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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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October 5th, 2006 - Friend Details
Marine’s Disappearance |
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Friend Details Marine’s
Disappearance The Associated Press Thursday, October 5, 2006; 8:36 PM Boulder, Colo. - A Marine
staged his own disappearance because he feared harm at the hands of members
of his own unit, some of whom face murder charges in the death of an Iraqi
civilian, a friend who acknowledges aiding in the ruse said in his first
public comments on the case. Lance Cpl. Lance Hering
"thought if he would have gone back to Camp Pendleton they would have
killed him," Steve Powers told the Daily Camera of Boulder for a story
published Thursday. "He was terrified." Hering has been missing
since late August, when Powers reported that he had apparently wandered away
after falling while rock climbing near Boulder. After a massive manhunt,
Powers told authorities he lied; he has been charged with misdemeanor false
reporting. Hering, 21, is assigned to
Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Camp Pendleton officials
said. Two members of that unit pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the April 2005
death of 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, Iraq. Five others and a
Navy corpsman assigned to the unit also face charges. The Marines and the corpsman
are accused of shooting Awad repeatedly and staging the scene to make it
appear as if he were planting a roadside bomb. Powers said Hering did not
tell him what it was he saw that made him fear returning to Camp Pendleton in
California, where he had been due to return Sept. 18. Camp Pendleton spokesman 1st
Lt. Esteban Vickers said there are policies to protect servicemembers who
witness crimes. Powers said he and Hering
went to Eldorado Canyon State Park on Aug. 29 and found a place where Hering
left some of his own blood to support the story Powers later told authorities
- that Hering hit his head and was unconscious for hours while Powers hiked
out to find help. He said he then drove his
friend to downtown Denver and returned to the state park, where he reported
the alleged disappearance the following day. "He was definitely,
absolutely convinced this was the only way he was going to survive,"
Powers said. He said he does not know where Hering is. Boulder County sheriff's Cmdr.
Phil West said Thursday that his agency was still investigating and has not
found Hering. He said authorities were suspicious of Powers' statements. "That's entirely his
representation. It doesn't reflect anything that anyone else who was close to
Lance has told us," West said. "There's nothing else that's been
substantiated that would support his claim." Hering is charged with a
felony - failure to comply with terms of a deferred sentence from a 2004
burglary charge - and a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit false
reporting. © 2006 The Associated Press External link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100500997.html |