The Laci Sightings
Laci Sightings Were Not a Priority
By December 31st, one week after Laci went missing, at least twelve neighborhood witnesses had reported seeing Laci the morning of December 24th, 2002. During that first week, Modesto Police detectives had only followed up with 3 of these witnesses; all by phone call. No follow up was done in person. None of these witnesses were asked by detectives to show them where they saw Laci. The extent of their investigation into neighborhood sightings was a few phone calls, despite saying the following in press conferences and affidavits:
By December 31st, one week after Laci went missing, at least twelve neighborhood witnesses had reported seeing Laci the morning of December 24th, 2002. During that first week, Modesto Police detectives had only followed up with 3 of these witnesses; all by phone call. No follow up was done in person. None of these witnesses were asked by detectives to show them where they saw Laci. The extent of their investigation into neighborhood sightings was a few phone calls, despite saying the following in press conferences and affidavits:
12/29/2002 MPD Press Release, “Unfortunately, we have no concrete leads from those tips at this point.”
12/30/02 MPD Press Release, “Modesto Police investigators have virtually left no stone unturned and still, any leads as to Laci's whereabouts have not been revealed..”
12/31/2002 and 01/02/2003 under penalty of perjury to obtain tracking devices and a wiretap, MPD Detectives attested, “Although witnesses were located in the park area who claimed to have seen a pregnant woman walking a dog, no positive identifications of Laci have been established since Scott last saw her at their home."
12/30/02 MPD Press Release, “Modesto Police investigators have virtually left no stone unturned and still, any leads as to Laci's whereabouts have not been revealed..”
12/31/2002 and 01/02/2003 under penalty of perjury to obtain tracking devices and a wiretap, MPD Detectives attested, “Although witnesses were located in the park area who claimed to have seen a pregnant woman walking a dog, no positive identifications of Laci have been established since Scott last saw her at their home."
Sightings of Laci in the neighborhood that morning continued to be reported into January of 2003. Of all the neighborhood sightings, most of them say they saw her walking their dog, McKenzi, but a few had more concerning information:
One female hospital employee described two men yelling at pregnant woman who was walking a dog. This hospital employee only received a return phone call.
Another tip from a retired reserve officer described a pregnant woman being shoved back into a van less than half a mile from Scott and Laci’s house. He made repeated attempts to contact MPD and was never called back.
Yet another concerning tip came from a Lt. Aponte who worked in a California prison. He called Modesto Police to report a monitored phone conversation that one of their inmates had with his brother, who lived in Modesto. The brother told the inmate that Laci had confronted the burglars who were robbing the house directly across the street from where she lived. That house was, in fact, robbed the day Laci went missing. This conversation was recorded by the prison. Not only has the Modesto Police Department never handed over any follow up on the tip from Lt. Aponte, the tape has been lost.
Testimony by lead Detective Craig Grogan, and the questions asked of him by Prosecutor Birgit Fladager, implied that following up on the sightings was an impossible task. Take a good look at People's Exhibit 267-3. The blue dot is Scott and Laci's home, the red dots are Laci sightings in the neighborhood.
One female hospital employee described two men yelling at pregnant woman who was walking a dog. This hospital employee only received a return phone call.
Another tip from a retired reserve officer described a pregnant woman being shoved back into a van less than half a mile from Scott and Laci’s house. He made repeated attempts to contact MPD and was never called back.
Yet another concerning tip came from a Lt. Aponte who worked in a California prison. He called Modesto Police to report a monitored phone conversation that one of their inmates had with his brother, who lived in Modesto. The brother told the inmate that Laci had confronted the burglars who were robbing the house directly across the street from where she lived. That house was, in fact, robbed the day Laci went missing. This conversation was recorded by the prison. Not only has the Modesto Police Department never handed over any follow up on the tip from Lt. Aponte, the tape has been lost.
Testimony by lead Detective Craig Grogan, and the questions asked of him by Prosecutor Birgit Fladager, implied that following up on the sightings was an impossible task. Take a good look at People's Exhibit 267-3. The blue dot is Scott and Laci's home, the red dots are Laci sightings in the neighborhood.
In the area within a 1-mile radius of Laci's house there were 24 sightings. Within a 3-mile radius, there were an additional 7. This is a total of 31. What possible excuse did MPD have for not investigating each one of these sightings to determine exactly what was seen by each of the witnesses? Their lack of follow up resulted in lost opportunities to establish credibility. They may not all be right, but they’re certainly not all wrong. Laci was alive after Scott left for the day.
Det. Grogan continued to excuse MPDs failure to follow up by implying the witness times were off in comparison to when Scott left and when the next-door neighbor, Karen Servas, found the dog McKenzi in the street with the leash on. This is not true. Not only were Scott and Karen’s times still being analyzed into January, but some of these witnesses didn’t even leave a time as to when they saw Laci. And the tips that did have a time were either not a conflict or were close enough time frames that they certainly merited follow up. One of these ignored tips was a woman who said she saw Laci one block from Laci’s home between 10 and 10:30am; perfect timing, but she was never called back. The Modesto Police also completely missed the significance of the mailman’s observations on December 24th. His observations further validate Karen’s timeline, the neighborhood sightings of Laci, and the tip from Lt. Aponte. Scott’s defense attorneys also missed this crucial piece of evidence. The result was an erroneous interpretation of the morning timeline that contributed to their decision to not have Laci sighting witnesses testify in court.
