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Police Continue Search for Missing Pregnant Woman in California
Aired January 06, 2003 - 10:27 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In California this morning, authorities say they still have no strong leads in the search for a missing pregnant woman.
Over the weekend, authorities looked for clues at a marina where the woman's husband said that he went fishing on the day she disappeared.
Our Ed Lavandera joins us now from Modesto, California. He's got the latest on this investigation for us.
Morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
Well, the efforts to find Laci Peterson are moving on two different fronts: one of them, of course, being the search front. And the other being the investigative efforts.
On the search front, as you mentioned, Leon, over the weekend a team of search dogs being sent out to the Berkeley Marina to canvas that area, as well. Also, the search dogs were sent out in the surrounding counties around Modesto, California.
Now, the marina is 85 miles away and of course, it's of interest because that's where Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, says he went fishing on December 24, that morning of Christmas Eve. He says he left the house at 9:30 and that was the last time that he had seen Laci Peterson alive.
He says he spent the day up there fishing before returning home and discovering that she was missing.
Now, of course, authorities have been working over the last couple of days to corroborate that story. They say they would like very much to dismiss Scott Peterson as a possible suspect in this case, but they need more information to do that.
So that's why they released, a few days ago, the pictures of his truck and boat that he says he used to go to that marina. They've been asking people to pass along information that they had seen Scott Peterson driving that truck or fishing in the boat in that area on Christmas Eve.
They also want to know what he was doing on December 23 and December 25. I asked on Saturday whether or not authorities had had any information corroborating his story. Authorities say that nothing had come forward just yet.
So we understand that authorities are planning more searches today. They have done that throughout the weekend. A team of about 16 cadaver dogs have been sent into the area to help out, authorities here asking the governors office for request in helping out the search.
And authorities here say they will continue to press forward at intense manpower here. About 100 officers working this case. And the police chief, the latest thing he has said is that this effort and this investigation and this search for Laci Peterson will continue at this force for the foreseeable future -- Leon.
HARRIS: You know, I just want to know if you've been out to that marina yourself, because from the pictures that we just saw, there's kind of hard to tell what that might be like on a regular working day. Because now you had lots of police officers who were out there. But is it a typical empty spot, or are there lots of people there usually, on a regular basis that might have been out there to see if -- whether or not Scott Peterson was there?
LAVANDERA: I'm told it's a very popular area and speaking with several people here in the Northern California and the Bay area, as well, that people consider that a very popular area to go to.
Now when we did ask several days ago if, on Christmas Eve, if it's something that would be a very popular destination, would be rather crowded. And authorities here in Modesto were unable to answer the question. Perhaps people at the marine would have a better indication of what kind of crowd levels they might get on a day like that.
HARRIS: Very interesting. Very interesting. Ed Lavandera, reporting live for us this morning from Modesto, California.
Thanks, Ed.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
California
Aired January 6, 2003 - 10:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In California this morning, authorities say they still have no strong leads in the search for a missing pregnant woman.
Over the weekend, authorities looked for clues at a marina where the woman's husband said that he went fishing on the day she disappeared.
Our Ed Lavandera joins us now from Modesto, California. He's got the latest on this investigation for us.
Morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
Well, the efforts to find Laci Peterson are moving on two different fronts: one of them, of course, being the search front. And the other being the investigative efforts.
On the search front, as you mentioned, Leon, over the weekend a team of search dogs being sent out to the Berkeley Marina to canvas that area, as well. Also, the search dogs were sent out in the surrounding counties around Modesto, California.
Now, the marina is 85 miles away and of course, it's of interest because that's where Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, says he went fishing on December 24, that morning of Christmas Eve. He says he left the house at 9:30 and that was the last time that he had seen Laci Peterson alive.
He says he spent the day up there fishing before returning home and discovering that she was missing.
Now, of course, authorities have been working over the last couple of days to corroborate that story. They say they would like very much to dismiss Scott Peterson as a possible suspect in this case, but they need more information to do that.
So that's why they released, a few days ago, the pictures of his truck and boat that he says he used to go to that marina. They've been asking people to pass along information that they had seen Scott Peterson driving that truck or fishing in the boat in that area on Christmas Eve.
They also want to know what he was doing on December 23 and December 25. I asked on Saturday whether or not authorities had had any information corroborating his story. Authorities say that nothing had come forward just yet.
So we understand that authorities are planning more searches today. They have done that throughout the weekend. A team of about 16 cadaver dogs have been sent into the area to help out, authorities here asking the governors office for request in helping out the search.
And authorities here say they will continue to press forward at intense manpower here. About 100 officers working this case. And the police chief, the latest thing he has said is that this effort and this investigation and this search for Laci Peterson will continue at this force for the foreseeable future -- Leon.
HARRIS: You know, I just want to know if you've been out to that marina yourself, because from the pictures that we just saw, there's kind of hard to tell what that might be like on a regular working day. Because now you had lots of police officers who were out there. But is it a typical empty spot, or are there lots of people there usually, on a regular basis that might have been out there to see if -- whether or not Scott Peterson was there?
LAVANDERA: I'm told it's a very popular area and speaking with several people here in the Northern California and the Bay area, as well, that people consider that a very popular area to go to.
Now when we did ask several days ago if, on Christmas Eve, if it's something that would be a very popular destination, would be rather crowded. And authorities here in Modesto were unable to answer the question. Perhaps people at the marine would have a better indication of what kind of crowd levels they might get on a day like that.
HARRIS: Very interesting. Very interesting. Ed Lavandera, reporting live for us this morning from Modesto, California.
Thanks, Ed.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
California
