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CNN Live Saturday

Breaking News: Missing Girl Found Alive

Aired July 02, 2005 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let's bring in now CNN's Alina Cho, who has been covering this from the very beginning.
Alina, there were some 1,500 tips that came into the FBI following the disappearance of Shasta and her brother. And it seems that today it was an employee that found the little girl and alerted the police.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isn't that interesting how it happens like that, Betty? You never know where you're going to receive the ultimate, the great tip that's going to lead you to the child or children alive, in this case the child, Shasta Groene, the 8- year-old who was missing, along with her brother, as you heard in my setup piece.

Since May -- I mean, there was some debate because they were last seen on May 15, which was a Sunday. Now, if you recall, there was a barbecue or a picnic at the house that Sunday afternoon, it went into the evening. There were many questions about that barbecue at the time, Betty if you recall. There were lots of people there and police made a plea at the time to have those people come forward to say, listen -- even just to say, we don't know anything, we didn't see anything and so there were a lot of questions about that barbecue. And maybe there was somebody there who might have seen something, but that turned out not to be true and for many weeks following that, I know that officials were saying that they were holding out hope. We're looking at, I believe, at a picture now of Captain Ben Wolfinger of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department out there in Idaho.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we are. Let's...

CHO: They're about to start a news conference and so I'm not sure if I can...

WHITFIELD: Yeah, Alina, they're about to start so we are going to listen in.

CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: On cameras here. They've all been e-mailed to all the stations and the newspapers, so the normal media release e-mail groups, so you should have all that at your locations. I've got copies if people want them, whatever that's worth.

We ready?

All right. It's 9:00, we promised the briefing at 9:00. Joseph Edward Duncan III, he's the person in custody, right now charged with kidnapping as well as a couple of warrants, out of state warrants, fugitive from justice warrants. Other charges are possibly pending, depending on how this investigation goes throughout the day and throughout the weekend. We know he has a history as far back of 1980 of rape in Pierce County, Washington. He is a registered sex offender in Minnesota. One of his outstanding warrants is failure to register as a sex offender in Washington.

The other is a -- is a unlawful flight to avoid prosecution out of Minnesota for second degree sexual offense. His last known address is in Fargo, North Dakota, since 2000. His mother lives in Tacoma. He was arrested on July 3, 2004 for sexual assault at a middle school in Detroit Lakes, Michigan. And he's known to be an avid outdoorsman and quite a scholar is our understanding.

We don't have a whole lot more information on him at this time. Apparently he's also the owner and manager of a Web site that advocates not prosecuting a person -- persecuting child molesters. So, and that my understanding is called fifthnail.com. I haven't pulled that up yet, so that's something I guess you can all take a look at.

The investigators right now are interviewing Shasta, trying to learn more information. They're following up leads. Everybody -- anybody who had the day scheduled off has been called in to work. Everything is moving at full speed, at this point.

One of the stations has been announcing that Dylan has been found. That is inaccurate. Now, let's correct that, right now. He has not been found, we don't know his location. All we know is that he wasn't with Shasta and Duncan at the time Shasta was recovered this morning, so that's hopefully some of the information that'll come out of the investigators this morning as they're interviewing Shasta. That's all I've got right now.

QUESTION: Ben, where are you looking for Dylan right now?

WOLFINGER: We're not even going to talk about where we're going to look for Dylan. That's going to be based on the investigators and the information they gather. Then and only then we'll start looking. What we told you right from the get-go is that when we get word on the children, a good positive word on the children, we would make sure the children are safe, we'd notify the family, then we'd notify everybody else. And that's -- we're going to stick to that all along.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WOLFINGER: Pardon me?

QUESTION: Steve...

WOLFINGER: Steve was out of state when we first contacted him. And I know he was en route, but I don't know that he's back yet.

QUESTION: What shape is Shasta in this morning? Can you give us more details about... WOLFINGER: Well, I really can't. I don't know what the medical results were. But, we do know that Shasta was sitting at a restaurant eating a meal, so obviously, she was in good enough shape to be doing that. She's able to talk to investigators.

QUESTION: Is Mr. Duncan actually talking to you? Has he waived anything yet, is he giving you more details?

WOLFINGER: He's in custody right now and the investigators are dealing with Shasta. I don't know that they've actually interviewed Mr. Duncan at this point.

QUESTION: Do you know if Duncan had a connection with the Groene family or with the general area here?

WOLFINGER: We don't have that information yet, you know, that's still some or that very -- we're in the very preliminary stages of this whole situation. We're going to try to put all that together as the day goes along.

QUESTION: Do you know how much the warrant is...

WOLFINGER: I don't know what the bond amounts are out of that. As a fugitive warrant, though, there's no bond in the state of Idaho.

QUESTION: Are you planning on doing any sort of special appearance on him or is it going to wait until Monday or Tuesday...

WOLFINGER: Well, they'll do probable cause hearings in front of the judge by Monday morning, that'd be the procedure, they have to do it with 48 hours, but Tuesday, because of the holiday, it will be first appearance time. That'll be called by the prosecutor of the courts at this time, I don't think that's been decided.

QUESTION: The sheriff had mentioned that Mr. Duncan's name, this is the first time investigators have ever heard of Mr. Duncan, he's never been heard of throughout this investigation. What does this mean as far as...

WOLFINGER: Well, I think the fact that we have Shasta here, it's going to generate a bunch of new leads and we know that already. It's already starting. That's why we've all the investigators back and they -- be working those throughout the weekend.

QUESTION: Ben, any...

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the investigators and police officers and sheriff's deputies and everybody...

WOLFINGER: Well, we're very happy that we've got Shasta here and we know where she's at and she's safe and you know, it just gives us renewed hope and just reinforces that hope all along that we find Shasta and Dylan and we get them home.

QUESTION: All right, obvious...

QUESTION: Any indication on where she has been held...

WOLFINGER: The investigators are with her right now and so we won't have the information for a while.

QUESTION: Do you know if she was with her brother?

WOLFINGER: I don't know.

