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American Morning

Search for Dru

Aired December 05, 2003 - 08:07   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: Earlier this morning, I spoke with Sergeant Mike Hedlund of the Grand Forks Police Department and I asked him how that harsh weather was affecting the search for Dru Sjodin today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SGT. MIKE HEDLUND, GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA POLICE:

For this part of the country and this time of the year, the majority of the past two weeks has actually been probably slightly above normal and certainly deal -- something they can deal with. They can dress appropriately for the weather we've had. Today the temperature has dropped significantly. The wind is very strong. It's changed direction a little bit and we do have the additional snow that we got yesterday.

That will certainly hamper the search efforts, but they are going to continue today. We will continue to have law enforcement personnel out today doing searches in both Polk County and Grand Forks County. I don't have any specific locations on those searches, but the investigative teams are working with the searchers and trying to determine what the best locations for them to check are.

O'BRIEN: And you certainly must be concerned, if you're talking about snow, about that snow actually covering up any crucial evidence, right?

HEDLUND: Without question. For the majority of the past two weeks, we've been very fortunate in that regard. We've gotten very little additional snow. But yesterday we did receive another fresh inch or two. And any snow at all can help to cover up any evidence that might be out there. It makes it that much more difficult to locate.

O'BRIEN: It's been 13 days since Dru Sjodin went missing.

Is there a point, is there a place in the calendar when you say at this point we're going to scale back our search, at this point we're going to stop saying that we are looking for a live person and we're searching now for a body? Or are you not at that point yet?

HEDLUND: I guess, for me personally, I'm never going to be willing to say that until we know definitively that there's absolutely no chance that Dru might still be alive. There's no question statistics are against us at this point in time. Historically, by the time you get into this investigation, not very many people are recovered. But we're certainly still hopeful. You know, as long as we have any sense or reason for optimism, we're trying to maintain that.

O'BRIEN: Alfonso Rodriguez, incarcerated now. His attorneys said don't speak to authorities, but he's been interviewed three times.

How can you characterize how he has been? Obviously you can't give us details of what he is saying, but how would you characterize how he's been with his -- in those interviews?

HEDLUND: I haven't had the opportunity to get a whole lot of information on those interviews. I guess the point that I would stand by at this point in time is we still have not located Dru and I guess as far as the content of the interviews, the mere fact that we haven't been able to locate her to this point, I guess I'm going to have to leave it to your interpretation on that point.

O'BRIEN: Rodriguez is incarcerated and he's also being held away from the general population.

Can you explain that to me, why that's the case?

HEDLUND: Well, there's no question Mr. Rodriguez is an extremely high profile prisoner at the correctional center here. This case, as you're well aware, has received a wide variety of national attention. And the other prisoners within the correctional center are also well aware of the crime that he's being accused of doing.

You oftentimes hear of, even within jails and prisons, that there's a certain honor among criminals and there are some crimes that even relatively hardened criminals absolutely have no time for people who would commit that type of crime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Sergeant Mike Hedlund of the Grand Forks Police Department.

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 December 5, 2003 - 08:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier this morning, I spoke with Sergeant Mike Hedlund of the Grand Forks Police Department and I asked him how that harsh weather was affecting the search for Dru Sjodin today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SGT. MIKE HEDLUND, GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA POLICE:

For this part of the country and this time of the year, the majority of the past two weeks has actually been probably slightly above normal and certainly deal -- something they can deal with. They can dress appropriately for the weather we've had. Today the temperature has dropped significantly. The wind is very strong. It's changed direction a little bit and we do have the additional snow that we got yesterday.

That will certainly hamper the search efforts, but they are going to continue today. We will continue to have law enforcement personnel out today doing searches in both Polk County and Grand Forks County. I don't have any specific locations on those searches, but the investigative teams are working with the searchers and trying to determine what the best locations for them to check are.

O'BRIEN: And you certainly must be concerned, if you're talking about snow, about that snow actually covering up any crucial evidence, right?

HEDLUND: Without question. For the majority of the past two weeks, we've been very fortunate in that regard. We've gotten very little additional snow. But yesterday we did receive another fresh inch or two. And any snow at all can help to cover up any evidence that might be out there. It makes it that much more difficult to locate.

O'BRIEN: It's been 13 days since Dru Sjodin went missing.

Is there a point, is there a place in the calendar when you say at this point we're going to scale back our search, at this point we're going to stop saying that we are looking for a live person and we're searching now for a body? Or are you not at that point yet?

HEDLUND: I guess, for me personally, I'm never going to be willing to say that until we know definitively that there's absolutely no chance that Dru might still be alive. There's no question statistics are against us at this point in time. Historically, by the time you get into this investigation, not very many people are recovered. But we're certainly still hopeful. You know, as long as we have any sense or reason for optimism, we're trying to maintain that.

O'BRIEN: Alfonso Rodriguez, incarcerated now. His attorneys said don't speak to authorities, but he's been interviewed three times.

How can you characterize how he has been? Obviously you can't give us details of what he is saying, but how would you characterize how he's been with his -- in those interviews?

HEDLUND: I haven't had the opportunity to get a whole lot of information on those interviews. I guess the point that I would stand by at this point in time is we still have not located Dru and I guess as far as the content of the interviews, the mere fact that we haven't been able to locate her to this point, I guess I'm going to have to leave it to your interpretation on that point.

O'BRIEN: Rodriguez is incarcerated and he's also being held away from the general population.

Can you explain that to me, why that's the case?

HEDLUND: Well, there's no question Mr. Rodriguez is an extremely high profile prisoner at the correctional center here. This case, as you're well aware, has received a wide variety of national attention. And the other prisoners within the correctional center are also well aware of the crime that he's being accused of doing.

You oftentimes hear of, even within jails and prisons, that there's a certain honor among criminals and there are some crimes that even relatively hardened criminals absolutely have no time for people who would commit that type of crime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Sergeant Mike Hedlund of the Grand Forks Police Department.

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