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CNN SATURDAY
Search Efforts Continue in Nacagdoches
Aired February 8, 2003 - 18:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The hunt for clues continues. Searchers are braving now the harsh conditions as they try to recover the shattered pieces of space shuttle Columbia. CNN's Whitney Casey joins us live from Nacagdoches, Texas, with more on the hunt for that.
Whitney, has anything changed yet, in the search?
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, there has been a few changes here. But behind me, what I want to show you is this is what the people in Nacagdoches want to be remembered for.
This is a piece of debris that was found. It was recovered, marked off and then given back to NASA. They want to be remembered for finding things and then not keeping them. That, because reports came in early on that people were keeping them. Neighbors calling on neighbors, here, saying that they were keeping pieces and not reporting them to authorities.
So, what authorities did, was they said, hey, you have a couple of days to keep these things and then you need to turn them in, and when you do, you will do it without repercussions. It was sort of an amnesty period. That ended last night at 5 o'clock. And 117 pieces were brought in under this amnesty.
But authorities are looking for nine people who alleged did not turn in that debris. Those names have been turned over to the U.S. attorney's office. And as we speak, 300 people here are performing this grid search of the area.
So, far more than 1,200 pieces of debris have been located; 75 percent of that debris has been checked, logged and GPS -- via -- and then delivered to NASA. But we are eight days into this exhaustive search.
And as the recovery continues, joining me now is Thomas Kerss; he's the sheriff here. And he has been spearheading this exhaustive effort, embattled recovery searchers. Now, you were telling me earlier that these people are out there, and you have to tell them to go home now.
THOMAS KERSS, SHERIFF, NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, TEXAS: Yes, Whitney, that's true. You know, the stamina that is driving our workers and all the support staff that had come in is just phenomenal. Everyone fells such a close attachment to the duty that they are performing that they do not want to give up; they do not want to stop. We are literally having to order people that have had the flu to go home. We've had to send people that have worked, you know, countless hours from the field so that they did not become ill or sick, and in order to keep them healthy, because they are so focused on trying to do what we can to not only help NASA solve this mystery, but to help the families put closure to this loss.
CASEY: And also here to help are two people who know quite a bit about exhaustive searches and embattled and not quitting, two FDNY, they are firefighters who got -- Bob Barrett here and Mike Bellone, two guys who I know from down in lower Manhattan. They were working an exhaustive effort down at the World Trade Center. You guys didn't go home for a year. You're here to offer some moral support. What are you going to tell them?
MIKE BELLONE, NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, we wanted not only to give them some physical support, but also some emotional support, just like the support that we received during the 9/11 recovery effort. I mean, the support that they gave us was phenomenal, and the least we can do is just return that support back to them.
CASEY: Thank you guys so much, and we'll let you get on, and great job on your search here. We'll let you guys get out there.
They have 300 people out there today. It used to be 900. They used to get 48 calls an hour, finding debris. It's now down to 11, Carol.
LIN: All right, that's a good sign. Thanks very much. Whitney Casey, reporting live in Nacogdoches.
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