Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 5, 1993 TAG: 9303050127
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
FRAGMENTS, PAPER TRAIL LED TO SUSPECT KRT
It began with with a scorched, mangled shard of metal retrieved Wednesday from the bowels of the gutted basement of the World Trade Center.The fragment carried a telltale identification tag. That, along with a parking stub and a rental contract and a man stubbornly wanting his security deposit back, led investigators to a suspect a week after a bloody bombing.
The real breakthrough came when federal investigators discovered chunks from a yellow Ford Econoline van rented from a Ryder Truck Rental Inc. shop in Jersey City, N.J.
As a matter of routine, the van and specific parts had been marked with vehicle identification numbers and serial numbers that can help police trace it in case of theft.
A number was deciphered from debris taken from a ramp on the second underground level of the 110-story skyscrapers, directly under the Vista Hotel. The work was reminiscent of the sleuthing done on Pan Am Flight 103 after it exploded over Scotland in 1988.
From the way the metal was fragmented and twisted, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms figured the van contained the explosive that jolted the world's second-tallest buildings.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, using a police computer network that tracks stolen cars, traced the serial numbers to a van rented from DIB Leasing Inc. in Jersey City.
The FBI went there Wednesday night. They were told that a man named Mohammed Salameh, 26, of Jersey City, had rented the van on Feb. 23 and reported it stolen on Feb. 26 - the day of the blast and the second anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait City.
The suspect, a slightly built man with a closely cropped brown beard and an accent, used his own name and paid cash for a one-week rental - paying $200 up front and leaving a $200 deposit. For identification, he used a New York driver's license that listed his New Jersey address.
The van was capable of carrying a 2,000-pound load, or about the contents of a two-bedroom apartment, Ryder officials said.
When he asked for his money back, he was told he needed a police report on the stolen van.
The man reported the theft to the Jersey City police, which sent the report to police agencies all over the country via teletype. He returned Monday and called again Thursday morning, insisting on getting his money.
When he turned in his original rental agreement Monday, the FBI checked it for fingerprints and found traces of nitrate, an ingredient in explosives, a government source said on condition of anonymity. Nitrate traces were found at the blast site, the source said
When he returned Thursday to get his refund, FBI agents were in the office.