CASE OF THE VANISHING U.S. SCIENTIST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200790023-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 7, 1999
• Sequence Number: 23
• Publication Date: December 15, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

_ r? -~-j" Pcino
sdFai lease 1999/09/17: CIA-RDP
SAN JOSE, CALIF.
l ERCURY
f bi ? 76,181
S. 124,417
13EC 1 51965
CIA INVESTIGATING' AMSTERDAM MYSTERY
STATINTL
a se of the Vanishing US. Scientist-
0
0
By W. G. KLT with Dr. H.A.P:C. Oomen duec-ire went, into the Victoria Bar,ington say that American Em-
Special to The Washington rost. for of the Institute for Tropical in Rcmbrandt Square. This . is bassy officials `do not know ,oft
AMSTERDAM - Dr. Richard Hygiene, who lives in Laren, 17 )ne of the pseudo-bohemian bars any contact between Follis and
M. Follis Jr. of Washington, miles from here., around the statue of the master the girl.
-
D.C., was the. third foreign visi- Talks with Dutch aulhoritics painterFollis, was known Rembrandt. as an almost tel. Folks
room th was the gone next from morning his . H hoe
"tor to disappear mysteriously on food problems where planneci
otal abstainer, not a drinker, was seen next in a jewelry store
in Amsterdam within a few'm advance. Follis met with I
3ut at midnight in Amsterdam, on the Heisteeg where lie
,
,months. Oomen that morning. He als:+.
Although the many canals of had scheduled a talk with Prof.. is was full of spirits and had promised to buy an $80 ring, t
lie Dutch ca ital have been A. Querido in Leiden ? but ile very friendly discussions with abut he never came back for it.
p werybody out of that waterfront He vanished until midni ht.
r, ragged, the body of the Amer!-'never met Querido. n ( g
can authority on nutritional: Oomen said later: "I knov:, milieu who begs for a drink when he was seen again in the
pathology has not been found. the American as a prominent,when they think a rich Amer Hotel Schiller, not drunk but
lie disappeared Dec. 5, and scientist, It was a normal talk, ^a n is here. "very nervous, described like ?a
g going to and fro,
gam h'ollied s
police have called off the' .We drank a cup of coffee. Follis l 'Nally. ,ally. a woman 'there tier
search. was very enchanted to see men She told me: `Then he left the hotel and
i The Amsterdam criminal in-'again II was 1.0 o'clock in the. visited the eTrocadero ft the ho night-
vestlr al!?on department says morning. He said he wondered! "'That man was a nice man. club.. There, witnesses say,
FIr was on his way to a Teheran;llc-mbrandl: Square. the pictur-
IIran, medical conference but, in,(-sque joy-center of the old city.
icrrupted his plane trip to talk; Nobody knows where he went
,:*ence Service (YVD) and thelhan necessary for his scientificc
,American Cenral Intelligencedutics."
'Agency are working on the case.; Follis was booked at the Hotel
Follis arrived by air Dec. 3..Schiller,"" a first rate hotel on
that Follis was an Americarigtiick'with my alarm, because Irday.I wish I had, Perhaps he
agent, well informed . sources thought Follis did some work for was still alive, lie" was a nice
here say that the Dutch Intelli;the CIA. He traveled much moreiguy, talked about his wife and
der?apit ated. Their murdererscaitea the American Linbassy_ ooic t+'oIlls to his room,
hiive not been caught. His call triggered the investiga- The flowers did not colne.the
Although the U.S. State De- tion. next day, she said.
ipartmenl has denied officially Querido said later: "I wasr "I did not call him the next
other bodies in the canal; ono; Monday afternoon, Prof. Que-I
was that. of a RriliSh scientist rido waited in vain for Follis to' She told me she walked to his
Claude Berkeley, and lilt other keep a date with- him at tbeliotel with him and promised to"
was of a Japanese u,t,siiic: sm in University of Leiden. When the ctuin the next day if he sent
r
ma
MU k gangsLels Mee his; me.
money. I "Nothing gave me the irn-
It is known that Follis spent pression of a sudden disaster.
the evening before he disap only one thing I remember
pcared in the company of a, was that it was not quite the
woman lie met in a bar. ! behavior of the Follis I knew
Amsterdam police feel fie east faefore. Collis was, how can
I
dropped by his. murderers into; explain it, let us say, absent-
one of the canals, In August.' minded."
and September they found two'
r aih.s presumably was mur-I what Amsterdam was like at Ile seemed depressed to Inc, 1 he drank quite a lot and was
I I Christ
s ti
He was carrying something inbl t hi billf $15
. not aeo pays o.
his mind that was heavy. Be
said 1 ,was a sincere girl de- He was seen again in the
spite r;ly profession. He bought Schiller but did not ask for
me a bottle of champagne. this key and soon left.
We went from bar to bar. He ? At 3 a.m. on the cold morning
got helplessly drunk and we 1of Dec. 5 he was seen by a last
cane to an end in the Amstel- 1witness on the corner of Thor-
Isar, a clip joint with red - becke Square and . the Heren-
i walls A band was playing." gracht (one of the 17 canals).
kids. A strange man. He had a
kind of tic and moved the cor-
ner of his mouth up and down.
Maybe he was murdered. The
bloody fools from Thorbecke
Square kill you for' pleasure,"
There, according to the wit-
ness, stood a tall man in an
olive green coat with a dark soft
hat, looking very drunk, weiir-
After that moment, silen~e;
falls over Fpllis.
i#ter the talk. But at midnight Follis's associates in" Wash-j'
Approved For Release 1999/09/17 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000200790023-2