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American Morning
Chicago Searches for Two Missing Girls
Aired July 10, 2001 - 11:18 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we head to Chicago, where a neighborhood is mobilizing today. They are trying to find two little girls, the Bradley sisters. They are 10 and 3 years old. They vanished Friday while they were home alone.
Reporter Craig Wall from our Chicago affiliate WFLD has the story of this community in shock.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRAIG WALL, WFLD REPORTER (voice-over): Yellow ribbons now adorn the trees around the apartment complex as concerned people try to keep hope alive.
UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: I'm just a concerned grandmother/parent praying for the children to come home.
WALL: Chicago police called in the FBI Sunday night and activated the Violent Crimes Task Force to bolster the number of investigators trying to solve the case. FBI agents brought in some sophisticated evidence gathering equipment in the apartment building. Outside, meanwhile, canine units scoured the area, trying to pick up the girl's scent. Mounted police also joined the search, along with the Chicago Police Marine Unit, which patrolled up and down the nearby lakefront, checking for any bodies.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We're just making you aware of the missing children.
UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: And if you see them or you hear anything about it, could you please call 911?
WALL: Police also canvassed the area, passing out fliers with black and white pictures of the girls, pleading for help. A neighbor later printed out color photos on her computer and planned to distribute those around the area as well.
UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: Now maybe people can actually look at a real rendition of these young ladies and say OK, now, oh, yes, maybe I saw this girl.
WALL: One neighbor says he remembers seeing the older girl around 5:00 P.M. Friday. Another man swears he saw Tionda around 6:00 P.M. after she witnessed a fight.
UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: I did see the oldest little girl because I talked to her myself because she was, you know, explaining what had happened and then after we got the situation calm and resolved, we all ran back around here. And that was the last I saw of her.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And that was reporter Craig Wall with our affiliate, WFLD. The FBI has also joined that search in Chicago. Pat Camden is deputy director of the Chicago Police Department and Pat is joining us by phone. Good morning. Thanks for being with us.
PAT CAMDEN, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good morning. You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: What can you tell us, the latest on this? When were these girls last seen?
CAMDEN: The last sight, the last official sight we had from them was the mother and that was 6:00 in the morning on the 6th of July.
PHILLIPS: And that was before she left for work?
CAMDEN: That's correct. She was going to work. She came back home about 10:45 A.M. and the girls were gone at that time.
PHILLIPS: So that wasn't a very long amount of time.
CAMDEN: No, not at all.
PHILLIPS: It strikes me it's unusual for two kids from the same family to be missing together at the same time. Usually when we report on these stories, it's a single child by him or herself.
CAMDEN: That's absolutely correct. That's one of the real unusual things of this case is two of the children are missing and normally in a situation like that it would be a custody type thing but it doesn't appear to be that in this particular case.
PHILLIPS: So no indication of a custody dispute. Anything else, though, unusual about this case that you can share with us?
CAMDEN: Aside from the two siblings themselves being missing at the same time, now, the length of time that they've been gone is very unusual.
PHILLIPS: And is it unusual for the FBI to get involved at this stage?
CAMDEN: Oh, the FBI works very well with the Chicago Police Department and in a number of cases will come to our assistance when we've requested their assistance. They have resources available that we don't and they're our partners and have worked very well with us in the past.
PHILLIPS: And what was it about this case that triggered their involvement?
CAMDEN: I think it's the length of time the girls have been involved. We've asked them for their help with their forensic capabilities and crime scene processing. We're conducting a very thorough investigation. It's a missing case at this point. But we're also conducting a simultaneous criminal investigation at the same time.
PHILLIPS: And what would that involve?
CAMDEN: Well, processing possible crime scenes, interviewing people, re-interviewing people, basically leaving no stone unturned.
PHILLIPS: Very good. If people have any information, if they might have seen these little girls or somebody who would have them, what should they do?
CAMDEN: By all means please call Area One Youth Division, 312- 747-8385.
PHILLIPS: Well, they can just ask for the Chicago Police Department and be put through? So that people watching can...
CAMDEN: Yes, either that or 911 in Chicago and they'll get put through.
PHILLIPS: Very good. Pat Camden with the Chicago Police Department, thank you very much, and good luck with the search for those two young girls.
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