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CNN Sunday Morning

Search for Jennifer Short Continues

Aired August 18, 2002 - 07:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In southwest Virginia it is day number four since Jennifer Short disappeared and there's no sign of the 9-year-old. The man in charge of the search says they simply don't have a direction to look in.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve has been following developments in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Videotape of 9- year-old Jennifer Short jumping on a trampoline with friends, playing, laughing, hamming for the camera, it gives the best sense yet of who the little girl in the headlines is. The tape was shot in April. Since then, Jennifer's hair has been cut. Saturday authorities released more current photographs, which they hope will boost their investigation.

SHERIFF H.F. CASSELL, HENRY COUNTY VIRGINIA: We're not getting nearly the response we thought we would get from Amber Alert and all this extensive news coverage that we've had.

MESERVE: Part of the reason, investigators have come up with no vehicle description or tag numbers. They have lifted hundreds of sets of fingerprints from the home where Jennifer's parents were found murdered Thursday morning. As yet, no match with fingerprints on file. Saturday, the house was eerily quiet. Authorities believe they found all the clues they can here, but what they have found has led them to one conclusion.

CASSELL: We feel that this crime was committed by someone that knew this family and knew their way around.

MESERVE: The 200 people involved in the volunteer search have combed an area of about 100 square miles.

MARK POTTER, VOLUNTEER: We've just come from an abandoned house that there was suspicious stuff there. We went and searched the house and the ground around it to make sure that we didn't find anything and that's a good sign. There's still hope.

MESERVE: Because none of the searching has found anything relevant to the investigation, Saturday afternoon the effort was put on hold indefinitely. But the investigation continues with law enforcement interviewing and re-interviewing friends, relatives, and business associates in pursuit of new leads. CASSELL: I'm an internal optimist. I hope for the best all the time. Until we find the worst, I'm hoping for the best.

MESERVE (on camera): But days after Jennifer's disappearance, there is still no trace of the girl. There is no suspect. There is no motive. There are no answers.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Collinsville, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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