QUESTION: All right, Ben, obviously, Dylan is still the top priority. Now you have three unsolved homicides. How far will this arrest, today, to go to help solving those?

WOLFINGER: Well, it depends on what leads are generated from this, Phil. It's going to take time to sort through all the new information they're gathering as they go through this thing, what Shasta can tell them, if Duncan talks to them, what Duncan can tell them. That will go toward towards the entire case, not just the missing children but homicides as well.

QUESTION: Have investigators been able to through Joseph Duncan's car yet?

WOLFINGER: Well, I know that search warrants was one of the things that have to be done and prosecutors have been involved in this since early this morning, so I'm sure once the search warrants are done and they have the personnel to do it, they'll be able to do that. The vehicle was impounded. It's in -- it's being held in storage right now for us. It's a process as we have time.

QUESTION: Any idea if this guy was actually staying in town or a transient or...

WOLFINGER: Don't know. I just know his home address is in Fargo.

QUESTION: What kind of vehicle is it?

WOLFINGER: I really don't know at this point. Hopefully I'll have some of that information for you by the 11:00.

QUESTION: What do you think of all this now? I mean, that were two months into it. How surprised are you?

WOLFINGER: I'm surprised that she was found here in Coeur d'Alene. I'm very excited that she was found period. And I've always had that confidence and I think that I echoed that throughout this investigation. I was always confident we'd find them.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

WOLFINGER: Well, everybody who's available, and I mean everybody who's available has been called in. Anybody who had holiday plans for the weekend pretty much got cancelled.

QUESTION: I head most of the majority of FBI agents working who were working from out of town -- that came in here from out of town are said to return and are working.

WOLFINGER: Well, I know they've been rotating FBI agents through this area for this investigation for several weeks now. And I know in my office this morning that by 4:00 a.m., there were a lot of FBI agents I had never seen before or only seen in passing in the hallway. So we've got a lot of people here still working this case.

QUESTION: When you heard about another possible sighting, what were your hopes...

WOLFINGER: Well actually, when I got the call it had already been confirmed. So, you know, it was a great call to get at 2:30 in the morning.

QUESTION: Can you go into how this was confirmed? We've heard reports that Shasta told the waitress that, "yes, I'm Shasta Groene" and she said, "I want my daddy" (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

WOLFINGER: I don't have that information yet. As we get back with the investigators after they're done talking with Shasta, maybe we'll be able to learn that information.

QUESTION: Was there any incident when Joseph Duncan was arrested or...

WOLFINGER: No. He -- they said he had no problem arresting Mr. Duncan. He was taken into custody without incident.

QUESTION: Ben, what's the process now after you speak with Shasta? Does she go into state custody? Is she reunited with her father? How does all that work?

WOLFINGER: Well, I think that's still being sorted out by the investigators and the prosecutor's office, so that's just still in the process, the paperwork stuff is going to take a little bit of time to figure out, though.

QUESTION: Right now is she a ward of the state?

WOLFINGER: I don't know. I really don't know, so...

QUESTION: You have no motive at this time?

WOLFINGER: Oh no, that's going to take some time to develop, that's for sure.

QUESTION: What was Mr. Duncan's state when he was taken into custody? Was he alert or did he seem groggy or did he seem...

WOLFINGER: I don't know. I don't know.

QUESTION: Who actually made the arrest?

WOLFINGER: The city detained him and the county deputies booked him in the jail?

QUESTION: So, is was the Coeur d'Alene police who where called?

WOLFINGER: Right. They were called, it was a Denny's here Coeur d' Alene, they were called on the possible sighting and they confirmed it and detained Mr. Duncan until deputies arrived. Actually, deputies booked him into jail.

QUESTION: Were there two officers?

WOLFINGER: Two or three city officers.

QUESTION: What's Shasta's condition?

WOLFINGER: I don't know what her medical condition is. She's still down at the hospital.

QUESTION: Where's the Denny's at?

WOLFINGER: Pardon me?

QUESTION: Where's the Denny's at (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

WOLFINGER: Fourth and I-90.

QUESTION: Fourth and I-90?

WOLFINGER: Yeah. All right? We'll be back here by 11:00.

QUESTION: Thank you.

WOLFINGER: OK.

WHITFIELD: You were listening to Captain Ben Wolfinger of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department out of Idaho, a remarkable break in a six-week search for two Idaho children. He explained, rather pointedly, how overnight a young girl, 8-year-old Shasta Groene, was found alive and apparently she was not alone. She was with a man who, Captain Wolfinger, describes as 42-year-old Joseph Duncan, a registered sex offender. That little girl now, Shasta Groene, is now seeking medical attention. However, the search continues for her 9- year-old brother, Dylan.

Now, just to take you back, six weeks ago, apparently her entire family, Shasta Groene's -- nearly her entire family was found beaten to death in their home. There had been a party the night before. Police had conducted a lengthy search looking for any of the participates of that party to find out what may have happened. But they did learn during that search that two members of the family had apparently escaped injury or at least were not there. And that was Shasta Groene, along with her brother Dylan Groene. A search had been conducted, a widespread search throughout the state. Nothing had turned up. And now, then overnight, apparently a waitress at a restaurant just two miles away from this home where the bodies of those family members were found noticed a little girl with a man, recognized that person, went then to another manager within the restaurant, reportedly, and then they conferred that that appeared to be Shasta Groene, the girl who had been missing now six weeks, called 911. Police then did come, managed to rescue her, identified she was indeed the little girl who has been missing all this time. Apparently now the search continues, though, for the brother, the 9-year-old brother. And now in custody, Joseph Duncan, the man who the little girl was with, a 42-year-old registered sex offender. And he has now been charged with kidnapping.

On the telephone with us is Don Clark, a former FBI agent, special agent in charge. He's on the phone with us now. And Don, this is a remarkable case, especially since this has been a widespread search for these two kids. Now come to find out one of the kids is found just two miles away from the home. How in the world can this happen?

