Body Found Near Home of Missing Sarah Michelle Lunde
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: It is 2:00 p.m. in the east coast, 11:00 am in the West. Good afternoon, I'm Zain Verjee at CNN's global headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour, a body was found during the search for the Florida missing girl, the identity still unclear. We're going to have a live report with the details. And, we've all heard about cases of identity theft, but now it's affecting children as well. From a newborn infant to a 3-year-old, how do you protect your kids? Plus...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just waiting for the perfect timing. Just keep waiting for the perfect one, at the right time. Maybe when I get older, I might take a foster kid and adopt them.</s>VERJEE: In search of a loving home, foster kids hope for this chance, and an art project could bring their dreams closer to coming true. Those stories in a moment, but first, a look at the headlines "Now in the News." As Iraq puts the finishing touches on its transitional government, insurgents keep U.S. and Iraqi forces firmly in their sights with deadly results. A suicide attack in Baqubah is blamed for the deaths of five police officers and two civilians, and a roadside bombing in Taji killed one American soldier. Thousands of protesters are filling the streets of China today throwing rocks, bottles, and tomatoes to protest against Japan. The Chinese are angry about Japan's approval of a history textbook that downplays its aggression during World War II, in what China calls Japan's failure to admit atrocities. FDA is pulling the plug on advertisements on two popular drugs. Federal regulators say ads for Levitra and Zyrtec make unsubstantiated claims of superiority over similar products. This is the fourth such warning to Pfizer about Zyrtec allergy medicine. The FDA also says Bayer Pharmaceuticals failed to disclose warnings and product information about its erectile-dysfunctional drug, Levitra. A girl missing, a body found. We begin with the painstaking search for 13-year-old Sarah Michelle Lunde and a painful discovery. Authorities say a body was found near the girl's home today. CNN's Sara Dorsey joins us now live from Ruskin in Florida with the latest details. Sara?</s>SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, it's a tense time here at the Apostolic Church near Ruskin. This was Sarah's church, and this has been command central for the sheriff's office here for five days as they search for Sarah Lunde, to no avail up until today. We just heard, not long ago, from the sheriff, at about 12:30 this afternoon that indeed, a body has been found. They have not yet identified this body as Sarah Lunde. The people here are waiting. Here is what sheriff had to say about that.</s>SHERIFF DAVID GEE, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: A body was found approximately one half mile south of our missing child's residence. It is in an abandoned fish farm. The body's partially submerged. Apparently had been submerged. Until today it was found by a search-and hear rescue dog. We are actively working that scene right now.</s>DORSEY: And again that body was found about a half mile south of Sarah Lunde's home, where it believed that she disappeared from Saturday night after returning from a church retreat that morning. Again, police are still on that scene, attempting to, first of all, get the medical examiner out there, and then at some point identify that body. We are waiting for more information. Searchers were out throughout the day, they've been out for five days looking for this little girl, more than 300 searchers out today. That included 100 law enforcement agents and 200 volunteers that gave their Saturday afternoon just to try to get some answers in this case. A girl that just vanished from home. She was left by herself according to family members. And of course now, people here are very much on edge waiting to see exactly what they might find out in the late afternoon hours. I am joined here by Leslie Fontana, and Leslie, I know we've been talking, you were Sarah's best friend, one of her best friends. Tell me what she was like. Tell me about her. I hear she was a great person. And obviously to be your best friend. Tell me about her.</s>LESLIE FONTANA, FRIEND OF SARAH LUNDE: Yes, she's a really nice girl. We've been friends for like, three, four years. We used to live like close to each other until I moved. Then she moved. Then I moved again. But, yes, she's a really nice girl. We did a lot of stuff together. We had sleepovers at church. And she stayed at my house and we played volleyball and all that.</s>DORSEY: Now, I know you -- told me that you also listened to the sheriff's announcement today from inside of the church. What went through your mind when he's saying the things that he said to us?</s>FONTANA: I just -- it went through my mind that I hope it's not her. It's really scary.