Springrain (lovely username, BTW), I’m not sure which recording you’ve listened to. There are two versions that have been made public. One has the first part of the recording completely erased. The other one includes all of the beginning (which is usually transcribed as “
inaudible”
and part of the end which has a portion that has had an obvious attempt at erasure. But the attempt at erasure was not complete, and the beginning portion of the conversation between Burke and John can be heard. The portion that can be heard is enough that if you are able to discern the words you’ll recognize it as the sound of words spoken by a young child.
If you care to look into this further, try the following:
First listen to the version that was received by
Tricia (our fearless leader) and posted on Acandyrose.com.
http://www.acandyrose.com/patsy911-FFJ.mp3
I copied it to here (in case it ever disappears from there):
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/7b1w6sajt516nbm/patsy911-FFJ.mp3
I used audio editing software to clean up some of the background noise (ambient sound, machine buzz, and the 911 operator’s keyboard clicking at the end). Here is the result:
http://mfi.re/listen/uoudcwjx9w3c2op/patsy911-FFJ_(2013_Cleanup).mp3
I also have a Word document that shows what is commonly transcribed next to what I feel is a more accurate transcription, and next to that are explanations and comments. But by all means don’t read this document until you’ve had a chance to listen for yourself first. After you’ve listened, then listen again and read along with the transcription to see if you can hear any of the background conversation at the beginning and at the end. Here is the transcription document:
http://www.mediafire.com/view/fxa8mxqlmq5blu1/911 Transcript (otg version).doc
Any version that has the first and/or the last portions completely cut off is not worth fooling with (IMO). There is a version floating around that begins with Patsy saying, “Police!” There are others that have both the beginning and the end cut off. Years ago, NBC did a segment on this and played the 911 call. Both the beginning and the end were cut off and replaced with Katie Couric’s voiceover. Here is that recording:
http://mfi.re/listen/li6toa3419blg7k/patsy911_(Today_show).mp3