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POINT
The Missing Girls; Lost With Alzheimer's
Aired March 13, 2002 - 20:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: THE POINT with Anderson Cooper.
They're friends, schoolmates, teammates, and now they're both missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE DUFFEY, MIRANDA'S MOTHER: It's like a dream and we keep imagining it's someone else's kid. I'm trying to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, the race to solve the mystery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES MATHEWS, FBI: I think all the investigators have concluded that we're dealing with an abductions case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: And prevent anyone else from disappearing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORI POND, ASHLEY'S MOTHER: Watch your kids. Watch your kids and make sure that they're safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Three months ago, she got lost at one of the nation's busiest airports, and hasn't been seen since.
Flash Point: Lost with Alzheimer's. Plus, your e-mail about the Andrea Yates verdict. THE POINT, now from New York, Anderson Cooper.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening. In Oregon City, Oregon there is a mystery that is getting more and more ominous tonight. Police and the FBI are on the lookout for someone who has been acting nervous, maybe has a new cut or scratches on their hands, or missed work last Friday or back in early January.
Flash Point: The missing girls. Here is CNN's James Hattori.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Poems and notes of affection on a cafeteria wall, a school's heartache on display after the disappearances of two young girls eight weeks apart.
POND: We want our children home so we can hug them and kiss them and tell them we love them again.
HATTORI: Twelve-year-old Ashley Pond vanished the morning of January 9th, apparently after she left home to catch the school bus. Then, last Friday morning, 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis went missing, after she left for school, according to the police. Both girls lived in the same apartment complex in Oregon City. Both were on the school dance team. So far, investigators have found no evidence of a crime, but there's no sign the girls planned to run away either.
MATHEWS: Neither child left a note. Neither one of them took personal items. The FBI and the Oregon City Police Department are working this matter as two kidnappings.
HATTORI: Schoolmates and neighbors gathered for a candlelight prayer meeting Tuesday night. They prayed for strength and hope and offered support for the girl's parents.
DUFFEY: And they just helped comfort me to let me know that that many people really cared.
POND: I have to get through day by day by day, and I have to be able to make it. I have other children. I have to be a mother to them, and I have to give them hope.
HATTORI (on camera): FBI behavioral experts have begun preparing a profile in their search for a suspect, but investigators say they are not close to solving this case. Meantime, family and friends of the missing girls cling to hope that there's no crime at all.
POND: I pray that she just got sidetracked, went with somebody that she trusted and they convinced her to stay longer than she felt she should or whatever. She needs to call home. She needs to call home. I'm not mad.
HATTORI (voice over): James Hattori, CNN, Oregon City, Oregon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And joining us now from Oregon City is Michelle Duffey, the mother of the girl who disappeared last Friday. Michelle, thanks very much for being with us. I appreciate you taking time to speak with us. I can not begin to imagine what the last five days have been like for you. How are you holding up?
DUFFEY: I'm holding up. I try to just think that it's someone else's child we're looking for. That's how I handle it and I keep myself really busy.
COOPER: In James Hattori's piece, Ashley's mom said that she's taking it one day at a time. Is that the way you're dealing with this?
DUFFEY: Yes, we've been out doing flyers and talking to the community and doing all kinds of stuff, so it seems like about three weeks, four weeks now.
COOPER: I know a lot of people are -
DUFFEY: It's just -
COOPER: I know a lot of people are searching for -
DUFFEY: I'm sorry.
COOPER: A lot of people I know are searching for Miranda and Ashley. Local and federal law enforcement have dozens of people working on this. Are you satisfied with the response of authorities?
DUFFEY: Yes, they keep me informed on what they need to and they keep telling me that they're getting, it's making progress.
COOPER: Tell us, if you would, a little bit about the last time you saw your daughter. How did she seem to you?
DUFFEY: She was fine. She was tired because I just woke her up for school. She was getting her breakfast ready and we were talking about her dance competition the next day, and her going home with her friend that day and she was fine.
COOPER: And you left for work?
DUFFEY: Yes.
COOPER: So you never actually saw her leave the house, but the supposition is that she went to catch the bus around 8:05, is that right?
