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American Morning

The Big Question: Are Two Missing Girls From Oregon Still Alive?

Aired March 19, 2002 - 08:46   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The Big Question this hour, are two missing girls from Oregon still alive? They vanished from the same apartment complex two months apart. The FBI is conducting a nationwide search for 12-year-old Ashley Pond and her friend, 13-year- old Miranda Gaddis. Investigators think that both girls were kidnapped, and more importantly, they think they're still alive. The missing girls story was featured this past weekend on the popular television crime show "America's Most Wanted."

And joining us now from Washington, John Walsh, the host of that highly successful program.

Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.

JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Good morning, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Your show always triggers a big response from your viewers. What did you turn up in the case of these two kids when you put their story on the program?

WALSH: Well, we got 30 tips that we think are pretty solid. We've turned those over to the FBI and they've been working vigorously since Saturday night. And you and I have talked about this before, most stranger-abducted children, according to the Justice Department, are dead within the first four hours, but the FBI is holding out great hope that these girls are still alive.

The sad thing is of course, that they were kidnapped from the same apartment complex, and that they were friends. That's really the scary thing, is Ashley was kidnapped first in January, and then Miranda, who was very worried about her friend, was actually volunteering to do some fund-raisers, was kidnapped March 8th. So this is really a heart-breaking case.

CAFFERTY: Without revealing anything you shouldn't about the investigation, what makes the investigators think they're still alive?

WALSH: Well, both girls were kidnapped in the same manner, both on their way to the school bus. So we feel that it is someone that they know, that someone that's in the area and has knowledge of the whereabouts and, I mean, the activities of these little girls, and we're praying that they're alive, unlike the Danielle Van Dam case that we just were involved with in San Diego, which was a neighbor, and killed little Danielle. He's accused of killing little Danielle. The FBI is holding out great hope this guy has both girls.

CAFFERTY: So far, there's been no ransom note, no contact of any kind that I'm aware of, has there?

WALSH: No, usually pedophiles, and child molesters, and serial kidnappers don't kidnap children for ransom; they kidnap them for sexual exploitation. We have a composite now of a guy that we think is related to this, because two girls were kidnapped a couple weeks ago in Denver, and there was an attempted kidnapping 30 miles from Oregon City where the kidnapping of Ashley and Miranda happened. So now we have a composite of a guy, so the FBI is working this case actively as we speak.

CAFFERTY: What is the -- talk to me a little about the pathology of who might be responsible for this. The two children were abducted a couple of months apart. What's your sense of the behavior of the criminal mind in terms of grabbing one kid, and then two months later, if it's the same person, going back and getting her friend.

WALSH: Well, it's a pattern that serial child abductors use all over the country. We have three cases in Spotsylvania, Virginia, two sisters and a neighbor, girls that were kidnapped within six months by what we think is a serial child killer. All three of those girls were found murdered. We haven't caught that guy yet.

But it's a pattern that we see around the country, that these pedophiles, child molesters and kidnappers will target to a certain age group and to a certain type of child. Some of them are into little boys, and some are into young girls, like Ashley and Miranda, but they sometimes escalate to kidnappings, and that's what we're worried about, that this guy will continue in this pattern and maybe escalate this and it may turn into violence.

CAFFERTY: Is there a phone number we can put out, John, that people watching this program might be able to call if they have seen or could contribute anything at all in the way of help in this investigation?

WALSH: Absolutely, jack. They can call 1-800-CRIME-TV. That's our hotline. Hotline operators answer the phones, not police. I know lots of people are afraid to call police. They don't want to get involved. They think the calls are traced or tapped. Our calls are not traced or tapped. I think that's why we've been so successful over the years with 696 captures and recovered 24 missing children, because people feel they can call "America's Most Wanted."

So we're saying that if you have any idea or any information no matter how inconsequential you think it is, call 1-800-CRIME-TV, and we'll turn it over to law enforcement.

CAFFERTY: The other number that's on our screen is the FBI hotline number, 503-496-1616.

We've got a couple of minutes left. I'd like to change subjects. But they're probably related in more than one way. This Operation Candyman, the child pornography sting that was announced yesterday by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Forty arrests from a wide cross- section of the population, more arrests to come, but the Internet is a vast anonymous, in this case, wasteland when it comes to pedophiles. What are your thoughts on the impact that a sting operation like this may have and the dimensions of the problem as you understand it might be?

WALSH: Well, this was a terrific coordinated effort by the FBI and joint task forces all over the United States. And with 40 arrests yesterday and they're anticipating 50 more, they've taken down some very serious pedophiles, some of them Catholic priests, school bus drivers, camp counselors, people who work with children, like little league coaches, and the sad thing is that there are 7,000 pedophiles who subscribe to that one chat room and to that one Web site.

The FBI started a program called Innocent Images in 1995, and so far, they have successfully prosecuted 3,000 people that use chat rooms to lure children out of their homes to molest them. A lot of these people pose as other children. But this particular group used some very disgusting and violent sexual images, child pornography. One of them, an individual showing a video molesting his own 5-year- old daughter. We saw that video. It would bring tears to your eyes. This little girl is terrified, but this was a tremendous sting.

But I tell you, the Internet is a very dangerous place if you don't know who your kids are talking to in those chat rooms.

CAFFERTY: That's Good advice. Find out what they're doing on the computer.

John, it's good see you as always. Thanks for your time this morning.

WALSH: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: John Walsh, the most of "America's Most Wanted" joining us from Washington D.C.

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