Good evening, this will be our last conference for today. Really not much has changed. There is one clarification, I think that a couple times there were some questions that were asked about the FBI BAU and were they going to talk to the family members. I gave you the answer that that hadn't occurred, but it probably will. I since have talked with them and found that that may or may not happen. The way that they do their work is that they observe, they may watch some of the interviews that are going on and based upon that information they could prove useful to the investigation. They may not interview them, so I just want to clarify that.
Other than that we have transitioned out the day crew. There are a few other more people standing by here in case we get any further tips and leads.
But other than that we're going be resuming things back up in the morning.
Q: Chief we heard from a neighbor that said that said she heard voices outside of Isa's window at 6:30 in the morning and hour and a half before the father said she was missing. Have you looked into that?
A:Well we've interviewed all the surrounding neighbors and we have that information as well. Of course we're looking at that, you know, we're not making any assumptions based on that. There's a huge amount of information out there. You're talking about one piece, let's say, of a 500 piece puzzle. You don't take one piece and put it down and say, okay, we're done we know what this puzzle depicts. You have to take the other 499 pieces, put it all together, and get an accurate picture of what we're looking at. We are aware of that information and our detectives have it on the recording.
Q: Is it possible what the father said about his timeline
A: Not necessarily. All we know is that's what she says she heard. It doesn't still contradict anything the father says, he says he went to her room at 8:00 and the child was gone.
Q: She also mentioned that the dogs and her dogs were going crazy...have you heard other neighbors say that same thing?
A: Neighbors have talked about that these dogs would react all the time, and that anytime that anyone approached the house, that they do go crazy. As far as what the other neighbors, I don't have information from every single neighbor as to what that is; but the detectives do have that, and they'll be looking at that.
Q: were they in the backyard, were they outside?
A: That I don't know, the detectives will know that, but that I don't personally know.
Q: Is ransom a possibility in this case?
A: We have not received any type of ransom request in this case.
Q: inaudible
A: yes
Q: the family is allowed to return?
A: The family is allowed to return, but my understanding is that as of this time, they've chosen not to.
Q: inaudible
A: We still have to talk to family members and we need to make sure and sit down because of the sheer volume of information we have and the sheer number of tips. We want to go over it again and say Ok, have we done everything we need to do. Are there other people we need to talk to. We implore people that are out there that may be watching this because even though I've sent officers 3 or 4 times to canvass the area, to go door-to-door. There's probably a couple of house that maybe they haven't made contact. I would ask those people If you have information, or even if you don't. If you live in the surrounding area and you haven't been contact by the police call 88-CRIME or 911 and talk with us. If nothing else we want to know that you didn't hear something, or if you did hear something, so we can categorize it and have our detectives aware of it.
Q: Are psychics a part of this investigation?
A: Not at this point, we have received a few phone calls, but at this point we just have so many other pieces of information to follow up on that we're not considering it.
Q: Do you have any idea when those FBI...
A: They already have been talking with us, and tomorrow, my assumption is they will probably will be get an opportunity to review the interviews of family members and other members. Because what they are looking out is the scene, the circumstances of disappearance, the neighborhood. A variety of different things so they can give us some clues of what we should be looking at or for. That has already occurred. We keep then in with all of our investigative briefings. They sit down with us, they listen to what the detectives are saying. So that process, so to speak, has already begun and will continue tomorrow.
Q: Are you still following how many leads
A: We've had over 300 leads now, and we're still following certain leads that we feel could be useful to us or helpful or that point us in different directions. Sometimes the lead will say I know this person who knows this person who sometimes does this and this. We have to track down something as insignificant as that may prove to be, because we don't know what may come from that. And so yes, we do have follow up work to do on several of these leads.
Q: question about the search?
A: Probably that scaled down of the immediate search and the general search will be scaled down to a minimal level. However, as we investigate those leads if that provides some type of guidance of where we need to go, of where we need to search. That's how we probably see ourselves continuing the search efforts at this point.
Q: inaudible
A: We're opening our doors completely on this. And that's the whole purpose. And that's why I've been trying to stress over and over. We haven't settled on any path on this. We're keeping our minds completely open as to what could have occurred because we don't want to miss anything. So we're gonna open our doors to the analysts to review everything we have and anything they want to look at if they feel it would be helpful in giving us some suggestions.
Q: Importance of searching house
A: Its extremely important. It's the last place where Isabel was seen. We need to scour it with a fine tooth comb. And that's what even necessitated the second search warrant and the refreshment of the warrant so the BAU people could go in there. It is the most important in this event. We're not afraid of going through this multiple times. We're not afraid of different eyes looking at is. We don't want to let ego concede or anything impede the successful conclusion of this case. The house is very important to us.
Q: inaudible
A: No, we really haven't. We're continuing to do the work that needs to be done out there. When we start to feel like we don't have anything else to follow up on, we'll revisit that. We don't want to give up hope, we don't want the family to give up hope. We don't want anyone, you know, Our goal right now is hoping that Isabel is okay and out there and that we can find her and bring her back safely. And then to conduct, if there is, you know, someone out there who is responsible to locate and bring them to justice.
Q: Are you in constant contact with the family?
A: Oh yes, oh yes, we're staying in contact with the family, communicating what we're doing with them, and continuing to talk with them.
Q: Inaudible (reward)
A: I don't know if it's grown since then.
Q: inaudible
A: I have a US Marshall downstairs sitting with us. I've gotten personally text messages and emails from heads of other agencies saying that if there is any assistance we need just give us a phone call. I've been extremely impressed with the cooperation and offers of help we've received from various agencies as well as the community that wants to help. Everyone wants to see Isabel come home safely.
Okay our next conference is at 8:00 in the morning. I don't know if I'll be there, but I'll probably see you sometime tomorrow.