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American Morning

Kidnapped Girl Found

Aired June 09, 2003 - 07:03   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to the best story of the morning again, little Jennette Tamayo. She was safe and in the hands of police earlier today after walking into a convenience store where the shop owner recognized her.
Thelma Gutierrez in Jennette's hometown of San Jose is joining us now for what we are finding out from police and more.

Good morning there.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

And I'm happy to report that I just spoke with the deputy chief of police here in San Jose, and he told us that Jennette Tamayo has now been reunited with her mother here in San Jose in an undisclosed location. He says that she is doing just great, that she is in very, very good spirits. She's able to give quite a lot of information to the investigators, and they say that they are very, very confident that that information will lead them to the suspect at any point.

Now, Jennette Tamayo was found wandering outside of a supermarket, a local supermarket about a block away from a police station in East Palo Alto, which is about half an hour north of where she lives in San Jose. She was discovered shortly before 11:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The shopkeeper apparently recognized Jennette from media reports. He saw her picture and then immediately called police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISA YASIN, OWNS STORE WHERE JENNETTE TURNED UP: She said, "Let me use the phone." I said, 'OK, here's the phone.' And she started dialing the phone, she was panicking, scared, she didn't know how to dial the numbers. I said, 'Let me get the phone and let me dial the number for you.' And so, I dialed the number after that. The number was in the San Jose area.

I asked her, 'How long have you been missing?' She said, "One day." I asked again, 'How long have you been missing?' She said, "Three days." I asked her, 'How old are you?' She said, "9." So, right away I figured out she's the one missing from San Jose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Jennette Tamayo's ordeal began on Friday. Some of it was caught by a neighbor's security camera. She was apparently walking home from school with a friend. Police say the kidnapper was outside of her home waiting for her to return from school. The man then followed her inside, and then backed his car into the garage.

When the mother and brother returned home a short time later, they fought to save her, but then the suspect sped away with Jennette inside, and police say that they believe that she was in the Bay area the entire time.

They also say that that surveillance tape may have played a major role in her safe return.

As for the suspect, he is at-large. Police would only tell us that he was last seen driving a four-dour sedan, either tan or gold. So, that information is a little bit vague right at this point.

They plan on making a statement at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

Bill -- back to you.

HEMMER: Thelma, thanks. Thelma Gutierrez is there in San Jose.

A bit earlier today, I talked with the deputy San Jose police chief, Rob Davis, about the investigation, specifically what the girl said when she walked in that convenience store.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB DAVIS, DEPUTY CHIEF, SAN JOSE POLICE: She basically was very fearful. She said that she needed to call her mother, and she asked for some assistance from the clerk of the market that she went into. He was very helpful, offered a telephone for her to be able to use. And then he realized that this was the girl that was missing and facilitated the call to the police department.

HEMMER: The store owner has said that she walked in there saying, "Please don't call the cops, please don't call the cops," said it two or three times. What does that indicate to you?

DAVIS: Well, clearly there was some fear that was involved. I mean, we know what the suspect did at the home in terms of beating the mother and the brother, so we know that the suspect was actually terrorizing the young woman. So, clearly she was afraid and was fearful. Perhaps he had said something to her that made her believe that she couldn't call the police. But luckily things worked out for us the way they did.

HEMMER: Did anyone see the man drop her off?

DAVIS: To the best of my knowledge at this point, no. We're still in the process of trying to determine if there were other witnesses.

HEMMER: Yes, how is her condition, Chief?

DAVIS: She's in great condition. I mean, for having gone what she's gone through, she is one courageous young lady, I've got to tell you. She's been very helpful to us. We've been able to get a lot of information from her, but she's doing really well, and she's being reunited with her family.

HEMMER: Do you believe at this time she was physically harmed?

DAVIS: We have some details about that. We don't want to go into too much detail because we're still on the front end of the investigation. Clearly, we need to talk with the suspect, and we want to make sure that we're keeping some of that information in a manner that we can ask questions and get the information we need without giving away too much in detail at this point.

HEMMER: What did Jennette say about where she went over the past three days?

DAVIS: She's given us some detail in terms of where she was. She's given us some very good leads, because there are leads still at this point. As we speak, we're in the process of following up on the information that she has given us.

We do know that she was generally in the Bay area, and we're just following up from this point.

HEMMER: We have a description here. He's in his 30s, early 40s, 5 foot 2 to 5 foot 5, about 160 pounds. It doesn't appear that there is much to go on with that description. Is there anything better than what we've been offered so far?

DAVIS: I'd say without going into too much great detail, I think based upon what we've been able to learn from the girl thus far, from Jennette thus far, I feel pretty confident that we're going to be able to do some follow up that will eventually lead us to the identity of this individual.

HEMMER: How often do you hear stories end up like we have seen now?

DAVIS: It's difficult. We're just ecstatic. I mean, the main goal that we had all along was to try and find her as soon as we can. She's been found. She's safe. She's in good spirits. She's being reunited with her family. Clearly, we have a lot of work to do in terms of determining who the suspect is and getting him in custody. But at this point, simply knowing that she's alive and she's in safe hands now, everything else from this point is gravy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Chief Davis from San Jose.

We do expect, based on Thelma Gutierrez's reporting there in California, a statement could come out at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, which is about 50 minutes from now. We'll get it to you as soon as we get it here.