DON CLARK, FMR. FBI AGENT: Well, you know what I attribute this to? I attribute to law enforcement coming into the 21st century several years ago and being able to utilize the media and all the citizens around to give them as much information as they possibly can so that somebody was able to identify this young girl and call the police, and that's what law enforcement has to be about.

WHITFIELD: It's remarkable that even police during the time said, we need the community's help in this case. That's why anybody who was at the party the night before, we want you to step forward to tell us anything that you know. It was the community members, a couple of community members that identified this little girl as being recognizable and acting very quickly.

CLARK: Yeah, right. And the community has to be a part of policing. And in order for a community to be part of policing, law enforcement has to continue to get out to the community, in general terms and in specific terms, when there are crimes like this what they can within the law so that they can get that help from the community. I think the community really wants to -- and as you saw in this case, clearly they did.

WHITFIELD: Now, there's still -- this case is not closed, by far.

CLARK: No.

WHITFIELD: Captain Wolfinger said an awful lot of leg work still has to be done to try to close this case. And now the search continues for the 9-year-old boy. The little girl obviously will be questioned. She's receiving some medical attention right now at the nearby county medical center. What sort of questions are they likely asking her about what has taken place over the last six weeks, but, more importantly, about her brother?

CLARK: Well, I think that they're going to be very delicate with her in terms of many of the activities that have taken place over these past few weeks. But, I do think that they will be trying to get as much general information as they can from her about her brother, because right now, making the case is very important, but the most important thing right now is to try to find that little boy. So, I think those are the types of questions that they will be asking her, is about her little brother, and hopefully, that her mental condition will be of such that she'll be able to respond to those.

WHITFIELD: So take us back a little bit. Six weeks ago when this search began, give us a sense as to some of the first steps that are taken involving law enforcement when you have a case where bodies are found, you've got children who are missing, you cast a very wide net looking for the children. At the same time, do investigators go as far as looking at who the registered sex offenders are, anyone who has a record involving any kind of child abductions, anything of the sort to try and help them get into the direction of where these children may be?

CLARK: Oh, clearly they do. And when they come upon a crime scene such as this, the murders are just not the main -- the sole focus, because you've got kids that's missing. So when you have kids that's missing, you got to think about sexual predators, today. And then you also -- the evidence that they develop around the initial crime scene gives them a lot of pointers in different directions and that's where it really starts off from. And if they're doing a good job there, and apparently these people did a pretty good job of piecing this information and identifications and so forth -- then that will lead them to other pieces of information further down the investigative path. But it really all starts right at that scene, no mat arer where that scene may be. That's where it has to start.

WHITFIELD: If this man, Joseph Duncan, allegedly abducted these children, it seems as though, you know, you're talking about investigators, most likely did go through the list of sexual offenders. He is a registered sexual offender, there. How is it perhaps the dots were not connected, you know, as far as him being in possession of these two children?

CLARK: Well, that's a good question. And obviously with us not being there, not knowing exactly what they found out on that sex offenders website. Until recently here, we found that sex offender websites were always not complete and they were always not updated in terms of where sex offenders were. Now there've been some technology out there that's enabled states to be able to update that information and enable a website to be able to put that information out to people within the neighborhood. So that may not have been quite as update as it should have been. I'm not suggesting -- saying that it wasn't, but it's possible that it was not.

WHITFIELD: Sure and there's certainly an awful lot of details that we don't know, Captain Wolfinger making it clear there are certain elements about the investigation they're not ready to reveal just yet.

, thanks so much. Don't go far away because I'm sure we'll chatting with you again soon.

But, also on the telephone with us is Pat Brown, known to be a criminal profiler.

And Pat, thanks so much for sticking with us on this.

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: No problem. WHITFIELD: Well, try to help us understand this -- this man who is being -- who is suspected of and is being charged now of kidnapping at least one of the children here, Joseph Duncan. We don't know a whole lot about him. Just that -- as Captain Wolfinger made it very clear he is a registered sex offender.

BROWN: Right. Well, we -- it's an interesting case and the police had a lot of problems with this case for a very important reason. A lot of bad behavior was going on. Now, when you work -- when you work with a case where everybody is law abiding and, therefore, when you talk to the witnesses they're all willing to help out and you don't have a lot of squirrelly backgrounds, you don't have as many directions to look. But when you deal with a case where a lot of the people have connections to the people who were murdered and the children taken, they have criminal backgrounds, they have drug issues. They don't really like law enforcement, they don't want to talk to law enforcement themselves, you are dealing with so many possible suspects, so many possible scenarios and so many uncooperative people, it doesn't make your investigation very easy.

WHITFIELD: And in an investigation like this, as you said, you know, they're looking internally before widening the net. They asked that people who are a part of that party that had taken place at the home of these kids to step forward, to cooperate. This is a very remote area, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Apparently, you know, being neighbors means that, you know, a mile can separate you. But, in a case like this, when it is a small town, that the little girl and this suspected kidnapper would be found just two miles away from the house, it seems rather perplexing, doesn't it?

BROWN: It rather boggles the mind. You wonder why he would even stay in town. Why not just disappear with the kids?

WHITFIELD: Does that speak to the bravado of someone who has a lengthy record of child abuse?

BROWN: It is possible. Yeah. And he doesn't seem to be the brightest one, because he has been caught quite a few times before. Unfortunately, we keep letting him go. You know, and then one of the questions we have with the whole criminal justice system is why when we have this kind of violent criminal -- career criminal does he keep getting out and wandering around and yet we expect him not to do something again. But he, you know, he very much may be arrogant, maybe not the brightest and therefore, he may commit crimes rather carelessly and get himself caught. And, but there's a lot of other possibilities here as to why he stayed in town with the children why he even took the children. Was he connected -- were there two people involved with the crime? Was he helping them out? Was he trying to hide the children for somebody or was it purely for sexual purposes. There's so many questions. It doesn't -- the climate is very unusual.

It's very unusual, of course, to find children alive after this point of time. They could have been taken as hostages and then time just went on or they could have been kept and hidden for some reason. So there's a lot of questions. I think they'll be looking to see whether he did this alone or whether he was connected to somebody connected with the family and what happened at the house that night.

