A DUTCH MYSTERY: WHERE IS U.S. RESEARCHER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200790020-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 7, 1999
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: December 15, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

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STATINT
STATINTL
DEC 151965
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Amsterdam Police Say American Doctor Fell Into Canal; Body Is Still .Missing
By BARNARD L. COLLIER
S'peeiaL to The &uJlato Evening Newa
- and New York Herald Tribune
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15-
Sometime after 4:30 AM a
week ago Sunday, one of the
worhd's top authorities on ~ nu-
tritional pathology, a Washing-
ton doctor named .Richard ,Ii.
Follis, disappeared without a
` trace in Amsterdam.
Chief Inspector Piet Land
~: man, of the Amsterdam police,
I says the 56-year-old doctor prob-
'? ably fell into one of the city's
many canals and drowned. dur-
ing the howling Atlantic gale
that raked; Ho(dand that week-
' end.
But the body of Dr. Follis has
not been discovered after exten-
sive dragging operations.
"I .hope we will find it even-
tualdy," .says Inspector Land-
man, "and then the great mys-
'?. tery will vanish."
In Europe, the press is head-
lining the doctor's disappear-
ance and hinting broadly that
somehow them(,I~ is involved.
In Washington, tTi~"'doctor's
colleagues scoff at the idea of
an intelligence connection; One
pointed out:. "Dick Follis was
one of the most dedicated scien-
tists in. the wol?]d."
Some Call It Murder
Tn London, usually reliable in-?
telligence sources say that the
doctor was almost certainly
murdered, but they refuse to
say how or why they arrive at
that concl`hsion,
In Amsterdam, Inspector
Landman insists: "I do -'not
think there has been acrime-
just an acciden.t," .
.Meanwhile, bizarre and con-
fbicting information sun?ounding
the case continues to mount up.
A State Department security
official calls it one of the most
peculiar and perplexing matters
he has ever dealt with. "Almost
nothing about it jibes," he said,
The doctor's background is
impressive and' impeccable.
A graduate of Yale Univer-
sity (1932) and Johns Hopkins
Medical ? School (1936), ]3alti-
Imore-born Dr. Follis, the son of
a famous surgeon, taught for
several years and then, in 1955,
became an employe of the
Veterans Administration.
Made Many Trips
That .same year she was de-
tached for wor]c at the prestigi-
ous Armed Forces Institute of
Pathology in .Washington, but
the VA .continues to pay hfs
salal?y. ~
Since 1955, the doctor has
made more than a scare of ,trips
to odd corners of the world on
surveywork in the field of nutri-
tion. ' -?
A few were to attend medical
conferences, but most were to
carry out, field studies "in his
specialty, .the cure and preven-
tion of goiter, a deficiency
disease of bhe thyroid gland due
to a lack of ipdine content in
'the diet.,
Dr. Follis arrived in Amster=
dam Friday morning. and that
day, according to his friends
here, kept an appointment with
a Dutch expert in the field of
vitamin A deficiency and child-
hood blindness that . results
from i~t. ~ ,
Failed to Make Call
According. to the Amsterdam
old, traditionally elegant Scliil-
ler Hotel in .the heart of the
somewhat garish downtown dis-
trict of the' city.
From that point 'on the facts
become tvidly garbled, Dr. Fol-
lis' friends, his family, and doc-
tors who have known him far
years and traveled with him
say that he was a m?an of
"aibsolute punctuality," and "a
sober, seasoned traveler."
Yet, after what Inspector
Landman said was' "a long Fri-
day night in several-clubs near
the hotel" Dr. Follis did hot
telephone a Dutch nutrition ex-
pert named Andreas Querida at
Leiden University as he had
v/ritten he would. ,
Was Seen at Club
Dr. Follis, according to In-
spector Landman, remained in.
his hotel room until about 2 PM
Saturday. and then went down to
the lobby where he appeared to
witnesses to be "very. distract-
ed."
That night, Inspector. Land-'
man said, the 'doctor again
visited some of the clubs at
which he had been the previous
night, and a, man fi~t?ting his
description was last seen by wit-
nesses at about 4:30 AM near
a club called the Moulin Rouge-
"about 50 yards-from a canal
'and about-100 yards from the
Schiller Hotel," acording to In-
spector Landman.
Colleague Called Pollee. .'
"Witnesses say he looked very
ill," the inspector says. "It was
very windy and rainy that morn-
ing and even some cars blew
into canals. I think that kind of
accident happened to the good
doctor," '
When Dr. Follis failed to show i
up for his appointment with Mr.'
Querida, there was considerable
concern on the Dutch scientist's ~
part. "Even though I did not get
the expected phone call I had
cleared away all my business
'and left the afternoon open," he~
said.
By late afternoon Mr. Querida
became seriously -worried. "I
called the hotel and found that
his room key was gone and that
he had not been seen that day.
Then I called the American Em-~
bossy in case he had been in an
accident. _ They knew nothing,
they said."
Then the doctor called the
police. A search of Dr. Follis' ~
hotel room showed that he had
not slept in his bed for a.t least
one night and possibly two. All
his luggage was intact, including
most of t'he $500 expense money;
he carried with him. i
Theory Is Questioned.
The next day, Inspector'Land-~
man called what State Depart-;
meat officials here consider al
"real']y strange" press confer-i
ence to announce the fact that'
Dr. Fo1~6is was missing and that)
he had fallen into a canal. 1
For a few days, the in:>pector's~
explanation seemed good enough.,
With no sign of a'carpse a~fterl
three, and then .four, days, ehet
F.nronean press, the doctor's
friends and employers, his fam-'~
ily and persons who know Ams-~
terdam and read about the doe-f
tor's disappearance began to(
A diplomat from the embassy
of the Netherlands in Washing-
calm as a fish pond.
Approved For Release 1999/09/17 :CIA-RDP75-001498000200790020-5