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CNN Live At Daybreak

Authorities Focus Anthrax Investigation On Lundgren's Home

Aired November 23, 2001 - 06:09   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: It's about nine minutes after the hour. The search for the anthrax killer is focusing on a neighborhood in Connecticut today. Investigators have been going over the latest victim's home, inch-by-inch, looking for the source of the infection that killed her.

Also U.S. postal officials could announce, as early today, results of environmental tests at two area mail centers. More now from our affiliate, WTIC, on the tedious hunt for anthrax clues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly we're leaving no stone unturned. We're using every resource that's available here in the state of Connecticut.

LAURIE PERREZ, FOX 61 NEWS, WTIC, OXFORD, CT (voice-over): A team of 30 FBI, state police, and state and federal health experts reentered Ottilie Lundgren's home to continue sampling for the origin of the anthrax. They're also trying to track her movements over the past month to help determine how she came into contact with the bacteria.

They've now tested her home, the Wallingford Distribution Center and the Seymour Post Office. Governor Rowland says they're also looking beyond Connecticut's border.

GOV. JOHN ROWLAND, CONNECTICUT: And I'm sure the same questions and same answers are coming up as they did in New York. You try to figure out why the 61-year old woman in New York got anthrax and no one else did and what was different -- you know what's unique. What exposed her to the anthrax and didn't expose you or me.

PERREZ (on camera): State troopers have blocked off the road to Lundgren's (ph) home as investigators continue their search. Meanwhile Oxford town leaders and the governor are working to contain the public's anxiety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to ask the citizens of Oxford to take a moment of silence today for Mrs. Lundgren and her family. I would like them to relax, know that they're safe, enjoy the holiday.

PERREZ (voice-over): That's proving to be a tough request these days for some. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hitting a little close to home. You don't think it's going to happen around where you live, but it does.

PERREZ: Scary?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, very.

PERREZ: Oxford is a small town with a very big mystery and on this Thanksgiving Day, its residents are giving thanks for each other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not going to bring us down, you know. It just -- it just -- it won't happen and we're a small town and we're not New York City. But we're going to be as brave as the people in New York City and you know, it -- I think overall it's not going to get us down.

PERREZ: In Oxford, Laurie Perrez, Fox 61 News at 10:00.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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