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Hunt for Suspect in Pennsylvania Cop Killing Continues; University of Virginia Student Hanna Graham Still Missing
Aired September 21, 2014 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. These are the stories topping this hour.
We are waiting for two live updates to begin at any moment now, one from Pennsylvania state police, on the manhunt for an accused cop killer who has been on the run for nine days. The other in Charlottesville, Virginia where search for missing UVA student Hannah Graham continues. We'll bring you those press conferences as they happen.
First, we want to begin this hour with security lapses at the White House. Two incidents in two days. The secret service arrested a young man who tried to enter a barricaded entrance yesterday in his car before being stopped.
And then we have learned more about the man who breached security on Friday. As you can see in this video that we just received. Take a look at the highlighted area. There he is, the suspect jumping the fence, running across the north lawn and then barging right through the front door as he goes up to the steps right there. And guess what? He was carrying a knife and he is an Iraq war veteran.
Erin McPike is at the White House for us. So, what is the latest? And what more do we know about these two men and what secret service is going to do now?
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, what secret service is going to do now, they are already stepping up patrols and surveillance around the White House to make sure that there is more security. They are also ordering a review. But from the latest video, you can see Omar Gonzalez jumping over the bushes to get into the White House, making this act all the more surprising.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody out. Right now. Go back. Everybody into the park.
MCPIKE (voice-over): Two incidents at the White House within 24 hours, raising serious questions about security. Friday night, the man captured on this cell phone video not only scaled the fence in front of 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, he went up to the building and barged through the front door. He has been identified as 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez. DANIEL BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: They are going to have
to do something with the fence. Even if it is as simple as curving the bars over toward the street side, the Pennsylvania avenue side which will make it harder to scale. Remember, time buys you options. And right now they don't have time. you scale the fence. You are almost right at the door.
MCPIKE: Secret service officers yelled at Gonzalez to stop but they didn't shoot. According to a law enforcement official at the time, he didn't appear to be carrying anything and may have been mentally disturbed.
But now, according to a secret service's affidavit, Gonzalez was carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon, a folding knife like this one in his pants pocket. Also according to the affidavit, Gonzalez told the secret service agent that quote "he was concerned that the atmosphere was collapsing and needed to get the information to the president.
The incident happened just four minutes after the first family had left the White House grounds for the weekend. Once he got inside, officers apprehended Gonzalez. An ambulance took him to George Washington medical center for evaluation.
Gonzalez is an Iraq war veteran who retired from the military on disability in 2012. The "Washington Post" is reporting that no canine teams were at least to chased down the intruder as with the standard procedure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, so an overhaul potentially of security at the White House.
Meantime, let's go to Pike County, Pennsylvania and listen in more on the search for the suspected cop killer.
LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: As well as the Delaware state forest area. We are also aware that archery season is right around the corner and hunters might now be setting up equipment. We are asking those hunters to refrain from going into these areas at this point in time just until Frein is captured. We're also asking, though, that if any members of the public do have any photos or videos that were previously taken from trail cameras that would have been placed in those areas, that if they would review those images and that we are looking for photos of Frein or other suspicious activity they may have captured with the cameras. And we ask them to contact law enforcement and share those images with us to assist in our investigation.
Also, if the public is aware from past times spent in the woods of any shelters, bunkers, anything else that might be used by Frein or was possibly constructed by him to also please let us know about that so we can follow up and investigate to determine if that is pertinent to this matter at hand.
Up until this point, we have had several possible sightings. Each of those are being investigated and followed out.
The Pennsylvania state police has received hundreds of tips over the past week. Many offering credible information. We will continue to pursue each and every one of those. In the interim, we are still recommending a number of precautions to the public.
First and foremost, we want the public to be alert and vigilant. If they see anything suspicious or believe they may have seen Frein, we're asking them to report it to 911 or our tip line at 866-326-7256 and do so immediately so it can be followed up on.
We're asking the public not to approach or encounter any suspicious person or vehicles but rather to report those immediately and we'll be glad to have someone follow up on it as soon as possible. The suspect is still considered armed and dangerous. We ask and remind residents to lock all doors and windows as well as their vehicles. At night, keep the exterior of their homes well-lit and we also ask them to look for any open shed doors, those kinds of things, garages. And if they do find something like to give us a call and we'll check it out.
Lastly, I would like to thank the communities in this area for the outstanding support that they have shown to the Pennsylvania state police throughout this very difficult situation. The men and women of the state police truly appreciate it. I know that it is a trying time for everyone. People are concerned. Their lives are being disrupted. I want them to know that we are working as quickly and efficiently as possible to resolve this matter and their patience again is very much appreciated.
Anything at this point or do you have anything at this point?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're open to questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Sir, there were reports that shots were fired on Friday night. Have any shot been fired related to the search and was there ever a possible exchange of gunfire with the suspect?
BIVENS: There has not been an exchange of gunfire with the suspect. I'm aware of the reports that you are talking about. At this point, we can't confirm that those shots were even directly related to this matter. There was another investigation, another report that I'm aware of that I believe may be the source of those gunshots.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You said you are pushing hard, you have been very close to him, do you think?
