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Police Now Believe Leanna Warner Was Abducted
POSTED: 8:03 a.m. CDT June 23, 2003
UPDATED: 9:38 a.m. CDT June 23, 2003
More than a week after 5-year-old Leanna Warner was last seen by a passer-by after strolling across lawns to visit a friend around the corner of her Chisholm house, authorities have called off an organized search for her and are now treating the disappearance as an abduction.
Police said authorities and volunteers have combed virtually all possible locales for where Warner may have stumbled or ended up and haven't come up with a single clue as to her whereabouts.
That has the family going national with its story and plea for people to keep an eye out for her, and police saying they are now approaching the case as a kidnapping.
Chris and Kaelin Warner were on ABC's "Good Morning America" show to publicize a Web site from which posters can be printed and posted with her picture on them.
"We continue to search and search ... I don't know, I don't know what happened," Chris Warner said.
Chisholm police Chief Scott Erickson appeared with the Warners on the national morning news show, and he said his department now believes the 5-year-old was kidnapped. They also appeaerd on CNN later in the morning.
"We've got about 30 investigators each day that have been working on this case, chasing down each lead as it comes in," Erickson said. "At this point, we're at about 550 leads but, unfortunately, none of those leads have given us any specific information about what may have happened to Leanna or where she may have gone or who may be involved with her."
A reward of $10,000 has been offered for information that aids the safe return of the girl with the nickname of "Beaner."
Talking to the Pioneer Press, Chris Warner said he and his wife haven't lost hope and that neither of them has the feeling that their daughter is dead.
"We have an empty feeling because she's not with us," he told the newspaper. "But I don't feel anything drastic has happened, other than that we can't find her."
The family has taken comfort from the case of Elizabeth Smart, the Utah teenager found in March after being abducted 10 months earlier, the Star Tribune said. "We believe as a family that she's still with us, and we just have to find her."
Erickson said the case did not meet the criteria for issuing an Amber Alert when Warner was first found missing.
Police said authorities and volunteers have combed virtually all possible locales for where Warner may have stumbled or ended up and haven't come up with a single clue as to her whereabouts.
That has the family going national with its story and plea for people to keep an eye out for her, and police saying they are now approaching the case as a kidnapping.
Chris and Kaelin Warner were on ABC's "Good Morning America" show to publicize a Web site from which posters can be printed and posted with her picture on them.
"We continue to search and search ... I don't know, I don't know what happened," Chris Warner said.
Chisholm police Chief Scott Erickson appeared with the Warners on the national morning news show, and he said his department now believes the 5-year-old was kidnapped. They also appeaerd on CNN later in the morning.
"We've got about 30 investigators each day that have been working on this case, chasing down each lead as it comes in," Erickson said. "At this point, we're at about 550 leads but, unfortunately, none of those leads have given us any specific information about what may have happened to Leanna or where she may have gone or who may be involved with her."
A reward of $10,000 has been offered for information that aids the safe return of the girl with the nickname of "Beaner."
Talking to the Pioneer Press, Chris Warner said he and his wife haven't lost hope and that neither of them has the feeling that their daughter is dead.
"We have an empty feeling because she's not with us," he told the newspaper. "But I don't feel anything drastic has happened, other than that we can't find her."
The family has taken comfort from the case of Elizabeth Smart, the Utah teenager found in March after being abducted 10 months earlier, the Star Tribune said. "We believe as a family that she's still with us, and we just have to find her."
Erickson said the case did not meet the criteria for issuing an Amber Alert when Warner was first found missing.Copyright 2003 by Channel 4000. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
