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CNN Live At Daybreak

Parents Found Slain at Virginia Home, Daughter Missing

Aired August 16, 2002 - 07:01   ET

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get "Up Front" first this morning, the state of Virginia, police there looking out for that 9- year-old girl missing, after her parents were found dead. Michael and Mary Short shot to death yesterday in their home in Bassett, Virginia. Authorities did issue an "Amber Alert" for Jennifer. They believe she may have been kidnapped.
We want to go live there now to Bassett. That's the town. Juliet Bickford is the reporter of our affiliate there, WSLS.

Juliet -- good morning.

JULIET BICKFORD, CNN AFFILIATE WSLS REPORTER: Good morning, Bill.

The biggest news: There is no sign of 9-year-old Jennifer Short. Police have been searching this area with a helicopter, ATVs, canine units. They say they will put the helicopter back up in about an hour.

Investigators say Jennifer was at home when somebody shot and killed her parents. This is her house right back here. They say that she probably did see something. They thought maybe that she had run away or had been kidnapped. They don't know yet what might have happened. They did talk to some family and friends to see if she had shown up there. She did not.

And as we said before, the "Amber Alert" has been activated, and they have gotten a lot of leads, but so far, nothing has turned up to be Jennifer.

And it appears that the killer knew the family. That's what police are saying now. And they have been looking at evidence early this morning inside the house, hoping that will somehow lead them to Jennifer.

HEMMER: Juliet, a couple of questions here. Police, have they talked about why they believe the killer may have known the parents? And also, I hear an awful lot of traffic going by. Give us a better idea about the location where you are?

BICKFORD: Well, we are here on 220, which is actually a pretty major highway. Bassett is a very small town. Police are not saying how they know that the killer must have known the family. They are saying that the killer must have known the house, so it may be something to do with how the person got into the house. HEMMER: I know they have gone inside that home, Juliet. Are there any clues from which they're working right now to try and locate the girl?

BICKFORD: We did see investigators leaving the house just a few hours ago. They were carrying lots of forensic evidence. They said they would not tell us what it was. They say they still really don't have any good leads.

HEMMER: All right, Juliet Bickford in Bassett, Virginia. We will track that story throughout the morning here. An "Amber Alert" has been issued there in the western part of that state.

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