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Police Cast Doubt on Missing College Student's Kidnapping Story; Officials Warn of Possible Threats to U.S. Trains, Buses; Motions Made in Michael Jackson Case; Police Cast Doubt on Student's Kidnapping Allegations
Aired April 02, 2004 - 13:30 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: From Washington this hour a level of concern from homeland security officials regarding potential threats to U.S. buses and trains.
CNN's Kelli Arena tells us more about that.
Kelli, what do you know?
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sent out an advisory to industry officials, to state and local partners, saying that they had uncorroborated information that there may be a plot to attack commercial transportation systems in major U.S. cities this summer.
Now, the advisory does not mention the cities, but the -- the two agencies said that they believe that the targets could be buses and railways.
They say that the information suggests the plot could involve someone putting an explosive inside a carry-on bag, a duffel bag, or a backpack, and then, you know, leaving the scene and then exploding it from a distance.
The advisory was not meant for public dissemination. As I said, it went out to state and local officials and industry officials. And it has a list of precautionary measures officials might want to take to be sure that passengers will be safe and also to make the appropriate changes so passengers know to be aware of unattended luggage and backpacks, so on, and to report them as soon as possible.
Again it falls under the heading of suspicious behavior. Anything that anyone sees should be reported immediately to a joint terrorism task force.
And Kyra, I'd like to emphasize that the advisory itself says that the information is uncorroborated. And what that means is that it has come from one source and has not been able to be matched by the intelligence community.
But as you know, following that bombing in Madrid and other attempts, as we just heard from Al Goodman, that these are threats that need to be taken very seriously, whether they're corroborated or not.
PHILLIPS: Real quickly, yes or no, Kelli, could this change the threat level for the summer?
ARENA: Not likely.
PHILLIPS: OK. Kelli Arena, thanks so much.
We'll take a quick break. We want to remind you, we are waiting for a news conference out of Madison, Wisconsin, about the change in story on behalf of 20-year-old Audrey Seiler. We'll take it live as soon as it happens.
Quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Checking news at this hour: a mistrial declared in the Tyco corruption trial. The judge made the ruling this afternoon, bringing an end to the six-month long proceeding.
The two former Tyco executives charged with bilking the company out of about $600 million. They maintain their innocence.
Prosecutors are likely to seek a new trial on the same charges. As a matter of fact, they've already announced they will.
Investigators say a Wisconsin student is changing part of her abduction story. Audrey Seiler was missing for four days before turning up unharmed. She told investigators she was abducted outside her apartment at knifepoint. But now the 20-year-old tells police she was abducted from another location.
While a California grand jury meets to determine whether to indict Michael Jackson on child molestation charges, prosecutors and Jackson's attorneys face off today in a pretrial hearing. The pop star did not -- is not expected to attend.
Our Miguel Marquez is there -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that expectation played out. He did not attend, mainly because he's in Washington, D.C., about three time zones away.
We are at the hearing in Mr. Jackson's criminal proceeding. Not typically -- You wouldn't typically have anything to do with the grand jury proceedings, but of course, nothing is typical in this case. It did.
What we were supposed to hear today was a date set for the preliminary hearing, one of the last stops before trial in a normal criminal process. But that happened is they continued that. That means they put that date setting off until April 30 of this year -- at the end of this month to set the preliminary hearing.
That date is significant, because if that grand jury comes back with an indictment before that time, April 30 could very well be the next day Michael Jackson is back in court to be arraigned on whatever indictment the grand jury comes down with. But there's a hitch, as there always seems to be here. The defense lawyers, Mr. Jackson's defense lawyers, talked about some of the evidence, the exculpatory evidence that they have put together, that they want the grand jury to hear. They want this judge to order the district attorney to give it to the grand jury.
They came with briefing books today. They also want the unredacted search warrants, all of the search warrants -- there's 18 that we know of -- so that they can cull exculpatory information from those search warrants, they say, and also present that to the grand jury.
Their concern is that now that we're a week into the grand jury process. And today, the grand jury is back at work. In fact, Thomas Sneddon, the district attorney for Santa Barbara County, wasn't even in court here today, apparently frying bigger fish.
They did have one witness who went into the grand jury room today. It's not clear who that was. They blocked the van with sun visors so you could not see what was going on there.
The -- a couple of other things they decided in court today. The gag order may be loosened up just a bit, so as to allow for written statements from either side to be -- to be put out, if the judge OKs it.
