by Steve Miller
copyright © 1996, Electric Nevada
The FBI is investigating whether Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski rode the bus into and out of Reno on his way to deliver bombs to Sacramento and the Bay Area, Electric Nevada has learned. | ||
Several
Greyhound bus drivers operating on the route from Reno to
Sacramento say they recognized Kaczynski, by photo, as
one of their passengers, according to a supervisor at
Greyhound's Stevenson Street station in Reno. "I personally didn't see him, but some of the drivers who go in to Sacramento say they recognize him," said Laverne Watts, customer service supervisor in Reno. He added that these were drivers who make their runs out of Reno. "Of course, some of our customers normally look like that," joked Watts, referring to photos showing the bearded, bristly-haired bombing suspect when first taken into FBI custody. According to Greyhound and other bus-line officials, there are two most-traveled bus routes to the Sacramento area from Helena, Montana, where Kaczynski is known to have boarded buses. One itinerary goes west out of Helena on Interstate 90 to Spokane, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, then south on Interstate 5 to Sacramento. The other goes south on Interstate 15 through Pocatello, Idaho to Salt Lake City and then west on Interstate 80 through Reno. "They think that he went both of those directions at one time" or another, a source in the Trailways bus company told Electric Nevada. He said that FBI agents had visited Trailways' Spokane, Washington terminal about two weeks ago, asking bus personnel if they might have recognized the alleged bomber. "Evidently .. some of those papers they found [in Kaczynski's Montana cabin], mentioned something about the federal courthouse here in Spokane and the bus depot. So they figure he came through here," the source said. It is also possible, bus industry personnel say, that the bus-riding Kaczynski could have taken a more covert third route to northern California. In that case he would have traveled by Northwestern Stage Lines, owned by Trailways, down from Spokane through Boise, Idaho to Winnemucca, Nevada, where he would have connected with Greyhound for Reno and then Sacramento. Thus two of the three main routes from Helena, Montana to northern California would place the alleged Unabomber, with his home-crafted bombs, in Reno. Electric Nevada queried the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the bus-riding Kaczynski's use of the Salt Lake City-to-Reno route to northern California. Top of page |
"That's what we're investigating
now," said George Grotz, press relations agent for
the FBI's San Francisco office. He refused, however, to
give any details. |
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