BIVENS: I know that because, again, from our investigation we are finding things, our trackers are -- both dogs and human trackers are getting indications that we are on the right trail. And so, I know how many people we have put into that area. I know the kinds of sweepers we are doing, that there is no doubt we are pushing him hard. He is losing items. And based on other sightings that we've had reports of, we have every reason to believe we're pushing him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: And there is no doubt in your mind that he is nearby. BIVENS: I'm confident he is in that general area that I'll show you
on the map. But again the pike road border area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You said there have been possible sightings. Can you show us.
BIVENS: I'm not going to give you specifics about where those sightings have been but I would say in that general area, and over time, there have been sightings. But what I'm most concerned about it is in the immediate past and current time, all of the information that we have, whether it is sightings, whether it is items that we have found, whether it is information coming back from the trackers, we have strong reason to believe that we're in the right area right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE), food and ammo, those sorts of things?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You said that he planned that attack for months and years? How do you know that?
BIVENS: Again, based on the investigation, we're talking to a lot of people, looking at a lot of information and that confirms for us that there was significant planning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Are you finding food and any other survival equipment other than the weapons and the mag?
BIVENS: At this point I don't want to disclose what we have or have not found. Again, if in the event he is able to hear the news reports, I don't necessarily want to tip him to everything we have found at this point in time. But there are a number of items that we have found.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Has there been a confirmed sighting? I know that there has been actually been a confirmed sighting (INAUDIBLE)?
BIVENS: I will just characterize them as sightings. Again, you know, we evaluate all of the information around him. Until we have him in custody, I won't say that is a confirmed sighting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you know how he got from here to where he got down currently?
BIVENS: We believe he traveled on foot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Are you still tracking activity on his cell phone?
BIVENS: I'm not going to disclose specifically what techniques we might be using to track his movement. But know that we are using every tool available to us and I believe we are doing everything we can to track him right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is it safe enough to reopen schools? BIVENS: Those are individual decisions the school district will have
to make. We are in consultation with various district officials, community officials in the affected areas. We'll certainly provide them all of the information that we can to allow them to make an informed decision and ultimately, though, the decision is theirs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Would you send your kid to school in these districts that were close? Obviously they are looking to police for guidance?
BIVENS: No, I understand they are. And again, I think they have to make an individual decision based on what is going on in their area. And that is why we'll provide them with as specific information as we possibly can while they make that decision. But ultimately, it is their decision. I will tell you that, as I've said in the past, we have every reason to believe that Frein is focused on law enforcement and specifically the state police. There is no indication that he is a danger to school children or someone else on in the public. I believe he has had every opportunity to harm others if he has chosen to so despite its with law enforcement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
BIVENS: I'm not aware of an application. It is not to say that he hasn't, but --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
BIVENS: They were recovered. Whether they were dropped or left cashed if you will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE), long time or short time.
BIVENS: No, these are items that we believe he had with him at the time of the shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What makes you believe those are his items?
BIVENS: Investigation follow-up on the items. We are confident these were his.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: And the two guns that you knew he had --
BIVENS: I'm sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Is this one of the two guns you knew he had with him?
BIVENS: This is a gun that w we had knowledge that he has with him, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Is this the gun used in the shooting?
BIVENS: We don't have all of the results back at this point. UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How many other items, roughly, have been
recovered?
BIVENS: I couldn't give you a number right now, but there have been several.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: But you are certain that these are what you are finding out there is stuff he's been carrying with him that night? That he carried with him into the woods that night.
BIVENS: No. I didn't say that. No. What I'm saying is these are items left by him, I believe, since the time of the shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Any idea now, any better idea now why he did this and why he is targeting law enforcement?
BIVENS: No, and I'm talked in the past about his desire to portray himself as a Serbian soldier and kind to live in that world. And so beyond that, I really can't speculate as to why he has done something until we have an opportunity to speak to him and he provides any additional insight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: So there is no writings, there is no conversation that you found he had with anybody? There is nothing that --
BIVENS: No, we are aware of some conversations and things and the way I would characterize those is that it is clear that he has been planning this for some time. I really don't want to go beyond that with specifics of what he has told other people. But it is very clear to us that he has been -- that he's held these beliefs. And I think others just maybe didn't believe that we would act on this. But he's talked for some time about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: And you said he's talked. And he has been all over social media. His friend said that he doesn't have social media and doesn't use it. Can you elaborate on where you are finding him writing about what he's saying about?
BIVENS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: From police?
BIVENS: No, I can't right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Sir, have you tried to contact his father or his family?
BIVENS: There has not been any contact that I am aware of with his family at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Do you still think that he is acting alone? Are you still (INAUDIBLE)?
BIVENS: Everything that we have looked at to this point has only identified him as a suspect in this matter. But as I've also said in the past, we remain open to reviewing any piece of information that comes to light and would certainly discuss that with the district attorney in weighing any other charges, you know.
And along with that, the district attorney has been very clear in the past that anyone that aids Frein during this manhunt would be charged as well. But in terms of the actual shooting, we have only identified him as a suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Have you been hearing from these bounty hunters that are coming into the area, if that is discouraged or of that even legal in Pennsylvania?
