Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Families of Missing Persons Keep up Hope

Aired September 15, 2001 - 07:54   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.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. I'm here on the corner of 26th and Lexington. The armory is behind me. This is where families come and given information and get information. They give information about their loved ones so that when they can be found, hopefully, or if their remains are found, they can be identified.

You can see behind me that there are posters on the wall. These posters are all over New York City with the faces, the information, identifying characteristics of the people who are missing. Now a just little while ago, Rosemary O'Keefe, whose the commissioner for community assistance in the mayor's office came out and said that as of last night, 3,178 people have been through the doors of the armory to register their missing loved ones. And that sounds like a lot, but she says, it's not enough. She knows there are many more.

And she urged people to come out and register their missing loved ones because they need to let the authorities know that they're missing. So that when remains are found, they're able to match them up with the person.

Also, beginning today, immediate relatives can come here for DNA testing. What happens is that a swab is taken from the inside of the cheek. And then again, when bodies are found, they will then be able to hopefully do some cross matching with the DNA of a close relative.

Again, families are still coming here today. The lines are nothing like they were yesterday or the day before. But families are still coming. The information that they get is that there are two lists. There's one list of people who are in the hospital. There is another list of people who have been found deceased.

Most people who I have talked to, their relatives haven't been on either list and so they still remain hopeful.

Let's talk now with Captain Joe Lasalle, who's with the Salvation Army. Come on up here. And let's talk a bit about that kind of hope. Tell me about the hope that you were hearing from these families?

JOE LASALLE, SALVATION ARMY: Well, all of the families that I've seen, as long as there was no sign. I mean, they were still saddened if they had not heard about their loved ones, but at the same time, they were so hopeful, which I think is a good thing because I mean, although it's been four days since this tragedy, there still is hope. And personally, I believe that it's better for them to have hope than to just give up and say, "Oh, well, you know, I might as well forget it and go home and plan a funeral." You know.

COHEN: Do they ever ask you what you think the chances are that people will still be found alive?

LASALLE: So far, none of the families of the victims have asked me that. I just see a lot of hope and a lot of positive things so far, since I've been here at the armory.

COHEN: I've heard that same hope, too. I've heard almost no one be at all sad or at all skeptical about the chances of their loved one beyond found. Do you try to give them any kind of a suggestion of reality of what the chances or do you just let them have their hope?

LASALLE: No, I believe they should just -- I believe in just letting them have their hope. And some people are amazing. I mean, there have been other instances where people have survived five, six, seven days under rubble and have still come up. You know, although the large amount of people that we're talking about here, this may not be reality.

COHEN: Thank you Captain Joe Lasalle with the Salvation Army.

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