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CNN Live At Daybreak
Chase and Capture of Jerry Jones
Aired January 09, 2004 - 05:30 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 COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The suspect in the killings and kidnappings of a Georgia family is in critical condition after shooting himself.
CNN's Eric Philips reports on the chase and the capture of Jerry Jones.
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A police chase resulted in the capture of a man authorities had been searching for all day long. Thirty-one-year-old Jerry Jones is in police custody tonight. He crashed his car during that chase. When authorities approached his vehicle they found him inside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He's in very serious condition at this hour.
Also inside, the three kidnapped children, and they're apparently OK.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS (voice-over): Police say after he murdered four others, 31-year-old Jerry Jones made it across the Georgia border into Tennessee with the three kidnapped children, 10-year-old Brittany Phelps, 4-year-old Brandy Jones and 3-year-old Tammy Jones. Authorities found the crashed vehicle Jones was driving, inside, Jones with a gunshot wound to the head and the three girls, apparently in good physical condition.
VERNON KEENAN, DIRECTOR, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS: I cannot express to you how much of a relief it is to see, to see how this has turned out, that the children are safe.
PHILIPS: The four bodies were discovered late Wednesday night in two homes in rural Ranger, Georgia. The parents of Jones' common law wife were in one home, her sister and his own 10 month old daughter found in another.
SHERIFF JERRY DAVIS, GORDON COUNTY, GEORGIA: And I want him back in -- to go to the county jail, where I can see him in a chain gang, the way he treated those children.
PHILIPS: Two of the three kidnapped girls are Jones' biological daughters. The other is his former stepdaughter. Police say the children's mother first alerted them of the crimes after Jones called her. They say he told her he had harmed her family and taken the children.
(on camera): Police say the killings were methodical, with the bodies hidden in both homes. They were also hoping the capture of Jerry Jones would be methodical through the use of the amber alert system. It worked.
KEENAN: Each and every time it has been activated in Georgia, it has resulted in the safe recovery of a child.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS: This marks the tenth case in Georgia where the amber alert system has been successfully used, that is all missing children found alive.
In Gordon County, Georgia, Eric Philips, CNN.
COSTELLO: You can find out more about the chase for Jerry Jones, his condition and the children's conditions and look at photos from the crash scene. It's all on our Web site, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 9, 2004 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The suspect in the killings and kidnappings of a Georgia family is in critical condition after shooting himself.
CNN's Eric Philips reports on the chase and the capture of Jerry Jones.
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A police chase resulted in the capture of a man authorities had been searching for all day long. Thirty-one-year-old Jerry Jones is in police custody tonight. He crashed his car during that chase. When authorities approached his vehicle they found him inside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He's in very serious condition at this hour.
Also inside, the three kidnapped children, and they're apparently OK.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS (voice-over): Police say after he murdered four others, 31-year-old Jerry Jones made it across the Georgia border into Tennessee with the three kidnapped children, 10-year-old Brittany Phelps, 4-year-old Brandy Jones and 3-year-old Tammy Jones. Authorities found the crashed vehicle Jones was driving, inside, Jones with a gunshot wound to the head and the three girls, apparently in good physical condition.
VERNON KEENAN, DIRECTOR, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS: I cannot express to you how much of a relief it is to see, to see how this has turned out, that the children are safe.
PHILIPS: The four bodies were discovered late Wednesday night in two homes in rural Ranger, Georgia. The parents of Jones' common law wife were in one home, her sister and his own 10 month old daughter found in another.
SHERIFF JERRY DAVIS, GORDON COUNTY, GEORGIA: And I want him back in -- to go to the county jail, where I can see him in a chain gang, the way he treated those children.
PHILIPS: Two of the three kidnapped girls are Jones' biological daughters. The other is his former stepdaughter. Police say the children's mother first alerted them of the crimes after Jones called her. They say he told her he had harmed her family and taken the children.
(on camera): Police say the killings were methodical, with the bodies hidden in both homes. They were also hoping the capture of Jerry Jones would be methodical through the use of the amber alert system. It worked.
KEENAN: Each and every time it has been activated in Georgia, it has resulted in the safe recovery of a child.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS: This marks the tenth case in Georgia where the amber alert system has been successfully used, that is all missing children found alive.
In Gordon County, Georgia, Eric Philips, CNN.
COSTELLO: You can find out more about the chase for Jerry Jones, his condition and the children's conditions and look at photos from the crash scene. It's all on our Web site, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