DUFFEY: Yes. I know she had to have left the house because her school books are gone and her bag, but I don't know if she made it up there or if she even got out of the house completely. I'm not real sure.
COOPER: How far is the bus stop from your apartment?
DUFFEY: It's probably a good two-minute walk, and she has to go up a driveway and over to the next apartments.
COOPER: Michelle, when was it that you realized something was wrong? When did you realize your daughter was missing?
DUFFEY: Her friends came home from school. They had a half day, and they had practice for dance at 3:00, and about 1:20, her friends called me and said she wasn't at school because she was supposed to go home with a friend and they called to see why she wasn't there, because she wasn't answering the phone at home, and I left work and right away, because that's not like Miranda.
COOPER: And Michelle, there are a lot -
DUFFEY: And I couldn't find her.
COOPER: You couldn't find her. There are, of course, a lot of similarities between your daughter and Ashley Pond. They both go to the same school. Some people have said they're similar in appearance. They live in the same place. They're on the same dance team. Are you convinced that these two cases are somehow linked?
DUFFEY: I am. I try not to think about it, but I really do think they are. They both just -- they do look alike in their school pictures. Outside of the school pictures, they really didn't look that much alike, but they knew a lot of the same people and they were trusting. I mean you know, if it was someone they knew, of course they'd get in the car with them because they were trusting, and of course they would. They're teenage girls.
COOPER: Now Miranda knew Ashley and Ashley disappeared January 9th. How did Miranda react when Ashley was found missing, was found to be missing?
DUFFEY: Miranda was really upset. She was really upset at first and then she got really mad, thinking Ashley just ran away and she was convinced Ashley ran away and that's how she dealt with it. She dealt with it as in she was mad at her, and they started a dance invitational. They were planning for this next week, I believe it is, the 23rd and Miranda was really heavily into that and trying to raise money to help find Ashley.
COOPER: Now the police have been searching the two computers that your daughter was known to have used the day before she disappeared. Any sense of who she was talking to online?
DUFFEY: As far as I know, she was just talking to her friends. She babysat for a friend of mine that evening before and was on her computer and as far as we know, she was just talking to her friends. She chatted a lot, but I guess a teenager you don't always know everything they tell you.
COOPER: Well, Michelle, we put up a number of the Oregon City Police Department. I'll just read it out. It's 503-496-1616. Michelle Duffey, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Our hearts and our prayers go out to you. Thanks very much.
DUFFEY: Thank you very much.
COOPER: Well the story of the missing girls is starting to get national attention in the last 24 hours, but the media in Oregon have been following the mystery for weeks now since the first girl disappeared. Let's get some perspective from Kevin Allen, a reporter from Portland radio station KEX. Kevin, is there any new news tonight?
KEVIN ALLEN, KEX RADIO STATION: Actually, the news is very hard to come by right now. The FBI has been working on the case along with the Oregon City Police Department and they have not told us a great deal, understandably so being such a high profile case. As you said, it's been getting national attention for several days now and so, we can only assume that the tips are coming in, but they won't even tell us if they're getting a lot of tips right now.
The latest information in the case is that the FBI has brought in a criminal profiler to try to figure out the kind of person that they might be looking for in this particular case. At least one profiler came in and possibly several. They hope to have a full profile of the kind of person they might be looking for by the end of this week.
COOPER: Now when Ashley disappeared January 9th, how serious was the disappearance taken by authorities? Was it viewed as a runaway, or was it immediately viewed as a potential kidnapping?
ALLEN: Well, the story was told fairly shortly thereafter in the media, because it could have possibly been a kidnapping case. But there was always the caveat. It could be a runaway case. They weren't really sure. They always said that when we talked to them, and of course, as time went on and we learned more about the family, it seemed more and more likely that it indeed was a kidnapping. Therefore, it began to get more and more attention around the community.
COOPER: Before Miranda disappeared five days ago, how was the investigation going into Ashley's disappearance? I understood that the police initially said that they had a few leads, a few potential suspects, but no one was ever named as a suspect and it seemed things were drying up. Is that accurate?