WHITFIELD: All right, Pat Brown, thanks so much. I'm sure we'll be calling upon you again soon. Criminal profiler, thanks very much for helping us to understand what investigators are up against right now.

All right, Melissa Luck is with our affiliate KXLY and she is at the Denny's restaurant where apparently a waitress and a store manager actually first spotted Shasta Groene.

And Melissa, give us a sense as to what is happening there now.

MELISSA LUCK, KXLY REPORTER: Well, right now things are picking up, exactly, their breakfast rush, here this morning. But, the adrenaline is still going among the workers that were here this morning. A lot of people are showing up asking us what's going on, obviously seeing our television (UNINTELLIGIBLE) trucks outside. And when we get to tell them the good news that Shasta Groene is found, they are elated. There are a lot of people who have given up hope in this case over the last six weeks with no real leads coming up. But now people have a real sense of excitement and hope that Dylan Groene, in fact, will be found alive, as well.

WHITFIELD: Well, have you had a chance to talk with some of the workers there, at the Denny's? Particularly the waitress and maybe even the manager who were part of spotting Shasta?

LUCK: In fact, we did speak with them this morning. This all happened about 2:00 this morning. We were here by about 2:45, talking with them, so she had spotted this little girl when she came in because kids don't typically come into this restaurant at 2:00 in the morning, obviously, so she stood out to them, right away. They both kind of looked at her and they thought, you know, that girl looks familiar, but there have been so many false sightings. Is it her? Is it not her? So, they were looking for their flyers that had Shasta Groene's picture on it. These flyers have been up all over this are since this happened, and they couldn't find the flyer, but they still kept trying to engage this little girl, try to talk to her, tried to stay close to her, tried to get a sense of is this Shasta Groene.

WHITFIELD: So, was she alone at that moment that they got a chance to talk to her?

LUCK: She was not, she was with this man who she came in with, who is now under arrest.

WHITFIELD: But they were trying to just talk her about other things, you know, hey, do you want to color a picture? What do you want to eat? And they said that the whole time they said he was relaxed and calm and they really had no sense there was anything suspicious about him. Finally, they had...

WHITFIELD: And how did she appear to behave? What was their description of her behavior and her speaking to them?

LUCK: They said with the waitress, who's a little bit younger, she seemed very timid and whenever she would asked her, you know, do you want crayons, or what do you want to eat, she would be very timid and shy and not look at her and instead look at this man she was with and kind of wait for his approval or wait for him to speak, but the manager was able to have a better connection with her. She's a little bit older and Shasta was smiling at her one point, said, you know, "I like your hair." But they said she seemed OK, you know, considering the circumstances. She looked exactly like she did in those pictures, which is a surprise to a lot of people, thinking maybe her appearance would have been altered. But the store manager finally said, you know what, we have can't take a chance on being a possibly being a false sighting so we're going to call the police. In that that time they had to make sure that this pair wouldn't leave, so they talked Shasta into ordering a milkshake and then the waitress kind of took her time making that milkshake, knowing they would stay there long enough to get the milkshake, by the time that happened the first police officers arrived and arrested him.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's an incredible story, and so when police arrived, and did they, you know, talk to Shasta before -- as they were taking away this suspect, Joseph Duncan?

LUCK: That's right. Apparently they talked to both of them separately, very briefly, and then arrested Mr. Duncan. At the same time, one of the officers said to this waitress, stay with her, talking go Shasta. So, she went over and said, honey, what's your name? And the little girl said, my name is Shasta Groene, and immediately she started crying. Now, this waitress is six months pregnant. Shasta Groene's 8 years old, but this waitress said she said she picked her up and held her arms, despite that it was a little bit tough for her, and comforted her. She said Shasta kept saying over and over, "I want my daddy, I want to go home I want my daddy."

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

LUCK: It's heartbreaking, but at the same time, this waitress came to us -- probably the best quote of the day -- she said "finally it feels like $3.35 an hour is worthwhile."

WHITFIELD: Oh my god, that's an incredible story. And so, this waitress, as she continued to engage and talk with Shasta, did the waitress describe as to whether Shasta was somewhat relieved that now police have arrived and you know taken Mr. Duncan away? I know you said she said she wanted to just see her dad, but what else happened?

LUCK: Well, they said she was very emotional and she hadn't been emotional, it wasn't like she was sitting at the table crying while they were eating that meal. So, I think the fact that as soon as she was separated from him, as soon as he was arrested, that she just broke down, I think that says a lot. And this waitress was sitting in the back of the squad car with her and said Shasta was just cuddling up to her and was crying and was upset. But, at the same time, you have to imagine that those tears were maybe six weeks of emotion finally coming out.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so now what? You're there at the restaurant where people in the town are obviously elated that they have Shasta now, and she's getting medical attention and appears to be on the mends. Now, what about the little brother? Or, actually Shasta's big brother, but to most of us, the little brother, 9-year- old Dylan?

LUCK: Well, that's the main question everyone has. When we tell the customers here they found Shasta, everyone's like where's Dylan. And that's the question, right now, that investigators are pursuing. The sheriff's office had a press conference just a little bit and the sheriff's Captain Ben Wolfinger said, "we don't know where Dylan is right now. We're looking for him. We don't know where he is" But, because they're interviewing Shasta, you have to imagine that she is giving them whole 'nother set of leads to start looking into. So, that's the big question on everyone's mind is, is why was she here alone with him? Where's Dylan? Is he with someone else, is he somewhere else? And that's the question everybody's kind of waiting to hear. Now that we have this one bit of good news, there's a lot of hope that really hasn't here in the last few weeks.

WHITFIELD: Oh, no kidding. In fact, you mention or you alluded to earlier that people had almost given up hope on this entire search. Did folks just assume at this point that these two kids had been taken across state lines and they may never be found?

