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American Morning

Missing Persons

Aired January 03, 2003 - 09:06   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: As the hunt for Laci Peterson does go on, more than a week after her disappearance, are the hopes for finding her fading?
Marc Klaas, who's daughter, Polly, was abducted and murdered back in 1993, is an advocate for child safety and the rights of crime victims, and he joins us from San Francisco.

Good to you your, Mark. Happy New Year to you.

MARC KLAAS, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Thank you, Leon. Happy New Year to you.

HARRIS: You, I'm really not comfortable jumping on the -- on Scott Peterson here. The press has been pretty much casting a lot of aspersions on him, but I have to think it does look a bit suspicious for the police to come right out and say it first, that he was not a suspect, that they had a boat ramp receipt that proved his alibi actually did hold up. But now to see them come back publish these pictures and very tenderly treat him as if he is a suspect here, what do you make of that?

KLAAS: I think, first of all, law enforcement in Modesto knows these cases. They have dealt with the Chandra Levy case, although not directly. They had deal with the Sun Paloso (ph) case very directly, so they've got a lot of experience in these high-profile disappearances and kidnappings. They know exactly what they're doing.

Six million people live in the Bay area, Leon. Somebody had to have seen this young man in his boat, and they're just looking for a couple of people that can say -- that can verify his story and say, yes, indeed, he was here, and then they can move on. What they're doing right now is they're doing parallel investigations, and until they can eliminate the various possibilities, Scott Peterson being one of them, it's going to be difficult for them to put all of their investigative force behind what actually did happen to Laci Peterson.

HARRIS: Are you surprised there haven't been any real clues that have turned up in the last week?

KLAAS: Not really. These are some of the most difficult kinds of cases, as we all know, to solve. If somebody disappears, you are going to be looking at family members, because that's most often where the crime was committed. You are going to be looking at friends, neighbors, peripheral contacts, registered sex offenders in the community and that, finally, the most difficult of all to solve which, would be the stranger scenario. So they have an awful lot of directions to go, and it's a formidable task that we are looking at right now.

HARRIS: You know, there's a big difference between the way these families that are involved in this case are handling this one, versus the way we saw that Danielle Van Dam family's handle what they went to, and that case is actually coming to court today. David Westerfield is going to be sentenced today. What do you make the way the difference the between the way that the families are handling this, and would you have any suggestions for the Peterson family?

KLAAS: Oh, absolutely. If people will remember back, the Van Dams were under unbelievable pressure and unbelievable scrutiny. The rumors were flying about them. Yet, they found the strength every day, Mr. And Mrs. Van Dam, found the strength every day to stand in front of the reporters and make a plea for their daughter's safety. And I would counsel Scott Peterson to do exactly what they did. They knew that their daughter needed them more than she had ever needed them before, and they found it within themselves to do that. That was a textbook case of how a disappearance should be handled from almost every level.

HARRIS: Buy know, if Scott Peterson is as distraught as the family is saying that he is, wouldn't going in front of the media on a daily basis make that even worse?

KLAAS: I don't know about that. You know, Leon, I had to look for my daughter for 65 days, and just getting through that is one of the things that I take credit for, but I knew I had to do. I had to humanize her, I had to make the case for her, I had to find the strength within myself, just as the Van Dams, just as John Walsh did, just as so many parents do, so many family members do throughout our history, that I think that Scott should really take a look and see how these things have been handled and follow suit.

HARRIS: Interesting. Well, finally, what do you think is going to happen today in court when David Westerfield actually gets sentenced today? We know that the judge has the option now of not accepting the jury's recommendation of a death sentence here.

KLAAS: Well, he'll definitely be sentenced to death. I would just be stunned if he went any other way. But Damon and Brenda will be able to make their victim impact statements, for the first time, they will be able to talk about exactly how this has destroyed their lives, and I know they are looking forward to getting past this, they're looking forward to being able to move forward with their lives, without having to put so much consideration into this monster David Westerfield. The things he has done to them, the way that he has allowed them to dangle over the past year is a crime of its own kind. This guy will rot in Hell for all eternity, and we will all be better off never having to deal with him again.

HARRIS: We'll see what the judge does later on today.

Marc Klaas of the Klaaskids Foundation, thank you very much. Happy New Year to you. KLAAS: Thank you, Leon. You, too.

