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CNN Sunday Morning
Police Say Body Could be That of Missing Basketball Player
Aired July 27, 2003 - 10:19 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.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: For family and friends, it is an agonizing wait. Authorities are trying to identify a body found near Baylor University in Texas.
A Waco policeman tells CNN that police are operating under the assumption that it is that of missing basketball player Patrick Dennehy.
CNN's Mike Brooks is covering developments from Waco -- Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Andrea.
Investigators are back on the scene today where a badly decomposed body was found Friday evening by sheriff's investigators in a gravel pit four miles from the University of Baylor campus. It was found less than a mile from where authorities were searching earlier in the week.
The body was taken to a forensics lab in Dallas, where an autopsy will be performed and identification made. Due to the decomposition, it could be days before an identification is made in this particular case.
This 21-year-old, 6'10" inch Dennehy was expected to be a standout for Baylor's basketball team in the upcoming season.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE STANTON, BAYLOR ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: We all share the family's agony over these past several weeks and the horror his friend has been charged with murder. I can tell you that Coach Bliss feels a deep sense of sorrow and despair that something so unreasonable may have happened. Everyone associated with the Baylor basketball program and our university is grieving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Dennehy's family came to Waco this past week to meet with police and to pack up Patrick's belongings from his apartment to take with them back to Nevada. They await word whether the body that was found Friday evening is that of Patrick Dennehy -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Mike, I believe it's based on your reporting, sources telling you that initially investigators went to that site about four miles away from Baylor, based on a tip that they had received from Carlton Dotson, who, as you know, is the prime suspect in this case. BROOKS: When the FBI interviewed Dotson in Kent County, Maryland, just prior to his arrest, a source close to the investigation told me that investigators put a map in front of Dotson, and he pointed to an area on the map that led them originally to the area where they had been searching earlier in the week.
As I said, it is less than a mile -- where they found the body, it was less than a mile from where they had been searching in that particular area -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Mike, without getting too much into the graphics, obviously, this is, as you mentioned, a very badly decomposed corpse, but clearly Patrick Dennehy at 6'10" stands out in a crowd.
Did you get any indication from your sources as to whether or not they had a similar height that they were able to pin on this corpse?
BROOKS: Well, as you said, law enforcement sources believe that it is the body of Patrick Dennehy. But they have to get a positive identification from the forensics lab.
There is some question also whether the body was fully intact. They will not talk about the body and what evidence was found at the scene. They will only say that they'll have to wait till identification is made at the lab in Dallas -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: All right. Mike Brooks. on top of the story in Waco, Texas, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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Aired July 27, 2003 - 10:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: For family and friends, it is an agonizing wait. Authorities are trying to identify a body found near Baylor University in Texas.
A Waco policeman tells CNN that police are operating under the assumption that it is that of missing basketball player Patrick Dennehy.
CNN's Mike Brooks is covering developments from Waco -- Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Andrea.
Investigators are back on the scene today where a badly decomposed body was found Friday evening by sheriff's investigators in a gravel pit four miles from the University of Baylor campus. It was found less than a mile from where authorities were searching earlier in the week.
The body was taken to a forensics lab in Dallas, where an autopsy will be performed and identification made. Due to the decomposition, it could be days before an identification is made in this particular case.
This 21-year-old, 6'10" inch Dennehy was expected to be a standout for Baylor's basketball team in the upcoming season.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE STANTON, BAYLOR ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: We all share the family's agony over these past several weeks and the horror his friend has been charged with murder. I can tell you that Coach Bliss feels a deep sense of sorrow and despair that something so unreasonable may have happened. Everyone associated with the Baylor basketball program and our university is grieving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKS: Dennehy's family came to Waco this past week to meet with police and to pack up Patrick's belongings from his apartment to take with them back to Nevada. They await word whether the body that was found Friday evening is that of Patrick Dennehy -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Mike, I believe it's based on your reporting, sources telling you that initially investigators went to that site about four miles away from Baylor, based on a tip that they had received from Carlton Dotson, who, as you know, is the prime suspect in this case. BROOKS: When the FBI interviewed Dotson in Kent County, Maryland, just prior to his arrest, a source close to the investigation told me that investigators put a map in front of Dotson, and he pointed to an area on the map that led them originally to the area where they had been searching earlier in the week.
As I said, it is less than a mile -- where they found the body, it was less than a mile from where they had been searching in that particular area -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Mike, without getting too much into the graphics, obviously, this is, as you mentioned, a very badly decomposed corpse, but clearly Patrick Dennehy at 6'10" stands out in a crowd.
Did you get any indication from your sources as to whether or not they had a similar height that they were able to pin on this corpse?
BROOKS: Well, as you said, law enforcement sources believe that it is the body of Patrick Dennehy. But they have to get a positive identification from the forensics lab.
There is some question also whether the body was fully intact. They will not talk about the body and what evidence was found at the scene. They will only say that they'll have to wait till identification is made at the lab in Dallas -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: All right. Mike Brooks. on top of the story in Waco, Texas, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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