Warrant Issued for Donna Walker in Reunion Hoax in Indiana
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heartache in the Heartland, a missing girl vanished for 17 years, her parents today hoped for a reunion. Ninety minutes ago they had a lesson instead in cruelty.</s>MIKE SHERRILL, FATHER: I thought this was something.</s>KAGAN: Who would possibly want to victimize a family already shaken by the loss of their child? The arrest warrant is out. WOLF BLITZER REPORTS starts right now.</s>KAGAN (voice-over): A message for Saddam.</s>COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: He's a piece of trash waiting to be collected.</s>KAGAN: And the slap in the face for him at home, Iraq gets a new president. The hunt for bin Laden why isn't the other noose tightening?</s>POWELL: Well, he's no doubt being very careful how he moves.</s>KAGAN: Al Qaeda and the airlines, the new terror threat, is it up to you to keep the skies safe?</s>TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: But after Flight 93, it is doubtful that any group of passengers would let any would-be hijacker take over their plane.</s>KAGAN: Coming out against gay marriage.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman.</s>KAGAN: Could the president's position become law? And, music mission, why hundreds of thousands are spending the night together.</s>KAGAN: It is Wednesday, July 30, 2003. Hello from CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan reporting today. Wolf Blitzer is off. The promise of a miracle turned out to be an unimaginably cruel hoax and now the hearts of an Indiana family are crushed once again. Police say that a woman claiming to be their missing daughter is a fraud. Our Sean Callebs is following the story and brings us the latest -- Sean.</s>SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, for the past few days the parents of Shannon Sherrill had hoped to attend a news conference today saying there was good news that perhaps they had found their missing girl.</s>CALLEBS (voice-over): Shannon Marie Sherrill was six years old when she disappeared back in 1986 while playing hide and seek near her Thorntown, Indiana home but just a few days ago came a call all parents of missing children pray for, a young woman saying she could be Shannon Sherrill.</s>SHERRILL: When they called me with the information that we were going to have a news conference I thought they were going to bring Shannon in here. I thought this was something.</s>CALLEBS: Now, Mike Sherrill and his ex-wife Dorothy are dealing with losing a child for the second time.</s>SGT. DAVE BURSTEN, INDIANA STATE POLICE: It has been determined that the woman who contacted Dorothy Sherrill was actually the perpetrator of a cruel hoax.</s>CALLEBS: Indiana authorities say the calls claiming to possibly be from Shannon Sherrill were actually made by a 35-year-old woman, Donna Walker. They say through their investigation and dealing with authorities in Topeka, Kansas, and Virginia Beach, Virginia, they have determined Walker has a history of deception and using fake identities but what they don't know is why, why cruelly raising a mother and father's hope.</s>BURSTEN: The motive for Donna Walker to commit this alleged crime is unknown.</s>CALLEBS: Donna Walker is still free. Authorities hope this picture leads to her arrest and they say if anything good comes of this hoax perhaps it will trigger leads in the case of a young girl missing for 17 years.</s>CALLEBS: Just a sad, sad turn of events. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children had been, if not skeptical then certainly taking a wait and see attitude saying missing 17 years then located it isn't very common -- Daryn.</s>KAGAN: You just can't blame the family for holding out hope, Sean, thank you for that. Let's get more on the story. We're joined now by Todd Meyer. He is the Boone County, Indiana prosecutor, Mr. Meyer thank you for joining us.</s>TODD MEYER, PROSECUTOR, BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA: Thank you.</s>KAGAN: So, you plan on filing charges and prosecuting this woman that is known as Donna Walker.</s>MEYER: I'm sorry I didn't hear that.</s>KAGAN: What are the charges you plan on filing against Donna Walker?</s>MEYER: OK, thank you. We have already filed charges. The charging information is on file with Boone Superior Court One Judge Matthew Kincaid (ph) and we filed Class D felony false informing and identity deception as a Class A misdemeanor.</s>KAGAN: And would that bring prison time if she is convicted?</s>MEYER: The maximum sentence unfortunately that I can gather out of this case in the event I'm able to get consecutive sentences on both counts is four years, which is a bit discouraging for the trauma that this person has given to this family.</s>KAGAN: Absolutely and really no way to measure how much pain this person has allegedly given this family but the problem right now is you don't even know where this woman is.</s>MEYER: That's correct. The hunt is on and that was part of the purpose of this press conference today to seek out the help of everyone across the country. If you see this person's picture and if you see this person, please contact authorities immediately because we have reason to believe that this isn't the first time this type of thing has happened with this lady.