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American Morning

Interview with Denise Leon, Jim Mangia

Aired August 15, 2002 - 09:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: On to Los Angeles now. Another child kidnapping with a happy ending earlier this week, 4-year-old Jessica Cortez is safe and sound, thanks to some watchful workers at a medical clinic. They actually recognized the missing girl, and kept her suspected kidnapper in their sights until police arrived.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERIM CHIEF MARTIN POMEROY, LOS ANGELES POLICE: There had been such tremendous public exposure here in Southern California that the workers, as I understand it, at the clinic immediately recognized this might be Jessica, so they delayed somewhat in their treatment, and called the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And from Los Angeles, we hear this morning from Jim Mangia, who is the executive director of the St. Johns Well Child Center, and Denise Leon, the clinic receptionist, who first recognized Jessica -- good morning, and an early morning at that on the West Coast. Welcome to both of you.

So Denise, tell us at what point you recognized little Jessica.

DENISE LEON, CLINIC RECEPTIONIST: When I saw her face, immediately I knew it was her. The moment that I saw her.

ZAHN: And you could tell that her appearance had been altered somewhat, right? Her hair was shorter than the pictures you had seen of her.

LEON: Correct. Correct.

ZAHN: How much did you know about the case?

LEON: I knew a lot about the case, because I had been watching it on TV, but when she came into the clinic, you know, I noticed a lot of things that weren't right. When a parent brings a baby to clinic, they act a certain way, and this lady was, like, hiding the baby at the beginning, and she wouldn't even talk to me, so I knew there was something not right. So, as I said before, it was my second day on the job, and I didn't ask a question that I needed to ask, and when I approached her, and I got near her, and I asked her that question, she -- she didn't give me an answer, and that is when I saw the baby's face, and the baby was all dirty, and her

hair seemed all disarrayed, and not right. And when I saw her face, I knew immediately it was her.

ZAHN: So what is the first thing you did, then?

LEON: It is just -- I turned around, and I said, Oh, my God, inside my mind. I need to call the police.

ZAHN: So as you were doing that, tell us what was going on inside the clinic, because you all had to find a way to stall this process so you could make sure investigators were there in time.

LEON: Correct.

ZAHN: Jim, do you want to weigh in on that?

JIM MANGIA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ST. JOHNS WELL CHILD CENTER: Yes. I mean, essentially what happened was -- I mean, Denise was so quick thinking, so they intercomed back and told us in the back what was going on. As I was going to the front to tell Denise to call 911, she had already called, we immediately told the nurse practitioner to take the child and the parent into the examining room, and to do the longest physical exam that she had ever done in the history of her life to stall for the police.

Denise called the police a second time. In the meantime, we stationed members of the clinic at the front of the clinic to block her exit, and we asked the deputy director to exit the clinic and stand out front in case the woman left, and follow her, and keep calling 911 with where she was.

The medical assistants went into the room -- at one point, the woman left the examining room and it seemed like she was trying to leave the clinic. So, one of our clinic supervisors literally blocked her exit with her body, and then the -- and she said, you can't leave the clinic without the child. And the woman said, Well, then let me use your bathroom. And so we pointed her to the bathroom, and at this point, the medical assistants went into the examining room and asked the girl what her name was, and she said, "My name is Jessica," and they said, Is this your mom? And she said no.

So at that point, we called 911 again to express the urgency of the situation, and then we had our deputy director call 911 again, and it was soon after the woman went back to the examining room that the police arrived and confirmed that it was Jessica Cortez.

ZAHN: What is your sense that she sort of caught on, that you might have known she wasn't the mother, and she would have bolted? Or do you think her intent really was to get medical help for this little girl, and she hoped to leave with the little girl?

MANGIA: I think it was both. I think, on the one hand, it seemed like she brought the girl in because the girl had a sore throat and she wanted to get a physical exam. There has been a lot of speculation here in

Los Angeles that perhaps she was going to bring her across the border, and be involved in, you know, in the selling of babies. Who knows? But at one point, I think she caught on to the fact that we had some suspicion, but when we blocked her exit, it seemed to me -- I don't know what you think, Denise, it seemed to me that she was resolved to that.

LEON: She couldn't go anywhere, Jim. There was nowhere. She couldn't climb out of the window.

ZAHN: The most amazing thing about this, Denise, is none of this might have gone into action had you not been the one who recognized Jessica off the bat, and I'm wondering if you have had some sleepless nights. If you had missed some of these news accounts, this might not have been the fate of baby Jessica.

LEON: I'm happy that I was able to recognize her quickly and immediately so I could alert 911, and do what I did. I didn't think about it two times. I had to do what I had to do, and I did what I did.

ZAHN: So Jim, is she is going to become a lifer? Are you going to give her the best bonus package any employee has ever received at your place?

MANGIA: Of course.

ZAHN: On the record this morning?

MANGIA: I mean, St. John's Well Child Center serves tens of thousands of children every year. We provide free medical and dental services for poor children and their families, and Denise is a hero, and everyone at our clinic is a hero because we were all do this every day, and what Denise did that day is really reflective of what we do every day, and I think what was so touching yesterday was that hundreds and hundreds of members of the community organized a march in our neighborhood, and came into the clinic, hundreds of people, with flowers for Denise and myself and other members of the staff, and all of the e-mails that we have been getting, and hundreds of phone calls, and dozens of bouquets of flowers from around the country, and I think what we want to say to people out there is that this is what we do every day. And obviously, you know, this was Denise's second day, so this is probably the best personnel decision that I have ever made as a director of the clinic, but it was clear that Denise was on her toes and that she carries the mission of the clinic, which is to care for the poor in this country, and in Los Angeles, and that is why we are so proud of what she did and what we did.

ZAHN: Well, let me tell you we have great respect for all of you out there, and Denise, he didn't answer my question about the raise, but know that we are all saluting you.

LEON: I know that, I know that. He didn't answer.

ZAHN: You guys can fight after we leave you off air here, but again, it is no surprise that you got the kind of response you did in your

community, because it is a wonderful thing that you did. Jim Mangia, Denise Leon, thank you for your time this morning, and continued good luck to you and all the folks at the clinic who worked so hard to make sure this little girl was safe.

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