FBI Agent on Massive Manhunt for Fugitive Marine

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," January 17, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Well, he may think he can hide, but think again. The manhunt is on for Corporal Cesar Laurean. The FBI is leading the manhunt, and they suspect the Marine is hiding tonight in his native Mexico.

Earlier, we spoke with Richard Kolko of the FBI.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Special Agent, thank you very much for joining us.

RICHARD KOLKO, FBI: My pleasure.

VAN SUSTEREN: The FBI is part of the hunt for Mr. Laurean, is that correct, sir?

KOLKO: That's correct.

VAN SUSTEREN: How is it that the FBI is involved? Why is the FBI involved?

KOLKO: Well, once Laurean — there was a murder warrant signed out in North Carolina for him, a state warrant, and it was believed that he may have left the state, the FBI went to the district court and got what's called a UFAP warrant, which is an unauthorized flight to avoid prosecution warrant, which allows the FBI to begin the search.

VAN SUSTEREN: Is it when he crossed the state line? Is that pretty much what brings you in?

KOLKO: When he crossed the state lines, or is thought to have had the opportunity to cross state lines.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Now, it is believed, it's widely reported, that he might be in Mexico. Is the FBI part of the search, the actual search for him in Mexico?

KOLKO: Well, a couple things happened. As soon as we thought he was gone, the FBI got the warrant. And what we do is we notify as many of the police as we can through our notification systems. And at the same time, we start notifying the public, OK, via the posters, some press releases, 1-800-CALL-FBI line, and then we started to get some tips, which helped us track him.

Some information, intelligence, led us to believe that he may have worked his way to Texas and possibly gone into Mexico. But one of the issues there is he's already proven to us that he wants to be a fugitive. So even though we think he might have gone into Mexico, that doesn't he's staying there. So it's still critical that people in the States are on the lookout for him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Have you had tips that he in other places? Have you received, like, tips where — that make you want to stop and think, Well, maybe he's in, you know, another state, might be up north or even out west?

KOLKO: That's correct. People have called in on the 1-800-CALL-FBI line. We've gotten several dozen tips, at least a day ago. I don't know what the current number is today. We've also gotten tips on FBI.gov, where people can submit tips. Those tips are going down to the Charlotte field office. They go through them, and then they reassign them to the different offices, so that the leads get covered there.

But right now, we've also engaged Mexican authorities through the embassy. We have FBI agents assigned in the embassy, as well as other employees, and they work with the local authorities there, and they'll also conduct a fugitive investigation in Mexico for us.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. It's hard to actually be a fugitive for particularly long when the FBI is on your trail, but it sure helps if you have money and transportation. Do you know if he has either or both?

KOLKO: Well, he doesn't have his transportation anymore because, as you know, the truck was found not too far from...

VAN SUSTEREN: But there's been no carjacking or no stolen vehicles or anything else that you think he might have picked up along the way.

KOLKO: Not that I'm aware of, but all that's being checked. Obviously, the bus stations are being checked, the airports, rental cars, hitchhikers, whatever information we can try and find.

VAN SUSTEREN: How do you think he made his way, then, to Texas or possibly even Mexico? What's his mode of transportation?

KOLKO: They haven't determined that specifically yet or — or — and part of that is certainly sensitive to the investigation, some of the things we don't want to discuss. But as you said, it's very hard to be a fugitive. You've got to have money, and more than a few dollars. You need new clothes. You need new food. So we're hoping that, at some point, he's going to make a mistake, somebody's going to see him, pick up the phone, call us, we'll get the tip that we need and find him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Have you actually been able to track a form of transportation, if you can't tell us the form of transportation, to the Texas area? Have you — are you that far in the investigation?

KOLKO: They have some very good intelligence on modes of transportation he may use, but I'm not comfortable discussing that right now.

VAN SUSTEREN: Is it public transportation, so that people who are part of public transportation, who take it a lot, should keep their eyes open? I suppose they should anyway, but is that something they should particularly be sensitive to?

KOLKO: Yes, absolutely. Whether you're traveling on a bus or an airplane and you think you see this person or are suspicious of the person sitting next to you, compare it to the poster. We're looking for that call.

VAN SUSTEREN: How about money? You're tracking, I assume, his bank accounts, everything else. Do you know how much money he had when he left North Carolina, if he left North Carolina?

KOLKO: Yes, they did checks on the money that he had available in his bank account. And as you know, he did utilize her bank account. So we have an approximation of how much money he had on him, and that won't last that long.

VAN SUSTEREN: How much?

KOLKO: I'm not sure what's out in the public domain right now, and really no reason to discuss specifics, but it's not enough money to keep you going for that long.

VAN SUSTEREN: More than five grant? Because that's not even going to get you very far.

KOLKO: No, I don't believe it's more than that.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. So that's (INAUDIBLE) He has less than five grand, so that's not going to get him far. What — what about (INAUDIBLE) cell phone, he's not — you're tracking his cell phone, if he's using a cell phone.

KOLKO: Correct. We're...

VAN SUSTEREN: Elementary.

KOLKO: Elementary. We're...

VAN SUSTEREN: Elementary. Some of this stuff is so elementary.

KOLKO: All fugitive investigations have some of the same basic elements. You know, you knock on the old girlfriend's house or wife's house, check the phones, check the mail, same kind of things that we would do for anybody who's trying to avoid the law.

VAN SUSTEREN: His family's from the Nevada area. Are they cooperating and helping?

KOLKO: I — I — again, that's — that's sensitive to the investigation. I don't want to...

VAN SUSTEREN: Wasn't a resounding "yes." It was not a resounding "yes" (INAUDIBLE) All right. Now, you have — in connection with your Republicans, the FBI, you've lived overseas. Different countries have different levels of cooperation. How do you rate Mexico in terms of cooperation on these investigations?

KOLKO: Actually, Mexico has been great, especially the last several years. We've had great success, where they've apprehended murderers, child pornographers, money launderers, drug dealers, and they have been returned to the U.S. to face justice here.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much for joining us.

KOLKO: Thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: And good luck.

KOLKO: Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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