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CNN Live Saturday
Family Grieves for Missing Person
Aired September 15, 2001 - 13:43 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.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: We are joined by Pamela Dixon and Jamella Pursall (ph) -- Pursall (ph)? How did I do?
Pamela's fiancee. Sorry. Pamela's son and Jamella's fiancee is lost. He is lost in the rubble of Trade Center One. Dujuan. Show our viewers Dujuan and Pamela, tell me about your son. Tell me who he is, what he did, what he was doing that day.
PAMELA DIXON, SON IS MISSING: He works for mail operations. He works on the 96th floor. But when he comes in he would go to that floor and then go downstairs to the 93rd floor, where I believe the main mail hub is. He was early that day. We're not exactly sure where he was in the building. I don't know if he was on the elevator, or if he got to 96 and before he was going down to 93. I know he always told me he took the steps going from 96 to 93 if he didn't have anything heavy. So I'm not sure if he's on the stair case or if he is on -- in the elevator or just was stuck on the floor somewhere. We don't know where he is.
BROWN: Do you have hope at that point?
DIXON: Yes, I do. I'm not giving up.
BROWN: He is not just a 20-year-old kid working in an office building. He was -- he was a father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BROWN: He was a father. You're doing fine, OK? You're doing fine. Of an 8-year-old; right? Tell me when you last saw him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw him that morning. He told my daughter to behave herself in school, and he told her he loved her. I didn't get a chance to speak to him because I was in the bedroom and she was in her bedroom. The last thing he said to me, he was going to mail something for me and he said I have the papers you need, and I'll talk to you later. The last thing he said to me.
BROWN: It was an utterly routine kind of goodbye, the kind you have every working day of your life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. He was a hard worker. He worked almost every day even when he was sick.
DIXON: ...work every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even when he was sick, he was there. He was a wonderful, wonderful guy.
BROWN: When -- tell me -- I know this is hard. I know. And tell me when you heard the news of the blast.
DIXON: I saw it from my window at work. I work for the same company and I was out. When I got to work, everybody was standing looking out the window and someone was grabbing me saying Pam, the world trade -- and I'm screaming oh, my God, my son is there.
As I'm looking at the building with all the smoke, all of a sudden I saw the building fall and I fell with it. I fell with it. They was trying to take me away from the window. I saw it.
BROWN: And when you heard the news, Jamella?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had just dropped my daughter off at school. And I came back in the house and something told me to call his office.
BROWN: That's right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I called his office...
BROWN: Take a breath and take your time. You're doing fine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was like a quarter to 9:00. When I called the office, a recording came on and it said circuits were not working -- temporarily interrupted. So like a little while after that, my mom called. She beeped in, actually. And she called and told me "Turn on the TV. Look at the World Trade Center. Something is going on." By that time I think it was a little while after the second plane hit I just -- my heart dropped. He was my friend. He was more than a companion. He was my friend.
BROWN: Let's stop. Let's stop. Are you still there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I'm OK. I'm OK.
BROWN: This is so awful, isn't it? It's about as bad as it gets in life. I -- I appreciate very much -- I can't imagine -- none of us can imagine what you're going through. None of us.
DIXON: I'm walking around without a heart.
BROWN: That you would come and talk to us in a moment like this is much appreciated. I think it reminds people what this is really about. That this is not about just buildings, but it's about lives. Thank you both.
DIXON: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we say...
BROWN: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we ask anyone who saw him...
BROWN: Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Between the 93rd floor and the 97th floor. Anyone if you saw him, he was well known throughout the company. He worked for the 96th floor, but he delivered mail to different areas of the building. So he could have been anywhere at that time. We need to hear from any mail room people, any technology people, anyone in that area who may have saw him.
BROWN: Anyone who knows anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the staircase. Anyone. Can you please, please, contact us.
BROWN: Because all information matters right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BROWN: Thank you both again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much for having us.
BROWN: God bless.
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