And one other thing that was interesting is there was a lawyer who was representing a subpoenaed witness in court today. He apparently has two boxes of medical and psychiatric records of the accuser and the accuser's family, school records of the accuser and his siblings, and also information from the '93 case that he's been ordered to turn over to the defense team.
So this thing is getting thicker and thicker as we move a long -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Miguel Marquez, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Other news across American now.
Mass killing in Michigan. A Detroit man is behind bars today, charged with killing his girlfriend and her four children inside this house.
Police say the man strangled the 33-year-old woman and beat her son and three daughters to death with a pipe. The 13-year-old survivor overheard that attack from a nearby closet.
Some walkways and roads in parts of Massachusetts look more like rivers today. Police are mopping up two days of fast-moving storms that dumped up to seven inches of rain in some communities. Forecaster say the wet weather is finally winding down.
In northern Colorado, massive wildfires the big concern. Wind- swept flames forced dozens of families to voluntarily evacuate. Colorado officials say the fires could be an ominous sign of a brutal wildfire season.
Now, pictures just in to CNN out of Orlando, Florida. We're getting information from one of our affiliates right now.
We are told that a tour bus rear ended a semi just east of Orlando and flipped on its side, injuring about 25 people. You can see from this video a lot of dazed children sort of standing on the side of the road.
We're told the paramedics are treating the injured right now.
The bus, which ended up among the trees, a bit far off from the shoulder of the road, was carrying about 40 to 50 people, mostly children, we are told. It's a pretty chaotic scene, according to authorities out there tending to the scene.
We are told that local reports coming out of our affiliate WKMG are saying that there are at least three people that have been seriously injured, including the bus driver, who was partially ejected from the vehicle.
Some people have already been transported to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne. Once again, it's a story we are following. Paramedics right now treating the injured, after a tour bus rear ended a semi truck there in Orlando, Florida.
We'll bring you more information as we get it.
And we continue to wait for that press conference out of Madison, Wisconsin. Police about to step up to the podium, update us on the now change in story on behalf of 20-year-old Audrey Seiler, the University of Wisconsin student who said that she was abducted.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures out of Madison, Wisconsin, right now. We are waiting for the Madison police to step up to the podium and update us on any new information involving 20-year-old University of Wisconsin, Madison, college student Audrey Seiler.
As you know, this was a story we had been following for a number of days, an alleged abduction by a man at knifepoint. Audrey coming forward, saying that indeed that abduction did not happen. But she's sticking by her story that this composite is real and that this was a man that did abduct her at another location at another time.
Mike Brooks, our law enforcement analyst, has been following this, of course, with us as it's been ongoing.
She could face a number of charges, be held accountable, if she, indeed, can -- it's proven that she's made all of this up, right?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: She could. It's going to be up to the district attorney, but there are both local charges in the city of Madison and state charges.
Both of them are very, very similar. They are Class A misdemeanors for the state charge and the city ordinance, also a misdemeanor, of obstruction of an officer in an official investigation.
There could be also, I was told by a lieutenant from the Madison police today, a false police report. But that could be filed against her and she could be charged with.
But, again, that's going to be up to the district attorney to decide exactly, or if any, charges will be filed.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan Freed, also, from our Chicago bureau has been following the story, too, since its inception.
Jonathan, what are you hearing there on the streets with regard to where this stands right now? What do you expect to hear from police in just a few minutes?
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll take that in two parts.
What we're hearing on the street is an increasing level of skepticism about this story. We started hearing rumblings of it yesterday.
And just standing here at our live position where we are, we're right next to a bike path. And people have been driving by on their bikes, or walking by, and not being shy about calling out sometimes sarcastic comments about this story.
People increasingly skeptical and not surprised to hear what we heard at the earlier news conference where she changed at least part of her story about where and when she was abducted.
Of course, you were right, she still says that the person in the sketch -- she claims that that person did abduct her, at knifepoint, just not Saturday morning at her apartment.
And it's unclear -- and we were all comparing notes after the first news conference, Kyra, it's unclear exactly when this other event would have happened. And some of us are wondering if that is part of the reason why police have called a second news conference, to clarify it, because they seem to have...
PHILLIPS: Jonathan...
FREE: ... some trouble actually imparting that information to us, as well.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan, hold by, stand by there. We're going to take you right to the news conference now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... additional information that we have received since the morning press conference. The chief will be giving a statement. We will be taking questions after the chief's statement. So on that note, I'd like to introduce Assistant Chief Noble Wray.
