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Children in Peril
Aired July 15, 2003 - 13:06 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A father suspected of killing his two missing children is being sent back to New Hampshire. Manuel Gerring (ph) was arrested in California last week. He reportedly was seen leaving a Fourth of July fireworks display in Concord, New Hampshire with his son and daughter. Gerring refuses to say what happened to those kids. Police are investigating the case as a double homicide.
Let's talk more about those missing New Hampshire children and another story that has a lot of parents being extra cautious. West Virginia police intensify their search now for a man who they say assaulted a girl in a crowded Target store.
CNN correspondent Mike brooks brings us up to date.
Now let's start with New Hampshire, Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as we know, Gerring in now back in New Hampshire. Where the two kids are, they don't know.
But they've been able to track his progress from the July 4th, after the fireworks. He works his way across the country to Gillroy, California, where he was arrested there. And what they found, why they feel they might have enough to charge him with the murders, we don't know. But there's a good possibility they could have gleaned evidence from his vehicle on his trek across the country.
They were concentrating the search for the bodies in Ohio. We know that he -- since the 4th, he worked his way across New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, California, and on the 10th arrived in Gillroy, California.
So, why do we think that there's a possibility they could be somewhere in Ohio? Well, investigators most likely have been out there, interviewing people along his way. They were able to track his route by his credit card. And did they see the kid one place and not see them at another? That is what most likely happened and why they believe the two children are possibly dead. Kyra, it's a very, very sad story in this particular case, but hopefully, he will be able to shed some light on this, and also additional evidence will be able to shed some light on this.
PHILLIPS: Well, another sad story, seeing that surveillance tape from that Target store yesterday. New developments? Possibly a repeat offender?
BROOKS: Well, they're looking at a possible link to a case last Friday in Ashland, Kentucky, where a 9-year-old girl was approached with the same ruse as the one in South Charleston, Kyra -- a man came up to the 9-year-old girl, said he was a security guard there at the Wal-Mart, said he saw her taking something on the videotape, and he started to pat her down. She ran away from him and went back to her parents.
Now the videotape we got in yesterday is from the Target store just the other day, where we see this -- what the store police describe as a white male, in his late 20s, early 30s, between 5'8", 5'9", about 230 pounds, with sandy brown hair.
Now what we're seeing here, this video is of him actually stalking her, and then we look at video a little bit later, which we have, that shows him actually walking down the aisle, with the girl.
Police say this video shows him walking from the seasonal section of Target where the patio furniture, coolers, those kind of things are, where she was abused there, then he is, what they say, dragging her down the aisle to the men's department where he further assaulted her there. So Police are looking for any tips they can. They're taking this particular video, Kyra, and they're sending it to NASA and to the FBI to have it enhanced.
Now I can tell you that having a tape enhanced really works. I had a case one time in Washington D.C. where they did bring up the face of the person we were looking at in the tape. They were able to get some fine features, and maybe even some features in this that they can further identify this particular perpetrator with.
Now there is a tip line that police would like you to call, if possible. That tip line is area code 1-304-744-4666. Now, if you have any question at all, any information that you think may be useful to the South Charleston Police, they want you to call that. They're also looking at another case in Texas that they've gotten a call from police there, that also could be linked, but they don't know at this time -- Kyra.a
PHILLIPS: All right, Mike Brooks, thank you. We'll continue to follow the story, of course.
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 July 15, 2003 - 13:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A father suspected of killing his two missing children is being sent back to New Hampshire. Manuel Gerring (ph) was arrested in California last week. He reportedly was seen leaving a Fourth of July fireworks display in Concord, New Hampshire with his son and daughter. Gerring refuses to say what happened to those kids. Police are investigating the case as a double homicide.
Let's talk more about those missing New Hampshire children and another story that has a lot of parents being extra cautious. West Virginia police intensify their search now for a man who they say assaulted a girl in a crowded Target store.
CNN correspondent Mike brooks brings us up to date.
Now let's start with New Hampshire, Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as we know, Gerring in now back in New Hampshire. Where the two kids are, they don't know.
But they've been able to track his progress from the July 4th, after the fireworks. He works his way across the country to Gillroy, California, where he was arrested there. And what they found, why they feel they might have enough to charge him with the murders, we don't know. But there's a good possibility they could have gleaned evidence from his vehicle on his trek across the country.
They were concentrating the search for the bodies in Ohio. We know that he -- since the 4th, he worked his way across New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, California, and on the 10th arrived in Gillroy, California.
So, why do we think that there's a possibility they could be somewhere in Ohio? Well, investigators most likely have been out there, interviewing people along his way. They were able to track his route by his credit card. And did they see the kid one place and not see them at another? That is what most likely happened and why they believe the two children are possibly dead. Kyra, it's a very, very sad story in this particular case, but hopefully, he will be able to shed some light on this, and also additional evidence will be able to shed some light on this.
PHILLIPS: Well, another sad story, seeing that surveillance tape from that Target store yesterday. New developments? Possibly a repeat offender?
BROOKS: Well, they're looking at a possible link to a case last Friday in Ashland, Kentucky, where a 9-year-old girl was approached with the same ruse as the one in South Charleston, Kyra -- a man came up to the 9-year-old girl, said he was a security guard there at the Wal-Mart, said he saw her taking something on the videotape, and he started to pat her down. She ran away from him and went back to her parents.
Now the videotape we got in yesterday is from the Target store just the other day, where we see this -- what the store police describe as a white male, in his late 20s, early 30s, between 5'8", 5'9", about 230 pounds, with sandy brown hair.
Now what we're seeing here, this video is of him actually stalking her, and then we look at video a little bit later, which we have, that shows him actually walking down the aisle, with the girl.
Police say this video shows him walking from the seasonal section of Target where the patio furniture, coolers, those kind of things are, where she was abused there, then he is, what they say, dragging her down the aisle to the men's department where he further assaulted her there. So Police are looking for any tips they can. They're taking this particular video, Kyra, and they're sending it to NASA and to the FBI to have it enhanced.
Now I can tell you that having a tape enhanced really works. I had a case one time in Washington D.C. where they did bring up the face of the person we were looking at in the tape. They were able to get some fine features, and maybe even some features in this that they can further identify this particular perpetrator with.
Now there is a tip line that police would like you to call, if possible. That tip line is area code 1-304-744-4666. Now, if you have any question at all, any information that you think may be useful to the South Charleston Police, they want you to call that. They're also looking at another case in Texas that they've gotten a call from police there, that also could be linked, but they don't know at this time -- Kyra.a
PHILLIPS: All right, Mike Brooks, thank you. We'll continue to follow the story, of course.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
