Posted on 06/06/2002 4:59:30 AM PDT by HAL9000
The FBI is investigating a man who called himself an Army captain and looked through a briefcase and laptop computer belonging to a victim of last month's deadly interstate bridge collapse.The man, wearing fatigues and a beret, showed up within two hours of the Interstate 40 collapse and told the mayor he was in charge. He identified himself as Capt. William Clark.
Mayor Jewell Horne said Wednesday that the man told her Army Capt. Andrew Clements had died in the river and that his briefcase and laptop were in the water. A fisherman found the items the day of the collapse and gave them to a Webbers Falls police officer.
The officer gave the items to Clark, who took them and went through them, the mayor said. He brought the briefcase and computer to city hall later that day and asked the mayor to lock them in a safe.
He wanted the key, but Horne said she refused to give it to him.
"He kept trying to say that he was in charge," Horne said. "I finally looked at him and said, 'No, you're not. Until the governor declares martial law, you are not in charge in this town.'"
The mysterious man left Webbers Falls on Monday night, she said.
The mayor said it was eerie that the man knew Clements was among the victims even before his body was recovered.
"But he was correct," she said. "There was a Capt. Clements. There was a briefcase and there was a computer."
Clements, 35, of Woodbridge, Va., was among 14 people killed May 26 when a barge hit the Interstate 40 bridge, causing it to topple into the Arkansas River.
Horne said she was so busy answering phones and directing rescuers that she "didn't have time to think a lot" or check the man's credentials. Two volunteers from the Tulsa medical examiner's office eventually called authorities to check on him, she said.
The FBI, the Army and police in Van Buren and Fort Smith, Ark., are looking for the man, said FBI spokesman Gary Johnson. He said the man obtained goods and services by impersonated a rescue worker.
"It's certainly a very intense investigation," Johnson said.
Authorities are looking into whether the man stayed at a hotel in Van Buren, Ark., free under the auspices of taking part in the rescue operation.
The man also told an Associated Press reporter his name was Capt. William Clark and that he was from Fort Carson, Colo. The fort has no record of the man, said spokeswoman Kim Tisor.
Police say he told everyone he was in charge of the I-40 bridge collapse just moments after the disaster. Now the alleged imposter shows up in Arkansas.
Searcy police say 36-year old William Clark of southeast Missouri entered the Truman Baker Dodge dealership on may 29th wearing army fatigues and a beret.
Clark told the dealership he was a captain in the US Army Special Forces and wanted to borrow a truck to haul supplies to Oklahoma.
After showing the salesmen a video of the bridge collapse they tossed him the keys to a 1997 red Dodge pickup.
The FBI wants to question Clark for allegedly impersonating a military officer. Police also say Clark rented several motel rooms in Van Buren and didn't pay for them.
Police say Clark was supposed to turn the truck in this week. He did not.
Ricso, Missouri police chief Jim Vice says Clark has a unique history in his city. He didn't want to comment on Clark's mental state, but says Clark has impersonated officers in his city before and once managed to have himself declared dead.
They have a picture of the guy on the page. He looks like he's off his medication.
Brian Barham was down on the riverbank, trying to catch catfish at about 1:30 Sunday morning when he was interrupted. "I just heard a big boom," he says. "It was dark, couldn't see what he hit, but pretty sure he got close to that bridge over there."
Pier protection cell kept barge from striking bridge pier. The NTSB now confirms it found signs of a hit to a protection pier on the U.S. 64 bridge on the upstream side. Authorities say it was not the same barge involved in the I-40 crash, and it was heading in a different direction. Unlike the I-40 crash, a pier protection cell kept the vessel from hitting the bridge piers.
Some 15-thousand detoured cars now travel over the U.S. 64 bridge. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has been doing repairs, but they claim it has nothing to do with Sunday's incident, saying they don't believe the repairs were in any way related to the alleged barge strike.
ODOT confirms the barge hit and says the vessel was off course by about three hundred feet.
I accept full responsibility for the confusion you are experiencing on this thread. No where on this thread has anyone speculated that the barge bringing down the bridge was an assasination attempt.
The Army officer "imposter" is an interesting mystery, regardless, but to suggest that someone on Freerepublic believes a barge collapsing a bridge was an assasination attempt is ridiculous.
However, we still do not have a finding as to why the barge collided with the bridge.
My question concerning SCUBA was the result of a nationwide FBI alert to diving organizations shortly after the bridge collapse.
Traditionally, the FBI is not a proactive agency. They did not consider al-Qaida pilots a thraet until after they killed people.
We know from past warnings that bridges are considered targets by terrorists. Consider the similiarty in the tactics under consideration. Instead of blowing up a building, you crash an airliner into it to bring it down. If your target is a bridge, why not consider a similiar tactic? Obviously crashing a barge into a bridge is an effective way to bring down a bridge.
Large airplanes as well as small airplanes are equipped with navigation systems that can be coupled to an autopilot to provide automatic steering and navigation. If tow boats are equipped with such systems, interference with the normal operation while a single towboat operator is distracted/asleep would explain the accident.(I have no idea if towboats are so equipped, that is why I appreciate the help I get on FR from people who know more about towboats than I do.)
Consider the other major bridge in the area over the same river suffered another collision 6 hours prior.
The terrorists are thinking outside the box with devastating results. So should we, in my opinion.
I never saw an anchor, we just tied off to a tree or dock. We ran 24 hrs except in low water conditions/fog or some other emergency such as ICE (UGH).
No doubt they use GPS to navigate now days.
Is possible if the diver had 3 million pair of legs with flippers.
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