LUCK: I think people in general were fearing the worst and unfortunately, a lot of folks in the media, you kind of get that way, too. You see these stories that don't usually end up, you know, as this one has this morning. So, I think a lot of people had been so active in the first few days and really going up putting up fliers. People are still wearing buttons with these kids' pictures, but after a while you go back to your own life and it kind of goes into the background. And I think that's kind of what's happened here, as much as people were still thinking about these kids and still praying for these kids, you kind of forget and, as you mentioned, you kind of start expecting the worst because we don't often get a happy ending in cases like these, but I think this case and of course people in the Elizabeth Smart case, kind of gives hope to these cases and to other parents who maybe have missing kids.

WHITFIELD: So, give us a sense as to what the Denny's scene is right now, there. Do you have a lot of towns people who have waking up early and decided to come in there, congratulate the waitress or manager for being, you know, so attuned to this little girl?

LUCK: It's kind of a combination. We've had a lot of people coming in. We had one woman who came in whose husband has been working the case for the state police and she said they've been watching and her husband got the call this morning and they were watching all morning and decided, hey, let's go down there and eat. But a lot of people are coming -- maybe they just rolled out of bed, and came, and, you know, didn't turn on the TV before they came in.

So, it's a good combination. But, yeah, I had a couple from Las Vegas come out and say, you know, we've heard about this case in Las Vegas, it's the national news. And we just happened to be coming through town on this holiday weekend and decided to eat here and they said "we're so happy we decided to eat here." So, a lot of people are thinking maybe this place is a good luck today. There's just such a great vibe here, right now, that people want to be here. The folks who were working, the manager and waitress had been working since last night, and they've been working the overnight shift. So, I think they have now finally gone home to get some sleep, but they both said I don't think we'll be sleeping today, we're way too excited.

WHITFIELD: Wow, and we heard from Captain Wolfinger a moment ago where he said right now Joseph Duncan is charged with kidnapping, but as they continue for the search for Dylan, there are likely to be other charges that follow. What's your understanding as to where this criminal investigation might go next based on conversations you've had with your sources?

LUCK: You know, I don't know, unfortunately. We've been here at the Denny's since 2:30 this morning. So, we haven't had a real opportunity. The Coeur d'Alene police were here briefly in the last hour or so, just sort of went in and out, hustling together some more evidence. So, it's hard to say, but as Captain Wolfinger said, they have a witness now, they've got somebody who knows a lot more than they did before. So they said a lot more leads are opening up and they said all of the investigators have been called back to work the case. It's a holiday weekend, but I don't think anybody cares about that right now. They want to get in here and start looking for Dylan.

WHITFIELD: All right, Melissa Luck, thanks so much for doing such an incredible job describing what is a remarkable a, turn of events, there at a Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, from KXLY. Melissa Luck with KXLY, a reporter, our affiliate, there.

Remarkably then, Melissa describes, after talking with the waitress and manager there at the Denny's in Coeur d'Alene: It was about 2:00 a.m. when they saw this little girl walk in with a man. They thought it was rather unusual, they don't usually get little girls or kids coming in at 2:00 a.m., in the Denny's. And then, the waitress said to the manager: You know what, I think I recognize this little girl, she looks awfully familiar. The manager felt the same way.

This all based on the accounts that Melissa has been giving us, based on her conversation with the waitress and manager. They look around the store, the restaurant, looking for any kind of flier to remind them of what Shasta Groene looks like to compare the images. They couldn't find it.

But then, they did realize that after talking to little Shasta, engaging themselves in conversation with the little girl and the man, that she even seemed to appear to be rather timid, looking to this man that she was with for some sort of approval before she asked -- before she would answer them or reply to their questions.

Apparently, Shasta continued to talk to the manager and she identified herself, saying that she is Shasta Groene. And then, the manager then apparently called 911; police came in. Police asked this waitress, who come to find out was pregnant and she became very connected to this little girl, Shasta Groene, talking to her, offering her a milkshake and was able to comfort her until police, then, apprehended and now have, consequently, charged Joseph Duncan, a 42- year-old, who is a registered sexual offender, registered in the state of Minnesota as a sex offender and charged him with kidnapping and now the little girl, 8-year-old Shasta Groene, is getting some medical treatment at a nearby hospital.

However, her brother, 9-year-old Dylan, is still unaccounted for and police are still continuing to look for him. That's the latest on this investigation. This all spans a six-week investigation of a search for these two little kids after their nearly entire family was found dead in their home in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

And at that time, our Alina Cho was covering that part of the story -- six weeks ago. Right now, though, she's in Philadelphia covering Live 8. We'll get a chance to talk to you, Alina, about Live 8 at some other point throughout the day.

But right now, we want to kind of take you back to give us an understandings of the geography there in Coeur d'Alene when this little girl, Shasta Groene, was found just about two miles away from her home and with this man in a very familiar place. It really is a remarkable turn of events -- Alina?

ALINCA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is, Fredricka. I think that a couple of points need to be made. First of all: I think we need to give proper credit to this waitress, who had the presence of mind to basically stall this man, Mr. Duncan, and Shasta Groene, encouraging him to order a milkshake, taking her time making that milkshake, so that they could call authorities, and then waiting for the authorities to get there, to move forward with this investigation.

Of course, we now know that 42-year-old Joseph Duncan is a convicted sex offender. He's been charged with kidnaping. As we go forward in this investigation now, I think there are a couple of big questions. First of all, first and foremost: Where is Shasta's brother, 9-year-old Dylan, her older brother? And I know that we spoke to her great aunt, Sue Torres, not too long ago. I believe she said that Shasta's probably going to take us to him. Of course, that remains to be seen.

And the larger question: What does this man have to do, if anything, with, possibly, the murders of these three people who were found inside the home? Of course, that's what launched this investigation in the first place? Shasta and Dylan's mother, 13-year- old brother slayed and 37-year-old boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, were found on May 16th, I believe, six weeks ago.

