From the Miami Herald:
quote:Charlie Voss, a former employee at Huffman Aviation in Venice, said FBI agents who interviewed him at his home told him that authorities found a car at Boston's Logan Airport registered to the two men.
"They informed us individuals who had crossed our path were involved yesterday with the airplane in the tragedy at the World Trade Center," Voss said.
Law enforcement sources said one of the subjects is 33-year-old Mohammed Atta, whose drivers' license comes back to a Coral Springs address. Authorities are searching for a red Grand Prix with Florida plates D79 DDV registered to Atta at an address in Venice in Sarasota County and a tan Oldsmobile Alero with Florida plates UEP 54N.
He said he knew the other man only by the name of Marwan.
Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, the FBI in Miami issued a national bulletin for law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for two cars. The bulletin did not mention whether the vehicles were linked to Tuesday's attacks.
Records with the Florida Division of Motor Vehicles show that one of the vehicles the FBI was pursuing -- a 1989 red Pontiac -- was registered to Atta. He previously had a drivers license in Egypt, state records show.
In Coral Springs, the FBI was at an apartment complex that Atta listed as his last address with the motor vehicle division.
"We were out there with the FBI late last night at that location," said Coral Springs Police Sgt. Rich Nicorvo. He said the FBI was at the address for at least one hour.
Tony Amos, the manager of Shuckums restaurant in Hollywood, said Wednesday that FBI agents showed photos of two men to employees of the restaurant Tuesday night.
The photos had signatures on the bottom, Amos said. Amos was able to identify the photo of a man whose first name was signed Mohamed, but he could not make out the last name, he said.
Amos said a waitress and bartender identified both men as customers who ate dinner at the restaurant some time last week.
Amos said the man identified as Mohamed gave him some trouble when the dinner bill came. Amos said he told the man to be thruthful if he was didn't have enough money to pay the bill.
"The guy said, 'I can afford to pay the bill. I'm an airline pilot,'" Amos said.
Agents were conducting interviews and sought search warrants in southern Florida and in Daytona Beach in central Florida amid evidence that suspected sympathizers of the accused terrorist were operating in the area, officials said.
"We are covering leads all over the country and this is one of the many we are covering," said Brian Kensel, an FBI spokesman in Tampa.
Daytona Beach Police towed what was termed a suspicious car from a storage area near the Daytona Beach Airport. It had a picture of what some people in the storage area said contained a likeness of Osama bin Laden. That was unconfirmed by mid-morning.
The car was taken to an impound lot where it was being searched Wednesday morning, according to police spokesman Al Tolley. The car was towed to Holly Hill.
Embry Riddle officials met with the media and stated they would not discuss the backgrounds of any of their students.
Embry Riddle, one of the world's most premier professional pilot training schools, has about 5,000 students -- about 15 percent of which are foreign. A significant majority would have had training in a jet simulator, the spokesman said.
Spokeswoman Lisa Ledewitz said one out of every four commercial airline pilots was trained at Embry-Riddle. Students train in single-engine planes and until last December the school used a Boeing 737 simulator.
"We are suffering like the rest of the country," Ledewitz said. She said all international students who enroll in the pilot program have to receive prior approval from the U.S. State Department.
In Venice, Voss said the two men said they had just arrived from Germany and wanted to take flight training at Huffman Aviation, where Voss worked for more than 13 years. He no longer is with the company.
The houseguests took flight training on small planes at Venice Municipal Airport, about 60 miles south of Tampa. Voss said the men were asked to leave their home after a week when the couple grew uncomfortable with them.
Voss said he wasn't involved with their training. The company offers training in light, single-engine aircraft like Cessnas and Pipers but no commercial aircraft.
Rudy Dekkers, president and owner of Huffman Aviation, said the FBI was looking at student records at the flight school, including copies of passports from the men.
Kensel of the FBI could not confirm whether a search was conducted in Venice.
Hollywood Police Detective Carlos Negron said Wednesday that the department was helping the FBI in an investigation in Broward and declined further comment.
I used to know a Kristen Voss... wonder if she's related.
[ 12-09-2001: Message edited by: grantb ] |
