Cops To Sniper: 'Call Us Back'

(CBS)  In a tantalizing turn in the hunt for the Washington-area sniper, investigators said Monday the killer apparently tried to contact them in a phone call that was too garbled to understand. They pleaded with the person to call back.

The announcement came hours after Virginia authorities surrounded a white van in Richmond, Va., and seized two men. Police later said the men had nothing to do with the case and would be deported for immigration violations.

The most intriguing development came from Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is in charge of the investigation.

Moose disclosed for the first time that a call had been received from someone of high interest to investigators — but the call was muddled.

"The person you called could not hear everything you said. The audio was unclear and we want to get it right. Call us back so that we can clearly understand," Moose said.

He did not disclose who received the call, when it was made or other details.

But investigators believe the call may have come from the sniper and that the caller was the same person who left a note and phone number Saturday night at the scene of the latest shooting, a law enforcement source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

For the second consecutive day, Moose seemed intent on establishing a dialogue with the killer. On Sunday, he publicly pleaded with the note writer to call authorities.

On Monday, he said: "The message that needs to be delivered is that we are going to respond to a message that we have received. We are preparing our response at this time."

Moose said he could not discuss the message further.

The flurry of activity raised hope there had been a break in the search for the sniper who has killed nine people and critically wounded three others in Virginia, Maryland and Washington since Oct. 2.

Law enforcement sources CBS News they may have found important evidence after Saturday night's shooting off I-95 in Ashland, Va. The latest attack came Saturday night in a steakhouse parking lot in Ashland, just north of Richmond. The victim, a 37-year-old man, was felled by a single shot to the stomach.

He remained in critical but stable condition at a Richmond hospital Monday after having his spleen and parts of his pancreas and stomach removed. Surgeons removed the bullet from the victim, and ballistics test linked the slug to the sniper.

Surgeon Rao Ivatury said the man is conscious and responding to wife's voice, but will need additional surgery in the next few days.

"He still has a long way to go," Ivatury said.

Through the hospital, the wife issued a statement saying the caring and prayers she and her husband have received "have been a bright ray of hope and comfort."

"Please pray also for the attacker and that no one else is hurt," she said.

Schools in Richmond and nearby counties were shut down Monday, and there was heightened interest after the two men were taken into custody in suburban Richmond.

The white van, which had 30-day Virginia tags and a small Marine Corps sticker on the back window, had been idling beside a pay phone at least 45 minutes, said David Dunham, a mechanic at a nearby car dealership.

Witnesses said officers in bulletproof vests converged on the van and dragged out a man before slapping him in handcuffs. Authorities did not say how the second man was arrested.

Hours later, the lead fell apart. A Justice Department official said deportation proceedings had begun against the 24-year-old Mexican and 35-year-old Guatemalan. CBS News Correspondent Joie Chen reports investigators are looking at the possibility that they were involved in an attempted scam.

Meanwhile, the sniper's latest fatal victim was laid to rest.

FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, was killed by the sniper Oct. 14 outside a Home Depot in Falls Church while loading packages with her husband. Franklin had survived breast cancer and was awaiting the birth of her first grandson.

In other developments Monday:

France alerted Interpol about a French army deserter who is known as a marksman and is missing in North America. A Defense Ministry spokesman said there was speculation of a link to the sniper.

Bail was denied for Matthew M. Dowdy, who was accused of lying to police by describing a cream-colored van with a burned-out taillight at the scene of last week's shooting in Falls Church.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that police have found more than one tarot card during the investigation. A tarot death card was reported found Oct. 7 outside a Bowie, Maryland, middle school where the sniper wounded a 13-year-old boy. It had the words "Dear Policeman, I am God" written on it.