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American Morning
Search for Dru
Aired December 09, 2003 - 09:14 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: Police in North Dakota reportedly have new clues this morning that link the suspect in the Dru Sjodin case to the disappearance of the 22-year-old. Sjodin disappeared on November 22nd after leaving her job at a Grand Forks mall.
Joining us this morning to talk about the latest developments is Grand Forks Police Captain Mike Kirby.
Captain Kirby, it's nice to see you again. Thanks for joining us to update us.
First, let's begin talking about any new leads you might have. Can you characterize any of those for us? Are you feeling more hopeful today than, say, yesterday?
CAPT. MIKE KIRBY, GRAND FORKS POLICE DEPT.: Well, unfortunately, we still can't speak very much about the details of the case, because I realize that the affidavits are still sealed that the arrest was based upon.
But I guess what I could say is that we did meet yesterday and spent a lot of time with the United States Border Patrol going over a map of the areas that had been searched, trying to get a good sense of what areas we needed to cover maybe one more time. That's been assigned out to the sheriffs of the respective counties, Grand Forks and Pope County in Minnesota. And the sheriffs department will put together some additional search efforts later on today, I believe.
O'BRIEN: Are you expecting those sealed court affidavits you were just talking about a moment ago will be unsealed any time soon?
KIRBY: Well, it's my understanding the state's attorney's office has already been on record since late last week indicating they'd like to release that information. It's my understanding that the defense attorney actually originally had 10 days to respond to that, but it is my understanding that maybe today, there is certainly that possibility, depending upon any response from the defense attorney.
O'BRIEN: Published reports talk about blood matching Dru Sjodin's blood found in the suspect's car. Also a knife as well. And at least one report talks about a knife being found in that same car. Can you elaborate on any of that for me?
KIRBY: Well, I certainly understand the interest and I certainly have read the reports also, but I would just have to take the position that until the court unseals those documents, it would be inappropriate for us to speak about any potential items of evidence that may be out there.
O'BRIEN: Fifteen hundred tips have come in. The reward money is now up to, I believe, $140,000 at last count. Give me a sense of how helpful the general public has been, not only in the physical searching -- because we know people have come from all over to help out in that -- but also in just phoning in tips.
KIRBY: It's actually been pretty amazing to have that many tips in the number of days that we've been working on this case is pretty unusual. So that the public has been very good about that. The public has responded well to the media handling this case. And as you said earlier, the response from the public for searches has been phenomenal. So we're getting a lot of support from the community and very appreciative of that.
O'BRIEN: What's the strategy for today?
KIRBY: I'm sorry, ma'am?
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, I'll say that a little louder for you. What's the strategy for today? What do your investigators plan to do today?
KIRBY: Well, what they'll continue to do today is take a look at any leads, try to figure where they need to go that maybe they haven't gone or tie some things up, dot the i's, cross the t's, for lack of a better term. We'll also going to meet again with the core agencies involved in this investigation earlier -- later on this morning, and once again, make sure that everybody is on the same sheet of paper, make sure everybody has got their assignments, see who needs support in one area or the other, and just keep moving forward this week.
O'BRIEN: All right, Mike Kirby, joining us this morning. It's nice to see you again. Thanks again for the update. As little as you are able to see, we certainly appreciate your time.
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 9, 2003 - 09:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Police in North Dakota reportedly have new clues this morning that link the suspect in the Dru Sjodin case to the disappearance of the 22-year-old. Sjodin disappeared on November 22nd after leaving her job at a Grand Forks mall.
Joining us this morning to talk about the latest developments is Grand Forks Police Captain Mike Kirby.
Captain Kirby, it's nice to see you again. Thanks for joining us to update us.
First, let's begin talking about any new leads you might have. Can you characterize any of those for us? Are you feeling more hopeful today than, say, yesterday?
CAPT. MIKE KIRBY, GRAND FORKS POLICE DEPT.: Well, unfortunately, we still can't speak very much about the details of the case, because I realize that the affidavits are still sealed that the arrest was based upon.
But I guess what I could say is that we did meet yesterday and spent a lot of time with the United States Border Patrol going over a map of the areas that had been searched, trying to get a good sense of what areas we needed to cover maybe one more time. That's been assigned out to the sheriffs of the respective counties, Grand Forks and Pope County in Minnesota. And the sheriffs department will put together some additional search efforts later on today, I believe.
O'BRIEN: Are you expecting those sealed court affidavits you were just talking about a moment ago will be unsealed any time soon?
KIRBY: Well, it's my understanding the state's attorney's office has already been on record since late last week indicating they'd like to release that information. It's my understanding that the defense attorney actually originally had 10 days to respond to that, but it is my understanding that maybe today, there is certainly that possibility, depending upon any response from the defense attorney.
O'BRIEN: Published reports talk about blood matching Dru Sjodin's blood found in the suspect's car. Also a knife as well. And at least one report talks about a knife being found in that same car. Can you elaborate on any of that for me?
KIRBY: Well, I certainly understand the interest and I certainly have read the reports also, but I would just have to take the position that until the court unseals those documents, it would be inappropriate for us to speak about any potential items of evidence that may be out there.
O'BRIEN: Fifteen hundred tips have come in. The reward money is now up to, I believe, $140,000 at last count. Give me a sense of how helpful the general public has been, not only in the physical searching -- because we know people have come from all over to help out in that -- but also in just phoning in tips.
KIRBY: It's actually been pretty amazing to have that many tips in the number of days that we've been working on this case is pretty unusual. So that the public has been very good about that. The public has responded well to the media handling this case. And as you said earlier, the response from the public for searches has been phenomenal. So we're getting a lot of support from the community and very appreciative of that.
O'BRIEN: What's the strategy for today?
KIRBY: I'm sorry, ma'am?
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, I'll say that a little louder for you. What's the strategy for today? What do your investigators plan to do today?
KIRBY: Well, what they'll continue to do today is take a look at any leads, try to figure where they need to go that maybe they haven't gone or tie some things up, dot the i's, cross the t's, for lack of a better term. We'll also going to meet again with the core agencies involved in this investigation earlier -- later on this morning, and once again, make sure that everybody is on the same sheet of paper, make sure everybody has got their assignments, see who needs support in one area or the other, and just keep moving forward this week.
O'BRIEN: All right, Mike Kirby, joining us this morning. It's nice to see you again. Thanks again for the update. As little as you are able to see, we certainly appreciate your time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
