Lucas' father tells Nancy Grace he didn't suspect girlfriend in son's disappearance

The father of Lucas Hernandez told Nancy Grace that he didn't suspect his live-in girlfriend — who last month led a private investigator to where the 5-year-old's body was hidden beneath a culvert bridge — knew where the boy was.

Asked by Grace in an interview whether he had any suspicions that Emily Glass was involved in his son's disappearance or knowledge of his whereabouts, Jonathan Hernandez said: "I did not. None whatsoever."

Later when Grace asks whether he believes Glass' initial account of what happened — that she woke from a nap on the afternoon of Feb. 17 to find Lucas missing and the back door of their home ajar — Jonathan tells her: "At the time, I did."

"I am quite a bit in disbelief that this is even possible," he says later in the interview. "I never, not one time, thought that she would've had any knowledge of his disappearance of where he would be. That just makes me even more shocked. It's not an easy thing to be able to process."

Jonathan Hernandez's interview aired on Monday's episode of "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace." The episode is available in full on www.crimeonline.com.

Jonathan Hernandez has previously said that he supported Glass and would welcome her home if she were released from jail on a child endangerment charge related to her own 1-year-old daughter. Glass, whom police have called Lucas' stepmom, was arrested and booked for allegedly smoking three bowls of marijuana and then driving her daughter to a restaurant the day before she reported Lucas missing from their Wichita rental home on Feb. 17.

Last month, a jury found her not guilty of that charge.

In the Nancy Grace interview, Hernandez described Glass as a good mother who helped him raise Lucas in the three years they've been together. He said he never knew Glass to hit or mistreat Lucas and that she seemed distraught over him.

"She was always good with him," he told Grace.

A court document viewed by The Eagle in April, however, describes a dysfunctional and violent household. That document says Glass had trouble controlling her anger, experimented with drugs, was thought to be targeting Lucas due to her anger with Jonathan and that Lucas had bruises most often after Glass and Jonathan Hernandez fought.

Jonathan Hernandez is facing a battery charge for allegedly striking one of Glass' two sons from another relationship in the days before she reported Lucas missing. Glass does not have custody of those children.

On May 24, Glass led David Marshburn, a private investigator from North Carolina hired by Jonathan's family, to a bridge in rural Harvey County where the boy's body had been hidden. The Sedgwick County District Attorney has called Glass a person of interest and witness in his disappearance.

Police arrested Glass on suspicion of lying to authorities after Lucas' body was recovered, but she has not been formally charged with any crime and has since been released from jail. Exactly how the boy died remains unclear. An autopsy and toxicology testing is pending.

Jonathan Hernandez told Nancy Grace that he's not been told by authorities why Glass is out of jail, saying: "I'm a bit confused by it - especially since she knew about the location of Lucas." He also told Grace that he'd spoken with Glass once or twice since Lucas' body was found.

Monday's Nancy Grace show is the third that's featured interviews related to Lucas in the past week. Its airing comes a few days after a spokeswoman for Jonathan Hernandez and Lucas' biological mother said the pair were asking for privacy while they mourn Lucas' death.

On last Wednesday and Thursday's episodes, Marshburn spoke candidly about how he persuaded Glass to take him to Lucas' body and what her demeanor was like during their conversations.

In a secret recording made by Marshburn that aired last week on the show, Glass says, "I did Lucas so wrong. I did him wrong." She didn't elaborate on that statement in the recording.

Neither she nor a public defender who escorted her from jail when she was released last week answered questions from reporters.

This story was originally published June 4, 2018 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Lucas' father tells Nancy Grace he didn't suspect girlfriend in son's disappearance."