MYSTERY SHROUDS 2 YANKS SEIZED BY REDS AS SPIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300170019-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 2, 1998
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: November 26, 1954
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YO -u.
J0MNALSMMxecdv Approved For~~
` eV1ea9e lA-RDP75-000
Captured in 1952:
Mystery Shrouds 2 Yanks
Seized by Reds as Spies
By KEYES BEECHd
CPHT
N.Y. Journal-Amerlean. an
Chicago Dally News Foreigi Srrme
U1 [IL;Iul `
unanswered question
guarded the secret of two Ameri-
can civilians condemned to
prison by Red China as spies.
Radio Peiping on Tuesday
identified Richard Georg e
Fecteau, 27, and John Thomas
Downey, 24, as two of the 13
Americans convicted of espio-
nage.
The only thing certain about
their cases was that somebody
I [The iced radio saidboth,.men
ere..Central Intelligence agents
aptured when their twin-engine
ransport was shot down over
anchuria on Nov. 29, 1952.
ON BOARD PLANE.
Far East, Air Force headquar-
ters said Fecteau and Downey
were passengers on the C-47
that mysteriously disappeared
on a routine flight from Korea
to Japan on Dec. 3. They were
identified only as "Department
of the Army civilians." -
The plane was owned by Civil
Air Transport, Inc. and under
contract to the Air Force. At the
time it disappeared FEAR did
not issue the customary release
but CAT did.
The Air Force says now that
Fecti=aiu and Downey *ere an
the fttanifest when t6 plane
left Seoul airport f8f 1Glilio
Ja$9.n at 1 a.m., 13e5: 2.
OUR-HOUR FLIGHT.
1 ;1 or a C-49 this is normally a
ur-hour flight. According to
e Air' Force, the plafig crossed
ie Korean Peninsu1 .4?!1II was
'but 6 miles off i e Korean
ast when last contacted by
dar.
This account leaves these
questions among others unan-
swered:
On Mission 5f ege Agents
-If the plane was en route to
Japan when it disappeared how
did Fecteau and Downey fall
into Communist hands? The
theory that the plane crashed
at sea and the two men were
picked up by the Communists
doesn't hold water. If the Air
Force account is correct the
plane was in friendly territory.
Nor could the two men have
lived long enough in the icy
water to drift into Communist
territory.
M,d
Downe listed as missing when
1 1~. net ne $isappeared CAT
name onfiy the pilot and co-
pilot, Capt. Robert C. Snoddy,
31, Rosenburg, Ore., and Capt.
Norman A. Schwartz, 30,,
Louisville, Ky. No passengers
were mentioned.
Why hasn't there been an out-
ry from Downey's and Fectau's
riends or relatives over their
ate? If, as the Communists
charged, they were CI agents
they could have been using as-
sumed names.
ployed to supply National guer-
illas formerly operating in
northern Burma.
CI agents are numerous in this
art of the world, and presuma-
ly they have contacts inside
ed China. However, it is ex-
remely unlikely that there are
fly white American agents in
hinese Communist territory.
Official sources did nothing to
help answer ahy of these ques-
tions. Arifi3r sf3bkesiiti;n here said
they had no recdgd of either i
Fecteau or Downey but said that
this meant nothing because their
rosters listed only permanent
employes.
The Communists charged that
Fectea' ii and Downey itef c bii a
rriissiiih to c8f tabt a, Chiliese
agent whEii their plane was
downed. Observers recalled that
CAT Airline, founded by Gen.
Claire Chennault, a close friend
of Chiang Kai-shek, was em-
F0IAb3b
CPYRGHT
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000300170019-7