February 24, 2004
Three suspicious divers in different parts of the United States and this photograph are raising a host of questions this morning. Within the past 3 days there have been three separate incidents involving suspicious divers. Two of these divers were found dead, one in the Hudson River in New York State, and one this morning in Hollywood, Florida. A third diver has not been located, but officials from the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force launched a thorough search of the Honolulu harbor in an attempt to locate the diver.
The photograph above was circulated on jihad message boards and posted on our website earlier this winter. It clearly shows a scuba diver, with a smiling Osama Bin Laden.
According to news reports, police are investigating the death of a man found in the Hudson River wearing scuba gear. The body was spotted floating Sunday by the crew of a cargo ship that had delivered coal to Dynergy's Danskammer power plant, the Times Herald-Record of Middletown reported. Newburgh town police were trying to establish the man's identity. Newburgh is 80 miles south of Albany.
In the meantime, Hollywood FL police need help identifying a diver found floating Wednesday off John U. Lloyd State Park in Dania Beach. A park ranger saw the body about 7:05 a.m. and pulled it ashore. The diver was dressed in a wet suit but had no diving tank or weight belt. There were no unattended boats or cars nearby. The current was strong, and police said the man appeared to have been dead for at least several hours, Hollywood police said. An autopsy revealed the man may have died under suspicious circumstances, but police would not elaborate. The man is described as a white male with reddish hair and a mustache. He was 5-foot-10 and weighed about 180 pounds.
The big questions are:
1. Are these three divers connected?
2. Do they have anything to do with Al Qaeda or any other terror group?
3. What were they doing?
We are actively following this story and will post updates as information is developed.