BIVENS: We've heard rumors to that effect. Actually, I think mostly from the media that that is occurring. Our operations people have not encountered anyone that has identified themselves as bounty hunters that has been involve in that kind of activity out there. You know, typically, bounty hunters would be engaged in trying to apprehend someone that is absconded and jumped out on unveil (ph) as supposed to trying to get someone for a reward. Certainly, if someone did come here, we would discourage it. They are putting themselves in harm's way. It could potentially be interfering with law enforcement while we try to capture this individual. And you know, they really, they have no authority other than that as a private citizen to come here and do this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Was there an idea where the AK was found?
BIVENS: It was up in the area closer to the where the jeep was recovered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: How far apart were the materials were recovered? How long is the trail, things that he left?
BIVENS: Well, I wouldn't characterize it as a trail, things that he left. I would just tell you that it was in the general area near the jeep was recovered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Have you found more items? Were there other items too?
BIVENS: I'm not going to discuss where we found items because, again, at this point, I'm not prepare to have him know what we have or have not. We can't tell you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
BIVENS: I do believe he is still armed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How big is the area?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Can you tell us about the map?
BIVENS: Sure. And this, really, just depicts the area that I know. The media has been down in the Canadensis area. But there is essentially the type Monroe (ph) County border. And this entire area that is enlarged, this entire area is our primary search area right now. But again, we are following up on tips. So all of our people are not concentrated in this area. We have significant resources, as you know, if you have been down there in this area, we have secured some perimeters. We have done a number of sweeps through there. And aviation assets and other things in the area to allow us to search it. But again we are following it up. We are not solely focused on --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How big an area are we talking about?
BIVENS: Well, this area is a few square miles. I would characterize the larger search area is probably 200-250 square miles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You said there has been any contact that you know, all between him and his family. But has he attempted to contact them?
BIVENS: I, really, can't comment on what we know that he has or has not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: But do you believe he has a cell phone on him?
BIVENS: Again, I wouldn't want to comment on that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The weapons in the pictures, were they found that way?
BIVENS: No. The weapon was suspended so it could be seen better with the other materials.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Was it hidden?
BIVENS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Isn't this fugitive 101, don't go back home. Do go anywhere near your home. Everybody knows that's where you are going to look.
BIVENS: Again, I don't say it was well-planned. I would say it was planned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: If you are confident that he is in the area, why is that shelter in place order lifted? Is that a sign that you don't feel that he is in that direct neighborhood, that he has moved out of the area?
BIVENS: Because we constantly balance the obvious concerns with disrupting people's lives with trying to ensure their safety. We've swept through the majority of the areas where the residences are located. Now, you know, be aware, though, that -- I mean, he can always he is able to slip through a perimeter and get back into there. So we can't guarantee anyone's safety 100 percent. What we can say is that we've done thorough searches through those areas and we are doing our absolute best to try to ensure that he is not in the immediate area of where the majority of the residents are located.
Again, it remains up to the individual to make a decision about whether they want to remain in their residence or relocate somewhere else while the search goes on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: If you could speak directly to him, what would you like to say?
BIVENS: I would just again reiterate that he needs to turn himself in. That the state police will apprehend him. It is only a matter of time. And for his sake, his safety and the safety of enforcement and the public at large, he needs to turn himself in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Has anybody taken down his facebook or twitter page because he seems to be a ghost online.
BIVENS: I couldn't tell you about the current status of his facebook or twitter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How long do you allocate searches to this?
BIVENS: The Pennsylvania state police will stay focuses on this until he is apprehended, period.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What about the FBI and the other --?
BIVENS: I have commitments from those agencies to stay just as focused. And in fact, our agency as well as theirs will dedicate even more resources if we believe it is necessary and appropriate at any point in time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Are these just state troopers you are using? I have heard you guys are actually recruiting local law enforcement from around the state to come and help out.
BIVENS: We are using primarily state troopers. We have utilized some specialized teams from other law enforcement agencies, but not typically uniformed patrol officers or anything from other agencies. So we are not recruiting. We have a lot of resources within the state police. I have pulled troopers from stations across the commonwealth so as not to too negatively impact their obligations. But I have pulled troopers over the last several days. And so we continue to concentrate our efforts here and we'll pull resources from where we need to do to be able t make sure we are doing a thorough search.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You have a picture. You believe that to be one of the two rifles the assailant had on him at the time of the shooting?
BIVENS: I believe that is true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Can you talk about his state of mind right now? That he might be getting desperate, not having been able to sleep in days (INAUDIBLE)?
BIVENS: As I said, we are pushing him hard. I wouldn't want to speculate. Obviously, I talk to my experts on a very regular basis about what his state of mind might be and we factor that into our efforts as we go forward. But I don't want to speculate publicly about what that might be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Sir, you said it was about a 250 square mile zone you are focusing on, so most people are trying to determine when can I get back to my normal life, quote unquote, depending on where they live --
WHITFIELD: All right. You've been listening to a press conference of Pike County from the state police saying they continue to intensify the search for the suspected cop killer Eric Matthew Frein. They are still asking for people to be very vigilant and look for anything or anyone who seems unusual. However, they have lifted the lockdown on the area.
