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American Morning
Interview With Eddy Ramirez
Aired July 15, 2003 - 09:21 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A father of two missing children could soon be facing murder charges. Manuel Gehring, who was in the middle of a custody dispute with his ex-wife, was with his two children on July 4 in New Hampshire. It was the last time the children were seen alive. The father turned up six days later in California alone. And now authorities are fearing the worst.
Eddy Ramirez is a reporter with "The Boston Globe" and he has been covering this story since it broke. He joins us from Boston this morning. Eddy, thanks for joining us.
EDDY RAMIREZ, "BOSTON GLOBE": Thank you for having me.
O'BRIEN: Relatively early on authorities said that they were looking for the bodies of these two children as opposed to searching for missing kids. Why make that leap? What evidence do they have, or have you heard that they have, that they are now looking for bodies?
RAMIREZ: You know that remains a major question at this point. Authorities with the New Hampshire attorneys general office are not being specific about what evidence led them to believe that the children were murdered. All they can tell us is that it's an accumulation of evidence found from various sources.
We know from television footage that a shovel was removed from Mr. Gehring's van. But beyond that, it's unclear at this point what exactly has led them to that conclusion.
O'BRIEN: Gehring was arrested in California. Police though are searching parts of Toledo. Why are they focused on that part of the country when they started off in New Hampshire, ended up in California -- at least the father did?
RAMIREZ: And you know that -- we've been pressing the attorney general's office for details on that. All we know is a report from a radio station there that has said that he, Mr. Gehring, bought a shovel there. And so that has led authorities to believe that possibly the bodies may have been dumped there or buried. So at this point that's all we know.
O'BRIEN: Is there any sense Manuel Gehring is being helpful to authorities in this investigation?
RAMIREZ: They've told us that he has been cooperative, but they have not told us whether he confessed to killing the children.
O'BRIEN: Manuel Gehring was involved in a bitter, it's described as, custody dispute with his ex-wife over the two kids, 14-year-old Sarah, 11-year-old Philip. There was a report that there was a big fight right before the Fourth of July. Do you have any details on that?
RAMIREZ: All we know is from what court documents have told us about the custody battle for the two children. And that is that the day after signing a joint custody agreement, Mr. Gehring called Ms. Knight to let her know he was not going to comply with the joint custody agreement. And the phone call was described as Mr. Gehring being very agitated and angry about it.
O'BRIEN: On the Fourth of July witnesses reported seeing Manuel Gehring arguing with his daughter, who's 14, and that both children left the fireworks festivities in tears. Any more information on that from witnesses?
RAMIREZ: At this point, all we know is that the -- I'm sorry. The altercation at the fireworks display was at least noticed by two people who contacted the police afterwards. But at this point, police are asking anybody with -- who may have seen the children and Mr. Gehring after that point to contact them.
We don't know much more else about what happened during that altercation.
O'BRIEN: Eddy, just a quick answer to this. Have you spoken to Manuel Gehring's friends? What have they told you about him?
RAMIREZ: They're all shocked, including his congregation. Nobody can believe that a man who they describe as very adoring, very caring father would do something like that. And I think at this point we're all wondering exactly what would drive him, if in fact it is him, who -- to murder his children.
O'BRIEN: Clearly, clearly many questions in this story. Eddy Ramirez from "The Boston Globe," thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.
RAMIREZ: Thank you, 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 July 15, 2003 - 09:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A father of two missing children could soon be facing murder charges. Manuel Gehring, who was in the middle of a custody dispute with his ex-wife, was with his two children on July 4 in New Hampshire. It was the last time the children were seen alive. The father turned up six days later in California alone. And now authorities are fearing the worst.
Eddy Ramirez is a reporter with "The Boston Globe" and he has been covering this story since it broke. He joins us from Boston this morning. Eddy, thanks for joining us.
EDDY RAMIREZ, "BOSTON GLOBE": Thank you for having me.
O'BRIEN: Relatively early on authorities said that they were looking for the bodies of these two children as opposed to searching for missing kids. Why make that leap? What evidence do they have, or have you heard that they have, that they are now looking for bodies?
RAMIREZ: You know that remains a major question at this point. Authorities with the New Hampshire attorneys general office are not being specific about what evidence led them to believe that the children were murdered. All they can tell us is that it's an accumulation of evidence found from various sources.
We know from television footage that a shovel was removed from Mr. Gehring's van. But beyond that, it's unclear at this point what exactly has led them to that conclusion.
O'BRIEN: Gehring was arrested in California. Police though are searching parts of Toledo. Why are they focused on that part of the country when they started off in New Hampshire, ended up in California -- at least the father did?
RAMIREZ: And you know that -- we've been pressing the attorney general's office for details on that. All we know is a report from a radio station there that has said that he, Mr. Gehring, bought a shovel there. And so that has led authorities to believe that possibly the bodies may have been dumped there or buried. So at this point that's all we know.
O'BRIEN: Is there any sense Manuel Gehring is being helpful to authorities in this investigation?
RAMIREZ: They've told us that he has been cooperative, but they have not told us whether he confessed to killing the children.
O'BRIEN: Manuel Gehring was involved in a bitter, it's described as, custody dispute with his ex-wife over the two kids, 14-year-old Sarah, 11-year-old Philip. There was a report that there was a big fight right before the Fourth of July. Do you have any details on that?
RAMIREZ: All we know is from what court documents have told us about the custody battle for the two children. And that is that the day after signing a joint custody agreement, Mr. Gehring called Ms. Knight to let her know he was not going to comply with the joint custody agreement. And the phone call was described as Mr. Gehring being very agitated and angry about it.
O'BRIEN: On the Fourth of July witnesses reported seeing Manuel Gehring arguing with his daughter, who's 14, and that both children left the fireworks festivities in tears. Any more information on that from witnesses?
RAMIREZ: At this point, all we know is that the -- I'm sorry. The altercation at the fireworks display was at least noticed by two people who contacted the police afterwards. But at this point, police are asking anybody with -- who may have seen the children and Mr. Gehring after that point to contact them.
We don't know much more else about what happened during that altercation.
O'BRIEN: Eddy, just a quick answer to this. Have you spoken to Manuel Gehring's friends? What have they told you about him?
RAMIREZ: They're all shocked, including his congregation. Nobody can believe that a man who they describe as very adoring, very caring father would do something like that. And I think at this point we're all wondering exactly what would drive him, if in fact it is him, who -- to murder his children.
O'BRIEN: Clearly, clearly many questions in this story. Eddy Ramirez from "The Boston Globe," thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.
RAMIREZ: Thank you, 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
