Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Interview With Former FBI Profiler Candice Delong

Aired June 11, 2002 - 14:52   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to talk more now on the apparent kidnaping of Elizabeth Smart. We're going to turn to Candice DeLong.

She's a former profiler with the FBI and was a member of the Child Abduction Task Force. She joins us from San Francisco. Hi Candice.

CANDICE DELONG, FORMER FBI PROFILER: Hi, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so, you don't just randomly pick a house. Obviously Kimberly Smart was targeted and this was all planned out, right?

DELONG: Well, I think so. And when I saw a picture of the house on TV, very, very large house. Looks like, you know, more than 4,000 square feet. It's in a wooded area -- seven bedrooms.

The offender went in an occupied home in the middle of the night. Went to that girl's bedroom and took her out. It seems to indicate to me that he knew exactly what he was doing. Perhaps he'd been in the house before.

PHILLIPS: So you think that the suspect was in Elizabeth's room, or at least in that house?

DELONG: Well, it seems -- it seems logical that is the case. If you look at the house, the setting that it's in. Seven bedrooms, that's a pretty big house to go -- you know, if he didn't know what he was doing, going room to room, opening doors looking in, just very, high risk to him.

And the fact that he did accomplish his goal, which was getting Elizabeth out of the house at very high risk to him, tells me that he probably had a working knowledge of that house.

PHILLIPS: So, in a situation like this, is the alleged kidnapper normally have had contact with the child prior to the kidnapping? Is that the norm?

DELONG: Oftentimes, that is the case. Sometimes it's very minimal contact. For example, Polly Klaus, who was also taken out of her house back in 1993 -- Richard Allen Davis,the man that took her, he had spotted her earlier in the evening as she was walking across the town square and followed her home to see where she lived. And then he went back.

It's possible that the man who took Elizabeth, knew her. It might be on a very minor level, such as I just suggested. Or it's perhaps someone that knew her better than that. Maybe somebody that had been in the house, a carpenter, a worker, someone. This wasn't someone who got in their car, drove across town, spotted that house and said, "Gee, I wonder if there's a 14-year-old girl in there that I could take."

PHILLIPS: Why did police think they've got their suspect? The chief came out, Salt Lake City police chief, came out within the past hour and said they feel very confident that they have spoken to or will speak to the suspect very soon?

DELONG: I think probably the reason he said that is because it goes along what I have been saying. That the offender probably is somebody who had been in that house before. And so what they're doing -- imagine your investigation starting at the center of a bull's eye and moving outward in concentric circles, starting with the closest people to the victim -- of course, would be family and then close friends. Anybody that had reason to be in that house. Anybody that had access to that house, anybody that had ever been in that house, such as a carpet cleaner.

I understand the house was for sale -- perhaps somebody who had gone through the house looking at it to buy. And so the police have a list of all these people. Their list is ever-expanding. And so that is why they believe they may have already talked to this individual.

It's not to say they know who he is. It's not to say they know who the offender is. But they believe because they -- my guess is, they probably talked to in excess of 100 or 200 people so far. And so that's probably why they are saying what they are saying.

PHILLIPS: All right, as a parent, how do I keep my kid safe in my own home?

DELONG: Well, it's actually, you know, things like this happen and we hold our breath and we say, "Gee, I hope that never happens to my child."

But actually, what people need to do is sit down with your children and talk with them very matter of factly. There's no reason to scare them. But present it just like any other safety issue. Just like, you know, you don't cross the street against a red light. You don't play baseball in the street.

What do you do if someone comes into your house? What do you do if someone grabs you on the street and says, "come with me and I won't hurt you"? What do you do if you wake up with someone in your bedroom and they're saying, "come with me and I won't hurt you"?

What I would do, I would tell -- and what I did do when my son was young -- you are to yell, you are to scream. Cry: Mommy, Daddy, help me! There have been children who have been grabbed by offenders who saved their own life by doing this. Their parents had trained them. Fight back, yell, scream. Yell "Fire" if you have to. That will get people's attention. The offender is going to use threats and intimidation to try to control the child and, in this case, to control the other sister. If you tell, I will kill your sister.

Children need to be told this is a trick. This is something that offenders do so that they can gain the compliance of the victim. I cannot guarantee that a child will not be hurt if they do what I say. But I can pretty much guarantee, if an offender is successful in getting a child out of their own home or into a car, it's probably not going to have a happy ending.

PHILLIPS: Candice DeLong, former profiler with the FBI, thanks Candice, for your insights today.

DELONG: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com