</s>DORSEY: I couldn't imagine being 13-years-old and having to deal with something like this. You and your friends have been hugging and crying together and openly upset. What goes through your mind at this time hearing these things?</s>FONTANA: I don't know, it's just that it's awful. It's terrible.</s>DORSEY: And I know that you and your family is here with you. You're all just waiting to understand what's going to happen. Do you plan on staying here for a while tonight?</s>FONTANA: Yes, I'll probably be staying here until like 8:00 or 9:00 tonight, I'm not sure.</s>DORSEY: Why do you want to be?</s>FONTANA: To help find Sarah. To hope the body they found is not hers.</s>DORSEY: I know that the rest of America hopes the same thing for you all. It has to be so hard but on a good note, you and Sarah spent some time together. You really were one of the last people to see her besides her family members. Tell us what you all were doing on Saturday.</s>FONTANA: We were at my dad's birthday party. It was his 50th birthday party and a lot of the family and friends gathered in Medard Park in Plant City. And we played games and we had a water balloon fight. They got coolers and threw it on each other -- of water. And we had a really fun time and after the party, we went to play volleyball and then I had to go home. We stayed there until they kicked us out of the park. So, that's the last time I saw her.</s>DORSEY: So you had some great time with her?</s>FONTANA: Yes.</s>DORSEY: You had been a church retreat the night before, correct?</s>FONTANA: Yes.</s>DORSEY: And had some fun things happen there?</s>FONTANA: Yes.</s>DORSEY: Great. Well, I tell you, my heart goes out to you as you wait. I know it has to be so hard for you at 13. I will keep my fingers crossed. I thank you very much for joining us, OK?</s>FONTANA: Thank you.</s>DORSEY: Thank you, Leslie. Zain, as you can see everyone here on edge. Sarah's best friend out here with many of her other for other friends, openly upset at this point, just waiting to hear. She's told me over and over, I just hope this isn't her. I hope this isn't her. I think that's basically the general consensus out here. What everyone is thinking, please don't let this be the little girl, but sheriff said it himself, he doesn't think this is going to be a coincidence, only a half a mile south of the home that Sarah did disappear. Things not looking good right here. And of course, we will continue to follow this story and bring you up to date as soon as we get anymore information on it. Zain?</s>VERJEE: Sara Dorsey, thanks. The sheriff in Florida also says that since the discovery of the body, it's been a very difficult time for the family of Sarah Lunde. Our next guest understands this pain. Mark Klaas, his daughter Polly was kidnapped and murdered in 1993. He now runs the Klaas Kids' Foundation in her honor, and he joins us now by telephone from Grass Valley in California. Thank you so much for being with us. I just want to stress that we don't know the identity of the body. We don't know if it is the missing girl. But you've been in somewhat similar situation. And I'm sorry for that. But give us a sense of what the family going through?</s>MARC KLAAS, DAUGHTER POLLY WAS KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED: Well, you know, it's somebody's little girl. I mean, they found a body of a child. And it's somebody's child, whether it's hers or somebody else's, there is a family that's going to be absolutely devastated by the fact that a system that they had entrusted themselves in for so long, that would be the American system, has somehow failed. And that a little child who should have been safe is no longer with us. So, there is huge anger. There's tremendous amounts of sadness. And there's a process of grief that's going to last an extended period of time. The reality is that a lot of families don't even recover from these kinds of tragedies. People will go into tailspins. They'll go into -- they'll fall into depression or alcoholism or drug abuse. Or they'll go into some weird denial which catches up to them at some point. Or they'll do, as people like Mark Lunsford and I have done, and they will find ways to fight back at the system, and make it better. So that hopefully these kind of tragedies don't occur in the future. But the immediate aftermath is unlike anything anybody should have ever to have to experience. It's so dark, it's so deep, and it's so devastating.</s>VERJEE: Mark, because we don't know the identity of the body yet, would the family, you think in this position, have any hopes they'll still be holding out?</s>KLAAS: Sure, of course. You hold out hope until it's confirmed. I know that from personal experience. You need somebody -- it's so overwhelming. It's so huge that it's the last thing in the world you ever want to accept. And until they can give you proof of death, I mean absolute proof of death, you're going to hang on to hope. I've seen people do it for years sometimes. And I can't blame them one bit. However, in the long run, it's better to know than never to know.