Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - More is learned about Cole suspect

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Tuesday, October 24, 2000

More is learned about Cole suspect
Man had a view of harbor; funerals for 2 area victims are planned later this week
From staff and wire reports
A man sought in the bombing of the USS Cole regularly visited a tiny hilltop apartment with an excellent view of the harbor in Yemen where the U.S. warship stopped to refuel, security officials said Monday. A pair of binoculars was found at the apartment.
   The bearded and bespectacled man and a colleague also spent a lot of time with local fishermen, questioning them in detail about the comings and goings of ships in the harbor and asking how far fishing boats are allowed to go into its waters.
   Those details from witnesses and investigators helped fill in gaps about the men's activities before the Oct. 12 bombing that killed 17 U.S. sailors, including two sailors from the Coastal Bend.
   The families of Ronchester Santiago, 22, and Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., 26, have services planned this week.
   Rosary for Santiago, 22, of Kingsville, will be recited at 7 p.m. Thursday at Turcotte-Piper Mortuary in Kingsville. Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Gertrude's Catholic Church, Kingsville. Burial will be in Santa Gertrudis Cemetery, Kingsville.
   Funeral services for Swenchonis, of Rockport, will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Charlie Marshall Funeral Home in Rockport. His burial will be at 11 a.m. Friday in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.
   Santiago, a petty officer third class, had been in the Navy since graduating in 1996 from Keys Academy in Kingsville. He was scheduled to get out of the service in December and planned to study electrical engineering at the University of Texas.
   Fireman Swenchonis, who graduated in 1994 from Rockport-Fulton High School, joined the Navy two years ago after four years in the Army. His parents, Gary and Deborah Swenchonis, said he planned to make the Navy his career.
   U.S. officials believe the blast that killed Santiago, Swenchonis and 15 other sailors was a suicide attack, but investigators appeared no closer to determining the identities of those involved. Two men were seen standing on a rubber boat seconds before the explosion.
   The ship supply business known as Al Mansoob became the focus of investigators after the Cole was attacked. Many of Al Mansoob's 35 employees, including the general manager, Ahmed al-Mansoob, and a man believed to have been aboard the Cole, Hussain Bakhateer, were detained by the Yemenis for questioning, although all but Bakhateer were later released.
   The FBI, working with Yemeni investigators, has determined that the bombers' skiff was not part of the company's service flotilla, having approached the Navy ship from a different direction.
   Also on Monday, American troops and diplomats in parts of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the small Persian Gulf states of Bahrain and Qatar were placed on the highest state of alert because of credible threats of a terrorist attack, a senior Clinton administration official said.


The Associated Press, The New York Times Wire Service and Staff writer Sara Lee Fernandez contributed to this report. She can be reached at 886-3767 or by e-mail at fernandezs@caller.com

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