Scott Peterson Kin: Focus on Laci

Jan. 20, 2003 -- The family of Scott Peterson is backing him up amid increasing suspicions that he is not telling all that he knows about Laci Peterson, his pregnant wife who has been missing nearly a month.

"We have just tried to remain and keep our focus on praying for Laci's safe return, and doing everything we can to make sure people are watching for her," Scott's sister-in-law, Janey Peterson, told Good Morning America Monday. "As her due date approaches, we need to expand our efforts and keep looking."

Last week, Peterson's husband Scott, a 30-year-old specialty fertilizer salesman, became the object of increasing scrutiny when his wife's family said police presented them with "very recent" photos of him and a girlfriend.

"Two weeks ago, Laci's stepfather Ron Grantski asked Scott if he had a girlfriend. Scott told him 'no' and Ron believed him," Kim Peterson, a family spokesperson said at a press conference Friday. "Now, however, they believe he has lied to them about this and possibly other things as well."

Family Knows Nothing of Pictures

But Janey Peterson said that Scott Peterson's family knew nothing about the alleged pictures of him and a girlfriend.

"We have no knowledge of that," she said. "We haven't seen the pictures, and both our family and Laci's family have not wavered from our stance that Scott had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance. So we need to keep our focus on looking for her and bringing her home."

Scott Peterson, who denied allegations of a girlfriend in an interview with San Francisco-Oakland television station KTVU, said he intends to establish his own volunteer center soon in Modesto to follow up one established by the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation.

That center closed Thursday after three weeks distributing thousands of fliers across California and establishing a $500,000 reward fund.

The 27-year-old Modesto woman was eight months pregnant and expecting her first child when she disappeared on Christmas Eve. Scott Peterson said he last saw his wife about 9:30 a.m. on the day of Christmas Eve, when he left to go fishing at the Berkeley Marina. He said his wife told him she was taking the family dog, McKenzie, for a walk at a nearby park.

Through it all, Scott Peterson has maintained he doesn't mind that suspicion has focused on him, as long as it keeps his wife's name alive.

Press Briefings Replace Baby Shower

This past weekend was the time that her friends and family would have held a baby shower for Laci Peterson. Instead, her family — which had previously expressed only support for Scott Peterson — seemed to be expressing public doubt about their son-in-law for the first time.

Kim Peterson had also said that the family has learned that the husband took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on his wife this summer.

"If Scott has nothing to hide they ask him to prove that," Kim Peterson told reporters.

Janey Peterson said that the information about the timing on the life insurance policy is incorrect, though Scott did not speak directly to her about it. She said that since the public statements from Laci Peterson's family, the two families have communicated with each other and agreed that the goal is to find Laci.

"The families have spoken, and I think we both still have the same goal of continuing our search for Laci and bringing her home," she said.

Laci’s Due Date Approaching

As Laci's due date approaches, the public and authorities should be watching for unusual incidents that might be connected to her disappearance, Janey Peterson said.

"Anything like a person with a baby that wasn't pregnant, or anyone that might call a nurse hotline for delivery instructions — anything like that, that is out of the ordinary," she said.

Over the weekend, Scott Peterson joined his family in Los Angeles on Sunday to distribute fliers, posters and buttons with Laci Peterson's picture on them. About 240 people came to the volunteer center, Janey Peterson said.

"I think a lot of people have been touched by this," she said. "A lot of people have just felt a burden to pray for the family, and to show us support and stand behind us."

ABCNEWS'Neal Karlinsky contributed to this report.