</s>KAGAN: That she's done this to other families.</s>MEYER: We believe that to be true at this time. It's something that this ongoing investigation and this case will unfold to us as we go through the discovery process.</s>KAGAN: I don't know how much you know about the investigation but at the news conference we heard some of the police officers talking about how this woman was actually using three different voices, pretending to be three different people.</s>MEYER: That's correct. I never personally have spoken to the defendant in this case, Donna Walker, but it is my understanding in working with the state police and the local marshal here that she has been able to contrive herself as both a male and a female, two different females, and one male.</s>KAGAN: And just one final question. I don't know how much you know about how this news conference was set up but for our viewers that were watching it unfold on CNN, it would appear that when the news conference began the family did not know that this woman was a fake that it wasn't their daughter that they were learning this news as the world was watching them at this news conference, is that true?</s>MEYER: I think what we're seeing at the conference live, a rush of emotions, a lot of emotions taking over for the family. I think that's partly what the viewers are seeing. I know that my office, the state police, the police that have been working this case primarily, as soon as they were able to make contact with the family, which we weren't able to make contact with everyone unfortunately, we did provide them information as soon as possible. But, you have to remember we were -- this matter has been sealed until just shortly before the press conference for purposes of protecting the warrant and the integrity of the warrant.</s>KAGAN: So, even though it appeared that the Sherrill family might be learning of the news, it might have just been a rush of emotions is what you're saying that your office or the police department made every effort to make sure this is not how they were finding out on national television?</s>MEYER: Correct, absolutely not. We provided them the information just as soon as we possibly could. It was highly sensitive information. I mean we have a fugitive on our hands and we are trying to find that person even as we speak.</s>KAGAN: Absolutely, we wish you well in that search for the woman known as Donna Walker. Todd Meyer, Boone County, Indiana prosecutor, thank you sir for your time.</s>MEYER: Thank you.</s>KAGAN: Well, it's absolutely impossible to know what these parents are going through. Just last night the father in this case, Mr. Sherrill, had a chance to talk with Paula Zahn. At that point, he was still full of hope and he was talking about how amazing it was to talk to this woman who at that point he really did honestly believe was his long lost daughter.</s>PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I understand you then had an opportunity to talk with this young woman you believe to be your daughter. Can you share with us what the two of you had to say to each other?</s>SHERRILL: Oh, before I talked to her I had a million questions that I wanted to ask her and when I got her on the phone I just totally spaced everything. I just went blank and I just asked her how she was and she said she was fine and it was so good to hear her voice.</s>ZAHN: You also have to live with the cruel reality that this could be a hoax. Have investigators told you to be wary of that?</s>SHERRILL: Yes, they told me, and I'm just hoping that it's not. After hearing her voice, you know, it's different.</s>KAGAN: Well, and of course today all those hopes absolutely dashed when you saw the reaction here on CNN. In just a moment we're going to have a chance to talk with a woman who works with a center that deals with families that do have missing children and ask what could possibly be done for a family in this situation. We will get back to that story in just a minute. First, though, let's to another developing story, there's been an alleged confession in the case of the two missing New Hampshire children whose father is charged with their murders. Julie Ruditzky of CNN affiliate WNDS is in Derry, New Hampshire, and she has details on that -- Julie, what can you tell us?</s>JULIE RUDITZKY, WNDS CORRESPONDENT: Well, in my hands these are the court documents that were just released and they indicate that Manuel Gehring confessed to police admitting that he murdered his two children shooting them with a handgun on the night of July 4. Now, these details come from a search warrant. It was used to gain access to Gehring's home following the disappearance of his two children. Now, the search warrant indicates that Gehring when first asked by investigators if he killed his children said "My life is over." And when asked if he killed his children again he put his head down and didn't respond but then later told investigators that on the night of July 4, he returned home after the fireworks with his two children. Then he took a .9mm handgun, got back in the van, and drove for about 30 to 45 minutes before shooting them both. Now, the court documents indicate that then he continued to drive, stopping at a Wal-Mart, which we pretty much knew that, where he bought a shovel and axe, a scissors and some duct tape and then drove another three to four hours stopping in some secluded spot in the Midwest somewhere and after burying the children said a prayer and then left a cross made of duct tape on the grave. Now, Gehring is behind bars at this point. He's under suicide watch at Merrimac County Jail and, of course, the bodies of 14-year- old Sarah and 11-year-old Philip they're still missing. But as of right now this is a major development in this case. These documents reveal that Manuel Gehring admitted to killing both his children -- back to you.