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CNN Live At Daybreak

Missing Florida Girl

Aired February 05, 2004 - 07:04   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Florida say that a man they have in custody is the suspect in the abduction of an 11-year-old girl. Joseph Peter Smith was arrested Tuesday on drug charges. He has not been charged in connection with the disappearance of Carlie Brucia. She's been missing since Sunday evening. Videotape that we have seen many times, a surveillance camera at a Sarasota car wash, shows a man leading her away.
John Zarrella is following the case yet again today live in Sarasota.

Good morning -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Bill.

Well, authorities are telling us today that they are halfway home. Unfortunately, it's not the halfway they would like to be, or certainly not all the way.

But on Monday afternoon, it was Monday afternoon they arrested 37-year-old Joseph Smith, and they picked him up on Tuesday, rather. That was Tuesday they picked up. And they arrested him on possession of drugs. They went to his house. They were led to his house by a number of tips that they had been receiving, went to his house, found him with drugs, and then picked him up on a probation violation.

Smith has a long history, a criminal record in Florida, everything from aggravated battery to drug possession to even a kidnapping charge he was later acquitted of. Police say that it was all of those leads more than anything else and phone tips that they were getting that led them to arrest Joseph Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JEFF BELL, SARASOTA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I would point out that he became a suspect in relation to the phone calls that we did receive from the community, and we have strong evidence to suggest that he is, in fact, the perpetrator.

ZARRELLA: Police are telling us that with each passing hour -- with each passing hour, police are telling us that they are building a stronger and stronger case. Of course, the real problem is that for Carlie Brucia still no resolution. They don't know where Carlie is. They are still continuing the search. And they are saying that as far as Joseph Smith is concerned, at this point, he is still not cooperating -- Bill. HEMMER: Let me ask you a question here, John, that may have been posed to police or investigators. Has anyone come forward and said that they have identified Smith on that videotape that we've been watching?

ZARRELLA: No. Apparently -- well, what they got were tips from people who had said that they recognized this man. A lot of people were coming in, calling police, even coming here to the site here, telling authorities, look, we think this is the guy, we know it's the guy, he's got tattoos on his arm, he's got tattoos all over his body, he wears a mechanic's shirt. And from that information, it began to focus more and more, authorities say, on Smith.

So, it was the videotape, but it was not an issue of the enhancement of the videotape. It was strictly from that videotape that people began to say that's the guy.

HEMMER: All right, John, thanks -- John Zarrella in Sarasota.

Authorities plan a news conference again today about 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll bring it to you live and watch that again from Sarasota about two hours from now.

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 February 5, 2004 - 07:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Florida say that a man they have in custody is the suspect in the abduction of an 11-year-old girl. Joseph Peter Smith was arrested Tuesday on drug charges. He has not been charged in connection with the disappearance of Carlie Brucia. She's been missing since Sunday evening. Videotape that we have seen many times, a surveillance camera at a Sarasota car wash, shows a man leading her away.
John Zarrella is following the case yet again today live in Sarasota.

Good morning -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Bill.

Well, authorities are telling us today that they are halfway home. Unfortunately, it's not the halfway they would like to be, or certainly not all the way.

But on Monday afternoon, it was Monday afternoon they arrested 37-year-old Joseph Smith, and they picked him up on Tuesday, rather. That was Tuesday they picked up. And they arrested him on possession of drugs. They went to his house. They were led to his house by a number of tips that they had been receiving, went to his house, found him with drugs, and then picked him up on a probation violation.

Smith has a long history, a criminal record in Florida, everything from aggravated battery to drug possession to even a kidnapping charge he was later acquitted of. Police say that it was all of those leads more than anything else and phone tips that they were getting that led them to arrest Joseph Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JEFF BELL, SARASOTA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I would point out that he became a suspect in relation to the phone calls that we did receive from the community, and we have strong evidence to suggest that he is, in fact, the perpetrator.

ZARRELLA: Police are telling us that with each passing hour -- with each passing hour, police are telling us that they are building a stronger and stronger case. Of course, the real problem is that for Carlie Brucia still no resolution. They don't know where Carlie is. They are still continuing the search. And they are saying that as far as Joseph Smith is concerned, at this point, he is still not cooperating -- Bill. HEMMER: Let me ask you a question here, John, that may have been posed to police or investigators. Has anyone come forward and said that they have identified Smith on that videotape that we've been watching?

ZARRELLA: No. Apparently -- well, what they got were tips from people who had said that they recognized this man. A lot of people were coming in, calling police, even coming here to the site here, telling authorities, look, we think this is the guy, we know it's the guy, he's got tattoos on his arm, he's got tattoos all over his body, he wears a mechanic's shirt. And from that information, it began to focus more and more, authorities say, on Smith.

So, it was the videotape, but it was not an issue of the enhancement of the videotape. It was strictly from that videotape that people began to say that's the guy.

HEMMER: All right, John, thanks -- John Zarrella in Sarasota.

Authorities plan a news conference again today about 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll bring it to you live and watch that again from Sarasota about two hours from now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.