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American Morning

Who is Mateo?

Aired May 23, 2003 - 07:08   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Bakersfield, California, still have no clues in their search for the family of a little boy. He says his name is Mateo, and he's believed to be about 2 years old and was found wandering the streets of the city Sunday night.
Here is CNN's Charles Feldman with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who is Mateo? Where did he come from? Where is his family? Among the urgent questions being asked by police in this town some 100 miles from Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen this baby in the neighborhood at all?

FELDMAN: The boy, who speaks some Spanish and even less English, was found Sunday night.

DET. HERMAN CALDAS, BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: A citizen was driving by one of our local streets in this area, Monterrey Street and Haley Street, and observed a child all by himself. There was no parent to care for this baby.

FELDMAN: The boy is believed to be about 2 years old, was well- dressed when found, and apparently very healthy.

SGT. MITCH WILLOUGHBY, BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: Mateo is a very loving child. He's very affection. His behavior tells us that he's had a lot of attention.

FELDMAN: Officials in Bakersfield tell CNN they have never seen a case like this, and they worry that perhaps Mateo's parent or parents were victims of foul play. They also raise the possibility that Mateo's home is in Mexico, and he was left abandoned for as yet unknown reasons.

Mateo has indicated he has two brothers and a dog, but police tell CNN he strangely has not answered direct questions about his parents. For now, he has been placed in a foster home.

MARK ARNOLD, KERN COUNTRY PUBLIC DEFENDER: We will have no shortage, I assure you, in this county with parents coming forward prepared to adopt this kid, should it go that far.

FELDMAN: Police say many people have called claiming to know something about the boy, but, so far no tip has helped solve the mystery of the boy they call Mateo.

Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: For the latest now on the search for answers in this case, police Detective Herman Calder joins us now from Bakersfield, California.

Good morning to you, detective. I know that your department has run through several different scenarios on what could have possibly happened to this little boy. What are some of them?

CALDAS: Yes. Well, one would be that the parents might be ill or something has happened to the parents. The second scenario would be that he was left behind in the city of Bakersfield. The other scenario we've explored is that he was left in the care of someone here in the city of Bakersfield and something might have happened to that person. We just don't know at this point.

COLLINS: Right. I'm sure it's incredibly frustrating, and we understand from the piece from Charles Feldman that you have never seen anything like this before. We're wondering a little bit, though, about his personality. What is this little boy like?

CALDAS: Well, he's a very charming child. He stole my heart on Tuesday when I had an interview with him. Very affectionate. He appears to be in good health, clean clothes, and a very personable child.

COLLINS: Do you have any sort of confidence that some leads will come through? I know they've been really hard to come by so far.

CALDAS: I'm hoping that with this media program that the media has assisted us, I'm hoping someone has seen this child or knows the parents.

COLLINS: And I know also that some of the authorities have put Mateo in a nationwide database called the TRAC system. Can you tell us about that, and what you hope to gain from that?

CALDAS: Yes. The TRAC system is the acronym for Technology to Recover Abducted Children, and in this case, we are using it to attempt to find the parents of this child. This is like a digital teletype that the photo of the child is sent to all local, state and federal agencies nationwide, along with the FBI, the Department of Justice, in attempts to get some feedback from those agencies to locate this child -- child's parents.

COLLINS: Detective, you say that Mateo has just absolutely stolen your heart. If you had a moment to say something to his parents right now, what would it be?

CALDAS: I think this child needs to be reunited with his parents. This is not the end of the world and things can be worked out. If you could, please call us. COLLINS: And as a reminder, that number, you see it there on the bottom of your screen, this is the police department in Bakersfield, the communications there, 661-327-7111. Trying to learn more about Mateo.

Detective Herman Caldas from the Bakersfield Police Department, thanks so much this morning.

CALDAS: Thank you, ma'am.

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 May 23, 2003 - 07:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Police in Bakersfield, California, still have no clues in their search for the family of a little boy. He says his name is Mateo, and he's believed to be about 2 years old and was found wandering the streets of the city Sunday night.
Here is CNN's Charles Feldman with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who is Mateo? Where did he come from? Where is his family? Among the urgent questions being asked by police in this town some 100 miles from Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen this baby in the neighborhood at all?

FELDMAN: The boy, who speaks some Spanish and even less English, was found Sunday night.

DET. HERMAN CALDAS, BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: A citizen was driving by one of our local streets in this area, Monterrey Street and Haley Street, and observed a child all by himself. There was no parent to care for this baby.

FELDMAN: The boy is believed to be about 2 years old, was well- dressed when found, and apparently very healthy.

SGT. MITCH WILLOUGHBY, BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: Mateo is a very loving child. He's very affection. His behavior tells us that he's had a lot of attention.

FELDMAN: Officials in Bakersfield tell CNN they have never seen a case like this, and they worry that perhaps Mateo's parent or parents were victims of foul play. They also raise the possibility that Mateo's home is in Mexico, and he was left abandoned for as yet unknown reasons.

Mateo has indicated he has two brothers and a dog, but police tell CNN he strangely has not answered direct questions about his parents. For now, he has been placed in a foster home.

MARK ARNOLD, KERN COUNTRY PUBLIC DEFENDER: We will have no shortage, I assure you, in this county with parents coming forward prepared to adopt this kid, should it go that far.

FELDMAN: Police say many people have called claiming to know something about the boy, but, so far no tip has helped solve the mystery of the boy they call Mateo.

Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: For the latest now on the search for answers in this case, police Detective Herman Calder joins us now from Bakersfield, California.

Good morning to you, detective. I know that your department has run through several different scenarios on what could have possibly happened to this little boy. What are some of them?

CALDAS: Yes. Well, one would be that the parents might be ill or something has happened to the parents. The second scenario would be that he was left behind in the city of Bakersfield. The other scenario we've explored is that he was left in the care of someone here in the city of Bakersfield and something might have happened to that person. We just don't know at this point.

COLLINS: Right. I'm sure it's incredibly frustrating, and we understand from the piece from Charles Feldman that you have never seen anything like this before. We're wondering a little bit, though, about his personality. What is this little boy like?

CALDAS: Well, he's a very charming child. He stole my heart on Tuesday when I had an interview with him. Very affectionate. He appears to be in good health, clean clothes, and a very personable child.

COLLINS: Do you have any sort of confidence that some leads will come through? I know they've been really hard to come by so far.

CALDAS: I'm hoping that with this media program that the media has assisted us, I'm hoping someone has seen this child or knows the parents.

COLLINS: And I know also that some of the authorities have put Mateo in a nationwide database called the TRAC system. Can you tell us about that, and what you hope to gain from that?

CALDAS: Yes. The TRAC system is the acronym for Technology to Recover Abducted Children, and in this case, we are using it to attempt to find the parents of this child. This is like a digital teletype that the photo of the child is sent to all local, state and federal agencies nationwide, along with the FBI, the Department of Justice, in attempts to get some feedback from those agencies to locate this child -- child's parents.

COLLINS: Detective, you say that Mateo has just absolutely stolen your heart. If you had a moment to say something to his parents right now, what would it be?

CALDAS: I think this child needs to be reunited with his parents. This is not the end of the world and things can be worked out. If you could, please call us. COLLINS: And as a reminder, that number, you see it there on the bottom of your screen, this is the police department in Bakersfield, the communications there, 661-327-7111. Trying to learn more about Mateo.

Detective Herman Caldas from the Bakersfield Police Department, thanks so much this morning.

CALDAS: Thank you, ma'am.

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