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American Morning
Bodies of Woman, Infant Boy Found in Richmond, California Waters
Aired April 15, 2003 - 08:05 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Modesto Police involved in the search for Laci Peterson now working today with authorities in Richmond, California, after the bodies of a woman and an were infant found there.
Rusty Dornin's live from the park on the scene where the bodies were located within the past 48 hours. Rusty, good morning. What are we learning?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, we are just north of the Berkley Marina. Now remember, that is where Scott Peterson said he went fishing the day his wife disappeared on December 24. Now from Berkley to the Richmond marines is the are that has been searched several times even using expensive sonar equipment over the past four months, even a couple of weeks ago, which is of course why it was of such interest when these two bodies were discovered.
A full-term fetus was discovered on Sunday just about a mile and a half north of here. And then yesterday a woman walking her dog discovered a very badly decomposed woman's body. Now the police were called up here on this case. But is it the local coroner's office that is doing the testing on this -- on the bodies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY LEE, CONTRA COSTA SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We're conducting tests to determine the identities of the body and also if the two bodies, the one that was found today and the babe from yesterday, are related or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now they say that these tests could take several days. They're doing some DNA testing and that sort of thing and they are not expecting, they say, to release any of the information on the identification of the bodies.
Meantime, of course, a lot of people are asking, where is Scott Peterson in all of this? There are reports that he is in San Diego. He does have family living down there. His mother did release a statement saying that they are hopeful that this body is not Laci Peterson.
Police, of course, are still saying that he is not a suspect in this case. But last week, a judge did order that the search warrants remain sealed in this case. They would not open any of the search warrants of Scott Peterson's house or his boat or anything because they said some of the information could be potentially damaging in a case that could potentially have the death penalty. Because if indeed it is Laci Peterson and her son, it will be a double homicide case.
So right now, police are not releasing any information on the case -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rusty, thanks. Rusty Dornin, again, northern California on that story -- Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're going to go straight to Los Angeles right now to talk more about the certain for Laci Peterson and these latest new developments.
Elizabeth Devine is a former criminalist with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. She is also a story editor for the TV show "CSI."
Thank you very much for joining us this morning, Elizabeth.
Let's talk about what you can glean from the facts we heard so far. So you have a tip from a citizen walking in and around this park leading police to this body of a woman and we apologize to people at this breakfast hour because there are a lot of demented details we 're going to have to share now with the audience. But apparently the body was clothed in maternity wear, the body was missing the legs and the head.
How challenging will it be for police to make an identification here?
ELIZABETH DEVINE, WRITER/PRODUCER, "CSI": Well, it's always challenging when you have remains. The more decomposed the body is, the more of a challenge it is.
However, with DNA technology, they will be able to identify this woman as long as they have a reference. The fetus, if in fact it is related to this woman, can be identified as such. I'm sure in -- if it does turn out to be Laci Peterson, in the original search warrants, I'm certain that they were able to obtain reference samples from Scott Peterson so that this body of the infant can be identified as being from them, if in fact it is that grim discovery as we all are finding.
So, it is difficult. The job now for the Contra Costa coroner's office is to not only identify the victims but also determine a cause of death. That's entirely in the purview of the coroner's office at this point. And then once that's determined, the investigation can go further.
ZAHN: Let's come back to the issue of the infant boy, the body that was found and the fact that the umbilical cord was still attached. What -- what does that mean to you?
DEVINE: Well, the fetus, if in fact it is, again, that of Laci Peterson is -- is the timeline that they will be able to have for when exactly this crime occurred. Because of all of the testing that is done when you are pregnant, they should be able to come to a pretty close proximity to when exactly this -- this fetus died. And in that, we'll be able to, if in fact these are linked, get much closer to the time of death, which, of course, is always important in a investigation. And that's going to be an important thing to do.
It is obviously a very grim discovery. And you know, one that no one relishes, obviously, but has to be investigated nonetheless.
ZAHN: And what process do they have to go through to determine whether this infant had actually been born or what the circumstances of the infant walking up -- washing up separately from the female body?
DEVINE: Well, you know, when you have bodies that have been submerged and exposed, the separation could be due to animal activity or just regular decomposition. It could be also due to the hands of another. So they're going to be looking at that as well. They will be looking at the body of the female to see if, in fact, that person was pregnant. I understand the victim was found in maternity clothes.
So, you know, the whole process is disturbing. But there are means with which they can determine whether or not this baby -- I should say whether the woman has been pregnant. I don't know if the tests that they do to determine whether or not a baby has been born. I would imagine it would have to do with the lungs, seeing whether they, you know, were actually -- whether the baby actually breathed on its own. But I -- I'm not that familiar with that particular process. Thankfully I have not had to deal with that in my career.
