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American Morning
Man Who Allegedly Abandoned Stepson in Custody
Aired January 30, 2003 - 08:17 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The man who allegedly abandoned his 3- year-old stepson in a Utah department store is in custody this morning. Lyle Montgomery surrendered on Wednesday to FBI agents in Nevada. He is not under arrest. The boy, Jonathan Jacob Corpuz, identified Montgomery as the man who brought him into the Salt Lake City store on Saturday and then left without him. Authorities say the boy's mother is missing.
Joining us now with the latest developments, Salt Lake City Police Lieutenant Jim Jensen.
Thank you very much for joining us, Lieutenant.
Lieutenant, describe to us the process you went through to get the little boy to tell you that, indeed, it was his stepfather, he says, who dropped him off at the store.
LT. JIM JENSEN, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We have detectives that are specially trained to interview young children. We followed those procedures. I'm not going to get into the details of it. But we're confident that we have identified him with that information and with the video and things that we had as the individual that had dropped Jonathan Jacob off at the department store.
ZAHN: Without betraying all the techniques you used, just describe to us the mental state this little boy was in. Obviously he had just undergone this traumatic couple of days where he was dropped off at this department store and now in the hands of loving foster parents. What was his state of mind at the point that you went through this exercise?
JENSEN: Remarkably well adjusted, Paula, for the circumstances, as we understand them. He's with a foster family now, as you said. He seems to be doing well under the circumstances and we hope to reunite him with some of his family soon.
ZAHN: What do you know about Lyle Montgomery, the man he identified as the man who abandoned him at the store?
JENSEN: We know very little about him personally. Our communications with Reno P.D. and the FBI out of the Reno office would indicate that they had a relationship. I've heard that they were possibly married recently and he would be, in fact, as we understand it, the child's stepfather.
ZAHN: The child's stepfather. OK. What do you know about the child's biological father? JENSEN: I know that he lives somewhere in California. We have been in telephone contact with him. I know that last night he spoke briefly with his son here and I think they're anxious for a reunion.
ZAHN: And you just described a relatively new marriage between, I guess what you believe is Jacob's mother and Lyle Montgomery. Where is the mom?
JENSEN: Excuse me?
ZAHN: Where is his mother?
JENSEN: Well, that's the big mystery. We don't know. And that's what, of course, causes this great deal of concern that we're all experiencing. Apparently she hasn't been seen for a week to two weeks and her whereabouts are unknown to us.
ZAHN: Are you fearful she's been harmed?
JENSEN: Well, we would hope she hasn't been, but the situation as we understand it doesn't give us much hope in that direction.
ZAHN: And do you have any understanding of whether the biological father now will be given custody of this little boy?
JENSEN: That will be determined by the State of Utah, the Division of Family and Child Services. They have custody. They will be contacting the California authorities, identifying family members, including the father, and determining what's in the best interests of the child.
ZAHN: Finally this morning, do you expect charges to be filed against Lyle Montgomery?
JENSEN: We are going to present our case to the district attorney today in an effort to file charges on child abandonment.
ZAHN: Well, Lieutenant Jim Jensen, I know you've got a lot of work to do today.
Thank you very much for spending a little time with us this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good luck to you.
JENSEN: Thank you.
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 30, 2003 - 08:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The man who allegedly abandoned his 3- year-old stepson in a Utah department store is in custody this morning. Lyle Montgomery surrendered on Wednesday to FBI agents in Nevada. He is not under arrest. The boy, Jonathan Jacob Corpuz, identified Montgomery as the man who brought him into the Salt Lake City store on Saturday and then left without him. Authorities say the boy's mother is missing.
Joining us now with the latest developments, Salt Lake City Police Lieutenant Jim Jensen.
Thank you very much for joining us, Lieutenant.
Lieutenant, describe to us the process you went through to get the little boy to tell you that, indeed, it was his stepfather, he says, who dropped him off at the store.
LT. JIM JENSEN, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We have detectives that are specially trained to interview young children. We followed those procedures. I'm not going to get into the details of it. But we're confident that we have identified him with that information and with the video and things that we had as the individual that had dropped Jonathan Jacob off at the department store.
ZAHN: Without betraying all the techniques you used, just describe to us the mental state this little boy was in. Obviously he had just undergone this traumatic couple of days where he was dropped off at this department store and now in the hands of loving foster parents. What was his state of mind at the point that you went through this exercise?
JENSEN: Remarkably well adjusted, Paula, for the circumstances, as we understand them. He's with a foster family now, as you said. He seems to be doing well under the circumstances and we hope to reunite him with some of his family soon.
ZAHN: What do you know about Lyle Montgomery, the man he identified as the man who abandoned him at the store?
JENSEN: We know very little about him personally. Our communications with Reno P.D. and the FBI out of the Reno office would indicate that they had a relationship. I've heard that they were possibly married recently and he would be, in fact, as we understand it, the child's stepfather.
ZAHN: The child's stepfather. OK. What do you know about the child's biological father? JENSEN: I know that he lives somewhere in California. We have been in telephone contact with him. I know that last night he spoke briefly with his son here and I think they're anxious for a reunion.
ZAHN: And you just described a relatively new marriage between, I guess what you believe is Jacob's mother and Lyle Montgomery. Where is the mom?
JENSEN: Excuse me?
ZAHN: Where is his mother?
JENSEN: Well, that's the big mystery. We don't know. And that's what, of course, causes this great deal of concern that we're all experiencing. Apparently she hasn't been seen for a week to two weeks and her whereabouts are unknown to us.
ZAHN: Are you fearful she's been harmed?
JENSEN: Well, we would hope she hasn't been, but the situation as we understand it doesn't give us much hope in that direction.
ZAHN: And do you have any understanding of whether the biological father now will be given custody of this little boy?
JENSEN: That will be determined by the State of Utah, the Division of Family and Child Services. They have custody. They will be contacting the California authorities, identifying family members, including the father, and determining what's in the best interests of the child.
ZAHN: Finally this morning, do you expect charges to be filed against Lyle Montgomery?
JENSEN: We are going to present our case to the district attorney today in an effort to file charges on child abandonment.
ZAHN: Well, Lieutenant Jim Jensen, I know you've got a lot of work to do today.
Thank you very much for spending a little time with us this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good luck to you.
JENSEN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