ALLEN: Indeed that's what we heard. They had, I think it was six persons of interest in the case, and they went into the whole investigation and then suddenly we stopped getting any new information. They never did say, "this person is a suspect." They continued to get tips, they said. They usually -- in fact, they got some national media attention on some shows regarding this particular case.
When that happened, they said they got quite a few calls, but it was -- it dried up pretty quickly and then after Miranda went missing over the weekend, she disappeared on Friday, it started to come out over the weekend and we believe that they've gotten a bunch of calls since then, since it seems more and more likely that it is indeed some kind of kidnapping and it is believed that they are linked. They are starting to look at this as a serious, definite, some kind of criminal case.
COOPER: How has the community there reacted?
ALLEN: Well, it's pretty hard on Oregon City. Oregon City is just to the south and the east of the Portland area, and it's a fairly large town but it's kind of got that small town feel. The people we've talked to down there, everyone is affected by this.
There are so many 13-year-old girls. People with daughters thinking, you know, what if it were my daughter and I know that people are taking more care talking to their daughters about how they get to school. I know a lot of them are taking cell phones now and checking in on a regular basis, because parents, and indeed the entire community, is watching this very, very closely.
COOPER: It is certainly every parent's nightmare. Kevin Allen, thanks very much for joining us tonight.
ALLEN: Thank you.
COOPER: There is another missing persons story we want to look at this evening, a woman who apparently got lost at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and hasn't been seen in months. Her story with THE POINT returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: How did she get lost at one of the nation's busiest airports? After three months, when will she be found? Flash Point: Lost, with Alzheimer's. THE POINT will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And welcome back. Back on December 5th, Margie Dabney and her husband Joe were flying from Indianapolis to Los Angeles. He is in a wheelchair. She has Alzheimer's disease. Now they had plans to change planes at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, but Margie Dabney never made it to the connecting flight. She hasn't been seen in more than three months now.
Flash Point: Missing, with Alzheimer's.
One of the couple's children, Candice Price, joins us from Indianapolis. Thanks very much for being with us tonight, Candice.
CANDICE PRICE: Thank you very much.
COOPER: Start out by telling us a little bit about your mom, about her condition. How bad is her Alzheimer's at this point?
PRICE: Sometimes you could talk to her and she'd appear normal, and other times she's just, you know, just out of it. I mean so she varied. I mean just the normal person, if you caught her at the right time, you'd think she was okay.
COOPER: Right. You know, exactly what happened is sort of confusing. My understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that your mom and dad were taken off the airplane once they arrived in Dallas. They were handed over to a wheelchair assistant, who was to escort them to their transfer gate. They stopped to go to the bathroom, and your mom wandered off. What do you think has happened to her?
PRICE: Well, first of all it shouldn't, this shouldn't have been any different from the many other times that they've traveled. My mother and father have traveled many times, and when I took them to the airport, me and my husband took them to the airport, she had an itinerary around her neck that said she was special needs and that she was supposed to have a support service.
COOPER: Now, I'm told when she got off the airplane in Dallas, reportedly she did not have that tag around her neck, is that right?
PRICE: She should have had it on her neck, because I personally put it on her neck myself.
COOPER: Right.
PRICE: And then two attendants took them back to the gate to board their plane in Indianapolis, and so there really shouldn't have been any different when she got in Dallas.
COOPER: I'm sure there's a lot of blame to go around. Who do you blame for what happened to your mom?
PRICE: Right now my biggest concern is finding my mother. I can't waste any negative energy on who's to blame. I just want my mother back. My whole family just wants my mother back.
COOPER: What have you been doing to try to find your mom? I know, you know, a private investigator has been hired by the airline. What have you personally been doing? I know you've spent a lot of time in Dallas.
PRICE: Right. I went down to Dallas. I've been going to shelters, churches, hospitals, psych wards, just various places, different businesses, putting out flyers, letting people know that my mother is missing because from what I understood, the news regarding my mother's disappearance, it's like in a radius.
It's a metropolitan area and so outside of that, nobody knew that my mother was missing. So I had to go out further to let people know, like Waco and Houston and Austin and stuff like that.