</s>VERJEE: The sheriff went over to the house of the family, spoke to them. In this predicament, what would he be telling them, other than what he's already told us in the press conference? How would the sensitivity be handled by the sheriff?</s>KLAAS: I don't know that there is any way to handle it. I mean, what you do is you make sure the family learns from the authorities before they hear it on the television or the radio. That's the most important thing. And obviously, anybody with any sense of decorum is going to approach the family and do it in a very sensitive way, but there's really no way to lessen the blow, that the worst news you possibly could have heard has -- has come to pass. I mean, you basically have to be out front. You have to say it. You have to say it slowly and you hold hands and you cry with the family.</s>VERJEE: How did you deal with what happened to you and your family?</s>KLAAS: Well, we fought back. The interesting thing is when they finally gave us that proof of death, and this was after some period of time of believing that we were still going to get Polly back. After they gave you that proof of death, the police were cry, the FBI agent was crying. And they told my ex-wife and I, I understood this intellectually. I kind knew it was coming. I understood it. But it was hours before the emotional impact finally came home. And I would say two or three hours later, I realized what had really happened, what they had told me, and my entire world crashed in on me. The closest thing I could say was a portrayal of Sean Penn in "Mystic River" when he found out that his daughter had been murdered. That was by far the closest that I have ever seen that kind of a scene portrayed.</s>VERJEE: Mark Klaas, many thanks for your time. Appreciate it.</s>KLAAS: Sure.</s>VERJEE: We don't know the identity of the body just yet. Forensic experts, the sheriff told us just a short while ago, will be working intensely to verify the identity of the body that has been found. Robert Jensen is on the telephone right now. He joins you now. He's the president and CEO of Kenyon International. He's an expert in forensics. First of all, I don't sound insensitive, but you have a body. What's the first thing do you?</s>ROBERT JENSEN, KENYON INTL. FORENSIC IDENTIFICATION: Well, there's two things that has to be done. They have to collect the ceased from the crime scene and preserve the evidence, because identification is one thing that needs to be done, but also determining what happened is as important. So we have to have the crime scene processed in a way that preserves all the evidence.</s>VERJEE: What will be used to accurately determine identification.</s>JENSEN: This, this case, a variety of methods from dental records, a finger or a footprint, or DNA. And I would imagine that the authorities have already collected DNA samples from the family. And have also started to put some records together, so that if this is the outcome, they can make it more quickly.</s>VERJEE: How long would it take from the discovery of the body and to knowing positively what identity the person that is deceased is?</s>JENSEN: Well, Florida has a very good medical examiner system. And they should, if they have records from the family be able to make an identification in 24 hours. But it's important to remember that the identification is again just one asset or one facet of this. It's very important to let the family know. And I echo Mr. Klaas' words, that whether this is the missing child or not, this is somebody's child. This is a person who will only come home one more time. And it's so important that they treat that system, that notification with that dignity and respect to the family's needs. So as they make this process in this investigation, that will take some time that may make the identification, not happen within the next few hours. But in a day or so.</s>VERJEE: Now, we heard from the sheriff that the body was partially submerged. If the body was in that sort of situation, and it could well be decomposed, I don't know. You can clarify that. What kind of complications, if any, does that provide forensic experts and medical examiners?</s>JENSEN: Well, it makes processing the scene in doing the recovery that much harder. It also makes the collection of evidence which can lead to the cause of death, whether it was a homicide and what type of homicide, it can make it more challenging to determine. Fortunately, the techniques that are out there today with X-ray, with DNA, with chemical trace analysis, make that not -- make it possible, it makes it more difficult. It certainly can delay identification. But again with good dental records, with DNA it's not going to have a negative impact by making it impossible.</s>VERJEE: Robert Jensen, the president and CEO of Kenyon International, giving us his perspective on some of the forensic and medical aspects that will probably be going on as we speak. We're going to take a short break. We'll continue in a moment.