THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994              TAG: 9409050049
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                            LENGTH: Short :   50 lines

ADVENTURE SEEKER JOINED DEA A FAIRFAX WOMAN WAS ONE OF 5 WHO DIED WHEN A PLANE CRASHED IN PERU.

One of the five Drug Enforcement Agents killed in a plane crash while searching for cocaine-processing plants in Peru was the ``free spirit'' of her family while growing up in Fairfax County, her sister said.

Meredith Thompson, 33, died last weekend when the small plane crashed in the foothills of the Andes. The bodies of the agents were returned Saturday to the United States in flag-draped coffins.

Friends said Thompson had always been one to search out adventure, so few were surprised when they heard she wanted to join the nation's war against drugs.

``None of us for a second thought she would get a conventional desk job,'' said Thompson's older sister, Betsy Miller.

``We knew all the time she was in harm's way,'' said her father, Jack Thompson. ``I am proud of the fact that she served her country and pursued a course that she knew was right.''

The five agents were flying a Casa twin-engine plane Aug. 27 out of a jungle base camp in Upper Huallaga Valley, Peru. Federal officials were still investigating the crash, but said they have not found any evidence of foul play.

Also killed were Frank Fernandez Jr., 38, stationed at DEA headquarters in Washington; Jay W. Seale, 31, based in Los Angeles; Frank S. Wallace Jr., 37, based in Houston; and Juan C. Vars, 32, based in San Antonio.

All were members of a 14-agent Peruvian mission called Operation Snowcap. DEA agents and Peruvian police are working to find fields and processing plants and trace the operations back to their owners.

Thompson joined the DEA in 1985. She had a reputation there as a tireless, persistent agent who never turned down a challenge.

``Meredith Thompson was like the (Energizer) Bunny,'' said Thomas V. Cash, the special agent in charge of Thompson's Miami-based division. ``She just kept on working. She was always in search of adventure.''

Thompson was born in Long Beach, Calif., and moved with her family to the Kings Park area of Fairfax County when she was 7.

She was a star athlete at Robinson Secondary School, where she graduated in 1979, and won a basketball scholarship to the University of South Carolina. Thompson graduated in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. by CNB