Posted on 11/05/2004 9:22:40 AM PST by cgk
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- First Coast News has learned a body has been found in Iraq and DNA testing is underway.
Multiple sources tell First Coast News Captain Scott Speicher's family has been notified.
They will not disclose the details of why they believe these are his remains only to say they have reason to feel confident these are his remains.
Test results are expected within weeks.
When I sat down with Buddy Harris, who was Speicher's best friend and is now married to Speicher's widow, he told me the family would never give up until they found what happened to him and brought him home.
They may be well on their way to learning the answer and putting this mystery and this man to rest.
From the deck of the USS Saratoga in the Red Sea., a husband and father of two from Jacksonville prepares to fight for the first time. 33 year old Lt. Commander Michael Scott Speicher, also known as "Spike", is ready for take off.
It's 1 a.m. January 17th, Speicher is part of the first mission flown over Iraq during the first Gulf War.
Within hours his squadron is in the heat of battle. The mission is deemed a success.
But when Speicher's unit returns He is the only one who is not accounted for.
From the first moments, fellow pilots and squadron mates believe the highly skilled Speicher ejected and survived.
But within hours the Pentagon announces Speicher is dead, killed in action in a mid-air explosion. There would be no recovery mission.
In 1993, U.S. Intelligence finds an American plane in better condition than expected in a remote desert in Iraq.
The plane's identification numbers confirm it is Speicher's plane.
The cockpit canopy was found some distance from the wreckage, raising the theory that Speicher ejected, survived and was captured.
First Coast News has learned the human remains, thought to be Speichers, were not found at the crash site.
The remains being tested were found in another part of Iraq.
After the initial discovery of the crash site, in an unprecedented move, the Pentagon changed Speicher's status from Killed in Action, to Missing in Action, and then later, Missing Captured.
The president even included Speicher and the fact that he was still in Iraq in a speech he gave to the nation.
Shortly into the second Gulf War, the initials M.S.S were found in a Baghdad prison.
Sources are now telling First Coast News they have information that indicates Speicher was captured after the crash and held as a prisoner for some time before he died.
However, DNA tests performed on the materials used to make the markings failed to confirm those initials found in a cell were made by Michael Scott Speicher.
His friends and family were not discouraged saying they knew the wall had been painted over several times and other things found in other prison cells supported their theory that Scott had been held at that prison.
We were the only local news station in country to sit down and talk with Buddy Harris, Speicher's best friend and now husband to Joanne Speicher Harris.
Buddy told us then that the family would never stop asking the question of what happened to Scott. And they were prepared no matter the answer.
"I cannot foresee a situation where we would just give up and go away.
I won't do it and I know my family backs me on his 100 percent in not giving up."
The family went through this once before.
Several years ago, then President of Iraq Saddam Hussein sent a pound of flesh to the United States claiming it was the remains of Scott Speicher.
The pilot's children at that time provided their DNA so the remains could be tested.
That test proved the remains were not their fathers.
The family has been through a roller coaster of emotions over the years.
They have learned to be very cautious about any new information they receive.
We expect they are taking the same approach with this latest news.
This remains a very big development.
If the tests indicate the remains are the missing the navy pilot Scott Spiechers', they will finally have an answer to the question they've asked for more than a decade.
We contacted the family's attorney, Cindy Laquidara, Thursday night for reaction to this new discovery. She had no comment for us at this time.
Now just two and-a-half months shy of the fourteenth anniversary of Speicher's disappearance, the answer may finally come in the form of DNA.
An American hero... A First Coast son... may finally return home after a very long mission.
© 2004 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.
If one truly loves one's spouse and wishes only their happiness and one has chosen one's friends carefully and with love, it seems natural to me that they should have a connection through you and a responsibility toward one another.
Frankly, if someone does not trust their best friend to behave with honor and love towards themselves and their family, they should review who they choose as a friend.
I wish this family much love and joy and I honor their sacrifice, as they have honored Captain Scott Speicher's.
I agree. CAPT Speicher's family has suffered a tremendous burden in the service of the nation. This Navy family deserves better treatment than some of the posts on this thread.
If he had been declared MIA first, they would have continued to receive his monthly pay (probably).
I have no idea what happens with the pay when someone is declared captured I think only a Navy financial officer would be able to sort that out.
