MODESTO, Calif. -- As Scott Peterson went for a morning jog Wednesday, high-tech forensic investigators at a nearby crime lab were processing a continuous flow of potential evidence in the hopes of finding out what happened to his missing wife.

It's been four weeks since Laci Peterson disappeared from her Modesto home on Christmas Eve day. At the time, Scott Peterson has told authorities he was on a day fishing trip to the Berkeley Marina in the Bay Area.

When he arrived home, his wife -- who was more than eight months pregnant -- had vanished.

As the days have worn on, the number of investigators assigned to the case has been cut back and the number of potential leads called in to tip lines has dwindled. So the focus of the case now is squarely on the state crime lab located in Ripon, about eight miles from Modesto.

John Yoshida, a member of the crime lab staff, said "a lot of evidence" had already been processed in the case and returned to the Modesto police.

"We have processed a lot of things," he said. "And as the case changes, we change our priorities. We continue to get evidence in all the time."

Yoshida said the latest advances in forensic medicine have changed the way cases like Laci Peterson's are handled by police.

"We've done several cases (that have) been bodyless," he said. "In other words, no body has ever been found. Certainly as good as the science now is, it's easier to get a conviction. A lot of times, what we see is because the science is so good, it never sees the light of day. What we get is a lot of pleas because they (the legal system) trust the science much more now."

Meanwhile, in Modesto the war of words between Laci's family and Peterson was ratcheting up to new levels.

KTVU's Ted Rowlands talked off camera on Tuesday with Peterson. He said Scott had categorically denied not complying with everything the Modesto Police have asked of him. Peterson said he had been "fully cooperative" throughout the investigation.

Still, Laci's family went on national television Monday night and again demanded he tell police everything he knows about Laci's disappearance.

Reportedly, a family member of Laci's confronted Scott over the weekend and told him to come forward with what information he had.

Video

Ted Rowlands: Wednesday Update

On Monday, police revealed that the Peterson home was burglarized while Scott was in Southern California. Peterson reported the break-in Sunday night. Police said burglars entered the home through a window sometime between Thursday and Sunday.

"Detectives don't believe the burglary is connected to the Peterson case," said Detective Doug Ridenour, spokesman for the Modesto Police Department.

Police refused to say what was taken from the home. Peterson put a padlock on his front gate early Monday.

Also on Monday, talking with Mornings on 2, former FBI Profiler Candice Delong said some of the developments have piqued her interest. Particularly, a decision by Scott Peterson to change the focus of the search of his wife from Modesto to Southern California.

Although Delong is not involved directly in the case, she said news reports have led her to draw up some possible scenarios.

"Well, a couple things come to mind," she said. "There doesn't seem to be any sense in going down there (Southern California). He says he's expanding the search, but why L.A.? The most logical place to expand would be the (San Francisco) Bay Area. And he also said next weekend he may go to San Diego. That's pretty close to the Mexican border. I'm wondering if he's thinking of splitting to Mexico."

"Another possibility is that he is trying to draw the search away from the Modesto area. Possibly because he is concerned, if he was involved, that here may be a discovery there."

Meanwhile, a Doubletree Hotel in Los Angeles, site of last weekend's volunteer effort, has received threatening phone calls.

Callers said the hotel was "supporting a murderer," said Brad Saltzman, general manager of the Red Lion Hotel in Modesto and one of the organizers of Sunday's event.

"The hotel's involvement is simply an effort to find Laci," said Saltzman, "but it's not supporting any individual."