Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Interview with Joann Donnellan

Aired August 14, 2002 - 10:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Want to let you know that we got a little bit of bad information. We've been telling you that we expected a news conference from Abilene, Texas on the latest baby to be taken. Turns out it wasn't a formal news conference. We are getting the latest information on that.
But this, of course, is the hot topic about missing and exploited children; and that's why we're happy to have with us this morning Joann Donnellan. She is with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children and joins us this morning from Washington, D.C.

Joann, good morning, and thank you for joining us.

JOANN DONNELLAN, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Good morning.

KAGAN: First of all, have you been in touch with anybody in Abilene? And do you know the latest on the situation of this one- month-old baby who was taken from a Wal-Mart parking lot?

DONNELLAN: Well, yes, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received this case last night shortly after it happened. And that's what we do at the Center, we basically assist law enforcement agencies with trying to find missing children. And we developed a poster for them, which we then sent back to law enforcement so they could distribute it throughout the region. And we have a case manager who is working as close as possible with law enforcement and assisting whenever needed.

And it is important to know that the National Center has a 1-800 hotline number that is 24/7. And so if people in the community down there have information about this case and they want to stay anonymous, they can call our hotline at 1-800-...

KAGAN: Will you tell us what that number -- yes, tell us the number.

DONNELLAN: ... THE-LOST. It's 1-800-THE-LOST.

KAGAN: Very easy to remember. We'll repeat that before we wrap up our conversation here.

On this particular case, this seems like an average mom with her kids out at Wal-Mart, didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I mean basically turned her back for a second to replace a shopping cart and bam, her baby is just taken. DONNELLAN: Right. Very frightening situation, of course. You know the National Center has been, you know, really trying to, you know, tell parents to be cautious. I know we've had a number of cases this summer.

But the one thing that makes this different, and this is very important to state, is that this was a woman who took an infant. And our data, you know, shows that usually it's because a woman is desperate for a child. It's not usually -- you know the baby is not taken for sexual purposes. So this is the only positive thing that you can say about this case.

And it is encouraged that people in the community, if you know someone who is now coming forward with a newborn baby and showing the baby off and before that baby did not -- was not around in that neighborhood, please contact the local police department. Those are the signs that that child may not be her own.

KAGAN: Very good point. And what we're seeing now more and more is that the more the public is involved, the quicker these cases are solved. A happy ending in Los Angeles. And it does appear, at least according to Los Angeles Police, that it was a woman who took 4-year- old Jessica Cortez from that park.

Some very quick thinking people at a -- at a clinic where this little girl was taken to, because I guess she was complaining of a sore throat. First of all, the little girl knew to tell nurses that's not my mommy. That was key, but also these were alert -- these were alert workers in this clinic. They recognized the child, even though her hair had been cut, and very clever how they went about trying to keep the girl and the woman there while they got police.

DONNELLAN: Exactly. This is how important the community plays when a child is abducted.

You know we're learning from the AMBER alert program with the -- which the National Center launched in October nationwide, that the community working with law enforcement agencies and radio and television stations truly have the power to help recover children safely.

So what is important as well to mention that the National Center statistics show that one out of six children are recovered because someone in the general community recognized the poster or the photograph on the television screen and contacted authorities. We saw that work yesterday in California. It can work in Abilene, Texas if everybody in that community just pays attention, listens to the description of the child, of the abductor and the vehicle. They have a lot of good information because there were witnesses and actual -- and actually a man tried to help the mother in the parking lot. So this is vital in trying to help recover that child.

KAGAN: And in cases like this, Joann, does a -- does a woman like that, a person like that usually stay in the community where the baby's snatched or they -- do they take off? DONNELLAN: No, usually they'll -- they will stay around. We have seen cases, well again, that they have actually shown off the child or pretended that they just delivered a baby. Maybe they're even lying to their husband that oh that they adopted a child or that they actually, you know, had -- delivered a child or was able to get a child from another source if a husband is desperate for a child. So usually they stay around in the community.

KAGAN: Very good information. And this summer, as you mentioned, where this has become all too aware to all of us, but good point, we all need to keep our eyes open and help keep our children safe. And we put the number up there one more time, but why don't you repeat it, 1-800-...

DONNELLAN: It's 1-800-THE-LOST. And if parents want to get information, safety education information, they can go to our Web site at missingkids.com.

KAGAN: Also very easy to remember.

Joann Donnellan from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, thank you for stopping by this morning. Appreciate your input.

DONNELLAN: Thank you.

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