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CNN Live At Daybreak

John Walsh on Unsolved Cases and Missing People

Aired August 14, 2001 - 07:49   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: As we look at some of America's toughest unsolved cases, consider the work of John Walsh. Seven years after his Adam was kidnapped and murdered, John Walsh went from grieving parent to crime fighter. When law enforcement is dead out of clues, they turn to Walsh, the host of "America's Most Wanted," a show that has helped capture nearly 700 dangerous fugitives.

Good morning, John.

JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Good morning, Carol.

LIN: I know you've got a new book out and it gives a terrific insight into what happens behind the scenes on your show. But first, I want to ask you, in one of your last shows on Chandra Levy, have any leads developed out of that?

WALSH: We've gotten about 500 tips, Carol, and unfortunately, none of those have panned out. We had a couple women come forward in Dupont Circle that were accosted by two men in a white van the day before Chandra Levy left. Unfortunately, both the women didn't get a license plate or a very accurate description. They were very smart and didn't get near the van, but that lead didn't pan out.

And unfortunately, I know the pain that the Levy's are going through. The not knowing is killing them. The not knowing what happened to your child. But I still say that police have a lot of work to do. And I still believe that the two unsolved murders of two young women that look very much like Chandra Levy, both of them lived about a mile away from her, both of them were murdered, one found in Georgetown two years ago, one was in the Potomac River found 75 miles from Washington, D.C., both of them unsolved. I really think that there is a sexual predator in the DuPont Circle area, and I think police have to look very, very closely at the possibility that Chandra Levy may be a victim of foul play.

LIN: Well, the police are saying that they're following hundreds of leads. I'm sure many of them are coming from your show. I'm just curious, Chandra Levy is an obvious case. Obviously, you know, in the spotlight, but how do you choose many of your cases? Is it -- is it really about ratings or is it -- is it about something more personal?

WALSH: No, very personal. In the book I talk about a lot of cases that I brought to "America's Most Wanted" that were cases that I got involved in personally. You know we get an awful lot of requests from victims. We choose victim's cases. We choose cases that are pressing. Escapees like the Texas Seven who were out there and killed a police officer. We do a missing child every week. It's really a tough process, but we turn down about a hundred cases a week. So it depends on the urgency of the case, how dangerous the fugitive is.

Certainly if it's a missing child, it goes missing that week. Some weeks we do as many as four and five missing children. It's a really, really tough process and the toughest part of it is to turn people down because I've walked in their shoes. And I waited and waited almost 15 years to find out that the major suspect in my son's case that the case had been botched and that he died in prison. So I know what it's like to wait or to be turned down, so it's really tough to turn people down.

LIN: A lot of those personal feelings really do influence some of the production decisions, for example, the case of Kyle Bell, a sexual predator who murdered an 11-year-old girl. You approached a strategy to Kyle Bell's case. It wasn't exactly what I would call a typical ratings winning strategy. You played his story week after week after week until he was arrested. Was this because of your...

WALSH: You know I'm...

LIN: ... own personal experience?

WALSH: Absolutely. I'm the father of a murdered child, and I hated Kyle Bell. He was brought into a family because he was such a dysfunctional child. He grew up in a family that took him in and he paid them back by molesting his own nieces and nephews. He did some time in jail. He had escaped; we caught him. He went to jail; he got out.

He then kidnapped an 11-year-old girl, Jeanna North, sodomized her, raped her and murdered her. He even participated in her search when she was missing. He was caught for that murder, sentenced to life without possibility of parole. He was so dangerous that the state of North Dakota wanted to send him to a super-max prison in Oregon so he couldn't escape. While he was being transported to Oregon, he escaped in New Mexico, and I was terrified.

I got a call from the family, I got a call from the governor of North Dakota and they said, John, this dangerous predator, this murderer who has crossed the line, is at large. And I said, you know what, we've got to do him every week until we can catch him, and I was so fearful that he would kill again. Once you've killed a child, once you've crossed that line, there's no stopping you. But thank God, this wonderful couple in Texas, great fans of "America's Most Wanted," spotted him in Dallas, Texas, and he was nailed. And now he's right where he belongs in prison in Oregon for the rest of his life.

LIN: John, I'm curious, I mean obviously you are an obvious advocate for law enforcement and the cases that they're trying to solve. You have been very outspoken about media outlet's responsibility in helping law enforcement to publicize these cases. I know you're not a journalist, but I'm just wondering, do you think it is the news media's responsibility to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement? Isn't there inherently a conflict of interest or is it a public service?

WALSH: It's absolutely a public service. We've been on for 14 years because of the American public -- the partnership between the American public, law enforcement and "America's Most Wanted." Look at stores like Wal-Mart or the ADVO cards. They're private sector entities. ADVO's put out billions of cards, those little cards you get in the mail that show pictures of missing children. They recovered a hundred missing children. Wal-Mart's recovered 23 missing children.

If your child was missing, you would go to your boss there at CNN and say please put my child on the air. If someone had broken into your house, a serial rapist or whatever, you'd like to see that person caught. I do believe the media can keep their distance.

Look at what "Crime Stoppers" has done nationwide. Stations and outlets and cable outlets and whatever it is that have participated in "Crime Stoppers" have helped get dangerous fugitives off the streets. I don't see any blurred line there. I see it as a clear public service and I think that there's an absolute obligation. Certainly people in the media are out for ratings and to make money, but I think that they can give back to society as well.

LIN: You know it's a difficult decision that many newsrooms across America make everyday and do get phone calls from troubled families.

Thanks so much, John Walsh. A new book out: "Public Enemies."

WALSH: Thank you.

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