Watch CBS News

Kidnapped Girl On Surveillance Cam

A repeat sex-offender was arraigned today in Idaho on charges of kidnapping Shasta and Dylan Groene. Shasta is in a hospital.

And police are testing remains that might be Dylan's.

But much of what happened to the children in the seven weeks since they were abducted from their home has been a mystery.

A

shows 8-year-old Shasta Groene and her alleged abductor at a store hours before she was rescued. Authorities believe an abducted 8-year-old girl may have tried to get patrons at a gas station and convenience store to recognize her, hours before she was found at a Denny's restaurant with the registered sex offender.

Security camera videotape showed Shasta Groene and her alleged kidnapper at the store Friday evening in Kellogg, about 40 road miles east of Coeur d'Alene. Shasta seems to look into the faces of other customers but no one identifies the girl who's been missing for nearly seven weeks.

"It's a little sad to see her actually walk around and look at people and then people not recognize her," Kootenai sheriff's captain Ben Wollifinger told CBS News.

In the surveillance video, Shasta asks no one for help. But child trauma expert Dr. Lenore Terr says her body language is a painful scream. Her arms are held tight to her chest, her eyes fearful.

"They're been terrified by this person, they've been probably physically hurt by this person; they may have witnesses horrible things happening to others at the hands of this person,'' Terr said.

Court papers released publicly on Tuesday night said Shasta told authorities her captor repeatedly molested her and her 9-year-old brother. Although it is not CBS News policy to name victims of sexual assault, the Idaho children's names were widely disseminated before the new allegations.

Cameron Conoco owner Ted Beamis told The Associated Press that the girl's alleged abductor, Joseph Edward Duncan III, "acted like he didn't have a care in the world.

"He was walking around. You could see him kind of watching her. One time in the store she's wandering up and down the aisles, and he kind of loses track of her, and you can see him looking around in a panic."

As CBS News Correspondent

reports, Joseph Duncan made his first court appearance by closed circuit television before being charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping. He has a long record as a violent sexual predator.

Duncan seemed to show some distress as the judge read the charges against him, bowing his head and sniffling. At one point he asked the judge "Can I consult with my attorney for one second."

Shasta and her 9-year-old brother, Dylan, vanished May 16, when the bodies of their mother, older brother and mother's boyfriend were found at their rural home. Early Saturday, employees and customers spotted Shasta eating breakfast with Duncan in Coeur d'Alene, where CBS News correspondent

is based.

Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson told reporters Monday that "possible" human remains had been found at a site in western Montana and would be sent to the FBI crime lab in Virginia for DNA analysis. That is expected to take three days.

Sheriff's Capt. Ben. Wolfinger said investigators believe Dylan is dead.

Duncan, 42, of Fargo, N.D., has refused to cooperate with authorities, officials said. He was charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree kidnapping and was scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Tuesday.

Authorities have relied on information from Shasta, evidence from Duncan's stolen red Jeep Cherokee and some 100 new tips from the public in the search for the boy. The tips have poured in since photos of Duncan and the Jeep were released, and many are "vehicle-specific and Duncan-specific," Wolfinger said.

In St. Regis, Mont., a western Montana logging community of about 300, gas station and convenience store clerk Jackie Allen, 26, told The Associated Press she recognized Duncan after seeing his photo.

Allen told police Duncan had been a customer several weeks after the children disappeared. Neither Shasta or Dylan were with him at the time, she said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.