And now on the right side of your screen, Charlottesville, Virginia. Let's listen to the press conference there as it pertains to missing UVA student, Hannah Graham.
TIMOTHY LONGO, CHIEF, CHARLOTTE POLICE: -- emergency management is going to talk a little bit in a couple of minutes about that search. That was coordinated -- the tenacity of the people that were there, what they found, what they didn't find. The relevance to the investigation, if any, all of those things.
But before I start, if you are here in this room if you are one of those people who has been emailing us, if you are the thousand plus people who showed up to search for Hannah, you rose to the occasion. You stepped up to the plate and you rose to the occasion and that is what I asked you to do. That is all Mr. and Mrs. Graham ask you to do, just rise to the occasion and help us find their little girl and you did. And I'm so proud of this community and every person who has touched this community by their thoughts or their prayers over the past week.
So you've been through this road map or this chronology of how this started. And I'm just going to touch on it at 30,000 feet and not at the level of detail that we have in previous press conferences, but just to remind you how we got from Friday night to today.
And all of you know that on Friday night, Hannah left her apartment. She had dinner with friends. She went to a few other places. She socialized and then she left. And her world begins to get turned around at that point, I think. She makes her way to McGrady's pub and we learn that she interacts with the doorman there and she's turned away.
And so, she leaves. She goes east bound and she proceeds down Preston avenue, we know that, the video camera captured that. We saw that. The world saw that, playing this video over and over again.
And then she finds her way to second street and market right there next to the (INAUDIBLE) restaurant. An eyewitness sees her make that turn. She is southbound on 2nd street and she goes to enter a mall and she begins eastbound. And we know that. We know that because surveillance cameras tell us that. At least two tell us that she's walking up that mall. And in one of the images, one of which I thought frankly at first
blush was a reflection because of how the image was taken, we now look closer and she's walking with a man. I believe that man was Jesse Matthew. I really do. And I believe Jesse Matthew and Hannah found their selves at the tempo restaurant, I believe that. Eyewitnesses told us so.
And I believe Hannah Graham left Mariny's (ph) restaurant with Jesse Matthew. I believe that. In fact, I believe that Jesse Matthew was the last person she was seen with before she vanished off the face of the earth. Let me say that again. I believe Jesse Matthew was the last person she was seen with before she vanished off the face of the earth. Because it has been a week and we can't find her. But somebody knows where she is. Somebody has got to know where she is. And we want to know who that person or persons are.
I've mentioned the name Jesse Matthew a couple of times. In fact, some of you knew the name Jesse Matthew before it ever came out of my mouth. We confirmed you had the right name. A lot of you have broadcasted that name. But I don't want to get tunnel vision. I don't want any of you to get tunnel vision. I want anybody out there in the community still looking for Hannah Graham to get tunnel vision just because we have a name, just because we saw her with a particular person.
We were so interested in Jesse Matthew, we found our way to his apartment, armed with a search warrant, to seize a car. You will see that car on this screen. I want you to take a good look at that car. If you were in Charlottesville, Virginia, Friday night a week ago and into Saturday morning, I don't care at what time, if you saw that car, we want to talk to you. We want to know where you saw it. And who was inside the vehicle, if, in fact, you saw someone inside of the vehicle.
Hey, if you saw somebody get in that car at about 1:20, 1:30, 1:40, we really need to talk to you. Because this is a critical piece of a puzzle where there are a lot of pieces missing. We searched that car.
We searched the apartment of Jesse Matthew. Those searches are over. They've been completed. We're waiting to hear back from the department of forensic science as to whether or not any evidence was recovered from either of those two venues. And a hope and pray that such evidence was.
I've made no mistake about it. We want to talk to Jesse Matthew. We want to talk to him. We want to talk about his interaction with this sweet young girl that we can't find. Because he was with her. So Jesse Matthew showed up at the police station yesterday. Walked right through the front door. I might add a couple of minutes after few cameras walked away. Walked right through the front door with couple of family members.
He has got inside and he asked for a lawyer, and we found him one. I'm not going to tell you that lawyer is because he was never retained. I know they talked for a little bit. And I know they walked out that door. And I don't know any more about his interaction with Hannah Graham than I did the moment he walked in.
Detectives don't know any more about the interaction he had with that young girl any more than the moment he walked in. So I hope and pray that we might have an opportunity to talk to Jesse Matthew again. Because I think he can help us find Hannah Graham. Because that is -- that is what we want to talk about. We want to talk about where Hannah Graham is. It is just that simple.
When Mr. Matthew left, at some point thereafter state and federal authorities who were overtly -- overtly, not covertly, monitoring his movement, saw him get into a car, leave the location at a high rate of speed, driving in a manner that was reckless and placed others in danger, so much so they had to disengage. For their protection and the protection of other people. So the Virginia state police have obtained arrest warrants for Jesse Matthew charging him with reckless driving. Two counts because he had somebody in the car with him. That is a class 1 misdemeanor.
