IP: missing Harvard biologist

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/328/nation/FBI_is_watching_case_of_missing_biologist+.shtml
>
> > FBI is watching case of missing biologist
> >
> >
> > By Michael Rosenwald, Globe Staff, 11/24/2001
> >
> > Federal agents are closely monitoring the disappearance case of Harvard 
> > biology professor Don C. Wiley because of his research interests in a 
> > number of potentially deadly viruses, including Ebola, the FBI said 
> > yesterday in Memphis.
> >
> >
> > Wiley's whereabouts remained a mystery yesterday, a week after his car 
> > was found on a bridge over the Mississippi River. His family continued to 
> > insist that the noted biologist, whose papers explored the workings of 
> > some of the deadliest viruses in the world, would not have killed himself.
> >
> > William Woerner, the acting assistant special agent in charge of the 
> > Memphis FBI office, said his agents became interested in the case after 
> > learning of Wiley's profession, then made their interest known to Memphis 
> > detectives.
> >
> > ''His line of work and field of expertise [are] what prompted our call to 
> > them,'' Woerner said, adding that his office was concerned ''given our 
> > state of affairs post-Sept. 11.''
> >
> > Federal authorities are paying close attention to potential bioterrorist 
> > threats. The Ebola virus - about which Wiley was a national expert, along 
> > with HIV and influenza - is a hemorrhagic fever that causes the body's 
> > fluids to ooze out of tissues and orifices.
> >
> > Ebola is highly contagious and lethal, killing between 50 and 90 percent 
> > of people infected in known outbreaks. There is no vaccine.
> >
> > Wiley's wife, Katrin Valgeirsdottir, said that while she is baffled by 
> > her husband's disappearance, she did not think it was related to his work 
> > or papers, which can be found on his lab's Web site.
> >
> > ''That just doesn't seem plausible,'' Valgeirsdottir said. ''I mean, 
> > there are a lot of kooks out there, and I don't know for a fact that this 
> > wasn't the reason, but you'd have to have someone who read his Web site 
> > and decided they found something interesting.''
> >
> > Woerner said he wasn't sure whether top FBI officials in Washington had 
> > been notified about Wiley, who has been missing since Nov. 16. ''It's 
> > very likely that Washington has been notified, but I can't confirm 
> > that,'' he said.
> >
> > Memphis police have control over the investigation, Woerner said.
> >
> > Lieutenant Walter Norris of the city's homicide squad refused to confirm 
> > whether detectives were considering Wiley's profession as a reason for 
> > his disappearance. ''We're checking anything that can be thought of,'' he 
> > said. ''Some things the FBI can help us on, so there is involvement there 
> > also.''
> >
> > Norris said there were no developments in the case yesterday. Authorities 
> > continued to patrol, in boats and helicopters, the area of the 
> > Mississippi River where Wiley's rented car was found nearby early in the 
> > morning of Nov. 16.
> >
> > Based on her daily communications with Memphis police about her husband's 
> > case, Valgeirsdottir said, she thinks investigators are focusing on the 
> > river. ''They've mentioned that maybe it was an accident, that he fell 
> > in, or that he jumped, but clearly they are focusing on the river as 
> > being the site to whatever happened,'' she said.
> >
> > She recently learned that there was some small damage to the car, but 
> > said she did not know what it was. Memphis police refused to confirm or 
> > deny there was any damage.
> >
> > Norris said missing-person cases are not unusual in and around the city. 
> > ''People come up missing all the time,'' he said, ''and a lot of times 
> > they turn up.''
> >
> > If Wiley somehow wound up in the river and drowned, it could be weeks or 
> > even months before a body is found, Norris said.
> >
> > Wiley has not been seen since about midnight on Nov. 16, when he attended 
> > a banquet with colleagues on the scientific advisory board of St. Jude 
> > Children's Research Hospital at The Peabody hotel in Memphis.
> >
> > Police discovered his rented Mitsubishi Galant at 4 a.m. on the Hernando 
> > DeSoto Bridge, which is a five-minute drive from the hotel. The car was 
> > pointed toward Arkansas, and police have said the car was probably there 
> > no longer than 15 minutes before an officer saw it, because a stopped 
> > vehicle would have backed up traffic on the two-lane bridge. There was no 
> > sign of a struggle.
> >
> > ''This whole thing,'' Valgeirsdottir said, ''just doesn't add up.''
> >
> > Michael Rosenwald can be reached at mrosenwald () globe com.
> >
> > This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 11/24/2001.
> > © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.



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