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Laci's friends and family, including Scott, had been slated to travel to Los Angeles on Sunday, January 19, 2003 to open a one-day command center to distribute flyers, posters, buttons, ribbons and to generally get the word out about Laci so that the general public would be looking for her as much in Southern California as they were nearer home. But the news of Scott's affair and the closing of the Modesto command center seemed to cool that idea and it was abruptly cancelled. And a trip to the San Diego area to do essentially the same thing slated for the following weekend (January 25th and 26th) was also scuttled. But in an interview on Saturday, January 18, 2003, with Rita Cosby on the Fox News Channel program "Fox Wire," Brad Saltzman, general manager of the Red Lion Hotel in Modesto, who had been organizing the volunteer centers, said that he and Scott and others who agree with him that the search for Laci must continue, were still planning on traveling to Los Angeles on Sunday the 19th to open the one-day command center, as originally planned. Saltzman said he had arranged for donated space for the center at the Doubletree Hotel in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, which is owned by the same company that owns the hotel he manages. Scott's father, Lee Peterson, interviewed on the Fox Wire program by telephone, also said he would be there. The senior Peterson added that he was absolutely certain that his son, Scott, had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance, and he expressed frustration that the focus had shifted away from finding her. He said that everyone needed to get back to that fundamental task. But some of Scott's in-laws were not impressed with the plan to open the one-day command center in Los Angeles. "I don't see why they need to open it for one day down there," Laci's father, Dennis Rocha told the Modesto Bee. "(Southern Californians) know about the coverage as well as we do here. I don't know what the purpose would be. It's 360 miles from here. I'd rather see them keep this one open (the command center in Modesto)." Clearly, the family has decided not to re-open the Modesto command center. On Monday, January 20, 2003, they removed all items still remaining in the room at the Red Lion Hotel where the command center had been housed -- officially moving out for good.
At day's end, only about three dozen volunteers showed up to help distribute posters. Some said they were troubled by allegations of Scott's apparent infidelity, but believed Laci Peterson deserved their help. "The husband bothers me a lot being he hasn't been upfront on this," said volunteer Diane Fernandez of Downey. Another volunteer, Ana Ramirez of Santa Clarita, said she "just wanted to do a good deed." Although Scott appeared to try to ignore the media crush and to concentrate on the task he had gone there to complete, he finally relented and agreed to answer a few of their questions. He reiterated his belief that there should be less talk about his possibly being a suspect, and more talk about finding Laci. He said it was becoming more difficult as Laci's baby's due date arrived, adding that he just hoped she was not going through anything bad. He talked about the importance of spreading the word to the Southern part of the state, and he said he was going to be doing the same thing the following weekend in San Diego. ''If you go to Modesto you see in every store, every corner, there's posters for her everywhere," Scott said. "We've been working on that for 26 days. We simply have to expand the geographical area. So we'll do it here, we'll do it in San Diego next weekend and we'll continue to expand until we find her." Early on Tuesday, January 21, 2003, former FBI profiler Candice Delong, who was interviewed on KTVU's "Mornings on 2" program said she was concerned about Scott making the San Diego trip. She noted that San Diego is awfully close to Mexico, and she wondered aloud if Scott was planning an escape across the border. She also questioned if Scott's intense interest in expanding the search to the Southern part of the state was a way of attempting to draw interest, and perhaps even the search itself, away from parts of the state nearer his home... parts of the state where Laci's body, if she is no longer alive, is more likely to be located. Nevertheless, Scott, his friends, and his side of the family insist that some good came from setting-up the one-day Los Angeles command center, where roughly 2,000 posters and flyers were distributed to about 240 Los Angeles resident volunteers who promised to hand them out and post them in their neighborhoods. And he feels that a trip to San Diego for the same purpose will yield similar results. On Tuesday, January 22, 2003, Scott was said to be preparing in earnest for that trip. On Friday, January 24, 2003, Scott and his family, meeting at Scott's parents' home in San Diego, decided to push back the planned one-day command center there for at least a week. Though no reason was specifically given, the family hinted that they were concerned that the Super Bowl event in San Diego that same weekend would interfere and that they might not be able to get the media attention that they felt the event deserved. No specific plans for that following weekend were stated.
"They think he's guilty," Saltzman said, adding, "The hotel's involvement is simply an effort to find Laci, but it's not supporting any individual," he said. Salzman also helped organize Sunday's search effort. But Saltzman's opinion of Scott would soon change. After the one-day command center in Los Angeles, Saltzman spoke to KTVU TV reporter. "It's funny because last week a correspondent asked me if I had ever seen Scott cry," he said. "I thought about it, and I've seen other family members cry but I had never seen Scott cry. His demeanor was like it was empty, and he liked the attention from the media." "When he wanted to take a break or use the rest room, I was able to take him the back way (in the hotel) -- away from the press. We could have gone up the service elevator, but he chose to go in front of the media and it was a media circus out there. That's why I think his intentions weren't to find Laci but, rather, just to put on a show for the press." On January 25, 2003, Saltzman appeared on the FOX News Network program "Fox Wire" with Rita Cosby, and he reiterated his concerns about Scott. "It seemed like he relished... enjoyed being in front of the camera," Saltzman said, "which... which I didn't understand. But he also enjoyed shaking hands and having that on tape. And just... the smile that he gives.... it wasn't that of someone who's missing his wife and baby boy. At this point I am very disappointed and I feel like I was certainly duped." "I gave up a lot in Los Angeles to do this one day volunteer effort at the request of him (Scott) through his mother (Jaqueline)," Saltman added. "But I don't think his efforts were sincerely to find Laci." Saltzman talked about how the press was trying to get Scott to answer questions; that even his parents were encouraging him to answer questions, but that he would not. He only seemed to want to shake hands with people and put on a show for the press.
Modesto Police Sgt.
Michael Zahr added, "We are currently investigating the break-in, and we are not prepared to release much
information. Detectives are working on leads that may solve this case soon.'' |
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