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American Morning
Florida Police Believe Abduction was Planned
Aired February 04, 2004 - 08:09 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: Florida police believe the abduction of an 11-year-old girl on Sunday evening was planned. Surveillance video from a Sarasota car wash shows an encounter between Carlie Brucia and an unknown man. The FBI has asked NASA to help enhance the video to get a better picture of the suspect.
John Zarrella has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The amber alert was issued Monday, precious hours after Carlie Brucia vanished while walking the mile it takes to get from her friend's house to her home. At first, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department wasn't sure what happened to Carlie. But that changed after investigators saw what could be their most compelling piece of evidence -- surveillance video.
It shows a white man in his 20s or 30s approaching the 11-year- old Sunday evening behind a car wash she was using as a short cut home. The video catches a few seconds of conversation before the man takes Carlie by the forearm and leads her away.
MAJ. KEVIN GOODING, SARASOTA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Make no mistake about it, we believe that Carrie was -- or that Carlie was taken against her will and we are treating this as an abduction. We fear for her safety.
ZARRELLA: The chilling encounter between the sixth grader and the unknown man occurred near minutes after Carlie headed for home. Each minute since is a lifetime for her frantic parents.
SUSAN SCHORPEN, CARLIE'S MOTHER: If anybody has seen this, that they need to call. She's so special. And I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter. She's just, she's just so special.
JOEY BRUCIA, CARLIE'S FATHER: I just love my daughter very much and I need her home. And any help that any of you can please give.
ZARRELLA: The search for Carlie Brucia has gone national, with the FBI also providing its resources to find her. As for the mystery abductor, still no prime suspect. Investigators say they're trying to digitally enhance the video to get a better look.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, that's the FDLE, has been able to digitally enhance that, those images. And what they are finding now is that the man who took Carlie has tattoos on both forearms. But they have not been able to enhance that video enough yet to get a clear picture that they can get out to the public. They are working with the FBI and NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to further enhance that image today, hoping for some sort of a sketch or a digital image later this afternoon.
Meanwhile, 250 leads coming into police and reward money now up to $50,000 -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: John Zarrella for us this morning.
John, thanks.
A police briefing will be held this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
We're going to bring that to you live when it happens.
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 February 4, 2004 - 08:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Florida police believe the abduction of an 11-year-old girl on Sunday evening was planned. Surveillance video from a Sarasota car wash shows an encounter between Carlie Brucia and an unknown man. The FBI has asked NASA to help enhance the video to get a better picture of the suspect.
John Zarrella has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The amber alert was issued Monday, precious hours after Carlie Brucia vanished while walking the mile it takes to get from her friend's house to her home. At first, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department wasn't sure what happened to Carlie. But that changed after investigators saw what could be their most compelling piece of evidence -- surveillance video.
It shows a white man in his 20s or 30s approaching the 11-year- old Sunday evening behind a car wash she was using as a short cut home. The video catches a few seconds of conversation before the man takes Carlie by the forearm and leads her away.
MAJ. KEVIN GOODING, SARASOTA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Make no mistake about it, we believe that Carrie was -- or that Carlie was taken against her will and we are treating this as an abduction. We fear for her safety.
ZARRELLA: The chilling encounter between the sixth grader and the unknown man occurred near minutes after Carlie headed for home. Each minute since is a lifetime for her frantic parents.
SUSAN SCHORPEN, CARLIE'S MOTHER: If anybody has seen this, that they need to call. She's so special. And I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter. She's just, she's just so special.
JOEY BRUCIA, CARLIE'S FATHER: I just love my daughter very much and I need her home. And any help that any of you can please give.
ZARRELLA: The search for Carlie Brucia has gone national, with the FBI also providing its resources to find her. As for the mystery abductor, still no prime suspect. Investigators say they're trying to digitally enhance the video to get a better look.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, that's the FDLE, has been able to digitally enhance that, those images. And what they are finding now is that the man who took Carlie has tattoos on both forearms. But they have not been able to enhance that video enough yet to get a clear picture that they can get out to the public. They are working with the FBI and NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to further enhance that image today, hoping for some sort of a sketch or a digital image later this afternoon.
Meanwhile, 250 leads coming into police and reward money now up to $50,000 -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: John Zarrella for us this morning.
John, thanks.
A police briefing will be held this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
We're going to bring that to you live when it happens.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
