Missing HAZMAT truck & Driver, Florida

WCJB TV 20, Gainesville FL ^ | October 2, 2001

[cgk]

Missing Truck Driver Marion County Marion County's special unit investigating terrorism is looking into the disappearance of a truck driver. His name is William Ellis and he has been missing since September 14. While Ellis has no criminal background, his truck may be a hot commodity for would be terrorists. Investigators say Ellis has no criminal background that would lead them to suspect him of wrongdoing. However, the fact that both he and his truck are missing leads investigators to keep a close eye out for their whereabouts. Right now Marion County, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the F.B.I are on the lookout for that truck. It is a Kenworth it bears the numbers 9-0-7 on the tractor and n-3-8-5-8 on the trailer. A satellite tracking device once attached to the truck is no longer sending a signal, so neither the company nor police know where it is. However, the truck is not the only thing that is suspicious about the disappearance of William Ellis. Elise's family says he has a 2-year-old daughter and would never abruptly leave for 2 weeks without word to his mom. In fact Marion county's special unit investigating terrorism is handing this case back to the missing persons division saying at this time there's no indication of danger to the public. However, they plan to keep an eye out for the truck and William Ellis.

[ChemistCat]

>>...There's also a State Department cropduster that went missing today somewhere between the Bahamas and Florida....<< Not a lot of crops between Florida and the Bahamas. Perhaps we loaned it to the Bahamas?

I'm not going to panic. I know darn good and well that there could be fifty trucks out there piloted by terrorists and copycats ready to strike. What can we do about it? Nothing. McVeigh knew nobody would think a thing about a Ryder truck parked in front of a federal building. Whatever targets they've got in mind this time are soft enough they'll hit. All we can do is be ready.

[NautiNurse]

You would have thought this would have been blasted all over the national news. You would think it would have been all over the news on the 15th!

Rest assured, there was NO other news Friday, September 14, and Saturday sept. 15, than coverage of the WTC and Pentagon bombings.

On 9/14/01 Hurricane Gabrielle crossed Florida from south of Tampa on the Gulf Coast, to Daytona Beach on the east coast. I was in the middle of the storm when it came ashore, and we sustained impressive damage, that would have otherwise have been front page news. Even NOAA missed the mark on the timing and severity of the storm, and folks here were caught pretty well unprepared due to the bombings.

[twigs]

his is a war against the Bush family

I agree. I believe Saddam Hussein has a hand in this and that it is a payback to Poppy Bush. What better way to punish him than to go after his boys?

[TexasNative2000]

I drove from Tampa up I-75 and west on I-10 through Pensacola over the weekend. There were state troopers at every rest area, and they had a location where their portable sign issued a warning for every rental truck and rental trailer to pull over. I had never seen such tight security. This makes more sense now.

[DJ88]

That is not true. While of course there are no crops over water, there are plenty of crops in the State of Florida. In south Florida, you have the sugar cane. You have oranges, lemons, grapefruit, sod, etc. There are plenty of uses for a cropduster in the state of Florida.

[DJ88]

Thanks. We are driving up to Atlanta via I-75 and I will feel much safer knowing that at least SOMEBODY is out there looking. I was just talking to our principal at our school this morning. We live about 40 miles to the SW of Disney, and 40 miles to the NE of Tampa. There are many, many targets these people could hit. And where do you think they would all run too? Our county. So (finally) our principal saw the "light" and has appointed someone (ex-military) to oversee our disaster preparedness program. He said, "Well we already have one in place. Tornadoes, hurricanes, etc." The man said, "Well that's great. But do you have one in place in the case of a BIOCHEMICAL ATTACK???"

Thank goodness some people think. I had brought this up to him the day of the attacks, and he said he wasn't worried..dope.

[Cvengr]

Actually, the clandestined efforts in a nation without walls might work to our advantage.

I bumped into three mideastern Arabs this weekend sho seemed to speak in an Arabic language, then change to a Germanic language if they thought anybody was listening. They stood out like a sore thumb. Nothing to cry wolf over, but the more I think about it, if you were a terrorist, working in a foreign friendly land, as you laid in wait for several years,..

