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Search for Speicher: Initials 'M.S.S.' Found in Baghdad Prison

Aired April 24, 2003 - 11:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A different story from within Iraq, a possible and certainly tantalizing clue concerning the missing Gulf War fighter pilot Michael Scott Speicher.
Our Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon now with more on that.

Barbara -- good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, indeed, U.S. investigators in Baghdad have found a very interesting clue about the possible fate of Scott Speicher, that Navy pilot shot down the first night of Operation Desert Storm more than a decade ago.

Now, they have been to a place called Hakmiyah prison in Baghdad based on information from an informant, and they've gone to a jail cell. And on this jail cell wall, they have found scratched the initials, "M.S.S." And the concern is, of course, this might stand for Michael Scott Speicher. Was he there? Did he scratch his initials in the wall of this Iraqi prison?

What officials here say is, look, the informant appears to be credible. He knew that these initials would be on the wall of this jail. But whether or not Scott Speicher carved the initials in the wall still, of course, is unknown. It is a very tantalizing clue about what might have happened to this young Navy pilot during Desert Storm.

Intelligence officials say, however, until they can confirm anymore details, they still have the same basic assessment, unsettling as it is, and that is that Scott Speicher probably survived the ejection from his aircraft when he was shot down by an Iraqi MiG. He probably did survive and was in Iraqi hands for some period of time. But at this point, there is no evidence, they say, that he is currently alive -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, so how far do they take that timeline, Barbara?

STARR: Well, based on what they believe the informant has told them, there was some information this informant might have had some knowledge of this prison up to the mid-1990s. Of course, Scott Speicher being shot down in the opening night of Desert Storm, 1991. But again, they say they can't link it yet that these initials, which this informant may have seen in this jail in the mid-1990s, were, in fact, from Scott Speicher. They just don't know yet, but it's a tantalizing clue. They also tell us, of course, that most of the other information that has come from other Iraqi informants, now that investigators are inside Iraq trying to track down all of these leads, all the rest of them so far have proven not to be credible. This is one where the books are still open, however -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And just real quickly, Barbara. After we have watched these rescues of POWs, like Jessica Lynch and the seven that we just saw come home over the weekend, how do authorities justify that they didn't go in after Scott Speicher in '91?

STARR: That is one of the remaining stories from Desert Storm that, I must tell you, has continued to trouble the U.S. military, the U.S. Navy, the Pentagon, for some years now. The thing that really disturbs these people is: Did they make a mistake? Did they possibly leave a man behind?

The way it went that night, however, other pilots flying in the air said that they saw an explosion, that there was no indication of any radio transmission from any hand-held signal device that Scott Speicher had. They didn't believe he had survived the crash at that time, and it was a very heavy air defense environment. In other words, there was a lot of enemy action in the air.

The decision was made that night -- their best guess was that he was killed. And, in fact, I can tell you that Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, the next -- at his very next press conference, his first press conference after the war began, said that there was a fatality. It was their best information at the time that he was killed on that opening night.

And, of course, more information came to light in 1995, when U.S. investigators and the Red Cross went to the crash scene, and they found disturbing evidence in 1995 that the scene had been tampered with. They found a flight suit relatively intact. They found his ejection seat relatively intact. Those were the first clues back in 1995 that maybe Scott Speicher did survive.

So this has been a very tormenting story for the Pentagon, for the military, and, of course, for the Speicher family -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Absolutely, and a lot of people still wanting a lot more answers. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




Prison>


Aired April 24, 2003 - 11:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A different story from within Iraq, a possible and certainly tantalizing clue concerning the missing Gulf War fighter pilot Michael Scott Speicher.
Our Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon now with more on that.

Barbara -- good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, indeed, U.S. investigators in Baghdad have found a very interesting clue about the possible fate of Scott Speicher, that Navy pilot shot down the first night of Operation Desert Storm more than a decade ago.

Now, they have been to a place called Hakmiyah prison in Baghdad based on information from an informant, and they've gone to a jail cell. And on this jail cell wall, they have found scratched the initials, "M.S.S." And the concern is, of course, this might stand for Michael Scott Speicher. Was he there? Did he scratch his initials in the wall of this Iraqi prison?

What officials here say is, look, the informant appears to be credible. He knew that these initials would be on the wall of this jail. But whether or not Scott Speicher carved the initials in the wall still, of course, is unknown. It is a very tantalizing clue about what might have happened to this young Navy pilot during Desert Storm.

Intelligence officials say, however, until they can confirm anymore details, they still have the same basic assessment, unsettling as it is, and that is that Scott Speicher probably survived the ejection from his aircraft when he was shot down by an Iraqi MiG. He probably did survive and was in Iraqi hands for some period of time. But at this point, there is no evidence, they say, that he is currently alive -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, so how far do they take that timeline, Barbara?

STARR: Well, based on what they believe the informant has told them, there was some information this informant might have had some knowledge of this prison up to the mid-1990s. Of course, Scott Speicher being shot down in the opening night of Desert Storm, 1991. But again, they say they can't link it yet that these initials, which this informant may have seen in this jail in the mid-1990s, were, in fact, from Scott Speicher. They just don't know yet, but it's a tantalizing clue. They also tell us, of course, that most of the other information that has come from other Iraqi informants, now that investigators are inside Iraq trying to track down all of these leads, all the rest of them so far have proven not to be credible. This is one where the books are still open, however -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And just real quickly, Barbara. After we have watched these rescues of POWs, like Jessica Lynch and the seven that we just saw come home over the weekend, how do authorities justify that they didn't go in after Scott Speicher in '91?

STARR: That is one of the remaining stories from Desert Storm that, I must tell you, has continued to trouble the U.S. military, the U.S. Navy, the Pentagon, for some years now. The thing that really disturbs these people is: Did they make a mistake? Did they possibly leave a man behind?

The way it went that night, however, other pilots flying in the air said that they saw an explosion, that there was no indication of any radio transmission from any hand-held signal device that Scott Speicher had. They didn't believe he had survived the crash at that time, and it was a very heavy air defense environment. In other words, there was a lot of enemy action in the air.

The decision was made that night -- their best guess was that he was killed. And, in fact, I can tell you that Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, the next -- at his very next press conference, his first press conference after the war began, said that there was a fatality. It was their best information at the time that he was killed on that opening night.

And, of course, more information came to light in 1995, when U.S. investigators and the Red Cross went to the crash scene, and they found disturbing evidence in 1995 that the scene had been tampered with. They found a flight suit relatively intact. They found his ejection seat relatively intact. Those were the first clues back in 1995 that maybe Scott Speicher did survive.

So this has been a very tormenting story for the Pentagon, for the military, and, of course, for the Speicher family -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Absolutely, and a lot of people still wanting a lot more answers. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




Prison>