COOPER: Candice, I just want to read you two statements that we got, both from the airline and from -- or part of two statements from the airline and from the airport just to get your response to it.
From American Airlines we received the statement: "We worked very closely with the Dabney family since the moment of Mrs. Dabney's disappearance. We alerted authorities within 45 minutes after conducting a thorough search of our terminals. We hired a private investigator, and we continue to discuss ideas with those skilled in matters related to Alzheimer's patients who wander away."
From airport officials, we received this statement: "We worked extremely hard to find Mrs. Dabney in the hours and days after her disappearance and do not believe she is still on the airport property at this time. Candice Price has made a point to thank our officers for their hard work and efforts. We appreciate that, but the airport remains vigilant."
Do you have -- are you satisfied with the efforts that the airport and the airline made? PRICE: Well, let me put it to you like this. When my mother came up missing, American Airlines did not inform authorities until an hour and 15 minutes later, and then the DPS, Department of Public Safety there at the DFW Airport didn't inform other local police authorities until about six hours later. So I mean, if they were working so diligently, I mean why did it take so long?
COOPER: My understanding also is that local media were not really called until -- I think your mom disappeared on a Wednesday, and local media were not called by the airport until Friday, is that correct?
PRICE: Exactly. That's when me, my niece and my brother got down there and we basically had to -- well me, basically, act the fool with them and let them know that this is crazy. You know, you know that it's critical when a person with Alzheimer's or either a child,those first couple of hours are critical, and they wasted so much time.
COOPER: Do you think authorities take this as seriously as they do, say a missing child, a child who wanders off?
PRICE: Well, dementia, Alzheimer's, elderly people are like children. I mean at some point in time they can even be worse than little children. So I mean, I think it should be handled the same way. I don't think it should be any different.
COOPER: The irony, of course, of all this is that your parents were making this trip so that your mom could be looked after by family, while your father was having hip surgery. How is your dad doing? They've been married 34 years. How's your dad handling all this?
PRICE: My father is not handling this well at all. He's doing the best that he can. It's very hard, because I mean you imagine someone being together that long and then, you know, now she's gone away from him for three months and he, nor me, nor any of my sisters and brothers know where my mother is. It's very hard.
COOPER: Well, Candice Price, my heart goes out to you. I'm so sorry for what's gone on and I hope you find your mom. I know it's been three very difficult months for you, and we wish you all the best. Thank you very much.
PRICE: I appreciate it. Thank you.
COOPER: Moving on, tonight -- tomorrow, jurors in the Andrea Yates trial begin hearing testimony on whether she should get the death penalty or spend the rest of her life in a 14 x 6 foot cell, which she'll be allowed to leave for one hour a day. Next, your thoughts about the verdict in the Yates case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: And welcome back. We appreciate getting your e-mails, and apologize for not putting them on the air as much as we'd like. So tonight's final point goes to three viewers who e-mailed us about the Andrea Yates murder trial. We should note, much of our e-mail was opposed to the guilty verdict.
Ray from Connecticut writes: "I'm saddened and troubled by the Andrea Yates decision. She's seriously ill and does not belong in prison, but in the criminal facility of a psychiatric hospital. It's disturbing, not only for her sake, but because it could happen to any of us. No one is immune from mental illness."
We received this from Janel, the mother of a mentally ill son: "Unfortunately people in this country and elsewhere are still in the dark ages when it comes to understanding and dealing with mental illness. Until it's treated as a disease of the brain like cancer is a disease of the body, we will not make progress in preventing such horrendous acts as Andrea Yates committed against her children while in an obviously delusional and psychotic state."
Finally, Linda of Orem, Utah writes: "I am glad that Andrea Yates was found guilty. Mental illness is not an excuse."
If you'd like to let us know what you think about the Andrea Yates case or tonight's stories about the missing Oregon girls and the missing woman with Alzheimer's, send an e-mail to thepoint@cnn.com.
I'm Anderson Cooper in New York. Up next, on "LARRY KING," Sally Jessy Raphael discusses her talk show's cancellation. I, however, have no intention of following suit and will be back here at the same time tomorrow night. Have a good night.
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