Connie Chung's Interview with the Rocha Family
 

CNN's CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT
Aired February 12, 2003 at 8:00 PM EST

CHUNG: Fifty days after Laci Peterson, 8 1/2 months pregnant, disappeared from her Modesto home, the closest thing to a new development is that someone vandalized the office of her husband, Scott Peterson. As far as police are saying publicly, they have no more leads to the vandalism than they do to Laci's disappearance. 

Police were at Scott Peterson's home for about 10 minutes last night, but have still not said whether he is or is not a suspect in the disappearance. 

Joining us tonight from Modesto from Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, Laci's brother Brent, and her sister Amy. 

Thank you so much for being with us. 

SHARON ROCHA, MOTHER OF LACI PETERSON: Thank you. 

AMY ROCHA, SISTER OF LACI PETERSON: Thanks. 

CHUNG: Sharon, I remember so vividly when you were speaking before a battery of microphones about Laci and crying. I'll tell you, I started crying, and I think everyone out there was crying. How are you holding up? I know this has to be so difficult for you. 

S. ROCHA: It's extremely difficult. We just take it one minute at a time. I know every day brings something new to us, but I literally take it one minute at a time. One minute, I can have a smile on my face and the next minute, I'm crying. I think about her all of the time, all of the time. 

CHUNG: Sure. Brent, I know that you wanted more information from Scott Peterson. You want him to be more forthright. What do you think he has not told? 

BRENT ROCHA, BROTHER OF LACI PETERSON: I don't know what he has or has not told. I'm not privy to that information. What I do know is that he hasn't been as forthcoming as we would like to see him. And, from our perspective, he has not cooperated with the Modesto Police Department to the extent that we would be happy with. 

CHUNG: Do you believe that he's actually concealing information? 

B. ROCHA: I have no reason to believe that he is or is not concealing information, no. 

CHUNG: I'm wondering, Amy, when did you begin to doubt Scott Peterson? Was
it before or after you learned about this affair? 

A. ROCHA: It was more after I learned about the affair. That just made me -- it's hard to believe, because he hid that from our family and we didn't know. And he had a chance to tell our family the truth in the beginning about that and he didn't. So, yes, my family has changed after that. 

CHUNG: Sharon, Scott Peterson did a number of interviews. He acknowledged the affair, but he also said that Laci was OK with it. Do you think that was true? 

S. ROCHA: No. I don't think that Laci knew about the affair. I really -- I really don't believe that she knew about it. 

Laci was the kind of person that -- she was a happy, upbeat person. We would have noticed a difference in her attitude, in her behavior. Whether she said anything to anybody or not, there would have been a definite and obvious difference in her attitude. And if she had known about it, I truly feel that she would have told somebody. If not have said something to me, she would have said something to at least one of her friends. And nobody was aware of it. 

CHUNG: Sharon, did you question anything else you heard coming out of Scott Peterson's mouth when he did these interviews? 

S. ROCHA: There was just a couple of things. That was one of the things that was questionable to me. 

And another was that he had told the police on the night of December 24th that he had had an affair. We were a little concerned about that, because we had asked him about it a couple of days after Laci had disappeared and he had denied that to us. 

CHUNG: So, you do believe that there is some level of duplicity there? 

S. ROCHA: Yes. There's been a difference in some of his answers to the same questions. 

CHUNG: Brent, when you watched these interviews with Scott Peterson, did they make you angry? 

B. ROCHA: Oh, yes, Connie. 

Those interviews really bothered me, to see him say some of the things that he said. But, at the same time, I was very happy to see him talking to the media, because there were numerous things that he said that were not true or accurate. And I think that was the positive result of those interviews. 

CHUNG: Such as? 

B. ROCHA: Inaccuracies such as when he told police about the affair. There was also a few other local channel interviews that he did -- and just quite a few things he misstated himself on or gave different answers from what he previously said before. 

CHUNG: Sharon, you had been so supportive of your son-in-law, Scott Peterson, until you found out that he indeed had had an affair. Do you believe that Scott Peterson is capable of doing something terrible to your daughter? 

S. ROCHA: The way they were as a couple, we would never be able to believe that. They were just so loving towards each other. They were always happy together. And there was no indication that there was ever any kind of a problem between the two of them. 

CHUNG: Sharon, if there's anything you'd like to say, we'd love to give you the opportunity. If Laci happens to be listening out there, what would you like to say to her? 

S. ROCHA: I'd like to tell her that I love her very, very much, and I miss her tremendously, and I want her home. And we're looking for her and not to -- not to give up, that we're still searching. We'll never give up looking for Laci. 

CHUNG: And do you have anything you'd like to say to Scott Peterson, because I know you have not been in contact with him?

S. ROCHA: No, not at this time. 

CHUNG: All right, Sharon, Brent, Amy, we so appreciate your being with us.