News-Info-Alerts

Re: Speicher Search returns to Crash Site

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: August 16, 2003

"Pilot search returns to crash site
Since invasion, U.S. discounts theory on capture; fatality likely

ROBERT BURNS Associated Press

WASHINGTON - U.S. investigators searching in Iraq for clues to the fate of a Navy pilot shot down on the opening night of the 1991 Gulf War have returned to an early hypothesis: that he died at or near the site where his F/A-18 fighter crashed.

A later theory -- that pilot Michael Scott Speicher was captured alive and imprisoned in Baghdad -- largely has been dismissed.

Three defense officials familiar with the search said Friday they have returned to the original hypothesis based on postwar interrogations of Iraqi officials, searches of the prison system, and assessments of Iraqi government documents.

The idea that Speicher was a prisoner gained currency after intelligence reports in the late 1990s cited claims by Iraqi sources that an American pilot was being held in Baghdad.

Upon closer examination since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime those claims have unraveled, officials said.

The three defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators have not abandoned the search in Baghdad or reached any firm conclusion about Speicher's fate. But they have found nothing to support the theory that Speicher had been held alive in an Iraqi prison.

The original theory was if he survived the shootdown Jan. 17, 1991, over west-central Iraq, he most likely died there shortly afterward, the officials said.

Some of the documents found since the fall of Baghdad indicate Iraqi government officials were befuddled by continuing U.S. government inquiries about the possibility of Speicher being held alive.

The Iraqis asserted Speicher had perished in the crash, but they never produced his remains. In March 1991, the Iraqis returned a small amount of human remains and identified them as a pilot named "Mickel," but laboratory tests revealed they were not Speicher's remains.

Just hours after Speicher was shot down, the Pentagon declared him killed in action. But in January 2001 the Navy changed his status to missing in action, reflecting an absence of evidence that he died in the crash.

Last October, the Navy changed it again, to missing-captured, indicating a belief that the Iraqis had taken him alive.

One U.S. official said Friday that investigators are now 99 percent certain that prewar intelligence reports indicating Speicher was being held in prison were based on faulty information.

Invading U.S. forces in April reported finding the initials "MSS" scratched into a cell wall in an Iraqi prison, fueling speculation that Speicher had been held there at some point. But preliminary tests on hair found in the cell's drain showed it did not match Speicher's DNA, and officials do not believe the MSS initials were put there by Speicher.

In December 1995 a team of U.S. experts searched the crash site with the Iraqi government's permission. They found wreckage of Speicher's aircraft but no sign of the pilot other than a flight suit that the Iraqis said they found at the site. The Navy said the flight suit was of the type and size Speicher would have worn, but tests have not established a firm link.

The site surveyors concluded from evidence available then that Speicher probably survived the shootdown.

Speicher, of Jacksonville, Fla., was 33 years old when he was shot down. He held the rank of lieutenant commander at the time; he has since been promoted to captain."

AND

" Search for Speicher focuses on crash site

    U.S. investigators searching in Iraq for clues to the fate of missing Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher, shot down on the opening night of the 1991 Gulf War, have returned to an early hypothesis: that he died at or near the site where his F-18 fighter crashed.

    A later theory — that he was captured alive and imprisoned in Baghdad — has been largely dismissed based on postwar interrogations of Iraqi officials, searches of the prison system and assessments of Iraqi government documents, three defense officials familiar with the search said yesterday.

    The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that investigators have not abandoned the search in Baghdad nor reached any firm conclusion about Capt. Speicher's fate. But they have found nothing so far to support the theory that Capt. Speicher had been held alive in an Iraqi prison.

UPI"

AND

"Gulf War pilot search returns to crash site
Associated Press

WASHINGTON--U.S. investigators searching in Iraq for clues to the fate of missing Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher, shot down on the opening night of the 1991 Gulf War, have returned to an early hypothesis: that he died at or near the site where his F-18 fighter crashed on Jan. 17, 1991.

A later theory, that he was captured alive and imprisoned in Baghdad, has been largely dismissed, based on postwar interrogations of Iraqi officials, searches of the prison system and assessments of Iraqi government documents, three defense officials familiar with the search said Friday.

The idea that Speicher was a prisoner gained currency after intelligence reports in the late 1990s cited claims by Iraqi sources that an American pilot was being held in Baghdad. Upon closer examination since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, those claims have unraveled, officials said.

Investigators have not abandoned the search, but they have found nothing so far to support the theory that Speicher had been held in an Iraqi prison. This has taken investigators back to the theory that if he survived, then he most likely died there shortly afterward.

©2003, The Post and Courier"