Blood Main Clue After Mom, Daughter Vanish

G R A N D   J U N C T I O N, Colo., Nov. 20, 2001 -- When Michael Blagg returned from work last Tuesday, his wife and their 6-year-old daughter were gone, and there was a pool of blood on the floor inside their home.

Blagg , a 38-year-old former Navy lieutenant commander, told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America police have since been searching for clues in the disappearance of his wife Jennifer, 34, and daughter Abby. They've been interviewing people in and around their upscale neighborhood in Grand Junction, about 200 miles southwest of Denver. Police have also been using tracking dogs to help scour fields and trails behind the home, and along the nearby Colorado River.

Blagg said he has no idea what might have happened to his family, and he appealed for help.

"Anybody that's watching this, I know you have the pictures of Jennifer and Abby. I just pray that if anybody has seen Jennifer or Abby, please, please,Lord, let them call the Mesa County sheriff's department," Blagg said.

No Suspects

Blagg also said that he has been cooperating fully with police.

"I had nothing to do with their disappearance and I have been cooperating fully with the investigators on this, they are leaving no stone unturned with this," he said.

No one has been named as a suspect in the disappearance. It is still being treated as a missing persons case, but the Mesa County sheriff's department acknowledges it could become a murder investigation.

"I think it's safe to presume that part of this investigation assumes that there may be a death involved," said sheriff's department spokeswoman Janet Prell.

The pool of blood is the only major piece of evidence in the case so far. Results from DNA tests on the blood are still pending.

Blagg said he also found some mysterious things that investigators have asked him not to talk about.

"There were several indications to me that things were notright," said Blagg. "Beyond that, I really can't go into the details of what was in the house."

Police are also trying to determine whether there was a struggle and what type of weapons might have been involved. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI are both assisting. Over the past week, investigators have removed 150 pieces of evidence from the home.

No Reply

At a news conference last week, Blagg said the last time he saw his family was when he left for work at about 6 a.m. He is the director of operations at Ametek Inc.'s Dixson manufacturing division in Grand Junction.

"Anyone who knows anything about my wife and daughter, I pray they will come forward," Blagg said at the news conference. "Just let them go, that's all I want. Just allow them to come home."

Normally, his wife and daughter go together in the morning to Bookcliff Christian School, where Jennifer is a school aide and Abby is a pupil. They never showed up last Tuesday. Blagg said that when he called his wife at home at 7 that morning, the answering machine picked up.

Blagg said he tried getting in touch with them at 10 a.m. and again at noon, but they never answered the phone. He said he left work a little early, at 4 p.m., and discovered the blood when he got home.

Blagg said he's been helping police investigators and working with local church members, who have been distributing fliers to help with the search efforts since last week.