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CNN Live Today

Gruesome Discovery May Dash All Hope in Samantha Runnion Abduction

Aired July 17, 2002 - 12:25   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: Now to California. The abduction of Samantha Runnion and a gruesome discovery that may dash all hope. The Orange County sheriff's department holds a new conference in about an hour, and we plan live coverage.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is in Stanton, California, where the 5- year-old was snatched from her front yard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now, many of the residents who live in this very quiet Orange County community where Samantha is from are waiting very anxiously for some kind of a confirmation from the coroner's department as to the identity of the child's body that was found in Riverside County yesterday. If you take a look right behind me, you can see that a shrine was set up right in front of the family's home. There are cards, and flowers, and letters from friends, hoping for Samantha's safe return.

Many of the residents, parents and the children, told me yesterday that they had a hard time sleeping after the abduction. They say this is a very safe area, and their sense of security has been shattered. Now authorities say that two men spotted the girl's body in plain view in a rugged area off the side of the road which leads to a popular hang gliding facility out in Riverside County. Authorities say that it is premature to say right now whether that body is that of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, but they added that the body does match the description of Samantha.

Investigators say that they are treating this as a homicide, they are processing the crime scene for evidence, they are looking for tire tracks, fibers, anything that will tell them whether the child was killed at that location, or whether the body was dumped there.

Samantha's friends describe her as a popular, very sweet and friendly little girl. Her sixth birthday was only 9 days away.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Stanton, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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