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CNN Saturday Morning News

Search for Laci Peterson Resumes Today

Aired January 11, 2003 - 08:10   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Scott Peterson has not been named as a suspect in the case, but police say they have not ruled anyone out in the woman's disappearance. Detective Doug Ridenour is a spokesman for the Modesto Police Department. He joins us now live with more on the case.
Mr. Ridenour, good to have you with us.

DET. DOUG RIDENOUR, MODESTO POLICE SPOKESMAN: Good morning, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, bring us up-to-date. First of all, what do we know about this sonar reading in -- off of Berkeley?

RIDENOUR: Well, the -- two days ago, during a search of the marina, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department and our department with the assistance of Alameda County Sheriff's Department went back out in the marina and they were able to detect a image, a computerized image from a sonar device. It was kind of late in the day and the experts at that point did not feel that they could go down and examine and identify what the possible sighting was.

O'BRIEN: All right, just give us a timeline, then, on when divers will be back in the water and attempting to find out what that sonar reading is, in fact.

RIDENOUR: Yesterday was a bad day for the weather and it was not safe for the divers to go back into the bay. So, it was determined today would be the best and it's my understanding the weather appears to be OK to go back in today. So this morning...

(CROSSTALK)

RIDENOUR: ... they will go back...

(CROSSTALK)

RIDENOUR: That's correct.

O'BRIEN: OK.

RIDENOUR: ... will go back and try to identify the object.

O'BRIEN: And was there yet not -- there was another body that was recovered as part of this search?

RIDENOUR: No, not to my understanding. There was a body that was recovered up in Nutwalby County (ph), which is on the east side of our county, had nothing to do with this case at all.

O'BRIEN: All right, just wanted to clarify that point. How does this change the suspect list and the list of perhaps people who might or might not be the focus of investigation?

RIDENOUR: Well first of all, Miles, we're going to have to determine if it's connected with this case. If it is connected with this case, then, obviously, investigators will look at that and see if anything that might lead us into a specific suspect. But at this point, we just cannot determine that nor do we have leads that would indicate that we're moving in one direction or the other.

O'BRIEN: Is Scott Peterson cooperating fully with authorities?

RIDENOUR: Well one of the things that I've had to repeatedly say is that we can't go into the Scott Peterson part of the investigation, and I have to stay with that focus until today.

O'BRIEN: There was a statement a little while back where someone said he's cooperating to a certain degree.

RIDENOUR: Yes, that was me who said that and one of the difficulties in trying to explain degrees and to what part, it's difficult to go back out to the media because it's eliminated -- say that to a certain degree what does that mean. So we're just not talking about the Scott Peterson involvement.

O'BRIEN: I mean either a person is cooperating or they're not, correct?

RIDENOUR: Well, again, anything I say regarding Scott Peterson would indicate there's so much focus on him, the media and with the public and so, it's just best that we don't say about his part in the investigation.

O'BRIEN: Do you have the sense that this case is headed toward closure?

RIDENOUR: Well we sure hope so. We're still hopeful that we can still find Laci, but we're hoping that as days go on, the more leads that we pursue, the closer we get to closure. Our resolve is not going to change. We're going to maintain our dynamics to try to find the end to this puzzling investigation.

O'BRIEN: Is there any other evidence or leads that you can share with us, aside from this sonar reading in the bay?

RIDENOUR: No, that's our focus today, and that's the most recent information that we have, and we're going to try to go out and find out what the object is and try to identify it today.

O'BRIEN: Detective Doug Ridenour, spokesman for the Modesto Police Department, thanks very much. I realize your hands are tied somewhat discussing this. We appreciate you being with us.

RIDENOUR: Thank you, Miles. 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 11, 2003 - 08:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Scott Peterson has not been named as a suspect in the case, but police say they have not ruled anyone out in the woman's disappearance. Detective Doug Ridenour is a spokesman for the Modesto Police Department. He joins us now live with more on the case.
Mr. Ridenour, good to have you with us.

DET. DOUG RIDENOUR, MODESTO POLICE SPOKESMAN: Good morning, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, bring us up-to-date. First of all, what do we know about this sonar reading in -- off of Berkeley?

RIDENOUR: Well, the -- two days ago, during a search of the marina, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department and our department with the assistance of Alameda County Sheriff's Department went back out in the marina and they were able to detect a image, a computerized image from a sonar device. It was kind of late in the day and the experts at that point did not feel that they could go down and examine and identify what the possible sighting was.

O'BRIEN: All right, just give us a timeline, then, on when divers will be back in the water and attempting to find out what that sonar reading is, in fact.

RIDENOUR: Yesterday was a bad day for the weather and it was not safe for the divers to go back into the bay. So, it was determined today would be the best and it's my understanding the weather appears to be OK to go back in today. So this morning...

(CROSSTALK)

RIDENOUR: ... they will go back...

(CROSSTALK)

RIDENOUR: That's correct.

O'BRIEN: OK.

RIDENOUR: ... will go back and try to identify the object.

O'BRIEN: And was there yet not -- there was another body that was recovered as part of this search?

RIDENOUR: No, not to my understanding. There was a body that was recovered up in Nutwalby County (ph), which is on the east side of our county, had nothing to do with this case at all.

O'BRIEN: All right, just wanted to clarify that point. How does this change the suspect list and the list of perhaps people who might or might not be the focus of investigation?

RIDENOUR: Well first of all, Miles, we're going to have to determine if it's connected with this case. If it is connected with this case, then, obviously, investigators will look at that and see if anything that might lead us into a specific suspect. But at this point, we just cannot determine that nor do we have leads that would indicate that we're moving in one direction or the other.

O'BRIEN: Is Scott Peterson cooperating fully with authorities?

RIDENOUR: Well one of the things that I've had to repeatedly say is that we can't go into the Scott Peterson part of the investigation, and I have to stay with that focus until today.

O'BRIEN: There was a statement a little while back where someone said he's cooperating to a certain degree.

RIDENOUR: Yes, that was me who said that and one of the difficulties in trying to explain degrees and to what part, it's difficult to go back out to the media because it's eliminated -- say that to a certain degree what does that mean. So we're just not talking about the Scott Peterson involvement.

O'BRIEN: I mean either a person is cooperating or they're not, correct?

RIDENOUR: Well, again, anything I say regarding Scott Peterson would indicate there's so much focus on him, the media and with the public and so, it's just best that we don't say about his part in the investigation.

O'BRIEN: Do you have the sense that this case is headed toward closure?

RIDENOUR: Well we sure hope so. We're still hopeful that we can still find Laci, but we're hoping that as days go on, the more leads that we pursue, the closer we get to closure. Our resolve is not going to change. We're going to maintain our dynamics to try to find the end to this puzzling investigation.

O'BRIEN: Is there any other evidence or leads that you can share with us, aside from this sonar reading in the bay?

RIDENOUR: No, that's our focus today, and that's the most recent information that we have, and we're going to try to go out and find out what the object is and try to identify it today.

O'BRIEN: Detective Doug Ridenour, spokesman for the Modesto Police Department, thanks very much. I realize your hands are tied somewhat discussing this. We appreciate you being with us.

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