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 January 3, 2003 - 09:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: As the hunt for Laci Peterson does go on, more than a week after her disappearance, are the hopes for finding her fading?
Marc Klaas, who's daughter, Polly, was abducted and murdered back in 1993, is an advocate for child safety and the rights of crime victims, and he joins us from San Francisco.

Good to you your, Mark. Happy New Year to you.

MARC KLAAS, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Thank you, Leon. Happy New Year to you.

HARRIS: You, I'm really not comfortable jumping on the -- on Scott Peterson here. The press has been pretty much casting a lot of aspersions on him, but I have to think it does look a bit suspicious for the police to come right out and say it first, that he was not a suspect, that they had a boat ramp receipt that proved his alibi actually did hold up. But now to see them come back publish these pictures and very tenderly treat him as if he is a suspect here, what do you make of that?

KLAAS: I think, first of all, law enforcement in Modesto knows these cases. They have dealt with the Chandra Levy case, although not directly. They had deal with the Sun Paloso (ph) case very directly, so they've got a lot of experience in these high-profile disappearances and kidnappings. They know exactly what they're doing.

Six million people live in the Bay area, Leon. Somebody had to have seen this young man in his boat, and they're just looking for a couple of people that can say -- that can verify his story and say, yes, indeed, he was here, and then they can move on. What they're doing right now is they're doing parallel investigations, and until they can eliminate the various possibilities, Scott Peterson being one of them, it's going to be difficult for them to put all of their investigative force behind what actually did happen to Laci Peterson.

HARRIS: Are you surprised there haven't been any real clues that have turned up in the last week?

KLAAS: Not really. These are some of the most difficult kinds of cases, as we all know, to solve. If somebody disappears, you are going to be looking at family members, because that's most often where the crime was committed. You are going to be looking at friends, neighbors, peripheral contacts, registered sex offenders in the community and that, finally, the most difficult of all to solve which, would be the stranger scenario. So they have an awful lot of directions to go, and it's a formidable task that we are looking at right now.

HARRIS: You know, there's a big difference between the way these families that are involved in this case are handling this one, versus the way we saw that Danielle Van Dam family's handle what they went to, and that case is actually coming to court today. David Westerfield is going to be sentenced today. What do you make the way the difference the between the way that the families are handling this, and would you have any suggestions for the Peterson family?

KLAAS: Oh, absolutely. If people will remember back, the Van Dams were under unbelievable pressure and unbelievable scrutiny. The rumors were flying about them. Yet, they found the strength every day, Mr. And Mrs. Van Dam, found the strength every day to stand in front of the reporters and make a plea for their daughter's safety. And I would counsel Scott Peterson to do exactly what they did. They knew that their daughter needed them more than she had ever needed them before, and they found it within themselves to do that. That was a textbook case of how a disappearance should be handled from almost every level.

HARRIS: Buy know, if Scott Peterson is as distraught as the family is saying that he is, wouldn't going in front of the media on a daily basis make that even worse?

KLAAS: I don't know about that. You know, Leon, I had to look for my daughter for 65 days, and just getting through that is one of the things that I take credit for, but I knew I had to do. I had to humanize her, I had to make the case for her, I had to find the strength within myself, just as the Van Dams, just as John Walsh did, just as so many parents do, so many family members do throughout our history, that I think that Scott should really take a look and see how these things have been handled and follow suit.

HARRIS: Interesting. Well, finally, what do you think is going to happen today in court when David Westerfield actually gets sentenced today? We know that the judge has the option now of not accepting the jury's recommendation of a death sentence here.

KLAAS: Well, he'll definitely be sentenced to death. I would just be stunned if he went any other way. But Damon and Brenda will be able to make their victim impact statements, for the first time, they will be able to talk about exactly how this has destroyed their lives, and I know they are looking forward to getting past this, they're looking forward to being able to move forward with their lives, without having to put so much consideration into this monster David Westerfield. The things he has done to them, the way that he has allowed them to dangle over the past year is a crime of its own kind. This guy will rot in Hell for all eternity, and we will all be better off never having to deal with him again.

HARRIS: We'll see what the judge does later on today.

Marc Klaas of the Klaaskids Foundation, thank you very much. Happy New Year to you. KLAAS: Thank you, Leon. You, too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com