ASST. CHIEF NOBLE WRAY, MADISON, WISCONSIN, POLICE: This is really getting to be a habit here.
OK. Before I get into the prepared statement and take questions, there's a couple things that I do want to say, to put this second press conference into context.
One is that -- just want to reiterate that it's just been two days since Audrey Seiler was located. And it's just about two days. It's been a tremendous amount of work that's taken place since that time.
Did want to take the opportunity to thank the men and women of the Madison Police Department. Detectives, investigators and officers have been working tirelessly for the last 48 hours to really go through a lot of information, a lot of data, a lot of -- just it's been unbelievable.
The reason for the second press conference is twofold. One is to clarify the whole issue with the sketch, the composite, what our position is on that. And then secondly, what was recently reported this morning was a second abduction. And so we want to clarify what our position as a department is on the second abduction.
I will also talk right after -- if you would be patient with me, I'll also get into one or two inconsistencies that I do want to highlight that I think will reinforce kind of what's been taking place over the last couple of days relate to this investigation. So please bear with me.
Since the earlier press conference, the Madison Police Department has learned additional information regarding Audrey Seiler.
Numerous detectives have been working this case all morning long. As the investigation continues to unfold, we have learned that Audrey Seiler was not abducted by knifepoint from her residence. Audrey Seiler then reported that she was abducted at another location within the city.
Due to continuing inconsistencies with this investigation and a lack of any evidence to support her allegations of being abducted, we do not believe that there is a suspect at large related to the second reported abduction. So we do not believe that there is a suspect at large, period.
We continue to follow up on all information that is provided to our department to complete this investigation in a quick, but thorough, manner.
There are still some things that are lingering out there that we do want to follow up on and make sure that we dot our "I's" and cross our "T's" with this one.
At this point, we are committed and compelled to review all information that is provided to our department regarding our potential leads.
Now let me talk a bit about some of the inconsistencies, because I think that would be really helpful in terms of giving you a flavor of exactly what we were dealing with here in a short period of time.
Most of you all saw the video that was released prior to locating Audrey Seiler, that video of her walking out of -- walking out of the apartment.
One of the things that we discovered early in the investigation is that there were two other doors that did not have video surveillance.
So the automatic conclusion -- and what was stated is that -- when we initially located Audrey Seiler, was that she was taken out -- she was abducted by knife point, and there was some discussion of a gun, OK.
So immediately a lot of the people nationwide assume that, hey, this -- this has got to be bogus, which was true, but from a police standpoint, from an investigative standpoint, if we have two doors that do not have video surveillance on them, we have to account for that.
And that's -- that is exactly what we are trying to do, is making sure that we're accounting for that. And again, that was during a short period of time.
Another inconsistency, I think, gives you a good -- that I'll talk about that gives you a good flavor of the investigation, is that Audrey reported that the suspect used duct tape, rope, cold medicine, gum, and knife -- and a knife, against her. OK.
Now, after receiving that information from her and processing the crime scene, we were able to locate those items there, which tended to validate some of the statements she was making, that these items were there, because that's where we located these items. So it tended to validate some of the things that she was saying.
And again, keep in mind, all of these things were taking place yesterday.
But as -- in the evening hours last night, what we were able to confirm is that the items that Police Officer Camholst (ph) is holding there are items that we were able to get videotape showing Audrey going into a local store, purchasing these items.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These very items?
WRAY: Not these items, these are -- thanks for the question. These are -- We purchased these as an example so you could see exactly what was purchased at a local -- local store.
So, and it took us some time, obviously, to locate the store, locate the items, get the video, the whole nine yards. So -- I mean, like I said, there's been an awful lot going on in this. And again, I'll reiterate, before I get in to any other inconsistencies, it is so vitally important.
We do not have the luxury of being able to speculate, draw conclusions, before an investigation is completed. It would have been a disservice to the community, a disservice to the country in this particular case, and also a disservice to the family, for a professional law enforcement organization in the United States to jump to conclusions and assume that this was bogus.
So -- and I think -- when it's all said and done, people I think will appreciate the fact that we did go through that.
Some other inconsistencies -- How about if I just hold off with that and why don't we take a few questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was -- What was her motivation...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... cry for help -- was this a cry for help? Do you have any understanding as to what her motivation was to pull the wool over your eyes, essentially?
