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American Morning
Ongoing Search for Laci Peterson
Aired January 31, 2003 - 09:34 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: We turn our attention now to California and the ongoing search for Laci Peterson. It has been more than a month since she disappeared, and her husband, Scott, has been opening up, speaking with reporters about the case, but it seems the police are not very satisfied with Scott's level of cooperation.
David Mattingly, one of our own correspondents, is standing by live in Modesto with more.
Good morning, David,
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Police here in Modesto still not willing to say anything that might put any credibility in what Scott Peterson is saying to reporters, and they're also cautioning us this morning about putting any unnecessary credibility in a report that's coming out of southern Washington state. Police in Longview, Washington, are saying that a grocery store clerk has come forward now who says she may have waited on Laci Peterson back in December. The clerk says she waited on a pregnant woman who came into the store, but the pregnant woman said she had been kidnapped and to call the authorities.
You'd think the clerk would do that right away, but the clerk says that's not what happened. She became distracted by some work she was doing and just forgot to call police. Now, she's coming forward now, because she saw news reports of Laci's disappearance and she says that jogged her memory.
Police in Longview say that they are obligated to check this out. They're going through the store's surveillance tapes to see if this story does checks out. The police here in Modesto say they haven't received any calls about this, but they tell us they've received 5,700 calls from the public about Laci Peterson since her disappearance back on Christmas Eve, and out of that 5,700 calls, there have been some Laci sightings that obviously didn't pan out. They say, in fact, 92 percent of the calls they're getting are of absolutely no value to them -- Paula.
ZAHN: So share with us this morning, David, what Laci's family now is saying about Scott.
MATTINGLY: Laci's family has not responded since Scott went to the cameras and was talking to reporters a couple of days ago. They said that they were happy that he was finally speaking out publicly, but they do want him to go to police and say everything he knows. Scott Peterson says he's been doing that, that he has been cooperating with police. Police, however, will not elaborate on exactly how much cooperation they're getting from him.
So at this point, it's all Scott Peterson who is doing the talking.
ZAHN: So what is the consensus? What is his status? Is he, or is he not a suspect?
MATTINGLY: He is not officially listed as suspect, and police have been saying the same thing they've been saying since Christmas Eve, that he has not been ruled in or out as a suspect in this case.
ZAHN: You can read plenty into that statement, can't you, David?
MATTINGLY: And people are trying to, believe me.
ZAHN: David Mattingly, reporting on an early morning from Modesto, California. Thanks so much.
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 31, 2003 - 09:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We turn our attention now to California and the ongoing search for Laci Peterson. It has been more than a month since she disappeared, and her husband, Scott, has been opening up, speaking with reporters about the case, but it seems the police are not very satisfied with Scott's level of cooperation.
David Mattingly, one of our own correspondents, is standing by live in Modesto with more.
Good morning, David,
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Police here in Modesto still not willing to say anything that might put any credibility in what Scott Peterson is saying to reporters, and they're also cautioning us this morning about putting any unnecessary credibility in a report that's coming out of southern Washington state. Police in Longview, Washington, are saying that a grocery store clerk has come forward now who says she may have waited on Laci Peterson back in December. The clerk says she waited on a pregnant woman who came into the store, but the pregnant woman said she had been kidnapped and to call the authorities.
You'd think the clerk would do that right away, but the clerk says that's not what happened. She became distracted by some work she was doing and just forgot to call police. Now, she's coming forward now, because she saw news reports of Laci's disappearance and she says that jogged her memory.
Police in Longview say that they are obligated to check this out. They're going through the store's surveillance tapes to see if this story does checks out. The police here in Modesto say they haven't received any calls about this, but they tell us they've received 5,700 calls from the public about Laci Peterson since her disappearance back on Christmas Eve, and out of that 5,700 calls, there have been some Laci sightings that obviously didn't pan out. They say, in fact, 92 percent of the calls they're getting are of absolutely no value to them -- Paula.
ZAHN: So share with us this morning, David, what Laci's family now is saying about Scott.
MATTINGLY: Laci's family has not responded since Scott went to the cameras and was talking to reporters a couple of days ago. They said that they were happy that he was finally speaking out publicly, but they do want him to go to police and say everything he knows. Scott Peterson says he's been doing that, that he has been cooperating with police. Police, however, will not elaborate on exactly how much cooperation they're getting from him.
So at this point, it's all Scott Peterson who is doing the talking.
ZAHN: So what is the consensus? What is his status? Is he, or is he not a suspect?
MATTINGLY: He is not officially listed as suspect, and police have been saying the same thing they've been saying since Christmas Eve, that he has not been ruled in or out as a suspect in this case.
ZAHN: You can read plenty into that statement, can't you, David?
MATTINGLY: And people are trying to, believe me.
ZAHN: David Mattingly, reporting on an early morning from Modesto, California. Thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
