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CNN confirms Scott Peterson arrested
Police plan 'significant change' in Laci Peterson probe
Friday, April 18, 2003 Posted: 5:49 PM EDT (2149 GMT)
MODESTO, California (CNN) -- Modesto police said Friday "there has been a significant change in the Laci Peterson investigation." A news conference is planned for 9 p.m. EST.
On Thursday Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton said he felt "pretty strongly" that recently discovered bodies that washed up on shore are that of Laci Peterson and her child, according to a published report.
"I feel pretty strongly it is (her)," Brazelton told the Modesto Bee. "It's too much of a coincidence to have a female and a baby found close to each other a day apart and no others were reported missing. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on it."
Ron Grantski, Laci Peterson's stepfather, said Thursday that he had not heard from the prosecutor, according to The Associated Press. "Our family is waiting until we are told personally, not told by the press," he said.
The identification is currently focused solely on determining whether the remains are Peterson's.
"To date, we don't have another person in mind," said John Tonkyn, the supervisor of the state's missing persons crime lab.
A forensic anthropologist is examining the recently recovered remains of an adult female that washed ashore at Point Isabel Regional Park on San Francisco Bay, according to Contra Costa County coroner's office spokesman Jimmy Lee.
The expert should be able to tell the age and race of the person, Lee said. She will also try to determine what happened to the body after death and while it was in the water.
The Contra Costa County coroner's office also is trying to determine if there is a relationship between the female and the body of a full-term baby boy found Sunday.
A passer-by discovered the badly decomposed remains Monday less than 2 miles away from where those of the baby boy were found a day earlier. The corpses were about 80 miles west of Modesto, California, the home city of Laci Peterson, who was pregnant when she disappeared Christmas Eve.
The recovery of the bodies has fueled speculation that the remains may be Peterson and her unborn son she was due to deliver February 10 and planned to name Connor.
In addition to the anthropologist, hair samples from a brush used by Peterson are being analyzed to see whether the missing woman's DNA matches the remains the discovered body, authorities said Wednesday.
The DNA tests are being conducted because the body was missing its head, sources close to the investigation told CNN. Without the skull, investigators cannot use dental records, the quickest tool in body identification.
He said it could take weeks through DNA testing to tell whether or not the remains belong to Peterson. Authorities also are conducting DNA tests to see whether the body of a baby is Peterson's child.
Modesto police recently reclassified the Peterson case as a homicide.
Lee reiterated Wednesday that the identification process could take several days or several weeks.
The female body washed up about 2 miles from the Berkeley Marina. Peterson's husband, Scott, said he was fishing at that marina on the day his wife disappeared.
Investigators have twice searched the Petersons' home, and impounded Scott's car and boat shortly after Laci's disappearance. Police have not called Scott Peterson a suspect in the case.
Monday, officials determined that a bone another passerby found near that shore was not human and probably came from a bird, Lee said Wednesday.
Family spokeswoman Kim Petersen told a news conference: "If this turns out to be Laci, we want the animal responsible for this heinous act to pay. We believe if this is Laci, God has allowed her to be found."
Friday, April 18, 2003 Posted: 5:49 PM EDT (2149 GMT)
MODESTO, California (CNN) -- Modesto police said Friday "there has been a significant change in the Laci Peterson investigation." A news conference is planned for 9 p.m. EST.
On Thursday Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton said he felt "pretty strongly" that recently discovered bodies that washed up on shore are that of Laci Peterson and her child, according to a published report.
"I feel pretty strongly it is (her)," Brazelton told the Modesto Bee. "It's too much of a coincidence to have a female and a baby found close to each other a day apart and no others were reported missing. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on it."
Ron Grantski, Laci Peterson's stepfather, said Thursday that he had not heard from the prosecutor, according to The Associated Press. "Our family is waiting until we are told personally, not told by the press," he said.
The identification is currently focused solely on determining whether the remains are Peterson's.
"To date, we don't have another person in mind," said John Tonkyn, the supervisor of the state's missing persons crime lab.
A forensic anthropologist is examining the recently recovered remains of an adult female that washed ashore at Point Isabel Regional Park on San Francisco Bay, according to Contra Costa County coroner's office spokesman Jimmy Lee.
The expert should be able to tell the age and race of the person, Lee said. She will also try to determine what happened to the body after death and while it was in the water.
The Contra Costa County coroner's office also is trying to determine if there is a relationship between the female and the body of a full-term baby boy found Sunday.
A passer-by discovered the badly decomposed remains Monday less than 2 miles away from where those of the baby boy were found a day earlier. The corpses were about 80 miles west of Modesto, California, the home city of Laci Peterson, who was pregnant when she disappeared Christmas Eve.
The recovery of the bodies has fueled speculation that the remains may be Peterson and her unborn son she was due to deliver February 10 and planned to name Connor.
In addition to the anthropologist, hair samples from a brush used by Peterson are being analyzed to see whether the missing woman's DNA matches the remains the discovered body, authorities said Wednesday.
The DNA tests are being conducted because the body was missing its head, sources close to the investigation told CNN. Without the skull, investigators cannot use dental records, the quickest tool in body identification.
He said it could take weeks through DNA testing to tell whether or not the remains belong to Peterson. Authorities also are conducting DNA tests to see whether the body of a baby is Peterson's child.
Modesto police recently reclassified the Peterson case as a homicide.
Lee reiterated Wednesday that the identification process could take several days or several weeks.
The female body washed up about 2 miles from the Berkeley Marina. Peterson's husband, Scott, said he was fishing at that marina on the day his wife disappeared.
Investigators have twice searched the Petersons' home, and impounded Scott's car and boat shortly after Laci's disappearance. Police have not called Scott Peterson a suspect in the case.
Monday, officials determined that a bone another passerby found near that shore was not human and probably came from a bird, Lee said Wednesday.
Family spokeswoman Kim Petersen told a news conference: "If this turns out to be Laci, we want the animal responsible for this heinous act to pay. We believe if this is Laci, God has allowed her to be found."
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