WRAY: You know, it's difficult for me to speculate in terms of what was her mental state or intent in terms of why she decided to do that. That was one of the reasons why we decided to share with you this morning that comment, you know. "I just wanted to be alone."
I think for us that really capsulizes what we were -- we think we were dealing with there, but I can't speculate on what I think her mental state...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where was she from Saturday morning early to Wednesday? Was she in the swamp the entire time?
WRAY: Sure. That is one of those issues right now that we still are trying to piece together.
We've got enough information that would confirm the inconsistencies in what took place, but we -- have a time line that we're working on that we're still trying to piece together almost a minute by minute where was she.
We have enough information where we can dispute some of the claims that she has made, but we're not there yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... report. Chief, what about her previous report of being attacked, supposedly at random, not seeing the attacker? What do you know about what happened in February this year?
WRAY: Sure. That was also reported. At this juncture, we have no way of correlating that with this particular incident, and we'll just leave it at that. We may go back...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... are you going to press charges?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... appearances on all the national television shows Wednesday morning, lead her to come out of those woods, or was she truly just spotted in there and found still trying to hide?
WRAY: Can you go over that again? I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. Did she make herself available Wednesday? Was she trying to be found? Or did this woman truly spot her in the woods? And has she said her parents' tearful appearances on television led her to come out?
WRAY: I'll go back to some of the earlier statements that I made.
When we received a witness statement that called and pointed us in the direction that she was there, for us, when she was in that marshy area, when we got there everything was so quick, it was moving so fast, it was so dynamic.
The first thing that she told us was that there was a person with a gun. And to be perfectly honest with you, our focus and attention shifted from anything related to gathering more information to attempting to get the suspect there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, chief...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... answered the part about her parents? Because Wednesday morning, you folks even told us that the parents specifically wanted to make an appeal to her. And that the -- that the parents were willing to plead to her that if you hear us, Audrey, we want you to know that we want you to come home.
Were you at that point trying to send a message to someone that you thought might be a runaway to come in? And did that, in fact, happen?
WRAY: I -- I mean, this -- boy, this would be speculation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, no (INAUDIBLE) to give the parents an opportunity to do that plea where the parents said that on national television: "Audrey if you hear us, we want you to know we want you to come home."
Were you sending a message to her to come back, because you suspected she was a runaway?
WRAY: No, no, no. Thanks. Little slow in getting it. But absolutely no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, chief...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... asking the district attorney charge -- are you going to arrest her for obstruction?
WRAY: At this point in time, we are still assembling this. We have been in contact with the district attorney. We have not concluded -- and we can't conclude for the district attorney, if he's going to go for charges.
I think it's a little bit -- I think it's a little bit early for us to say that. We still need to assemble our investigation. We still need to talk to all the detectives. We -- at this point in time -- still have detectives that are still working this, reviewing information related to this case.
So I would hold off with making any decisions and any -- any discussion with that until -- until later on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... know this was a hoax...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... injuries where she said she was constrained. Were there any injuries? Or is that based upon the conversations with the doctor that she had been constrained?
WRAY: Yes, that was a comment that was made by the physician that treated her subsequent to relocating her.
I will stay with the statement that I made earlier. That was between her and the physician. We have not made any connection whatsoever between that statement and the investigation.
Let me talk about two more inconsistencies here before we move -- one is that there were two separate witnesses who observed a person who is believed to be Audrey in different areas of the city during her reported abduction, who appears she was walking freely.
So there were two witnesses who saw Audrey, and it appears that she was walking freely. That was another inconsistency. Again, she's describing this as though she was being held against her will.
Information obtained from Audrey's computer indicates persons were on the computer during the time she was reported missing. And keep in mind, we did start getting involved in this case on Saturday. So -- sure.
Information obtained from Audrey's computer indicates that persons were on the computer during the time she was reported missing. Essentially what that means is we can't rule out -- because we weren't in there all the time that someone else may have made some transactions on the computer. But it's highly likely that she could have made some sort of transactions on the computer. So that kind of contradicts some of the things she was saying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
WRAY: And the last -- Pardon me? No, that was the earlier statement. We can't rule that out. We don't have a minute by minute. But it does suggest that, you know, we don't have a person that was held against their will.
So what we're trying to do is paint a picture, paint the totality of what we're dealing with with a large time frame here.
One more -- one more inconsistency. Pre-planning on -- on her computer searches. Madison, she had pre-planning on computer searches: Madison wooded areas, parks, weather conditions for a five- day forecast. OK?
