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American Morning

Kidnap Ordeal

Aired October 08, 2003 - 07:40   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: In Washington, authorities are searching for two suspects who abducted a U.S. senator's wife at knifepoint. Kathleen Gregg, wife of New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, was released unharmed yesterday. Two men took her from her home and forced her to drive to an ATM to withdraw money. Police have released photos of the suspects taken from the bank's surveillance cameras.
And joining us from Fairfax, Virginia, with the latest on the investigation is Chief Thomas Manger of the Fairfax County Police.

Chief Manger, thanks for joining us. Appreciate your time.

CHIEF THOMAS MANGER, FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE: Sure. Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Tell me, first and foremost, how is Mrs. Gregg doing? This has got to be a horrible ordeal for her.

MANGER: It certainly would be a horrible ordeal for any victim of this type of crime. But Mrs. Gregg is doing very well. I spoke with her just for a few moments yesterday evening. She was doing excellent, good spirits and was very fortunate to get through this unharmed.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that. As we mentioned, you've got the surveillance photos. You also have the license plate number of the getaway car. How confident are you that you're going to be able to make an arrest or get really good leads very shortly with this kind of information?

MANGER: Well, we have some very promising leads. As you note, the bank surveillance photo is probably the best lead that we have. We're hoping that someone is able to identify the suspect and give us a call.

We also are working with surrounding jurisdictions. In the last 24 to 48 hours, we've got a couple of different incidents of crimes that have occurred in those jurisdictions involving these two suspects, involving the same vehicle. So, we're piecing together information from those cases as well, and I am fairly confident that we're going to be able to track these two men down.

O'BRIEN: Have you been able to link this particular case to another case that happened on September 29? A woman and her two children were briefly kidnapped and held hostage in a similar type of situation. Are they linked?

MANGER: We're certainly looking at that. There are some similarities to the case, but there are also some differences. One of the main similarities is the fact that Mrs. Gregg had been to the same shopping area just moments before she went home, and then a few moments later when these two suspects entered her home. It was the same business area as the woman who was abducted last week.

So, that's certainly enough of a similarity to make us look at these two cases and see if they're related. However, there are some differences as well.

O'BRIEN: From conversations that you've had with Mrs. Gregg, has she indicated that her abductors were aware that she was the wife of a U.S. senator?

MANGER: I don't believe that they were. There is no indication. Certainly, we won't know until we make an arrest in the case and talk to the suspects. But there's no indication right now that they knew who Mrs. Gregg was when they confronted her.

And I have to say that her instincts throughout this ordeal were just perfect. She complied with their demands when they entered her home. She accompanied them to the bank. But at the first opportunity that she had to separate herself from the suspect, she took that opportunity. Her instincts were just perfect in this case, and she certainly displayed that she was a very strong individual throughout this ordeal.

O'BRIEN: Chief Manger, we don't have a ton of time, but I do want to take our remaining seconds to show, again, the picture of the car of the suspects; also the bank surveillance photos as well. And give me a sense of exactly who you're looking for at this time.

MANGER: Well, there are two suspects, a white male in his 20s, slender build. And the second suspect's a black male who's heavier- set, also in his 20s. That's the individual that we have the bank surveillance photo of. And also, we're looking for a '98 Monte Carlo with Virginia tags, and we've got a picture of a Monte Carlo that we've also released. Hopefully -- we don't know if the suspects are still in that vehicle, but we're hoping that someone knows these individuals or have seen this car and will give us a call.

O'BRIEN: Chief Thomas Manger, thanks for your time this morning.

MANGER: 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 October 8, 2003 - 07:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Washington, authorities are searching for two suspects who abducted a U.S. senator's wife at knifepoint. Kathleen Gregg, wife of New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, was released unharmed yesterday. Two men took her from her home and forced her to drive to an ATM to withdraw money. Police have released photos of the suspects taken from the bank's surveillance cameras.
And joining us from Fairfax, Virginia, with the latest on the investigation is Chief Thomas Manger of the Fairfax County Police.

Chief Manger, thanks for joining us. Appreciate your time.

CHIEF THOMAS MANGER, FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE: Sure. Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Tell me, first and foremost, how is Mrs. Gregg doing? This has got to be a horrible ordeal for her.

MANGER: It certainly would be a horrible ordeal for any victim of this type of crime. But Mrs. Gregg is doing very well. I spoke with her just for a few moments yesterday evening. She was doing excellent, good spirits and was very fortunate to get through this unharmed.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that. As we mentioned, you've got the surveillance photos. You also have the license plate number of the getaway car. How confident are you that you're going to be able to make an arrest or get really good leads very shortly with this kind of information?

MANGER: Well, we have some very promising leads. As you note, the bank surveillance photo is probably the best lead that we have. We're hoping that someone is able to identify the suspect and give us a call.

We also are working with surrounding jurisdictions. In the last 24 to 48 hours, we've got a couple of different incidents of crimes that have occurred in those jurisdictions involving these two suspects, involving the same vehicle. So, we're piecing together information from those cases as well, and I am fairly confident that we're going to be able to track these two men down.

O'BRIEN: Have you been able to link this particular case to another case that happened on September 29? A woman and her two children were briefly kidnapped and held hostage in a similar type of situation. Are they linked?

MANGER: We're certainly looking at that. There are some similarities to the case, but there are also some differences. One of the main similarities is the fact that Mrs. Gregg had been to the same shopping area just moments before she went home, and then a few moments later when these two suspects entered her home. It was the same business area as the woman who was abducted last week.

So, that's certainly enough of a similarity to make us look at these two cases and see if they're related. However, there are some differences as well.

O'BRIEN: From conversations that you've had with Mrs. Gregg, has she indicated that her abductors were aware that she was the wife of a U.S. senator?

MANGER: I don't believe that they were. There is no indication. Certainly, we won't know until we make an arrest in the case and talk to the suspects. But there's no indication right now that they knew who Mrs. Gregg was when they confronted her.

And I have to say that her instincts throughout this ordeal were just perfect. She complied with their demands when they entered her home. She accompanied them to the bank. But at the first opportunity that she had to separate herself from the suspect, she took that opportunity. Her instincts were just perfect in this case, and she certainly displayed that she was a very strong individual throughout this ordeal.

O'BRIEN: Chief Manger, we don't have a ton of time, but I do want to take our remaining seconds to show, again, the picture of the car of the suspects; also the bank surveillance photos as well. And give me a sense of exactly who you're looking for at this time.

MANGER: Well, there are two suspects, a white male in his 20s, slender build. And the second suspect's a black male who's heavier- set, also in his 20s. That's the individual that we have the bank surveillance photo of. And also, we're looking for a '98 Monte Carlo with Virginia tags, and we've got a picture of a Monte Carlo that we've also released. Hopefully -- we don't know if the suspects are still in that vehicle, but we're hoping that someone knows these individuals or have seen this car and will give us a call.

O'BRIEN: Chief Thomas Manger, thanks for your time this morning.

MANGER: 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.