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CNN Live At Daybreak

Missing Girl Hoax: Identity Fraud?

Aired August 01, 2003 - 06:09   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A woman alleged to have committed a cruel hoax is in police custody, and an Indiana family is relieved but still reeling from it all. Police say the woman pretended to be their missing daughter, a little girl who had been kidnapped 17 years ago.
CNN's David Mattingly tells us what will happen in court today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-five-year-old Donna Walker of Topeka, Kansas, is in custody now. She turned herself in to authorities in that city late Thursday afternoon.

She was wanted by authorities in Indiana, after allegedly orchestrating that high-profile hoax in which she told members of the Sherrill family that she believed she was the missing Shannon Sherrill, a little girl who was abducted back in 1986.

Shannon's family reacted happily to the news that the brief manhunt was now over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're excited!

DOROTHY SHERRILL, MOTHER: I know! I am excited in some ways, but it still hasn't brought my daughter home or nothing. But, you know, I'm excited that she's been caught.

MATTINGLY: Donna Walker, however, is not admitting any guilt. In an interview to ABC News, she said that she looks forward to everything coming out in the court system, that she has nothing to hide, and that she turned herself in because it was the right thing to do.

David Mattingly, CNN, Indianapolis, Indiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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






Aired August 1, 2003 - 06:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A woman alleged to have committed a cruel hoax is in police custody, and an Indiana family is relieved but still reeling from it all. Police say the woman pretended to be their missing daughter, a little girl who had been kidnapped 17 years ago.
CNN's David Mattingly tells us what will happen in court today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thirty-five-year-old Donna Walker of Topeka, Kansas, is in custody now. She turned herself in to authorities in that city late Thursday afternoon.

She was wanted by authorities in Indiana, after allegedly orchestrating that high-profile hoax in which she told members of the Sherrill family that she believed she was the missing Shannon Sherrill, a little girl who was abducted back in 1986.

Shannon's family reacted happily to the news that the brief manhunt was now over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're excited!

DOROTHY SHERRILL, MOTHER: I know! I am excited in some ways, but it still hasn't brought my daughter home or nothing. But, you know, I'm excited that she's been caught.

MATTINGLY: Donna Walker, however, is not admitting any guilt. In an interview to ABC News, she said that she looks forward to everything coming out in the court system, that she has nothing to hide, and that she turned herself in because it was the right thing to do.

David Mattingly, CNN, Indianapolis, Indiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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