In addition, one would assume that IF the Navy decided to pay the family his back salary, they would have expected to get the death benefits back.
How would one go about that? How would the Navy take back a funeral with full military honors?
The legal issues pertaining to bigamy would be muddy as well.
The family must deal with their emotions while the lawyers deal with the legalities.
Search for Speicher: Friends talk about developments
Yep, anyone who could do that is not human. I don't care what happens to Sadaam. He can rot on this earth or in hell for all I care. He deserves his fate that's for sure. All those innocent men, women and children/babies he killed while his perverted sons reaped havoc on those they came across was horrid. So many families ripped apart and sad. The pig Sadaam deserves to burn in hell. That's even too good for him. He's been so close to evil I wouldn't even want to put a hand on him for fear that evil inside him is running so rampant it would come out of his pores. God what an ugly, ugly man. Less than human.
Bump to keep this thread up.
another bump.
Sources say they also have information that convinces them Scott was held captive for some time before he died.
That information is evoking strong emotions from his friends.
"It tears me up to think they had Scott for so long and we demand accountability. Whoever did that to Scott not only should they be held accountable and the people who made the miscalculations and miscommunications and mistakes in our own government need to be held accountable," says Jensen.
There are no further details available as to exactly where the remains were found, only to say not near the crash site.
LCDR Michael Scott Speicher is a great American hero. We can only once again "wait and see" while these remains are analyzed. We will never know what he went through after he ejected from his aircraft, but we do know that the search effort in 1991 was called off when his fellow pilots wanted to keep searching for him.
A positive i.d. may bring out some politically undesirable facts.
My brother-in-law is a cop. One of his good friends was killed while on duty. His young wife went on to marry another cop who was also a friend of her deceased husband. One of the young guys who worked for my husband was killed in a car accident and his wife married another sailor that was a close friend of her husband. As you said, it happens all the time and I don't think there is anything wrong with it.
I hope his remains can be brought home and interred according to his families wishes, so they can go on with their lives. It's been tragic.
God I hope they have found him.
Prayers for his family.
If it is him, I wonder how long he has been dead.
In 1995 a series of crash-site experts ranging from aviation engineers to anthropologists filed reports to the Pentagon. These reports were classified, but information from other sources began to leak to Smith. Many of the records — some of which have been declassified and obtained by Insight — sharply contradict what Smith had been told. Crash investigators reported Speicher's Hornet did not blow to pieces in the sky. The F-18 was found right-side up, and many of its pieces (including the engines, which had no entrance or exit wounds) were in a circle.
Investigators also determined the wreckage had been previously examined. A pilot's jumpsuit was found along with straps of a parachute and such survival items as an inflatable raft and a signaling flare. The flare apparently had been lit on both ends at one time.
The jet's damaged memory unit revealed the flight had taken off Jan. 17, 1991, at 1:36 a.m. Seven minutes later it experienced a computer failure that may have made as many as three missiles inoperative. Nearly two hours later Speicher's ALR-67 radar-warning receiver went on, which may have meant a complete failure of the radar system, making him unable to detect threats from air or land. At 3:49 a.m. the pilot turned off his autopilot, and a few seconds later the Hornet lost power after being struck.
Engineers reported the rocket motors that push the canopy off for ejection had burn marks on the frame, which meant a good ejection had taken place. Further evidence shows that up until Speicher's ejection at least 58 air-crew members had ejected from F-18s. Six were killed, but while the others were injured from either the initial jolt or parachute landing, 52 survived.
"Money from the Navy...if she remarried it would then go to his sister."
I think you are wrong here. If the wife remarried, she may no longer get any allowance for herself, but his children would still receive money in his name, even if their names were changed.
I suggest you read up on the facts before coming to quick conclusions concerning this story.
That is a very nice story. Thanks for sharing it.
I agree that there's nothing wrong with it. I'm also shocked by some of the posts in this thread. Even if people don't like it, it's really none of their business.
My husband and I have sworn to each other that if something happens to one of us that the other will never marry again. We don't do it because either of us expects it. It's because right now we can't believe that we would ever want to be with anyone else. However, we can't predict the future and we can't know how things will change if the worst does happen. Ultimately, if something happens to me, I would wish for my husband to go on with his life and be happy. And I'm sure that Scott Speicher felt the same way about his wife.
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