So there is kind of where we are. Now, that might not be interesting developments for you. But here is the deal. I wanted to hear about those things from me. I wanted you to hear that he walked through the front door by me. I want you to hear that we engaged him and he fled in a vehicle. I wanted you to hear that by me. I wanted you to know that he was wanted on two class 1 warrants by me, not by a search of the magistrate records. Because I promised we would keep you up to date the best as we can so that it doesn't jeopardize our investigation on this, understand me. But think the information is going jeopardize our efforts, I might have to hold on to that. But to the extent I think this information will help us find Hannah, because this is what this is about, we are going to be as transparent as we can possibly be. But again, always asking for your continued cooperation and patience when we are not able to answer your questions directly at the time that you ask them.
So I talked about yesterday's search and now Mark is going to do that in just a second. But, again, a thousand plus people from all over come to the community, they spend all day yesterday, they spend all day today, they found things not knowing whether they were relevant or not, relevant but they did what we asked them to do. They stopped. They didn't touched it. They called. They communicated to experts. We came. We look and we made an evaluation.
But regardless of whether those searches yielded anything of value to our investigation, we're going to continue our work. We're going to continue to work relentlessly until we find Hannah Graham. Until we find Hannah Graham. We're going to work relentlessly.
When I say "we", I just don't mean the Charlottesville police department, I mean every law enforcement agency that stepped up to the plate and said what do you need? When I say "we" I'm talking about all of you and everybody in the country who has been touched by Hannah Graham.
So Mark, if you would come up and talk about the search efforts over the weekend and kind of the next steps for you and your team. MARK EGERMAN, SEARCH COORDINATOR VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT: My name is Mark Egerman, I'm the search coordinator for the Virginia department of emergency management.
I will tell you on Monday, we received a request from the chief Longo and his staff requesting our assistance with a missing person's mission. On average, we get a request -- similar request about 80 times a year. Most of those do not turn into what we are looking at here today.
I came to Charlottesville. We began working with the chief and his staff looking at the information they had, the leads. We were putting search teams both ground teams, canine teams, we were working through the city, very highly urban area which brings its own challenges. As we began working through this, however, by Tuesday -- into Tuesday, we began to realize that if we are going to cover the city, there is going to have to be a much greater effort. More manpower that what we could provide than what it would take to be able to actually cover the city to some reasonable measure that we are certain that we have looked everywhere that we could possibly find.
So on Wednesday Chief Longo and I began to discuss a plan of what it would take at that time to bring in the community and engage the community, which at that time was already -- there was some push from the community, excuse me, wanting to be involved and we knew there was an interest. Clearly there was an interest. The question was how are we going to do it?
So we spent two days planning, logistical coordination at the same time we are still running search tasks with our own people and the various search and rescue teams and we work toward that plan, working with the university of Virginia, UVA which is a fabulous partner. We just could not ask for my greater support. They gave us the arena.
Once I knew we had at arena, we pretty much have what we needed to bring in. We also realized that we had to have some way to gauge the numbers of volunteers who may be interested, who may want to participate. We have to figure out how many people we're going to feed, how many safety vests we need, we have to have all of the details wired down. So with some very talented University of Virginia students, they set us up with very little effort an online registration system. We asked everyone in the community to register -- pre-register in the registration system to give us those numbers to figure out how we were going to do that. And so, we were going to put that together and move forward.
That turned out to be almost 2,000 people that registered on that. Now, not all 2,000 actually came out, however I'm proud to say that the community of both UVA, the city of Charlottesville, there were over 200 people that stepped forward and they gave us two glorious days.
Yesterday was a good day. We covered a tremendous amount of ground. By the end of yesterday we already covered about 65 percent of the city. We still have teams out there right now. Search efforts are still continuing and they will continue until at least about 1800 hours -- I'm sorry, 6:00 p.m. tonight. And we estimate by the time we finish we are going to get 85 percent of the city. That is very close to our objective of the 100 percent.
At this point, I can't, first of all, just say enough. Chief talked about the volunteers and they come out for their own reasons and the parents. I don't know how many parents I ran into looking for their own child in their own mind's eye, I believe. I heard the stories of the citizens of the community coming out to the sidewalks to replenish those teams with water, to bring them lemonade, to offer them food and drink. There were stories of them being cheered on as they move add long and it just touches my own heart.
I will tell you that Friday was my own daughter's birthday and as much as I love my daughter, there is no place else I would rather be than right here. Hannah has birthdays and I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Graham want to spent that with their daughter.
So at the end of today, we're going to have to line down on the community effort. We can only sustain that for so long. We've come very close to achieving the goal. We're going to scale back if you are trained, trained search and rescue teams, we do have a plan to continue forward in a more limited way but also in a much more focused way.