</s>KAGAN: All right, thank you for the latest on that story. We're going to get back to our lead story right now and that is the story of the Sherrill family trying to deal with the news that the woman who claimed to be their daughter is indeed not. In fact, there is a warrant out for the arrest of the woman known as Donna Walker. Few people know the family's pain. Marsha Gilmer Tullis though has seen it too many times before. She is the director of the Family Advocacy Division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and she is joining us from Washington today. Thank you so much.</s>MARSHA GILMER TULLIS, NATL. CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Thank you.</s>KAGAN: I don't know if you had a chance to see this news conference but to see the look on the family's face was just absolutely devastating. It appeared at the news conference they were learning at just that moment that this was not their daughter, this woman who was claiming to be their daughter.</s>TULLIS: Yes, that's a very tragic kind of situation, particularly given the length of time that their daughter has been missing. It certainly was devastating, not only for -- you know certainly for the family but for those of us that were so hoping and, particularly at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that indeed this was their daughter.</s>KAGAN: Marsha, when we see something like this happen we just have to wonder how could anybody possibly be so cruel as to inflict this kind of pain but does this type of thing happen more often than we know?</s>TULLIS: No, actually it really doesn't. It's not one of those kinds of situations where we see this on a regular basis that an individual would claim to be a missing child or in this case a missing adult, a young adult now.</s>KAGAN: And just to look at this particular situation with this family, 17 years this girl has been missing. That's a long time to hold out hope and yet it seemed like that's exactly what this family was doing. Is there a point, how do you ever counsel a family that it's time not to hope? How can you tell a family that?</s>TULLIS: Well, I tell you the families that we work with never give up hope and that's something that we encourage them not to do. We encourage them to have hope, never to give up, because we really just don't know. And, this family along with hundreds of others throughout the country that have missing children, they always continue to give up hope and they give support to one another not to give up hope and to keep looking and searching because, again, one never knows where that missing child or missing adult may be.</s>KAGAN: Well, and the only possible silver lining in this particular case, we heard the police officer at the news conference say perhaps this will once again put the story of this girl into the public eye and that will remind somebody or, perhaps, even guilt somebody into coming forward and giving real information about what happened to his girl 17 years ago.</s>TULLIS: Absolutely. We really do hope that that indeed would be the case and we hope that the family, again, will be able to move forward, continue the search for their daughter and, again, you know, keep that hope going and just let people know that indeed she is important. She has always been important and she will continue to be important and the search will continue.</s>KAGAN: And all you have to look into that family's eyes and their heart and you can see that's exactly how they feel.</s>TULLIS: Oh, absolutely, no doubt.</s>KAGAN: Marsha Gilmer Tullis with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children thank you for your time today.</s>TULLIS: Thank you.</s>KAGAN: Much appreciate it. We're going to move on now to some international news and the search for Saddam Hussein and the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Can the U.S. land two big fish at the same time? We'll take a closer look. Plus, terror threats against the airlines, is cost standing in the way of proper security? We will take a closer look at that. And, how about the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Justin Timberlake, what are they doing hanging out in Canada? The rock benefit that is drawing huge crowds, we're going there live. But first, here is today's news quiz.</s>KAGAN (voice-over): Who drew the largest crowd in history at a free rock concert? Was it the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, or Simon & Garfunkel? The answer is coming up.