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 June 9, 2003 - 07:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to the best story of the morning again, little Jennette Tamayo. She was safe and in the hands of police earlier today after walking into a convenience store where the shop owner recognized her.
Thelma Gutierrez in Jennette's hometown of San Jose is joining us now for what we are finding out from police and more.

Good morning there.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

And I'm happy to report that I just spoke with the deputy chief of police here in San Jose, and he told us that Jennette Tamayo has now been reunited with her mother here in San Jose in an undisclosed location. He says that she is doing just great, that she is in very, very good spirits. She's able to give quite a lot of information to the investigators, and they say that they are very, very confident that that information will lead them to the suspect at any point.

Now, Jennette Tamayo was found wandering outside of a supermarket, a local supermarket about a block away from a police station in East Palo Alto, which is about half an hour north of where she lives in San Jose. She was discovered shortly before 11:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The shopkeeper apparently recognized Jennette from media reports. He saw her picture and then immediately called police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISA YASIN, OWNS STORE WHERE JENNETTE TURNED UP: She said, "Let me use the phone." I said, 'OK, here's the phone.' And she started dialing the phone, she was panicking, scared, she didn't know how to dial the numbers. I said, 'Let me get the phone and let me dial the number for you.' And so, I dialed the number after that. The number was in the San Jose area.

I asked her, 'How long have you been missing?' She said, "One day." I asked again, 'How long have you been missing?' She said, "Three days." I asked her, 'How old are you?' She said, "9." So, right away I figured out she's the one missing from San Jose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Jennette Tamayo's ordeal began on Friday. Some of it was caught by a neighbor's security camera. She was apparently walking home from school with a friend. Police say the kidnapper was outside of her home waiting for her to return from school. The man then followed her inside, and then backed his car into the garage.

When the mother and brother returned home a short time later, they fought to save her, but then the suspect sped away with Jennette inside, and police say that they believe that she was in the Bay area the entire time.

They also say that that surveillance tape may have played a major role in her safe return.

As for the suspect, he is at-large. Police would only tell us that he was last seen driving a four-dour sedan, either tan or gold. So, that information is a little bit vague right at this point.

They plan on making a statement at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

Bill -- back to you.

HEMMER: Thelma, thanks. Thelma Gutierrez is there in San Jose.

A bit earlier today, I talked with the deputy San Jose police chief, Rob Davis, about the investigation, specifically what the girl said when she walked in that convenience store.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB DAVIS, DEPUTY CHIEF, SAN JOSE POLICE: She basically was very fearful. She said that she needed to call her mother, and she asked for some assistance from the clerk of the market that she went into. He was very helpful, offered a telephone for her to be able to use. And then he realized that this was the girl that was missing and facilitated the call to the police department.

HEMMER: The store owner has said that she walked in there saying, "Please don't call the cops, please don't call the cops," said it two or three times. What does that indicate to you?

DAVIS: Well, clearly there was some fear that was involved. I mean, we know what the suspect did at the home in terms of beating the mother and the brother, so we know that the suspect was actually terrorizing the young woman. So, clearly she was afraid and was fearful. Perhaps he had said something to her that made her believe that she couldn't call the police. But luckily things worked out for us the way they did.

HEMMER: Did anyone see the man drop her off?

DAVIS: To the best of my knowledge at this point, no. We're still in the process of trying to determine if there were other witnesses.

HEMMER: Yes, how is her condition, Chief?

DAVIS: She's in great condition. I mean, for having gone what she's gone through, she is one courageous young lady, I've got to tell you. She's been very helpful to us. We've been able to get a lot of information from her, but she's doing really well, and she's being reunited with her family.

HEMMER: Do you believe at this time she was physically harmed?

DAVIS: We have some details about that. We don't want to go into too much detail because we're still on the front end of the investigation. Clearly, we need to talk with the suspect, and we want to make sure that we're keeping some of that information in a manner that we can ask questions and get the information we need without giving away too much in detail at this point.

HEMMER: What did Jennette say about where she went over the past three days?

DAVIS: She's given us some detail in terms of where she was. She's given us some very good leads, because there are leads still at this point. As we speak, we're in the process of following up on the information that she has given us.

We do know that she was generally in the Bay area, and we're just following up from this point.

HEMMER: We have a description here. He's in his 30s, early 40s, 5 foot 2 to 5 foot 5, about 160 pounds. It doesn't appear that there is much to go on with that description. Is there anything better than what we've been offered so far?

DAVIS: I'd say without going into too much great detail, I think based upon what we've been able to learn from the girl thus far, from Jennette thus far, I feel pretty confident that we're going to be able to do some follow up that will eventually lead us to the identity of this individual.

HEMMER: How often do you hear stories end up like we have seen now?

DAVIS: It's difficult. We're just ecstatic. I mean, the main goal that we had all along was to try and find her as soon as we can. She's been found. She's safe. She's in good spirits. She's being reunited with her family. Clearly, we have a lot of work to do in terms of determining who the suspect is and getting him in custody. But at this point, simply knowing that she's alive and she's in safe hands now, everything else from this point is gravy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Chief Davis from San Jose.

We do expect, based on Thelma Gutierrez's reporting there in California, a statement could come out at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, which is about 50 minutes from now. We'll get it to you as soon as we get it here.

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