Again, going back to the earlier statement today, you know, "I just want to be alone." So, you know, again it's the totality of the picture here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
WRAY: Sure. Excellent question...
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Aired April 2, 2004 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: From Washington this hour a level of concern from homeland security officials regarding potential threats to U.S. buses and trains.
CNN's Kelli Arena tells us more about that.
Kelli, what do you know?
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sent out an advisory to industry officials, to state and local partners, saying that they had uncorroborated information that there may be a plot to attack commercial transportation systems in major U.S. cities this summer.
Now, the advisory does not mention the cities, but the -- the two agencies said that they believe that the targets could be buses and railways.
They say that the information suggests the plot could involve someone putting an explosive inside a carry-on bag, a duffel bag, or a backpack, and then, you know, leaving the scene and then exploding it from a distance.
The advisory was not meant for public dissemination. As I said, it went out to state and local officials and industry officials. And it has a list of precautionary measures officials might want to take to be sure that passengers will be safe and also to make the appropriate changes so passengers know to be aware of unattended luggage and backpacks, so on, and to report them as soon as possible.
Again it falls under the heading of suspicious behavior. Anything that anyone sees should be reported immediately to a joint terrorism task force.
And Kyra, I'd like to emphasize that the advisory itself says that the information is uncorroborated. And what that means is that it has come from one source and has not been able to be matched by the intelligence community.
But as you know, following that bombing in Madrid and other attempts, as we just heard from Al Goodman, that these are threats that need to be taken very seriously, whether they're corroborated or not.
PHILLIPS: Real quickly, yes or no, Kelli, could this change the threat level for the summer?
ARENA: Not likely.
PHILLIPS: OK. Kelli Arena, thanks so much.
We'll take a quick break. We want to remind you, we are waiting for a news conference out of Madison, Wisconsin, about the change in story on behalf of 20-year-old Audrey Seiler. We'll take it live as soon as it happens.
Quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Checking news at this hour: a mistrial declared in the Tyco corruption trial. The judge made the ruling this afternoon, bringing an end to the six-month long proceeding.
The two former Tyco executives charged with bilking the company out of about $600 million. They maintain their innocence.
Prosecutors are likely to seek a new trial on the same charges. As a matter of fact, they've already announced they will.
Investigators say a Wisconsin student is changing part of her abduction story. Audrey Seiler was missing for four days before turning up unharmed. She told investigators she was abducted outside her apartment at knifepoint. But now the 20-year-old tells police she was abducted from another location.
While a California grand jury meets to determine whether to indict Michael Jackson on child molestation charges, prosecutors and Jackson's attorneys face off today in a pretrial hearing. The pop star did not -- is not expected to attend.
Our Miguel Marquez is there -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that expectation played out. He did not attend, mainly because he's in Washington, D.C., about three time zones away.
We are at the hearing in Mr. Jackson's criminal proceeding. Not typically -- You wouldn't typically have anything to do with the grand jury proceedings, but of course, nothing is typical in this case. It did.
What we were supposed to hear today was a date set for the preliminary hearing, one of the last stops before trial in a normal criminal process. But that happened is they continued that. That means they put that date setting off until April 30 of this year -- at the end of this month to set the preliminary hearing.
That date is significant, because if that grand jury comes back with an indictment before that time, April 30 could very well be the next day Michael Jackson is back in court to be arraigned on whatever indictment the grand jury comes down with. But there's a hitch, as there always seems to be here. The defense lawyers, Mr. Jackson's defense lawyers, talked about some of the evidence, the exculpatory evidence that they have put together, that they want the grand jury to hear. They want this judge to order the district attorney to give it to the grand jury.
They came with briefing books today. They also want the unredacted search warrants, all of the search warrants -- there's 18 that we know of -- so that they can cull exculpatory information from those search warrants, they say, and also present that to the grand jury.
Their concern is that now that we're a week into the grand jury process. And today, the grand jury is back at work. In fact, Thomas Sneddon, the district attorney for Santa Barbara County, wasn't even in court here today, apparently frying bigger fish.
They did have one witness who went into the grand jury room today. It's not clear who that was. They blocked the van with sun visors so you could not see what was going on there.
The -- a couple of other things they decided in court today. The gag order may be loosened up just a bit, so as to allow for written statements from either side to be -- to be put out, if the judge OKs it.
And one other thing that was interesting is there was a lawyer who was representing a subpoenaed witness in court today. He apparently has two boxes of medical and psychiatric records of the accuser and the accuser's family, school records of the accuser and his siblings, and also information from the '93 case that he's been ordered to turn over to the defense team.
