RORKE MYSTERY HEIGHTENS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000700070002-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 3, 2005
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: October 13, 1963
• Content Type: NSPR

OCT 13 1963,
I"
I
Approved For Release 2005/01/05 : CIA-RDP75-00149R0007000700Q,Q-9 /?
Alexander Rorke
... Class A mystery,
Rorke
Mjy
Heightens
By LEIGHTON McLAUG11LIN
tferald'Staff Writer
The fate of Anti-Castro
Raider Alexander I. Rorke
Jr., has become a class A
mystery, U.S. aviation offi
cials said Saturday. -
Art Eno,' area. coordinator.
for the Htr n
Agecy,_here. no trace
has been found of 1T1L-ft1ith
Florida adventurer, this pilot
Geoffrey Sullivan, or their
plane since they left Cozumel,
Mexico'Se 2 pr,suma- i
bly bow dures.
Three possQi it e5 have
been suggested: a crash on
land or sea, a deliberate se-
cret flight to an unknown
destination or abduction.
"But that would have been
a perfect place for them to
refuel," said Eno.
Eno pointed out that the
route to Tegucigalpa is over
a wide stretch of the Carri-
bean, and then over moun-
tains soaring to 8,000 feet.
At first, it was thought
that Rorke and S u 11 i v w n
might have used Cozumel as
a jumping off place for a raid
on Cuba.
"We . checked with
Havana., said Eno, "and
came up with a negative. ',
"We talked to every single
country possible, and . got
nothing. There has been all
_sorts of conjecture."
He, said Rorke's uncle, Wit-
1lam Rorke, had been in to
talk ' to 'hini, and suggested
his, nephew may have been
abdtt'ited. The uncle, of New
York ;1/"ity refused to discuss
the possibility with newsmen,
.Rorke is known tb have
been 'a thorn in the side of
Castro and Cuba. He claimed
o hat;-6 made -a raid on a
Cuban,''oil refinery in May.
Subsequently his airplane, a
twin engine Beechcraft, was
cbnfisg6fed by the federal
gove9si int.
its ;boat, the 36-foot Vio-
lynn IIi, also was confiscated
a./ter it was found in British
waters with 17 anti-Castro
raiders on board.
He and S u l l i_v a n were
wa if S in Sep-
tem ce their hit-run
tactics ' net Cuba.
Fnen s said the ill-fated
Rorke, 36, and Sullivan, 28 trip was a'legitimate business
-- both of whom claimed to vcnturo, 1=d' inquire about a
have staged raids on Castro's 'r Kohst?r h t>ling o p e r a t i o n
Cuba -- rented a twin engine
pane Sept. 24 in Fort Lau-
derdale and took off.
They landed on Cozutnel
an island?'off Yucatan -- la-
ter in the day. After an over-
Ii'i16lTywood, Rorke's wife
.i#ff of their three chil-
dren 4id he was expected
back 'Sept. 29 at the la
night stay they filed a flightpl~ the search had
plait to
TRguc-
igalpa, Hon bear uened over to the Coast
duras, and vauis vanished.. u d
Eno said a -message from ls~ 2 Who's he?" asked
the Cozumel, nitart indicated the tliohe operator at. Coast
the fliers roay Ra?:'e had 17ie- Gua. aid Rescue.
a1r1
?P~aniE ai difficulty tltci r" it tivass er' pi ed that he
61ied"PoY,Rete6se.~ Q5, i0 _ `,4 ;Rb'75-00149R000700070002-9