valley woman was found half-nude and bound after a four-hour-long kidnapping ordeal a day later. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke discuss the mysteries. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25 Jan 201732min

Murdered jogger Karina Vetrano's father talks to Nancy Grace

Murdered jogger Karina Vetrano's father talks to Nancy Grace

The father of murdered New York jogger Karina Vetrano lives every day seeking justice for his daughter. His current fight is to convince New York officials to approve a groundbreaking new DNA analysis that he hopes will help find the killer. Phil Vetrano shares with Nancy Grace emotional details of the day of his daughter’s death. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

24 Jan 201732min

Holy Toledo: Ohio dad, son use Bible in rape defense

Holy Toledo: Ohio dad, son use Bible in rape defense

A Toledo, Ohio, man and his son want to quote biblical scriptures in their defense against charges they raped two children, including the older man's stepdaughter. The judge will allow the duo to represent themselves with lawyers and to have the Bible at the defense table. However, Timothy and Esten Ciboro won't let them use it when questioning the children testifying abut the alleged sex abuse. Nancy Grace & Alan Duke discuss the case. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

23 Jan 201718min

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