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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Don Clark

Aired January 19, 2003 - 10:20   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on now, a husband in search of his missing wife is under a microscope of suspicion. Scott Peterson plans to hand out flyers today of his pregnant wife Laci. She's been missing since Christmas Eve. But now questions are emerging over Scott Peterson's fidelity. CNN's Paul Vercammen is live from Modesto, California now with details on that case -- Paul.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first off, let me tell you that Scott Peterson is expected to appear in Los Angeles today with some of his close family members and some volunteers. And he's supposedly going to hand out flyers to try to get the word out on the streets of Southern California about his wife, Laci Peterson's, disappearance. You may recall that she turned up missing on Christmas Eve. So that is what is going on on that front.

Meanwhile, you talked about these reports of Scott Peterson and infidelity. And of course, they are reports. Well, all of this has seemingly divided the family. They -- on both sides of the family -- they were standing staunchly behind Scott Peterson, and now there clearly has been a major rift. And so, we'll see whether or not today Scott Peterson comes out and says please help find my wife because he has been criticized by some of his wife's direct family members for not coming out, for not speaking out and not showing his interest, seemingly, in trying to find what has happened to Laci Peterson.

COLLINS: All right, Paul Vercammen, thanks so much for the update.

And as we just heard, Scott Peterson has not been named a suspect but there is clearly some pressure being placed on the husband. With more on police tactics used in cases like this, we are joined now by former FBI investigator, Don Clark. He is joining us from Houston.

Good morning, Mr. Clark. Thanks for being here today.

DON CLARK, FORMER FBI INVESTIGATOR: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: What are investigators trying to do here?

CLARK: Well, you got to understand, Heidi, that we as -- the investigators are still dealing with a missing person case. And missing persons, particularly when they're adults, are extremely difficult because there's not really an investigative tool to deal with that. So what they really are trying to do is determine, if foul play was involved with this person that's missing because adults can move freely. So they've got to determine that. I suppose looking at every aspect is the only way to do so.

COLLINS: Well, certainly, as they have been saying that you can't rule anybody out, specifically. But what sort of information do investigators need to then finally rule someone out?

CLARK: Well, you've got to be able for a person that they're looking at to eliminate. And let me just first say that there are a couple of components here. First is to try to locate this person and second is to try to see if there is foul play and then to eliminate. And in going through that process of eliminating people, you really just need some sense of evidence as to where a person may have been. And this is not uncommon in dealing with family members at all. And I think that family members mostly would appreciate that and know that then the investigators can go ahead and devote their time to other more pressing issues as to who may have caused this.

COLLINS: All right, Don Clark, former FBI investigator, we're going to take a quick break and come back to you in just a moment. Keep it here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are joined once again now by Don Clark, a former FBI investigator. He's helping us to learn a little bit more -- at least understand a little more about the situation with Laci Peterson in Modesto, California.

Sir, I want to ask you, how will the investigation strategy change now over time? I mean it's been a while. They've been looking for her for a while. They say they don't have any good leads. What is the next step?

CLARK: You know, Heidi, it's a good point and it's a very delicate issue because when these things occur initially everybody, the law enforcement, the community, they're all out there. But as time goes along, you will start to see this start to really taper down and that's when it really becomes very frustrating for the family members because they just can't not maintain that intensity unless they're really, really some leads to follow upon. And if they don't have that, you're going to see it taper down. But in my experience -- and we've had a lot of those down here in Houston -- that you don't see the police go away, but what you do see is a real tapered down staff.

COLLINS: As you say, we know that the volunteers' search efforts have closed the Modesto center. They were planning to open one in L.A. Now that's not going to happen. What more can the volunteer searchers contribute at this point?

CLARK: Well, it's difficult as to what the searchers -- to figure what the searchers can contribute. But you can still have a volunteer staff that may be there to collect telephone calls. There may be some calls regarding sightings of a person that fits this description. And Laci is a description that's not difficult because she was very pregnant. So that type of activity for the volunteer staff, not necessarily just moving out the area looking geographically for the person.

COLLINS: All right. And obviously, as you were saying Laci Peterson, pregnant, I believe her baby was due February 10. Does that make any difference in this case? Obviously, a lot more people may be even thinking about her, maybe other women who are pregnant, really makes it a tough, tough thing because you're talking about two people here.

CLARK: Yes, that's exactly right, Heidi. And clearly, I mean these types of cases are extremely sensitive when there are kids or when they're anyone else that's missing. But a pregnant person that's missing, obviously there's a lot of sensitivity throughout the community and throughout the people who want to help and find this. So I'm sure that they want to do everything, but you've got to have something to go on. And even, Heidi, if we go to the police, the police must have some type of leads to continue on. And the way you get those leads, though, is that you keep coming back and going back to the source of wherever Heidi -- I'm sorry, where Laci may have been seen last and hopefully that they might come up with some clue.

COLLINS: Still a $500,000 reward for information?

CLARK: Well, if a reward is out there for information, rewards are always an incentive. They don't always pay off, but they're always an incentive for someone to come forward. And if they're capable of doing that, I think it's a good tool to use.

COLLINS: All right. We certainly appreciate your insight. Don Clark, former FBI investigator. Thank you.

CLARK: Thank you, Heidi.