ZAHN: Thankfully is right. Elizabeth Devine, a very tough story to confront at this hour of the morning, but thank you for helping us better understand what investigators may be up against here. Appreciate your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Waters>
Aired April 15, 2003 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Modesto Police involved in the search for Laci Peterson now working today with authorities in Richmond, California, after the bodies of a woman and an were infant found there.
Rusty Dornin's live from the park on the scene where the bodies were located within the past 48 hours. Rusty, good morning. What are we learning?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, we are just north of the Berkley Marina. Now remember, that is where Scott Peterson said he went fishing the day his wife disappeared on December 24. Now from Berkley to the Richmond marines is the are that has been searched several times even using expensive sonar equipment over the past four months, even a couple of weeks ago, which is of course why it was of such interest when these two bodies were discovered.
A full-term fetus was discovered on Sunday just about a mile and a half north of here. And then yesterday a woman walking her dog discovered a very badly decomposed woman's body. Now the police were called up here on this case. But is it the local coroner's office that is doing the testing on this -- on the bodies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY LEE, CONTRA COSTA SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We're conducting tests to determine the identities of the body and also if the two bodies, the one that was found today and the babe from yesterday, are related or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now they say that these tests could take several days. They're doing some DNA testing and that sort of thing and they are not expecting, they say, to release any of the information on the identification of the bodies.
Meantime, of course, a lot of people are asking, where is Scott Peterson in all of this? There are reports that he is in San Diego. He does have family living down there. His mother did release a statement saying that they are hopeful that this body is not Laci Peterson.
Police, of course, are still saying that he is not a suspect in this case. But last week, a judge did order that the search warrants remain sealed in this case. They would not open any of the search warrants of Scott Peterson's house or his boat or anything because they said some of the information could be potentially damaging in a case that could potentially have the death penalty. Because if indeed it is Laci Peterson and her son, it will be a double homicide case.
So right now, police are not releasing any information on the case -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rusty, thanks. Rusty Dornin, again, northern California on that story -- Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're going to go straight to Los Angeles right now to talk more about the certain for Laci Peterson and these latest new developments.
Elizabeth Devine is a former criminalist with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. She is also a story editor for the TV show "CSI."
Thank you very much for joining us this morning, Elizabeth.
Let's talk about what you can glean from the facts we heard so far. So you have a tip from a citizen walking in and around this park leading police to this body of a woman and we apologize to people at this breakfast hour because there are a lot of demented details we 're going to have to share now with the audience. But apparently the body was clothed in maternity wear, the body was missing the legs and the head.
How challenging will it be for police to make an identification here?
ELIZABETH DEVINE, WRITER/PRODUCER, "CSI": Well, it's always challenging when you have remains. The more decomposed the body is, the more of a challenge it is.
However, with DNA technology, they will be able to identify this woman as long as they have a reference. The fetus, if in fact it is related to this woman, can be identified as such. I'm sure in -- if it does turn out to be Laci Peterson, in the original search warrants, I'm certain that they were able to obtain reference samples from Scott Peterson so that this body of the infant can be identified as being from them, if in fact it is that grim discovery as we all are finding.
So, it is difficult. The job now for the Contra Costa coroner's office is to not only identify the victims but also determine a cause of death. That's entirely in the purview of the coroner's office at this point. And then once that's determined, the investigation can go further.
ZAHN: Let's come back to the issue of the infant boy, the body that was found and the fact that the umbilical cord was still attached. What -- what does that mean to you?
DEVINE: Well, the fetus, if in fact it is, again, that of Laci Peterson is -- is the timeline that they will be able to have for when exactly this crime occurred. Because of all of the testing that is done when you are pregnant, they should be able to come to a pretty close proximity to when exactly this -- this fetus died. And in that, we'll be able to, if in fact these are linked, get much closer to the time of death, which, of course, is always important in a investigation. And that's going to be an important thing to do.
It is obviously a very grim discovery. And you know, one that no one relishes, obviously, but has to be investigated nonetheless.
ZAHN: And what process do they have to go through to determine whether this infant had actually been born or what the circumstances of the infant walking up -- washing up separately from the female body?
DEVINE: Well, you know, when you have bodies that have been submerged and exposed, the separation could be due to animal activity or just regular decomposition. It could be also due to the hands of another. So they're going to be looking at that as well. They will be looking at the body of the female to see if, in fact, that person was pregnant. I understand the victim was found in maternity clothes.
So, you know, the whole process is disturbing. But there are means with which they can determine whether or not this baby -- I should say whether the woman has been pregnant. I don't know if the tests that they do to determine whether or not a baby has been born. I would imagine it would have to do with the lungs, seeing whether they, you know, were actually -- whether the baby actually breathed on its own. But I -- I'm not that familiar with that particular process. Thankfully I have not had to deal with that in my career.
ZAHN: Thankfully is right. Elizabeth Devine, a very tough story to confront at this hour of the morning, but thank you for helping us better understand what investigators may be up against here. Appreciate your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Waters>