At the time, it was thought by officials -- and, remember, these officials, including the Kootenai County Sheriffs Captain Ben Wolfinger consistently came out and said: We are confident that these children are alive, for this simple fact that it is nearly impossible to believe that someone would come in, kill three people and then, kill two other kids. I mean, they clearly took these two kids. So, certainly an extraordinary development in this case and it opens a lot of questions.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Alina, let me just interrupt you for a moment. We're going to come back to you, but let's go straight out to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, right now and meet up there with Toby Hatley, he's a reporter with KHQ. And Toby, you're there, you got a chance to hear firsthand Captain Wolfinger talk about where this investigation is going. However, while we celebrate this incredible development of the 8-year-old who is found, still the search goes on for the 9-year-old. Bring us up to date.

TOBY HATLEY, CNN AFFIALIATE WKHQ CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dylan Groene absolutely is the priority right now. As a matter of fact, Kootenai County Captain Ben Wolfinger, who's been on this investigation from the beginning, said the number one priority is absolutely to find Dylan Groene. They don't know where he is. There were reports that he had been found. Those turned out to be absolutely false.

So, right now, it's only Shasta Groene has been found. But because it's a holiday weekend -- and it's a huge holiday weekend, especially here, because of the Fourth of July parades and everything else, every vacation has been canceled, the FBI has also been called in. The Idaho State Police is here, as well as Coeur d'Alene City, as Kootenai County sheriff's officers. Anybody who had any plans has been canceled, those plans, to bring it in and continue the concentration to find Dylan Groene.

Now, what we do know about Joseph Duncan, obviously, that he had a --was a convicted sex offender out of 1980. He has one offense in Pierce County, Washington. That's in the Seattle area. That's just a couple --a half-hour south of Seattle in the Tacoma area. He also has several sex offenses around the other parts of the country. We do know that he had been in Fargo, North Dakota -- was his most recent address and we're also told that on July, 3rd of 2004, just a year ago tomorrow, he was charged with sexual assault at a middle school in Michigan and the sheriff's office here in Coeur d'Alene also tells us that Mr. Duncan runs a Web site that advocates the non-conviction of convicted sex offenders.

So, obviously, he will be charged with kidnapping. He's just about half-a-block from where I'm standing, at the Kootenai County sheriff's office. We don't know exactly when he will be in court. Because of the holiday weekend, probably sometime on Tuesday.

However, Idaho state law says he has to be charged formally within 48 hours. So, they'll probably have to cancel the judge's day off on Monday and get him in here on that.

Now, as far as the investigation as the homicides go, we asked specifically what that's going to do to three homicides that have been outstanding for the last couple of weeks and Ben Wolfinger said, "We don't know right now." However, they will continue that and they feel that these new leads will start coming.

As for Shasta Groene herself, she's in a local hospital. Kootenai Medical Center is just about a mile from where I'm standing. We've got reporters standing by there. We don't know exactly the condition. She's being examined. Our county's sheriff spoke with her shortly, said she seemed to be in good shape, looked like the picture that we've been publishing here for the last six weeks or so; and broadcasting.

But what she's telling investigators right now, we don't know. And we also know that investigators have not spoken at length with Duncan. They've have just booked him, released his photo, given us his criminal background and say that he will be charged with kidnapping.

So, obviously, things are going to be unfolding here for the next several hours. And right now, it's almost 20 minutes to 10:00 Pacific time. We have another news conference scheduled 11:00 a.m. Pacific and we're hopeful to have more information by then.

WHITFIELD: Now, Toby, about the -- I know a lot is still being discovered about Joseph Duncan here, but he's a registered sex offender is what Captain Wolfinger mentioned. You mentioned the states as did he, Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota, but does -- was he a registered sex offender in the state of Idaho? Is that, in part, why he may have been overlooked during this search?

HATLEY: As far as we know now, he has absolutely no criminal record, nor any connection with Idaho whatsoever. Now, where we are in relation to Tacoma, Tacoma is about 300 miles west of where we are right now in Coeur d'Alene. We're only 32 miles from Spokane, so Idaho -- Coeur d'Alene is actually a border town on the Idaho- Washington border. His only connection, that we know of, to Idaho would be that he actually lived in Washington 25 years ago. So, that's all we know. We also know that his mother apparently still lives in the Tacoma, Washington, area.

So, as far as Idaho goes, they have absolutely no record of him here. Obviously, he was here. They arrested him this morning without incident, but nothing here as far as we know and as far as local law enforcement can tell us.

WHITFIELD: OK. Yes. I ask you that, because, you know, one of the former FBI special agents in charge that we talked to, was talking about, you know, the method that the law enforcement might use when, in a case, you have missing children. They almost first will go to the list of registered sex offenders to kind of scope them out. But since he was not registered in Idaho, if that did not take place, it's understandable as to why they may not have pinpointed their search or asked him, specifically, some questions.

Now, as they conduct this search for 9-year-old Dylan, is the investigative squad there giving you any idea as to whether, through their initial interviews with the little girl, whether she's able to give them -- provide them any kind of information or point them in the right direction as to where her brother may be?

HATLEY: They're not giving us any information on that right now.

Throughout this entire investigation, Kootenai County has been extremely closed-lipped which is very unusual for the folks here. Usually they're extremely helpful when it comes to all sorts of investigations, especially when it comes to giving information to us in the media. But that didn't happen this time, because they said they had to sort out all sorts of things. They've gotten so many tips and so many phone calls they wanted to make absolutely sure that they knew where they were going.

And so, they looked at everything they could. They've had hundreds of leads, but the sheriff said this morning he was absolutely dumbfounded when he got the call very early that Shasta Groene had be found, because he said he never expected her to show up at a restaurant, at Denny's, in Kootenai County.

So, right now, he doesn't really know exactly what's going on and they're not telling us what kind of -- any information that she may be giving them. And as soon as, obviously, they can, they will let us know.

But right now, we don't know, because the information is sort of being tight-lipped right now. We're hopeful to know, as the day goes on.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It is pretty mind-boggling how she could turn up just miles away from her home. In a community, as you described, where everyone is very helpful: Is this a community where everyone seems to know one another and has been very involved in the search for the little girl since the beginning?

