Missing Woman's Kin Urge Husband to End 'Circus'

Feb. 5 -- The family of the pregnant Modesto woman who has been missing since Christmas Eve urged her husband today to talk to the police to help find her, instead of concentrating on himself.

The family of Laci Peterson held a press conference in Modesto, Calif., this afternoon after reports from sources close to the investigation that Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, tried to sell the couple's Modesto home and that he had traded in his missing wife's car.

Instead of keeping the focus on his missing wife, Scott Peterson has shifted the attention to himself, Ron Grantski, Laci's stepfather, said at the press conference.

"The things he's been doing and saying, the focus is all on him," Grantski said.

His advice to his son-in-law: "You want to change the focus Scott, talk to the Modesto police. End this circus," he said.

In the last week, Scott Peterson has granted TV news interviews — including with ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer — and has apparently gone about his business.

Both Names on House Papers

Peterson allegedly looked into selling their home, saying he had issues with it and didn't want Laci coming back to it. The deal to sell the home was scrapped about a week after Scott first began looking into it, according to KOVR television in Sacramento, Calif.

The house is in both Scott and Laci Peterson's name, and the family was incredulous at the idea of Peterson trying to put it on the market.

"I find it hard to believe he thought he could sell it without Laci's signature," Grantski said.

The family learned that Scott Peterson had sold his missing wife's Land Rover SUV after they drove by the house and saw that it was gone, Grantski said. Sitting in the driveway in its place was a 2002 Dodge Ram pickup truck that Scott Peterson had traded it in for, he said.

Police confiscated both the Land Rover and Scott Peterson's pickup as part oftheir investigation into the woman's disappearance. They returned the SUV butare keeping the pickup.