One of the greatest benefits that we came up with over last two days, we have generated more leads, new information, and one piece always leads to the next. I was asked at one time, is like what are the volunteers going to find? They're going to find all kinds of, you know, junk and just spurious things out there. Yes, there is a lot of trash in the city. We know that. This is not the first time we've done this. And I know we're going to have to sort through 90 percent of everything that we find is going to be irrelevant, it is not going to really matter. But we have to go through the 90 percent to get to the 10 percent of things that are possibly relevant to get down to the one thing that will turn this mission on a dime. There is always one thing and that is what we have to get to and it takes work to get there. And I'm proud of the people who stepped forward to come out to be a part of this, who gave us their hearts, their time, their feet, their eyes, their efforts, to help us get to this point.
I'm equally as proud as the search and rescue teams who were also volunteer agency -- volunteer organizations under our agency who participate through this, over 16 agencies and we can give you specific names later, but over 16 different agencies have participated. We have trained personnel here as far away as Maryland, Virginia Beach, West Virginia, Southwest Virginia from all over the commonwealth. And I'm proud of every one of them. Just one of the finest examples of the mission and work and camaraderie that I've seen in my 30-year career.
So with that, as we move into the next few days, we're going to be very focused, very going to be very targeted and we are going to pursue those leads. That is all I have, chief.
LONGO: So let me just be redundant. In the few final minutes I'll speak. In the early morning hours of September 13th, if you saw Hannah Graham, I need to hear from you. Because as I said before, she wasn't the only person on that mall. Her and Jesse Matthew weren't the only people in the Tempo restaurant. We know that. And when they walked out of the Tempo restaurant, and they walked in whatever direction they did, they weren't the only people on the street. If you saw the two of them together, we want to know that. We want to talk to you.
Once again, if you saw that car, particularly if you saw people get inside that car, between 1:20 and 1:40 in the morning, we really need to hear from you. If you have a child, especially a daughter, how does -- this disappearance should strike at your core. It does mine, does Mark's and does Jim's. And I know it does yours because I've talked to a lot of you.
Sometime between 11:00 and 2:00 a bunch of you were lighting up my phone, burning it up, text messages, missed calls, because at about 10:00 yesterday morning I went home and picked up two 15-year-old girls, my daughter, Claire and her friend, Thalia (ph) aka Melvin on the soccer field, and we went across the mountain to a soccer game.
And as I stood there and watched those, young girls going up and down that field, I thought of the two people you are getting ready to meet, John and Susan Graham. They want to talk to you. They want to talk beyond you. They want to talk to an entire community. They want to tell you in their words, not mine, about Hannah. They want to ask you not through me, but through their own hearts to help them find their daughter. Because that is all they want. For somebody to tell them where Hannah Graham is.
So I'm going to take a few questions, and I can promise you, nothing that is going to come out of my mouth that is going to mean as much as what is going to come out of theirs. And before I take a few of your questions, I want to say, Mr. And Mrs. Graham will not be taking questions. They just want to speak to you. Yes, ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: When you saw Jesse Matthew driving at a high rate of speed from your officers, do you believe he was trying to flee the jurisdiction and since you have warrants for the arrest, why haven't you arrested him? Do you know where he is now?
LONGO: Let me answers the questions the order the question was asked. It was a state and federal officials outside the jurisdiction of the city Charlottesville, so none of my folks made those observations.
I can't tell you what was motivating his reckless driving behavior. I can tell you that he -- it was obvious who they were, I would think, the officers that were there. He got in the car and he drove away at a speed that was at a high rate of speed and engaging in driving behavior that was reckless. But I can't speculate on the rationale behind why he might have done that.
We are aggressively pursuing a location and once we have determined that location, provided Mr. Matthew does not surrender himself, we will go there and we will arrest him. Yes, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What is the time line? When was that after he left Hannah?
WHITFIELD: It was after he appeared here yesterday. At some point thereafter, yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What time was that? When was he there with you guys in the police station?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was at the police station probably over at least an hour.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Afternoon? When?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the afternoon, the late afternoon and the officers encountered him shortly after that. Within 15 minutes of when he left the police department.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you have a location or street that he was driving on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir. Not that I want to release at this point. It was on the other side of the community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you have a previous mug shot of him?
LONGO: At such time as he is charged with a crime, we'll release his mug shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you have previous ones of him from being arrested in the past.
LONGO: Not that we are willing to release at this point. Bu you know, I will tell you honestly, we've had many discussions about that very issue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Is Mr. Matthew now a suspect or is he still just a person of interest?
LONGO: He is a person with whom we would like to talk to about the whereabouts of Hannah Graham. Yes, ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: And just clarify where you saw him, this was in Albemarle country.
LONGO: Yes. In Albemarle county.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What is the timeline?
LONGO: You know, great question. I wish it was today. It was yesterday actually. We are hoping tomorrow, at the very latest, Tuesday morning, if we don't hear something by midday tomorrow, we are going to reach out to the crime lab to see if there is any way in the work that they can expedite their work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
LONGO: Not as far as I know. Yes? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: As far as a location for Jesse Matthew,
how far should people in Virginia be keeping an eye out for him and how far?
LONGO: To the four corners of the nation. Yes ma'am? And beyond.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What was he driving?