So this thing is getting thicker and thicker as we move a long -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Miguel Marquez, thank you very much -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Other news across American now.
Mass killing in Michigan. A Detroit man is behind bars today, charged with killing his girlfriend and her four children inside this house.
Police say the man strangled the 33-year-old woman and beat her son and three daughters to death with a pipe. The 13-year-old survivor overheard that attack from a nearby closet.
Some walkways and roads in parts of Massachusetts look more like rivers today. Police are mopping up two days of fast-moving storms that dumped up to seven inches of rain in some communities. Forecaster say the wet weather is finally winding down.
In northern Colorado, massive wildfires the big concern. Wind- swept flames forced dozens of families to voluntarily evacuate. Colorado officials say the fires could be an ominous sign of a brutal wildfire season.
Now, pictures just in to CNN out of Orlando, Florida. We're getting information from one of our affiliates right now.
We are told that a tour bus rear ended a semi just east of Orlando and flipped on its side, injuring about 25 people. You can see from this video a lot of dazed children sort of standing on the side of the road.
We're told the paramedics are treating the injured right now.
The bus, which ended up among the trees, a bit far off from the shoulder of the road, was carrying about 40 to 50 people, mostly children, we are told. It's a pretty chaotic scene, according to authorities out there tending to the scene.
We are told that local reports coming out of our affiliate WKMG are saying that there are at least three people that have been seriously injured, including the bus driver, who was partially ejected from the vehicle.
Some people have already been transported to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne. Once again, it's a story we are following. Paramedics right now treating the injured, after a tour bus rear ended a semi truck there in Orlando, Florida.
We'll bring you more information as we get it.
And we continue to wait for that press conference out of Madison, Wisconsin. Police about to step up to the podium, update us on the now change in story on behalf of 20-year-old Audrey Seiler, the University of Wisconsin student who said that she was abducted.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures out of Madison, Wisconsin, right now. We are waiting for the Madison police to step up to the podium and update us on any new information involving 20-year-old University of Wisconsin, Madison, college student Audrey Seiler.
As you know, this was a story we had been following for a number of days, an alleged abduction by a man at knifepoint. Audrey coming forward, saying that indeed that abduction did not happen. But she's sticking by her story that this composite is real and that this was a man that did abduct her at another location at another time.
Mike Brooks, our law enforcement analyst, has been following this, of course, with us as it's been ongoing.
She could face a number of charges, be held accountable, if she, indeed, can -- it's proven that she's made all of this up, right?
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: She could. It's going to be up to the district attorney, but there are both local charges in the city of Madison and state charges.
Both of them are very, very similar. They are Class A misdemeanors for the state charge and the city ordinance, also a misdemeanor, of obstruction of an officer in an official investigation.
There could be also, I was told by a lieutenant from the Madison police today, a false police report. But that could be filed against her and she could be charged with.
But, again, that's going to be up to the district attorney to decide exactly, or if any, charges will be filed.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan Freed, also, from our Chicago bureau has been following the story, too, since its inception.
Jonathan, what are you hearing there on the streets with regard to where this stands right now? What do you expect to hear from police in just a few minutes?
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll take that in two parts.
What we're hearing on the street is an increasing level of skepticism about this story. We started hearing rumblings of it yesterday.
And just standing here at our live position where we are, we're right next to a bike path. And people have been driving by on their bikes, or walking by, and not being shy about calling out sometimes sarcastic comments about this story.
People increasingly skeptical and not surprised to hear what we heard at the earlier news conference where she changed at least part of her story about where and when she was abducted.
Of course, you were right, she still says that the person in the sketch -- she claims that that person did abduct her, at knifepoint, just not Saturday morning at her apartment.
And it's unclear -- and we were all comparing notes after the first news conference, Kyra, it's unclear exactly when this other event would have happened. And some of us are wondering if that is part of the reason why police have called a second news conference, to clarify it, because they seem to have...
PHILLIPS: Jonathan...
FREE: ... some trouble actually imparting that information to us, as well.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan, hold by, stand by there. We're going to take you right to the news conference now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... additional information that we have received since the morning press conference. The chief will be giving a statement. We will be taking questions after the chief's statement. So on that note, I'd like to introduce Assistant Chief Noble Wray.
ASST. CHIEF NOBLE WRAY, MADISON, WISCONSIN, POLICE: This is really getting to be a habit here.
