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American Morning
Police Suspect Foul Play in Disappearance of Boy's Mother
Aired January 31, 2003 - 08:19 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: Now back to the case of that 3-year-old boy abandoned at a Salt Lake City department store. Police now do suspect foul play in the disappearance of the boy's mother, Jeanette Corpuz. They are calling it a potential homicide investigation.
Meanwhile, Lyle Montgomery, the boy's stepfather, is charged with child abuse for allegedly leaving the little boy alone in the store. And now authorities are looking into whether he was involved in the disappearance of the boy's mother.
Thelma Gutierrez joins us now from Reno, Nevada -- good morning, Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
You're right, they are looking into foul play, because they say that this couple had a very troubled past. They say that they were on the verge of divorce. Now, they believe that 28-year-old Jeanette Corpuz may have met with foul play because of physical evidence that was found in the home that she shared with her husband, Lyle Montgomery.
The 42-year-old licensed pharmacist was led away from his Reno home on Wednesday. Montgomery became the focus of a national manhunt after he was allegedly seen abandoning his 3-year-old stepson, Jason Corpuz, at a department store in Salt Lake City.
Now, the boy's mother, Jeanette Corpuz, has not been seen since January 13th and police say they are very concerned because the couple had a history of domestic violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JERRY HOOVER, RENO, NEVADA POLICE: Evidence that we have discovered during the search warrant, and, again, I can't discuss what that evidence is, but it would certainly lead us to believe that there was foul play.
MARC PICKER, ATTORNEY FOR LYLE MONTGOMERY: I don't know what's happened to Mrs. Montgomery and I don't think the Reno Police Department knows what has happened to Mrs. Montgomery. She certainly has a history of disappearing, not telling anybody and then reappearing. I think it's very premature for the police department to make a claim that they're treating the case as a homicide when they really have no evidence to support that kind of conclusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GUTIERREZ: And that was Marc Picker, attorney for Lyle Montgomery, who talked with Paula early this morning.
Now, police do say that while Jeanette Corpuz did occasionally leave town, she never left town without her 3-year-old son. Again, Paula, as you have mentioned, Lyle Montgomery is in a psychiatric hospital this morning after he was involuntarily committed yesterday by doctors after taking prescription drugs and alcohol and after suffering a reaction to that -- Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Yes, in fact, I asked the question directly of Mr. Picker whether he felt his client had attempted suicide. He said no, that he had just mixed some valium with alcohol in the wrong proportions.
I want to come back to something you were saying about Mrs. Corpuz. I also asked him directly if these reports were true that after only being married for, what, a month or so that Lyle Montgomery admitted he was going to divorce her and perhaps she was in the process of even relocating. Is anybody there confirming that other than one of the Salt Lake City papers?
GUTIERREZ: No, Paula. We have not heard that from people out here. But you're right. They say the couple was about to divorce. They say that Jeanette Corpuz possibly was heading to northern California, but no one to substantiate that just yet. They say that they are looking for her parents to try to find out whether or not she was heading toward Reading, California -- back to you.
ZAHN: Thelma Gutierrez reporting, and very early indeed, from Salt Lake City this morning.
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 - 08:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to the case of that 3-year-old boy abandoned at a Salt Lake City department store. Police now do suspect foul play in the disappearance of the boy's mother, Jeanette Corpuz. They are calling it a potential homicide investigation.
Meanwhile, Lyle Montgomery, the boy's stepfather, is charged with child abuse for allegedly leaving the little boy alone in the store. And now authorities are looking into whether he was involved in the disappearance of the boy's mother.
Thelma Gutierrez joins us now from Reno, Nevada -- good morning, Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
You're right, they are looking into foul play, because they say that this couple had a very troubled past. They say that they were on the verge of divorce. Now, they believe that 28-year-old Jeanette Corpuz may have met with foul play because of physical evidence that was found in the home that she shared with her husband, Lyle Montgomery.
The 42-year-old licensed pharmacist was led away from his Reno home on Wednesday. Montgomery became the focus of a national manhunt after he was allegedly seen abandoning his 3-year-old stepson, Jason Corpuz, at a department store in Salt Lake City.
Now, the boy's mother, Jeanette Corpuz, has not been seen since January 13th and police say they are very concerned because the couple had a history of domestic violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JERRY HOOVER, RENO, NEVADA POLICE: Evidence that we have discovered during the search warrant, and, again, I can't discuss what that evidence is, but it would certainly lead us to believe that there was foul play.
MARC PICKER, ATTORNEY FOR LYLE MONTGOMERY: I don't know what's happened to Mrs. Montgomery and I don't think the Reno Police Department knows what has happened to Mrs. Montgomery. She certainly has a history of disappearing, not telling anybody and then reappearing. I think it's very premature for the police department to make a claim that they're treating the case as a homicide when they really have no evidence to support that kind of conclusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GUTIERREZ: And that was Marc Picker, attorney for Lyle Montgomery, who talked with Paula early this morning.
Now, police do say that while Jeanette Corpuz did occasionally leave town, she never left town without her 3-year-old son. Again, Paula, as you have mentioned, Lyle Montgomery is in a psychiatric hospital this morning after he was involuntarily committed yesterday by doctors after taking prescription drugs and alcohol and after suffering a reaction to that -- Paula, back to you.
ZAHN: Yes, in fact, I asked the question directly of Mr. Picker whether he felt his client had attempted suicide. He said no, that he had just mixed some valium with alcohol in the wrong proportions.
I want to come back to something you were saying about Mrs. Corpuz. I also asked him directly if these reports were true that after only being married for, what, a month or so that Lyle Montgomery admitted he was going to divorce her and perhaps she was in the process of even relocating. Is anybody there confirming that other than one of the Salt Lake City papers?
GUTIERREZ: No, Paula. We have not heard that from people out here. But you're right. They say the couple was about to divorce. They say that Jeanette Corpuz possibly was heading to northern California, but no one to substantiate that just yet. They say that they are looking for her parents to try to find out whether or not she was heading toward Reading, California -- back to you.
ZAHN: Thelma Gutierrez reporting, and very early indeed, from Salt Lake City this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
