Amber Frey, the 28-year-old girlfriend of Scott Peterson, announced at a police press conference in Modesto, Calif., tonight that the husband of missing Laci Peterson told her he was single
when they became romantically involved several months ago.
Laci Peterson, nearly eight months pregnant, disappeared one month ago without a trace.
Choking back tears, Frey said at the nationally televised press conference tonight that she, indeed, was the woman identified in photographs with Scott Peterson – photographs that suggested he was having an extramarital affair. She said she only found out Peterson was married when the story of missing Laci Peterson broke.
The announcement by Frey is certain to refocus even more attention on Scott Peterson as a possible suspect in his wife’s disappearance.
Earlier in the day, the family of the missing substitute teacher also held a tearful press conference pleading for the search for Laci to continue.
Brent Rocha, Laci Peterson’s brother, said Scott Peterson, in a phone conversation Jan. 16, confessed to having an affair with a Fresno woman.
”Scott has not been forthcoming with information regarding my sister’s disappearance and I am only left to question what else he may be hiding,” said Rocha, 31, of the Sacramento area. ”Since Scott is no longer communicating with anyone in Laci’s family and because we have so many questions that he has not answered, I
am no longer supporting him.” Neither Peterson nor his attorney
immediately returned telephone calls seeking comment. But his sister-in-law, Janey Peterson, defended him during a series of Friday evening calls to national television networks.
”There is absolutely no way Scott had anything to do with Laci’s disappearance,” she said. “She was unaware of any affair and frankly, it wouldn’t matter. It’s a distraction from what our primary focus needs to be, and that’s to bring Laci home.”
”Scott’s going to be OK at the end of this road, but we don’t know that about Laci, and that’s where our focus needs to be,” she told CNN’s Connie Chung.
Family members initially supported Peterson, but last week distanced themselves, saying police showed them pictures of him with another woman they believe to be a girlfriend.
Scott Peterson, 30, was conspicuously absent from the news
conference in Modesto. He has repeatedly denied involvement with
another woman.
Sharon Rocha, Laci Peterson’s mother, begged for information or for an anonymous tip to police that could lead to her daughter’s return.
”There are no words that can possibly describe the ache in my heart or the emptiness in my life,” she said. ”I know someone knows where Laci is. I am pleading with you to please, please let
her come home.”
Laci Peterson’s 21-year-old sister, Amy, managed only one sentence before breaking into tears at the press conference. ”This month has been the most painful I’ve ever experienced,” she said.
Sharon Rocha said she missed her daughter’s ”excitement in her voice when she talks to me about her baby.”
The Rocha family thanked volunteers and investigators searching for Laci Peterson who’s been missing since the morning of Christmas Eve. She’s due to deliver a baby boy Feb. 10.
Her husband said he last saw her about 9:30 a.m. as he left to go fishing 85 miles away at the Berkeley Marina. Repeated police searches of marina waters have produced no sign of the missing woman, nor have police been able to find witnesses who saw
Scott Peterson at the marina.
Modesto Police have searched hundreds of square miles of Stanislaus County creeks, rivers, irrigation canals and reservoirs, and expanded the search to neighboring counties without success.
Police told the Peterson family within a week of her disappearance that they suspected foul play.
Police have not labeled Peterson a suspect but say they haven’t ruled him out. He has reportedly declined to take lie detector tests and has retained a criminal defense attorney in Modesto.
The Petersons, married since 1997, met as fellow agricultural majors at California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. They ran a restaurant after they graduated and moved to Modesto
in 2000. Scott is a specialty fertilizer salesman for Spain-based Tradecorp.