Det. Grogan then used the excuse that witnesses reported Laci wearing black pants and her body was recovered almost four months later wearing tan capris. This is not true either. Not only did most witnesses not give a clothing description, but MPD had no knowledge of the tan/khaki capris until Laci's body was found. Scott had told police that Laci was wearing black pants and a white shirt when he left around 10am. This is the clothing description that was put on the missing persons flyer. Even if all the neighborhood witnesses had said she was in black pants, that would have been a credible thing to say at the time and they should have all been interviewed. When someone calls the Laci Peterson missing person tip line to say they saw “Laci” or a pregnant woman walking a dog or a golden retriever in her neighborhood, you don’t discount them because of a clothing description. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed that because her body was found in tan capris that she walked in tan capris, there is not enough known about what happened to make that assertion. Laci very well could have walked in black pants. We simply do not know what pants Laci was wearing when she walked.
Lastly, Grogan indicated that sightings outside of the park were discounted because Laci had planned to walk in the park. Once again, this is not true. Det. Grogan had been present on December 26th, when Deputy Boyer interviewed Scott Peterson at his home. Scott clearly stated that Laci sometimes walked in the neighborhood. He told Boyer, in Grogan's presence, that he and Laci had walked on Sunday, December 22nd in the neighborhood.
Det. Grogan’s excuses are filled with inaccuracies. Every one of these sightings should have been investigated thoroughly. MPD's failure to do so is inexcusable. The lead detectives had decided that Laci was dead, and that Scott had murdered her. They ignored tips that proved Laci was alive when Scott Peterson left home because it didn’t fit their narrative. They ignored leads that could have brought Laci home alive.
The stunning truth is, the Modesto Police did not assign an officer or detective to investigate Laci sightings. The map in this article, People’s Exhibit 267-3, was made by police in 2004 just prior to Det. Grogan testifying in Scott’s murder trial. No map like this was ever made by the police while Laci was missing. The investigation and prosecution of Scott Peterson cost Stanislaus County CA $4.13 million dollars. It is impossible to understand why virtually none of this money was spent following up on these neighborhoods leads. Some of these witnesses were familiar with Laci or McKenzi, some knew Laci by name. Almost all of these witnesses grew to believe that what they saw was irrelevant. Some of the witnesses were afraid to assert or testify to what they saw because of public backlash and the hatred toward Scott. At this point, some of these witnesses have died.
Laci was alive the morning of December 24th and she walked her dog. This is evidence that Scott is innocent.
Det. Grogan continued to excuse MPDs failure to follow up by implying the witness times were off in comparison to when Scott left and when the next-door neighbor, Karen Servas, found the dog McKenzi in the street with the leash on. This is not true. Not only were Scott and Karen’s times still being analyzed into January, but some of these witnesses didn’t even leave a time as to when they saw Laci. And the tips that did have a time were either not a conflict or were close enough time frames that they certainly merited follow up. One of these ignored tips was a woman who said she saw Laci one block from Laci’s home between 10 and 10:30am; perfect timing, but she was never called back. The Modesto Police also completely missed the significance of the mailman’s observations on December 24th. His observations further validate Karen’s timeline, the neighborhood sightings of Laci, and the tip from Lt. Aponte. Scott’s defense attorneys also missed this crucial piece of evidence. The result was an erroneous interpretation of the morning timeline that contributed to their decision to not have Laci sighting witnesses testify in court.
Det. Grogan then used the excuse that witnesses reported Laci wearing black pants and her body was recovered almost four months later wearing tan capris. This is not true either. Not only did most witnesses not give a clothing description, but MPD had no knowledge of the tan/khaki capris until Laci's body was found. Scott had told police that Laci was wearing black pants and a white shirt when he left around 10am. This is the clothing description that was put on the missing persons flyer. Even if all the neighborhood witnesses had said she was in black pants, that would have been a credible thing to say at the time and they should have all been interviewed. When someone calls the Laci Peterson missing person tip line to say they saw “Laci” or a pregnant woman walking a dog or a golden retriever in her neighborhood, you don’t discount them because of a clothing description. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed that because her body was found in tan capris that she walked in tan capris, there is not enough known about what happened to make that assertion. Laci very well could have walked in black pants. We simply do not know what pants Laci was wearing when she walked.
Lastly, Grogan indicated that sightings outside of the park were discounted because Laci had planned to walk in the park. Once again, this is not true. Det. Grogan had been present on December 26th, when Deputy Boyer interviewed Scott Peterson at his home. Scott clearly stated that Laci sometimes walked in the neighborhood. He told Boyer, in Grogan's presence, that he and Laci had walked on Sunday, December 22nd in the neighborhood.
Det. Grogan’s excuses are filled with inaccuracies. Every one of these sightings should have been investigated thoroughly. MPD's failure to do so is inexcusable. The lead detectives had decided that Laci was dead, and that Scott had murdered her. They ignored tips that proved Laci was alive when Scott Peterson left home because it didn’t fit their narrative. They ignored leads that could have brought Laci home alive.
The stunning truth is, the Modesto Police did not assign an officer or detective to investigate Laci sightings. The map in this article, People’s Exhibit 267-3, was made by police in 2004 just prior to Det. Grogan testifying in Scott’s murder trial. No map like this was ever made by the police while Laci was missing. The investigation and prosecution of Scott Peterson cost Stanislaus County CA $4.13 million dollars. It is impossible to understand why virtually none of this money was spent following up on these neighborhoods leads. Some of these witnesses were familiar with Laci or McKenzi, some knew Laci by name. Almost all of these witnesses grew to believe that what they saw was irrelevant. Some of the witnesses were afraid to assert or testify to what they saw because of public backlash and the hatred toward Scott. At this point, some of these witnesses have died.
Laci was alive the morning of December 24th and she walked her dog. This is evidence that Scott is innocent.