Last Exit for Reality

It was late in 1968 when I got a call about a theft of data processing materials at a Tampa military facility. We were told that they were heading down US441 in a white van and it was last seen at 60 mile bend.

There are lots of dirt roads coming off 441 but this is the only paved road that will bring you into Miami. US 441 changes names to the Tamiami Trail when it gets to Krome Avenue near the Krome Detention Center. We had agents heading south down US441 from Tampa. We headed north and stopped at the Tamiami Range just west of the detention center. The time it takes from Tampa to where we were was about 31/2 hours so we waited. It was over 4 hours and nobody showed. They did send up a helicopter but it had to turn around due to mechanical problems. So we had no eyes in the sky and no van.

We headed west on US441 looking for the van. After an hour and a half we reached 60 mile bend. So we split up. Two cars of agents stayed there and we headed back to Miami looking for dirt roads they might have turn on. We found nothing so we called it a day hoping the agents from Tampa were having some luck.

We were just pulling into the detention center when we got a call that they might have found the van just off the highway about 40 minutes north of us. When we drove up some of the agents were looking at the sawgrass along the road and one agent was in the water. Looking closely you could see the top of the van just sticking out of the water.The agent that went into the water said that there was no one inside but it looked like an airboat might have picked them up.

We called for another helicopter to help since we had no idea which way they went or even if they had used a airboat to elude us. It was getting dark so we decided to wait until light to continue the search. At first light the van was removed from the water. It turns out the van has been there for at least one or two months and was not the van we were looking for. The helicopter found nothing and found no other airboat tracks. We were at a dead end and we would have to wait till they were spotted again.

Two days later the Highway Patrol tried to stop a white van heading north on I75 near the Georgia Florida line. The van would not stop so the chase was on till the van lost control and crashed. The van left the interstate only to rear end a propane truck in a rest area and both went up in flames. They found the remains of three men in the van and the burned data processing materials.