LONGO: I can't answer that information. If there comes an appropriate time, I can get that information, we certainly will. I don't see any reason why we can't share it. I know his vehicle that is his. Yes ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: You have so much surveillance video of Hannah. Do you have her leaving the Tempo restaurant? Do you have video surveillance of her getting into his car?
LONGO: Jim, is that something you are willing to share?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I won't talk at all about the vehicle and what we know. But we do have them together after they left Tempo restaurant. So he is still with her at that time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: You guys talk about the (INAUDIBLE) that was up last night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was to assist in the search and I was up in the chopper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Can you clarify whether her last text was at 1:06 or 1:20 aim?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not that point because we are still working on the phone records with the phone companies.
LONGO: We're trying to validate the time stamps without assuming that they are accurate. Anything else? Yes, ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: How many eyewitnesses have you spoken with at this point?
LONGO: Jim?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say well over 50 to 75 eyewitnesses. We've received over 900 tips in the last four days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: I have a question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: So said you've seen 85 percent of the city and is the include the surrounding counties?
EGERMAN: No, that is - the cover of 85 percent is the city. It is just within the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Will you be continue to search out into Albemarle county at all?
EGERMAN: As needed, if leads pursue that way, we will pursue every lead.
LONGO: I'm going to bring the Grahams in. Jim, just actually reminded me of something that Courtney had mentioned. I think at her first news conference and that is again a reminder and particularly to county residents with large tracks of land, if you had already done so, please inspect otherwise search your property. Tire tracks for example that were not made by your own vehicles, work vehicles or otherwise. If you find them please call us. The rest of Mark -- and I won't speak for the experts, but my direction would be that the rest of Mark's work is going to be driven by where the investigation takes us.
Again, we appreciate you being here. I would like to ask John and Susan Graham to come and talk with you. So please give them your attention.
JOHN GRAHAM, FATHER OF MISSING UVA STUDENT: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. My name is John Graham. I'm Hannah's father. To my right here is Sue, Hannah's mother and my wife.
As this nightmare for Hannah, for us, Hannah's big brother James, her grandparents and her extended family continues, we would like to make this statement. We have been utterly overwhelmed this week by the generosity of spirits of everybody we have met and many more besides who we've been unable to meet. We understand that over a thousand volunteers have been out combing Charlottesville looking for our girl yesterday and today. A similar number of people are out today searching.
Sue and I were out searching yesterday. So was some of our work colleagues, our friends, our neighbors from our home, Hannah's friends from softball and her friends from high school and many others. But the effort is much wider. Members of the Charlottesville community have turned out in force to help. Hannah's university friends have been helping.
I read this morning that a gentleman came as far away as Baltimore, Maryland, to help. Thank you, sir. I read that Alexis Murphy's aunt Trina was helping. Thank you, ma'am. Sue and I are utterly overwhelmed by this support for Hannah. And we cannot begin to express our thanks. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
I think the reason that Hannah has such marvelous support, is that this is every parents' worst nightmare. I'm certain that everybody in this room and those watching knows that what happened to Hannah could happen to their child. We need to find out what happened to Hannah and make sure that it doesn't happen to anybody else.
You have all, I'm sure, read about Hannah. You'll have read that Hannah is a second year student at the University of Virginia, a skier, a musician, a softball player. She likes to help people. And she's interested in a career in helping others. And just as a little example, last spring break, instead of hanging around on the beach like other students may have done, she spent a week in Tuscaloosa, rebuilding houses and helping the recovery from the devastating tornado. That is Hannah. That is one Hannah.
But Hannah is also our little girl. She's our only daughter and she's James' little sister. She is also -- Hannah is also the oldest granddaughter, both of my own parents and Sue's patients and she's my parents' only granddaughter and she is enormously precious to us all.
And while you think about what we are going through, think of our parents, as wells, not Hannah's grandparents. They are literally an ocean away and they don't know what happened to their little girl, their little granddaughter and they are unable to help and it is awful for them.
Now somebody knows what happened to Hannah. We don't know who that is, but somebody knows what happened to Hannah. And others who may be watching, and they may know something about what happened to Hannah, and they may not even know that they know something about what happened to Hannah.
What do we know. We know Hannah was downtown early Saturday morning. We know Hannah was distinctively dressed. Did you see Hannah? Did anybody see Hannah? Who saw Hannah? Somebody did. Please, please, please, if you have anything however insignificant you think it may be, call the police tip line. With anything that just might help us to bring Hannah home.
Sue and I have received countless messages of support since this began. And I would like to read to you one email that we received this morning and from one of Hannah's high school teachers. It reads as follows.
I am sure you are continually being inundated with hundreds of people reaching out daily, but I just wanted to touch base, again, to express some of my hope and confidence. Throughout the week as I spoke with Hannah's friends and teachers and the countless other people whose lives have been better by Hannah's passion and positivity, one theme shone brightly through each conversation, hope. Not because they felt like this is what they should say but because of who Hannah is.
Hannah is brilliant, resilient, determined, and loves life more than anyone else I know. Everyone agrees if anyone could get through this, it's Hannah. I have been trying to frame my thoughts that with the idea that every moment that passes, we are one moment closer to having Hannah back. Let's hope that today is the day.
