Warnings Issued About Theft of Shuttle Debris

Nacogdoches Sun-Sentinal ^ | Today | Staff

[Arkinsaw]

Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Texas, issued strong warnings Saturday afternoon to those who tamper with or attempt to take debris of the space shuttle Columbia.

United States Attorneys Matthew D. Orwig and Michael Shelby jointly announced that their offices will take “all necessary steps to ensure that the monumental investigative and recovery efforts following the tragic accident are not impaired by the actions of those who seek to obtain pieces of debris,” according to a press release.

While it was widely reported that debris from the accident could hazardous, and contact with that debris should be avoided, people should also be aware that it is a federal offense to “knowingly and without authority remove, conceal or withhold a part of the civil aircraft involved in an accident or property on the aircraft at the time of the accident ...” A conviction is punishable by imprisonment up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine.

As news that shuttle debris was being found scattered within the city of Nacogdoches and across the county, law enforcement officers found themselves dealing with not only securing and verifying debris, but also keeping people from taking the debris.

Dr. Paul Risk, professor of forestry at SFA and a volunteer with the local Skywarn organization, which was assisting officers in their attempts to document and secure the debris, witnessed one such incident the U.S. Attorney’s office warned against.

Risk said a group of five to six people were watching over what appeared to a PC board found in the passing lane in the intersection of Martinsville Road and University Drive when a woman in a 2000 blue Volkswagen stopped, jumped out of her car wearing a while plastic bag over her hand, scooped up the debris and began walking away.

“We asked her, ‘What are you doing?’ and she said, ‘None of your business,’ got back in her care and drove off,” he said.

A person in the group took a photo of the car as it left, including the license plate, and notified authorities, he said.

“We flagged down a police car, and they ran the information, found out who she was and where she lived,” Risk said. “I hope they pursue it.
“That sort of thing is ghoulish, to start with, and I understand that some debris showed up briefly on E-Bay earlier, before it was stopped,” he said. “People are funny.”

He said the woman appeared to be in her late 20s or early 30s and had three children in her vehicle.

Other similar reports could be heard over police scanner traffic into Saturday night.

According to Orwig and Shelby, there will be “zero tolerance” for any interference with the gathering of evidence to determine the cause of the space shuttle accident, the release said. Violators will be “vigorously investigated and prosecuted” by appropriate federal law enforcement authorities of the United States Department of Justice.

At one point Saturday morning, someone was trying to auction off a piece of the shuttle on e-Bay, but the site quickly pulled the item

[Arkinsaw]

None of our business she said. I bet a court is going to say otherwise. For her attitude I hope she is the case they make an example of. $250,000 and jail time.

[mykdsmom]

E-Bay is jammed with Columbia memorabilia right now. Some of the coins etc are fetching over 1K.

MKM

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

Some people may find shuttle parts for years to come. Forests, meadows, vacant lots, and pig troughs in several states may contain millions of parts. It's not like everything fell in a small area.

[Ouachita]

Dang, you're not kidding!

[InvisibleChurch]

wait until the law suits start rolling in regarding people getting 'sick' from touching these parts... libs will start to howl about what kind of experiments are going on in space that result in items being too 'poisoned' to touch

[Atlas Sneezed]

I do find the claims of "hazard" to be a bit dubious. What material (other than redioactives) retains hazardous properties after being seared through re-entry? Certainly not rocket fuel.

[twyn1]

We were stationed in Germany when a C-5 (HUGE airplane) crashed just outside the base -- a few months later, the kids and I were biking along a trail near the crash site and we found some debris from the crash, mostly little bits and pieces, but also an intact indicator dial, we picked it up and turned it in to the base, but still, it was a little "tempting" to keep something -- human nature is hard to understand at times

[eddie willers]

WOW!

But at least the guy wasn't being morbid.
He put the coin up for auction January 26.

I bet he thought he'd get $25 or so.

(Bidding started at $9.99...now over $3000)

[martin_fierro]

What kind of inbred Jerry Springer trailer trash would steal Columbia crash debris?

Oh. Never mind.

[kstewskis]

Dang, you're not kidding!

OMG, that seller had one bid @ $9.99 before today...I bet he's looking at it today thinking he hit a jackpot. Wow.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Yep. I said the same thing to my wife. Pieces fell where no human eye saw them and will be found for years and decades to come.

[Ouachita]

The date caught my attention too.

Jeez, it's at $5100 now.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I hope he is a decent sort of person who will donate a large part to the sirviving families.

[MadIvan]

Not a good idea to collect those parts anyway - God knows what they could be soaked in.

Regards, Ivan

[Xenalyte]

Went for just over $13K.

[DAnconia55]

Ended over $10,000.

[LibKill]

Ghouls are scum.

No one should profit from this disaster.

[Crusader21stCentury]

Hydrazine is extremely toxic; it is absorbable through the skin.

[eddie willers]

Final

Payment Details

Item price	US $13,101.00
United States Shipping and handling	US $5.95
Shipping insurance per item (optional)	US $1.30

[Bub]

FBI agent James Kallstrom kept a piece of TWA 800 for his personal collection but there has been no hint of fining him $250,000 or sending him to jail for 10 years.