HATLEY: Oh, absolutely. Just to give you an indication, Kootenai County is a county of about 105,000 people. The whole metro Spokane-Kootenai County area has just over half-a-million people. So, there's not a lot of people here in the greater scheme of things -- for example, Atlanta, or New York or even Seattle, but it's the largest population center. Coeur d'Alene itself is only 35,000, but the area here is, as I say, about 100,000 people.

So, a lot of people do know each other. It's like a -- it's a large community. It's a decent-size town for this part of the country. But everyone was extremely helpful in doing everything they possibly could. But, again, it was so surprising to law enforcement. The sheriff told me just about an hour ago, that he expected to get a phone call where there would be a crime scene, they would go in and investigate and then it would move from there. So, having somebody show up at a restaurant is an extraordinary story.

WHITFIELD: And this restaurant, this Denny's, is this like in the business district section of Coeur d'Alene, meaning: It really isn't an area where there are lots of other merchants or businesses or gas stations, et cetera?

HATLEY: Yes, it actually sits right on an intersection of Interstate 90, which is the main east/west thoroughfare through here and literally about two or three miles, four miles down the road is where the house was right on Interstate 90. So, where it's sitting -- it's a major crossroads, major intersection in Coeur d'Alene.

Across the street you've got another restaurant, a couple of gas stations as you've accurately described. You pull right off an exit, it's the Fourth Avenue exit and you turn right and the Denny's restaurant is right there.

So, who knows where Mr. Duncan was heading, which direction he might have might have been heading. As an aside, they have impounded his car and they are getting search warrants for that car, that car where Duncan had the little girl, we're assuming, before he took her into the restaurant, is now in impound and they're getting the proper search warrants to look though that. So, we don't know what's in there, but it was right off the interstate, just a couple miles from downtown Coeur d'Alene and a couple of miles from Shasta's Groene's home.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Incredible. A bold move, which turned out to be a great move for Shasta Groene; now the search goes on for her brother, 9-year-old Dylan.

Thanks so much, Toby Hatley of KHQ, for bringing us up to date from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Now, back to Alina Cho who -- let me just explain, she's in Philadelphia covering the Live 8 concert. However, she was part of the coverage, when this investigation first broke six weeks ago. And so, she's back with us now.

Alina, give us a sense as to what you remember about the geography of that area. We talk about the proximity of where the little girl was found to her home and this being an area just kind of sandwiched by, you know, an area that is sandwiched by two states, Washington, you know and why people are often traversing this area.

CHO: Well, I was struck -- I have to tell you -- Fredricka, having lived in New York for many, many years, just how beautiful this part of the country was. Lots of woods, of course, Lake Coeur d'Alene just absolutely stunning area of the country.

WHITFIELD: OK.

CHO: And you have to remember that this home was really sitting on a street with nothing else but woods surrounding it. And so for many, many weeks I know the family was confident that they would find the children alive because...

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry -- Alina?

CHO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Sorry about that. I've got to interrupt you one more time and we'll get back to you.

Rick Clarke is a copy editor for the "Coeur d'Alene Press." He's on the telephone with us. You all have been working this story since it broke at 2:00 a.m. your time.

Rick, give us a sense as to how things unfolded. We heard about the reports of the waitress and the store manager -- the restaurant manager at Denny's, how they spotted the little girl, Shasta, recognized her and then things unfolded from there. How are you reporting the story?

RICK CLARKE, "COEUR D'ALENE PRESS": Correct. Apparently she was identified by employees of the restaurant and the police were immediately called. It was very early in the morning. Our lead reporter on the story happened to be involved in some activities early that morning and was near a scanner and was able to pick up on the conversation and follow the story. But really the only real development here so far was a press conference by the Kootenai County sheriff's office about a half-an-hour ago. And they relayed the information that I think you have now.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And you all must have been aghast, just like everyone else, to hear that in such a bold move, this alleged abductor would go to a Denny's in a relatively busy area, even though it was the middle of the night and be as bold enough to bring this little girl with him.

CLARKE: That really is the big mystery right now. We're just astonished, first of all, that Shasta was in his custody right here in Coeur d'Alene all this time. Apparently there was another -- someone else thought they -- had called the police indicating that they had identified Shasta, but yes, the fact that this guy would take her out into the public, it's just astonishing.

WHITFIELD: So in your reporting, have you located, you know, his home address and then talked to, perhaps, some people who live nearby to see whether they had ever seen anything before?

CLARKE: Well, we're in the process of doing that right now. We're just scrambling right now on the story. We've called in our entire staff and we're pursuing all kinds of different avenues. But we don't -- it hasn't developed enough yet that I can report anything to you in that regard.

WHITFIELD: Well, describe the -- what a typical residential area would be like there. Is it the case, just like at the Groene home, where it's fairly remote and isolated and it could be quite a great distance before you have a neighbor, is that typically how most people in that area live?

CLARKE: No. Actually, the Groene home was fairly isolated. It was in very close proximity to Interstate 90. In fact, it's visible from Interstate 90, but it's in a fairly rural, isolated location. Whereas, the suspect's home is more centrally located in Coeur d'Alene, which is a very typical...

WHITFIELD: Well, that makes it even more confusing then, that the suspect's home would be more centrally located, which would mean people would have a better opportunity to see any kind of activity of him coming and going and perhaps even the children, or at least Shasta, coming and going in that home.

CLARKE: Correct. Yes, it's a real mystery. WHITFIELD: And so, the neighbors in proximity to his home, are there a lot of other houses or businesses? Describe where his home is located.

CLARKE: You know, I really can't. I don't have that information yet. All I know is it's in more of a neighborhood-type situation than the Groene home was. But we haven't really had a chance to talk to anybody or really --

WHITFIELD: Yes, I know it's still early and things are still unfolding. Now, take me back, then, six weeks ago when this investigation first unfolded. Give us a sense as to what you remember seeing about the search.

CLARKE: About the search?

WHITFIELD: Yes, about the search for the two girls, the various means -- the two children -- the various means that were used.

We're looking at video now, where you've got folks who are, you know, hiking through the high grass area. Were there folks in helicopter as well, on horseback? Describe it for us.