The lovely message that we received this morning.
When I returned home from bringing Hannah back to Charlottesville for the beginning of term last month, I found that she had left this little guy behind. This is Hannah's favorite white rabbit, Bebe (ph). He was given to Hannah by one of my friends when she was less than a week old. Bebe (ph) helped out in Tuscaloosa and he was Hannah's constant guardian, companion, friend, and guardian angel until last month when she chose to return to Charlottesville without him. Constant companion ,that is, except for about six months when Hannah was three years old when he was lost at nursery. We found Bebe (ph) and brought it home to Hannah and to us. All right, we want to do now is to bring Hannah home safely. And I appeal to anybody who knows anything, please, please help us. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Incredible the anguish of the parents of Hannah Graham there out of Charlottesville, Virginia. You were hearing from the parent, John Graham, alongside the mother, Susan, who was clearly just too broken up to be able to speak herself. But you heard Mr. Graham describe his daughter, his daughter as someone who was a skier, a musician, a softball player, someone who likes to help people. He also talked about really feeling very overwhelmed and thanking so many people, the thousands of volunteers who have come out to search for their daughter who is a UVA sophomore. And he talked about hearing from a teacher who wrote a note to them seeing high school friends, university friends, members of soccer teams all coming out to look for this young woman who has been missing now for a week.
Just prior to that you heard from the Charlottesville, Virginia police chief who described feeling like they feel very confident about one of the last people to have been seen by way of surveillance tape with Hannah Graham, but he made it very clear that that person is not considered a suspect. However, that person voluntarily coming to the police department to answer any questions. And now they have a warrant out for his arrest. Not because he is a suspect in the case of this missing Hannah Graham, but instead because they want to charge him with reckless driving. So this has become a very confusing, very complicated search.
Our Jean Casarez is there in Charlottesville, Virginia. And so, you know, Jean, investigators are very frustrated that they don't have more. But seeing the anguish and the pain from those parents really did help paint the picture of the urgency of looking for this young lady who has been missing now for a week -- Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this is the first time that the parents of Hannah Graham have come forward and made any type of public statement. And a lot of people have been wondering why. We have been hearing here that they have been so distraught that maybe they just were not able to come forward. And as I sat in this room just minutes ago and saw her parents, and her mother, and the shaking that she was undergoing and the inability to just really, I think, conceptually understand what the reality is. I think everyone was very, very touched and the country is, I'm sure, as well.
I think one of the things that came out of the press conference today was information that we had not heard before. That Jesse Matthew, who is the person police are extremely interested in, actually walked into the police department right here in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, yesterday afternoon. And he asked for a lawyer. They got a lawyer for him. It appears as though he did not say anything about his side of the story. It could be because the lawyer told him not to talk.
But following that, we do know that authorities found him going out of the jurisdiction at a very high rate of speed. Now, the police chief would not confirm with me if they believe he was trying to flee the jurisdiction. But they do now have an arrest warrant for him. And when I asked, are you going to arrest him? I was told that we are aggressively pursuing his location. If he does not surrender to us, we will arrest him.
Now, of course, the reality is, this is a misdemeanor. And so, you can arrest someone, but you really can't hold them normally too long from misdemeanor.
WHITFIELD: But it also sounds like the police chief alluded to once that arrest is made, if it comes to that, that then they would have a mug shot and that mug shot will assist in them being able to convey this is the person we want to talk to. So, it's a very curious sequence of events as it pertains to the ongoing search for Hannah Graham.
CASAREZ: And the video surveillance, I think, pretty well clearly shows him at this point. I think a key to all of this is the forensic testing that's being done right now on the car and items that were taken from the home. They believe those results will be in tomorrow. If they find that forensic link, then I think they will have probable cause to arrest.
But the fact is it appears as though the only person they are looking at is Jesse Matthew. Because definitively, we heard today, we believe that she left the restaurant with him. We believe that he was the last person to see her and I got the police chief to confirm that there is video surveillance of Jesse Matthew and Hannah walking out of that tempo restaurant together. And that's important information right there.
WHITFIELD: But it's not being described that in that video that the two look like anything is happening beyond two people walking in that video. He doesn't describe that there seems to be any lack of cooperation. He doesn't even described that it appears as though they don't know each other. But while the police chief is saying I believe and he says it with all certainly, isn't he also saying that they don't have any forensic evidence as you mentioned because the results are still out. You know, still not being provided. And that there isn't an eyewitness account, there are not eyewitness accounts that connect anything with that surveillance video.
CASAREZ: I think they do have eyewitness accounts. I think they do have people who have told them what they believe they saw. But that is one thing that they asked for Friday night. They asked for more people to come forward at those very last critical moments to come and talk to them. And today, we saw the car. We saw the car on a big projection screen in here broadcast to Charlottesville and the country because they want people to see if they saw that car and saw who was driving in that car? Who was in that car?
So yes, they want more information in that area. But I think they must have something at this point to definitively believe she got in that car with him.
WHITFIELD: Yes, he sounds awfully confident, but all of those details are not being revealed as yet.
