3 Bodies Removed From Federal Building Debris : Oklahoma City: Remains are believed to be those of 2 credit union workers and a customer.
Three bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on Monday, a spokesman for the medical examiner’s office said.
The bodies were believed to be those of credit union workers Christy Rosas and Virginia Thompson and customer Alvin Justes, who had been missing and was feared to be buried in the building’s rubble.
Firefighters had combed the debris for more than two weeks after the April 19 bombing but had called off the search knowing that Rosas and Thompson were still buried there.
The search for their bodies was called off on May 5 for fear that part of the bombed-out shell would collapse on recovery crews.
On May 22, authorities began to suspect that Justes’ body might be in the wreckage, too. Police had received a missing-person report May 15, when his landlord noticed that Justes had failed to pay his rent.
The bodies were removed from the rubble about 6:15 p.m. but weren’t immediately identified. The medical examiner’s office said the remains were those of one male and two females.
“The families were notified that the bodies were recovered, but there have been no positive identifications at this time,” said Ray Blakeney, of the medical examiner’s office.
The bodies were uncovered as a wrecking company cleared the way to the crucial section of rubble. The damaged structure had been brought down by demolition experts on May 23.
The area where the bodies of the women were believed to be buried had been marked before the building was demolished.
Army friends Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols are in custody at the federal prison in El Reno in connection with the bombing, which killed 168 people and injured hundreds more. Both are charged with a federal anti-terrorism statute that carries the death penalty.
Authorities are pursuing other suspects in the bombing, but FBI spokesman Dan Vogel refused to discuss the progress of the investigation.
Meanwhile, at a Memorial Day ceremony at a suburban cemetery, the names of 12 of the bombing victims were read along with a Memorial Day roll call of war dead. The blast victims’ fresh graves were blanketed with flowers.
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