.I suspect they might develop a level of complacency and arrogance which will be easily telegraphed.

The more I consider this, the more concerned I am about lunatic fringe political groups out there acting as safe harbor for these terrorists to operate. Anarchists, environmental extremeist groups, socialists, etc. could easily offer refuge for 1-10% of their membership which might actually have entered with ulterior motives.

Considering all enemies of the Constitution will study the Vietnam War and US unrest as a likely avenue of approach, I suspect we're in for some internal conflict.

[DJ88]

Let me clarify what I meant, because the words did not come out right and I did not mean to be sarcastic. I thought some more about what you said, and you have a good point. While there are not a lot of crops between the Bahamas and Florida, I am thinking now of whether the plane was found missing after it left Florida or after it left the Bahamas. My problem is that if it was missing after it left the Bahamas, we don't know what kind of security they have there watching out for us. Do they check licenses or cargo or anything? I have been to the Bahamas twice and I can tell you this: more than anything, MONEY talks.

Sorry if I sounded rude, I did not intend to..Deej

[BushWonGore'sDone]

FOX just announced the missing crop dust plane missing.

[BushWonGore'sDone]

A couple of doses of those pills and some Just For Men hair color and that would be some sight. Keep an eye out for this picture!

[2Trievers]

My son is in college in Florida ... he's in a week of hazing for his fraternity ... I'll call him and ask "WAZZZZZZUP" and get right back to 'ya.

[Illbay]

As soon as you mention "Art Bell" I immediately realize this is a hoax. Buh-bye.

[FormerLurker]

BUMP

[FormerLurker]

Umm, try following the link in the article to WCJB TV in Gainsville, FL. That's where the article came from.

The poster had simply commented that there was a Texas cop who had info on this that was going to be on Art Bell tonight. That has nothing to do with what was reported on WCJB TV however.

[Goldi-Lox]

Let's try to figure out the targets...and then protect them.

Crop duster...Disney World has a high number of people relaxing and enjoying themselves,with little cover. Disney known worldwide, an American symbol of fun and happiness.

HazMat Truck...more of a dilemma for a target...possibly the Shuttle Launch area. Big Bang. Shuttle is symbol of US high technology.

What ELSE is there in Florida that is symbolic of America?

[Eala]

The other problem is that they have probably died their hair blonde by now, so be aware!!

Only the women. The men would be blond.

:-)

[Nuke'm Glowing]

What trucking company was he leased to??? An important question. When a rig is stolen, it's usually stripped clean in the first 24 hours. Unless the company he worked for painted the trailer number on the roof of the trailer for aerial spotting, it's changed colors as has the truck by now. This is unnerving. I worked for a trucking company many years ago and hauling loads from a certain large petrochemcial concern we had a trailer fire and spillage into a stretch of the Savannah River near Augusta, GA. We ended up spending almost 2 million dollars to clean up various hazardous materials in that stretch of the river where less than 100 gallons of material was spilled. The locals who drew their water from the river were told not to drink or shower for 24 hours while the diluting counteragents were dumped into the stream. So yes, be scared and concerned. It's quite serious.

[cactmh]

I am in Gville now. I just noticed a nervous looking arab man standing near a truck on the campus of UF. I looked at him and then stopped to tie my shoe. He walked in a building. I went back out to the truck a little while ago and saw a truck driver (non arab) unloading books. (it's parked near a library) It turns out that I was being paranoid. Anyways, reading this post just freaked me out.

[Lorraine]

A couple of weeks ago on our local news in Orlando, they showed the condo that one of the suspected terrorists lived at in Merritt Island (I believe) several months ago. It was directly across the water from Cape Canaveral. I mean you could literally stand on his front stoop and look across at the huge Shuttle building.

[Labyrinthos]

What ELSE is there in Florida that is symbolic of America?

How about thousands of Cubans who risked their lives to flee a repressive, , brutal, communist, dictatorship.