5 Empty Suitcases Found In NYC In 5 Different Locations/Also Missing Fuel Tanker Truck

FOX NEWS | 5-2-04 | my favorite headache

[My Favorite Headache]

I have waited and looked around and did not see this posted. NYPD and the FBI have found 5 empty identical suitcases in 5 different locations around NYC. Subway station, Penn Station, 2 government buildings and a sidewalk.

Also missing is a huge fuel tanker truck out of New Jersey that has vanished and was full.

This story was mentioned in the last hour...anyone catch it? The Fed's are thinking this might be a test run for terrorists to see what the response time would be to suitcases being left and found in a location ala Spain attacks. They also fear the gas tanker might be used to ram a building with explosives and level it.

[commish]

curious.

[areafiftyone]

From NY 1 News:

Police are worried that terrorists may be testing out targets in New York City, after discovering a pattern of abandoned empty suitcases.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority sent out an alert to police after five suitcases were found in the last week of March and the first week of April. One turned up at Penn Station, and another was discovered at the New York headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The MTA says the pattern is troubling because the bags were completely empty. Usually when people misplace bags there is something inside.

Officials say it is possible the bags were left by someone playing a prank.

[Lijahsbubbe]

What the hell....

[My Favorite Headache]

To say the least.I am again just surprised it hasn't gotten a bigger reaction. With that much fuel missing and a truck to transport it...I would be a bit more than just curious..lolol.

[Imperialist]

Wow, thanks for the heads up! Did you here about the incident a few months ago where 1 gallon water bottles were placed through out a couple subway systems in a strange way? Sorry I don't have the link anymore.

[mathluv]

Fox stated that the suitcases were empty made it even stranger.

[cgk]

Malkin talked about the missing tanker truck today:

Terror Tanker

[My Favorite Headache]

April 21, 2004

Sometime between 04/08/2004 & 04/09/2004 a fuel tanker truck appears to have been stolen in New Jersey.

TerroristWarning.com continues to be amazed at the fact that authorities wait so long to inform the public when such incidents occurr. The tanker has been described as "exactly the kind of vehicle that could be loaded with explosives, or chemical or biological weapons, and turned into a nightmare of a weapon." Please be on the lookout for this tanker truck and report any sightings to authorities immediately.

Police are looking for:

A newly refurbished 1996 Freuhauf tanker.
It had "T-K Transport" written on the side when it was stolen, (though that may have been removed by whoever stole it).
It had a chrome tank.
It had the New Jersey license plate T85 2SC.

[cspackler]

I don't know, with the price of gas lately, a tanker makes an attractive target for someone with the means to dispense of it.

[cgk]

Checking the time of when they dropped them off to how long it took before someone reported them so they know how long to set the timers for? Just a thought.

[My Favorite Headache]

FBI, Police Search For Missing Tanker Truck
Feds Concerned Tanker Could Be Used By Terrorists

POSTED: 12:25 pm EDT April 20, 2004
UPDATED: 12:37 pm EDT April 20, 2004

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. -- Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and police are looking for a tanker truck that has been missing from a Pennsauken parking lot for more than a week.

The New Jersey Office of Counterterrorism has alerted law enforcement around the state to look for the empty truck, which can be blown up.

An FBI spokeswoman, Linda Vizi, said the agents don't know what the motive was behind the theft. Vizi said it could have been stolen by another individual in the fuel-hauling business.

The recently refurbished 1996 Fruehauf tanker has "TK Transport" in large green letters on its side, a chrome tank and New Jersey license T852SC

[Cold Heat]

Hmmmm......

Dry run?

Not likely, probably just someone on our side testing the system or someone with a death wish.

[mountaineer]

Officials say it is possible the bags were left by someone playing a prank.

Of course! What were we thinking?!

[mathluv]

A scary thought, but sounds like a good one.

[jimbo123]

N.Y. Suitcase Scares Spur Terror 'Dry Run' Fear (Terrorists probing defenses?)

[My Favorite Headache]

Missing Tanker Trailer Has N.J. Counter-Terrorism on Alert

By Jim Dolan
(Fort Lee-WABC, April 20, 2004) — New Jersey's Office of Counter-Terrorism is issuing an alert. It is searching for a missing gasoline tanker truck that vanished more than a week ago from a parking lot in Pennsauken.



Federal and state law enforcement agencies are concerned it could be used in a terrorist attack.

Jim Dolan is in Fort Lee with more.

There isn't a single possibility about this missing truck that isn't a little bit scary. It's been missing for more than a week now, and nobody seems to know exactly when it was stolen. Or, more importantly, why it was stolen.

But it is exactly the kind of vehicle that could be loaded with explosives, or chemical or biological weapons, and turned into a nightmare of a weapon. Yet it was stolen from an unguarded parking lot, and no one even noticed it was missing for at least three days.

It's a little hard to believe that something this big and this potentially dangerous could be stolen from a well-lit yard with nobody noticing, but that is what happened.

Capt. Drew Lieb, N.J. State Police: "Sometime between the 8th and 9th of April there was a -- tanker trailer stolen from a company in Pennsauken, that was taken out an unsecured yard. And we haven't
seen it since."

But nobody even noticed it was missing for three days, and now they're scrambling to recover. Law enforcement has sent out a bulletin to the private sector telling people and businesses to keep an eye out for the tanker, which may have been stolen for reasons having nothing to do with terrorism. It's just a chance they can't afford to take.

Capt. Drew Lieb: "Up until 9/11, we really didn't have many concerns about tankers, and being stolen. It was not an uncommon practice for tankers to be stolen, and just the criminal element to take them to be used somewhere else, or to be chopped up for the metal that's involved in it. Now, in (view) of what's happened, we're concerned that this could be used as a transport vessel for explosives, or a biological device."

Police are looking for:

A newly refurbished 1996 Freuhauf tanker.
It had "T-K Transport" written on the side when it was stolen, (though that may have been removed by whoever stole it).
It had a chrome tank.
It had the New Jersey license plate T85 2SC.
For the first time now law enforcement and legislators are all asking the question if enough scrutiny is being used on these tankers.

---

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_042004_tanker.html

[OneTimeLurker]

I thought the truck was empty...though of course it can be filled.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

I don't understand the significance of the empty suitcases. How do these test response time?

Stay safe.

[glock rocks]

I thought that tanker was empty when it was stolen.