OK. Before I get into the prepared statement and take questions, there's a couple things that I do want to say, to put this second press conference into context.
One is that -- just want to reiterate that it's just been two days since Audrey Seiler was located. And it's just about two days. It's been a tremendous amount of work that's taken place since that time.
Did want to take the opportunity to thank the men and women of the Madison Police Department. Detectives, investigators and officers have been working tirelessly for the last 48 hours to really go through a lot of information, a lot of data, a lot of -- just it's been unbelievable.
The reason for the second press conference is twofold. One is to clarify the whole issue with the sketch, the composite, what our position is on that. And then secondly, what was recently reported this morning was a second abduction. And so we want to clarify what our position as a department is on the second abduction.
I will also talk right after -- if you would be patient with me, I'll also get into one or two inconsistencies that I do want to highlight that I think will reinforce kind of what's been taking place over the last couple of days relate to this investigation. So please bear with me.
Since the earlier press conference, the Madison Police Department has learned additional information regarding Audrey Seiler.
Numerous detectives have been working this case all morning long. As the investigation continues to unfold, we have learned that Audrey Seiler was not abducted by knifepoint from her residence. Audrey Seiler then reported that she was abducted at another location within the city.
Due to continuing inconsistencies with this investigation and a lack of any evidence to support her allegations of being abducted, we do not believe that there is a suspect at large related to the second reported abduction. So we do not believe that there is a suspect at large, period.
We continue to follow up on all information that is provided to our department to complete this investigation in a quick, but thorough, manner.
There are still some things that are lingering out there that we do want to follow up on and make sure that we dot our "I's" and cross our "T's" with this one.
At this point, we are committed and compelled to review all information that is provided to our department regarding our potential leads.
Now let me talk a bit about some of the inconsistencies, because I think that would be really helpful in terms of giving you a flavor of exactly what we were dealing with here in a short period of time.
Most of you all saw the video that was released prior to locating Audrey Seiler, that video of her walking out of -- walking out of the apartment.
One of the things that we discovered early in the investigation is that there were two other doors that did not have video surveillance.
So the automatic conclusion -- and what was stated is that -- when we initially located Audrey Seiler, was that she was taken out -- she was abducted by knife point, and there was some discussion of a gun, OK.
So immediately a lot of the people nationwide assume that, hey, this -- this has got to be bogus, which was true, but from a police standpoint, from an investigative standpoint, if we have two doors that do not have video surveillance on them, we have to account for that.
And that's -- that is exactly what we are trying to do, is making sure that we're accounting for that. And again, that was during a short period of time.
Another inconsistency, I think, gives you a good -- that I'll talk about that gives you a good flavor of the investigation, is that Audrey reported that the suspect used duct tape, rope, cold medicine, gum, and knife -- and a knife, against her. OK.
Now, after receiving that information from her and processing the crime scene, we were able to locate those items there, which tended to validate some of the statements she was making, that these items were there, because that's where we located these items. So it tended to validate some of the things that she was saying.
And again, keep in mind, all of these things were taking place yesterday.
But as -- in the evening hours last night, what we were able to confirm is that the items that Police Officer Camholst (ph) is holding there are items that we were able to get videotape showing Audrey going into a local store, purchasing these items.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These very items?
WRAY: Not these items, these are -- thanks for the question. These are -- We purchased these as an example so you could see exactly what was purchased at a local -- local store.
So, and it took us some time, obviously, to locate the store, locate the items, get the video, the whole nine yards. So -- I mean, like I said, there's been an awful lot going on in this. And again, I'll reiterate, before I get in to any other inconsistencies, it is so vitally important.
We do not have the luxury of being able to speculate, draw conclusions, before an investigation is completed. It would have been a disservice to the community, a disservice to the country in this particular case, and also a disservice to the family, for a professional law enforcement organization in the United States to jump to conclusions and assume that this was bogus.
So -- and I think -- when it's all said and done, people I think will appreciate the fact that we did go through that.
Some other inconsistencies -- How about if I just hold off with that and why don't we take a few questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was -- What was her motivation...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... cry for help -- was this a cry for help? Do you have any understanding as to what her motivation was to pull the wool over your eyes, essentially?
WRAY: You know, it's difficult for me to speculate in terms of what was her mental state or intent in terms of why she decided to do that. That was one of the reasons why we decided to share with you this morning that comment, you know. "I just wanted to be alone."