CLARKE: Yes. It was a very, very thorough search involving probably four or five law enforcement agencies and dozens and dozens of personnel. Very intense and very well orchestrated.

Yes, the search was on foot. There were scuba divers brought in, because there's a stream there that -- searchers on horseback, helicopter. It's a heavily wooded area and so -- which made it more difficult. And the search lasted for -- it began immediately and lasted for about a week.

WHITFIELD: Do you think, after a certain amount of time elapsing, that people there had lost hope that these two children would ever be found?

CLARKE: You know, people here -- people here, of course, number one, were just in a state of shock and still are, but no. Nobody -- as far as collectively, this community never lost hope. In fact, there were all kinds of efforts locally to help the family, but also to bolster the hope that the kids would be found and found in good health.

WHITFIELD: And we heard it described as well, that you still had fliers that were up, people were still wearing buttons in various parts of Coeur d'Alene. Is that what you recall as well?

CLARKE: That's correct, yes. There's just fliers -- there are fliers everywhere. All kind of businesses were running photos of the children on their reader boards, taking down the usual messages that were promoting their businesses and just running nothing but reminders that the search is on for the children and their images.

Yes, this community really -- six weeks -- in six weeks' time was nowhere close to giving up. WHITFIELD: Yes. Rick Clarke, copy editor of the "Coeur d'Alene Press," thank you so much for being with us. I know that you all are exhaustively working this story, as you all got the call, the notification at 2:00 a.m., just like everybody else in that area, to learn that Shasta Groene had been located at the nearby Denny's there.

RICK CLARKE: Correct.

WHITFIELD: So, once again, when Shasta was located at that nearby Denny's, she wasn't alone. She was with a 42-year-old man who is described as Joseph Duncan. He is a registered sex offender and has a fairly lengthy record involving a sexual and child offenses in Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota and Washington.

However, he had no convictions or offenses reportedly in Idaho. So, he was not registered as a sex offender in Idaho. So, perhaps that is in part why investigators may not have even thought to pursue him among other registered sex offenders that they may have pursued when they were conducting this lengthy six-week search for two kids missing: 8-year-old Shasta Groene and her brother, 9-year-old Dylan Groene.

Shasta is receiving some medical attention in Coeur d'Alene there and likely after being -- receiving some kind of medical attention, she will be interviewed and perhaps she'll be able to reveal some information about her brother.

Alina Cho, once again, we're going to try this again, Alina, before I have to cut you off again. You're in Philadelphia covering Live 8 concert. However, you were part of this investigation covering -- this investigation, I should say, about six weeks ago when it began.

And Alina, why don't we pick it up from where you were describing kind of the geography of that area and how this is an area that is rather busy, in Coeur d'Alene, you know, Idaho terms.

CHO: Well, certainly. And I don't recall exactly where the Denny's was located, but there was sort of main street, a business district, as you describe it, where this Denny's, I believe, was located. But largely, this is a heavily wooded area, beautiful area of the country. And that is in part, why this search took so long, Fredricka. You're talking about several law enforcement agencies and hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers who were really standing, as one official said, shoulder to shoulder, searching the woods and the streams and the perimeter of Lake Coeur d'Alene. It took about a week.

They were doing it by air, by ground, in the water and they were really meticulous in going through places over and over even, because some family members had believed that these two children, perhaps, may have fled because they were scared; perhaps they thought they were in trouble. And these were two siblings, who relatives described as quite close.

And so, these family members said they never gave up hope that these two children would be found alive and I have to say, Fredricka, I'm a bit surprised that they weren't found together.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And I can certainly only imagine that law enforcement wishes that were the case, especially since right now it appears that Shasta Groene seems to be OK and was able to, you know, talk with the waitress and the restaurant manager at Denny's long enough for them to be able to identify her before they were able to call 911.

And perhaps, Alina, you heard this story a little earlier how it all unfolded: When she was talking to the waitress and the restaurant manager; they called 911; police said: OK, we're on the way, try to keep them there; and they apparently offered the little girl a milkshake, which she took; and they continued their conversations with them before investigators then arrived and were able to take Joseph Duncan away, who is the suspected abductor.

Now, apparently those conversations will be taking place between Duncan and law enforcement, to find out if he, at any time, had Dylan and where he might be at this point.

CHO: Oh, certainty. I think that this man, the 42-year-old Joseph Duncan, who is or is about to be charged with kidnapping, he really holds the key to this investigation. He is the only suspect, if you will, that has been named in the six-week investigation.

I mean, remember, too, Fredricka, that this is not only a missing children -- or now child investigation, this is also a triple-murder investigation. And the big question as we go forward is: What, if anything, does this man, Mr. Duncan, have to do with, perhaps, the kidnapping of Shasta's older brother, 9-year-old Dylan, or with the triple murder of Shasta's and Dylan's mother...

WHITFIELD: Yes. Because right now he's only being charged with kidnapping. The officials say he's not been charged with the murders of the others.

CHO: Exactly. But I think the question as we go forward now is: Does he have any connection to the separate investigation that is going on? That is a big question as we go forward. Also, what does this little girl Shasta, who is clearly traumatized by what has happened over the course of the past six weeks, what does she have to say about what has happened to her over the past six weeks?

Certainly, this man being a convicted sex offender, we hope for the best for this little girl and certainly we are all glad that she is alive. And I know that everyone is hoping now that 9-year-old Dylan will be found alive.

One note, too -- and Captain Wolfinger of the Kootenai County sheriff's department did mention this, but local officials and certainly the local community, I know this has been echoed before, they really never gave up hope. They were always confident that these two children would be found alive and certainly now the search continues for the brother, Dylan -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right, Alina Cho, thanks so much for your input on this, coming from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

All right. Well, in part, good news: 8-year-old Shasta Groene found alive and well in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, just a couple miles away from her home where the search began after nearly her entire family was found murdered six weeks ago. And now, the search continues for her 9-year-old brother, Dylan Groene.

We'll be right back, right after this.

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