Terrorist Attack _______________ Information Only : Professor Don C. Wiley found

» Steven_Russell - Professor Don C. Wiley found

Professor Don C. Wiley ------------------------------------------- body found December 20, 2001, had vanished from Memphis, Tennsessee, November 15 2001
Born in 1944, award-winning biochemist and cellular biologist, 30-year Harvard scientist professor with Ebola expertise, member of the scientific advisory board at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. While authorities and colleagues remained baffled November 27, 2001 over the disappearance of a Harvard scientist, the FBI reportedly was taking a closer look at the case because of his expertise in deadly viruses and heightened concerns over bioterrorism in the wake of Sept. 11. Professor Don C. Wiley vanished the night of November 15, 2001 after dinner with friends in Memphis, Tenn. His rental car, full of gas and with a key in the ignition, was discovered early Nov. 16 on a bridge over the Mississippi River. His disappearance had attracted the FBI's attention because of recent incidents of bioterrorism in the United States. Wiley, 57, an award-winning biochemist and cellular biologist who had been teaching at Harvard for 30 years, was considered an expert on such deadly infections as the Ebola virus. "His line of work and field of expertise" are what prompted the FBI to contact Memphis police, acting assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Memphis office, William Woerner, told the Boston Globe. Memphis Police Lt. Walter Norris said investigators at this point see no links between the professor's research and his disappearance. "For that to change we'd have to find a body that showed evidence of foul play, or find out that he was missing for some other reasons" other than suicide, Norris told the Globe. Investigators had been concentrating on the Mississippi River on the presumption that Wiley either jumped in or fell from the Hernando DeSoto Bridge linking Memphis to Arkansas. Experts said the river, deep, wide and swift, doesn't easily give up its secrets. "It has the appearance of someone who drove down the bridge, got out of the car and took their life," Memphis police head Walter Crews said. "After interviewing members of the family and friends of his, there seems to be no indications in his personality that he would do something like that." Police, however, said no signs have been found that Wiley had been kidnapped or was the victim of a robbery. Wiley's wife, Katrin Valgeirsdottir, said investigators should look deeper into his research for a possible motive for his disappearance, which she told the Globe "is still a complete mystery to me." He vanished the night of Nov. 15 after dinner with colleagues in a downtown Memphis hotel, the Peabody. Colleagues at Harvard were also mystified over the disappearance. "We are not speculating on anything," said spokeswoman Andrea Shen. "We are just waiting to hear."

On December 20, 2001 a body was discovered snagged on a tree near a hydroelectric plant at Vidalia, LA, across the Mississippi River from Natchez, MI, about 300 miles south of Memphis. A wallet containing Wiley's identification was found on the body, police said. Shelby County medical examiner O. C. Smith began an autopsy on the body on December 21. On December 22, the body was identified as that of the Harvard University biologist who had disappeared more than a month earlier. The body was identified through dental records, police Lt. Walter Norris said.

-- posted by Steven_Russell