I think for us that really capsulizes what we were -- we think we were dealing with there, but I can't speculate on what I think her mental state...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where was she from Saturday morning early to Wednesday? Was she in the swamp the entire time?
WRAY: Sure. That is one of those issues right now that we still are trying to piece together.
We've got enough information that would confirm the inconsistencies in what took place, but we -- have a time line that we're working on that we're still trying to piece together almost a minute by minute where was she.
We have enough information where we can dispute some of the claims that she has made, but we're not there yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... report. Chief, what about her previous report of being attacked, supposedly at random, not seeing the attacker? What do you know about what happened in February this year?
WRAY: Sure. That was also reported. At this juncture, we have no way of correlating that with this particular incident, and we'll just leave it at that. We may go back...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... are you going to press charges?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... appearances on all the national television shows Wednesday morning, lead her to come out of those woods, or was she truly just spotted in there and found still trying to hide?
WRAY: Can you go over that again? I'm sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. Did she make herself available Wednesday? Was she trying to be found? Or did this woman truly spot her in the woods? And has she said her parents' tearful appearances on television led her to come out?
WRAY: I'll go back to some of the earlier statements that I made.
When we received a witness statement that called and pointed us in the direction that she was there, for us, when she was in that marshy area, when we got there everything was so quick, it was moving so fast, it was so dynamic.
The first thing that she told us was that there was a person with a gun. And to be perfectly honest with you, our focus and attention shifted from anything related to gathering more information to attempting to get the suspect there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, chief...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... answered the part about her parents? Because Wednesday morning, you folks even told us that the parents specifically wanted to make an appeal to her. And that the -- that the parents were willing to plead to her that if you hear us, Audrey, we want you to know that we want you to come home.
Were you at that point trying to send a message to someone that you thought might be a runaway to come in? And did that, in fact, happen?
WRAY: I -- I mean, this -- boy, this would be speculation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, no (INAUDIBLE) to give the parents an opportunity to do that plea where the parents said that on national television: "Audrey if you hear us, we want you to know we want you to come home."
Were you sending a message to her to come back, because you suspected she was a runaway?
WRAY: No, no, no. Thanks. Little slow in getting it. But absolutely no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, chief...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... asking the district attorney charge -- are you going to arrest her for obstruction?
WRAY: At this point in time, we are still assembling this. We have been in contact with the district attorney. We have not concluded -- and we can't conclude for the district attorney, if he's going to go for charges.
I think it's a little bit -- I think it's a little bit early for us to say that. We still need to assemble our investigation. We still need to talk to all the detectives. We -- at this point in time -- still have detectives that are still working this, reviewing information related to this case.
So I would hold off with making any decisions and any -- any discussion with that until -- until later on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... know this was a hoax...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... injuries where she said she was constrained. Were there any injuries? Or is that based upon the conversations with the doctor that she had been constrained?
WRAY: Yes, that was a comment that was made by the physician that treated her subsequent to relocating her.
I will stay with the statement that I made earlier. That was between her and the physician. We have not made any connection whatsoever between that statement and the investigation.
Let me talk about two more inconsistencies here before we move -- one is that there were two separate witnesses who observed a person who is believed to be Audrey in different areas of the city during her reported abduction, who appears she was walking freely.
So there were two witnesses who saw Audrey, and it appears that she was walking freely. That was another inconsistency. Again, she's describing this as though she was being held against her will.
Information obtained from Audrey's computer indicates persons were on the computer during the time she was reported missing. And keep in mind, we did start getting involved in this case on Saturday. So -- sure.
Information obtained from Audrey's computer indicates that persons were on the computer during the time she was reported missing. Essentially what that means is we can't rule out -- because we weren't in there all the time that someone else may have made some transactions on the computer. But it's highly likely that she could have made some sort of transactions on the computer. So that kind of contradicts some of the things she was saying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
WRAY: And the last -- Pardon me? No, that was the earlier statement. We can't rule that out. We don't have a minute by minute. But it does suggest that, you know, we don't have a person that was held against their will.
So what we're trying to do is paint a picture, paint the totality of what we're dealing with with a large time frame here.
One more -- one more inconsistency. Pre-planning on -- on her computer searches. Madison, she had pre-planning on computer searches: Madison wooded areas, parks, weather conditions for a five- day forecast. OK?
Again, going back to the earlier statement today, you know, "I just want to be alone." So, you know, again it's the totality of the picture here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
WRAY: Sure. Excellent question...
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