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Police Say Mother Abducted Her Children Overnight
Aired June 30, 2003 - 15:30 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to Florida now, where police say the tiny victims of an overnight child snatching may be in extreme danger. There's an Amber Alert and a nationwide hunt for 4-year-old Lorena Montano and her 2-year-old brother, Moises. Our Suzanne Candiotti is in Miami. She's watching this story very closely for us -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. The reason the police think the children might be in danger is because their mother is suffering from a bipolar disorder, which is a form of mental illness. It is unclear whether she is taking any medication at this time, although police add they have no reason, no reason to believe at this time that the mother is armed.
Now, mom is in the Army. She is Private First Class Nora Montano out of Ft. Sam, Houston, in San Antonio, Texas. Spokesmen there say that Montano failed to show up for a roll call at 5:15 this morning Central Time. Police in Florida say that's because she was here in the middle of the night.
They say she drove her car into her mother's home in Miramar, Florida. She was accompanied by a man wearing camouflage. Not sure whether that might be her ex-husband.
But she drove into the house into a rear sliding glass door. The two ran upstairs, according to authorities, snatched the children and ran out. The grandmother has had legal custody of the children since January.
Now a nationwide Amber Alert is in effect. Signs posted on roadways nationwide, for example. And the Army says that Montano recently failed a course to become a medical supply specialist and was waiting for new orders.
If she does not show up by tomorrow, the Army says she might be designated as AWOL. They'll see what they decide to do depending on what's happening with the police investigation. At this time the family is naturally very concerned.
I spoke with the mother's sister a little while ago. And they're currently deciding whether they wish to issue a statement, asking for the public's support -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Susan, any idea what direction they might be headed?
CANDIOTTI: No, absolutely not at this time. In fact, police don't even know for sure whether the car they were driving, described as a blue Infiniti, had Florida plates or Texas plates. But that's why these nationwide Amber Alerts are so important because, in this case in particular, they don't know where she might be heading.
O'BRIEN: Susan Candiotti in Miami, thank you very much.
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 June 30, 2003 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to Florida now, where police say the tiny victims of an overnight child snatching may be in extreme danger. There's an Amber Alert and a nationwide hunt for 4-year-old Lorena Montano and her 2-year-old brother, Moises. Our Suzanne Candiotti is in Miami. She's watching this story very closely for us -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. The reason the police think the children might be in danger is because their mother is suffering from a bipolar disorder, which is a form of mental illness. It is unclear whether she is taking any medication at this time, although police add they have no reason, no reason to believe at this time that the mother is armed.
Now, mom is in the Army. She is Private First Class Nora Montano out of Ft. Sam, Houston, in San Antonio, Texas. Spokesmen there say that Montano failed to show up for a roll call at 5:15 this morning Central Time. Police in Florida say that's because she was here in the middle of the night.
They say she drove her car into her mother's home in Miramar, Florida. She was accompanied by a man wearing camouflage. Not sure whether that might be her ex-husband.
But she drove into the house into a rear sliding glass door. The two ran upstairs, according to authorities, snatched the children and ran out. The grandmother has had legal custody of the children since January.
Now a nationwide Amber Alert is in effect. Signs posted on roadways nationwide, for example. And the Army says that Montano recently failed a course to become a medical supply specialist and was waiting for new orders.
If she does not show up by tomorrow, the Army says she might be designated as AWOL. They'll see what they decide to do depending on what's happening with the police investigation. At this time the family is naturally very concerned.
I spoke with the mother's sister a little while ago. And they're currently deciding whether they wish to issue a statement, asking for the public's support -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Susan, any idea what direction they might be headed?
CANDIOTTI: No, absolutely not at this time. In fact, police don't even know for sure whether the car they were driving, described as a blue Infiniti, had Florida plates or Texas plates. But that's why these nationwide Amber Alerts are so important because, in this case in particular, they don't know where she might be heading.
O'BRIEN: Susan Candiotti in Miami, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