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 January 19, 2003 - 10:20   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on now, a husband in search of his missing wife is under a microscope of suspicion. Scott Peterson plans to hand out flyers today of his pregnant wife Laci. She's been missing since Christmas Eve. But now questions are emerging over Scott Peterson's fidelity. CNN's Paul Vercammen is live from Modesto, California now with details on that case -- Paul.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first off, let me tell you that Scott Peterson is expected to appear in Los Angeles today with some of his close family members and some volunteers. And he's supposedly going to hand out flyers to try to get the word out on the streets of Southern California about his wife, Laci Peterson's, disappearance. You may recall that she turned up missing on Christmas Eve. So that is what is going on on that front.

Meanwhile, you talked about these reports of Scott Peterson and infidelity. And of course, they are reports. Well, all of this has seemingly divided the family. They -- on both sides of the family -- they were standing staunchly behind Scott Peterson, and now there clearly has been a major rift. And so, we'll see whether or not today Scott Peterson comes out and says please help find my wife because he has been criticized by some of his wife's direct family members for not coming out, for not speaking out and not showing his interest, seemingly, in trying to find what has happened to Laci Peterson.

COLLINS: All right, Paul Vercammen, thanks so much for the update.

And as we just heard, Scott Peterson has not been named a suspect but there is clearly some pressure being placed on the husband. With more on police tactics used in cases like this, we are joined now by former FBI investigator, Don Clark. He is joining us from Houston.

Good morning, Mr. Clark. Thanks for being here today.

DON CLARK, FORMER FBI INVESTIGATOR: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: What are investigators trying to do here?

CLARK: Well, you got to understand, Heidi, that we as -- the investigators are still dealing with a missing person case. And missing persons, particularly when they're adults, are extremely difficult because there's not really an investigative tool to deal with that. So what they really are trying to do is determine, if foul play was involved with this person that's missing because adults can move freely. So they've got to determine that. I suppose looking at every aspect is the only way to do so.

COLLINS: Well, certainly, as they have been saying that you can't rule anybody out, specifically. But what sort of information do investigators need to then finally rule someone out?

CLARK: Well, you've got to be able for a person that they're looking at to eliminate. And let me just first say that there are a couple of components here. First is to try to locate this person and second is to try to see if there is foul play and then to eliminate. And in going through that process of eliminating people, you really just need some sense of evidence as to where a person may have been. And this is not uncommon in dealing with family members at all. And I think that family members mostly would appreciate that and know that then the investigators can go ahead and devote their time to other more pressing issues as to who may have caused this.

COLLINS: All right, Don Clark, former FBI investigator, we're going to take a quick break and come back to you in just a moment. Keep it here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are joined once again now by Don Clark, a former FBI investigator. He's helping us to learn a little bit more -- at least understand a little more about the situation with Laci Peterson in Modesto, California.

Sir, I want to ask you, how will the investigation strategy change now over time? I mean it's been a while. They've been looking for her for a while. They say they don't have any good leads. What is the next step?

CLARK: You know, Heidi, it's a good point and it's a very delicate issue because when these things occur initially everybody, the law enforcement, the community, they're all out there. But as time goes along, you will start to see this start to really taper down and that's when it really becomes very frustrating for the family members because they just can't not maintain that intensity unless they're really, really some leads to follow upon. And if they don't have that, you're going to see it taper down. But in my experience -- and we've had a lot of those down here in Houston -- that you don't see the police go away, but what you do see is a real tapered down staff.

COLLINS: As you say, we know that the volunteers' search efforts have closed the Modesto center. They were planning to open one in L.A. Now that's not going to happen. What more can the volunteer searchers contribute at this point?

CLARK: Well, it's difficult as to what the searchers -- to figure what the searchers can contribute. But you can still have a volunteer staff that may be there to collect telephone calls. There may be some calls regarding sightings of a person that fits this description. And Laci is a description that's not difficult because she was very pregnant. So that type of activity for the volunteer staff, not necessarily just moving out the area looking geographically for the person.

COLLINS: All right. And obviously, as you were saying Laci Peterson, pregnant, I believe her baby was due February 10. Does that make any difference in this case? Obviously, a lot more people may be even thinking about her, maybe other women who are pregnant, really makes it a tough, tough thing because you're talking about two people here.

CLARK: Yes, that's exactly right, Heidi. And clearly, I mean these types of cases are extremely sensitive when there are kids or when they're anyone else that's missing. But a pregnant person that's missing, obviously there's a lot of sensitivity throughout the community and throughout the people who want to help and find this. So I'm sure that they want to do everything, but you've got to have something to go on. And even, Heidi, if we go to the police, the police must have some type of leads to continue on. And the way you get those leads, though, is that you keep coming back and going back to the source of wherever Heidi -- I'm sorry, where Laci may have been seen last and hopefully that they might come up with some clue.

COLLINS: Still a $500,000 reward for information?

CLARK: Well, if a reward is out there for information, rewards are always an incentive. They don't always pay off, but they're always an incentive for someone to come forward. And if they're capable of doing that, I think it's a good tool to use.

COLLINS: All right. We certainly appreciate your insight. Don Clark, former FBI investigator. Thank you.

CLARK: Thank you, Heidi.

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