Ace of Spades Reader Spotted Wanted Terrorist? (Updated: Limited Confirmation From FBI)

TKS alerts me of an interesting comment posted here:

Ok, I have a dilemma.

I am pretty sure this guy came [to rent a house].

I was just checking my records and it had to have been [earlier] this year. I remember the home I showed him, a couple leased the home within days of me showing it to this guy.

He had a Mexican Consular ID, no valid TX info. He would not allow me to make a copy of the ID card. I wrote notes on the visitor card when he came in because he refused to fill it out.

I will be looking at my records from earlier this year to see if I can find the info. He measured the distance between the homes - had a "friend" go into the home and yell, to see if it could be heard from outside.

I remember this incident so well, due to the fact that it was one of the strangest things I have ever seen. He did not have a hispanic accent, and certainly did not appear hispanic. [Redacted.] I showed the photo of this guy to [someone else present] a few minutes ago and her reaction was "Holy Shit[]! That is the guy". The photo that took me so by surprise is the one with the goatee & mustache, which I saw on a different site. Looked just like that guy!

Will let y'all know if anything comes of this!

Name withheld (and I hope she used a pseudonym).

Later, after Purple Avenger provided the contact information for the Texas FBI,
she reported:

Thank you Avenger for the [] FBI number.

I could not find the info I was looking for at my office, but my assistant (I sent her a copy of the pic) said it was the same guy.

I called the FBI here [].

The officer I spoke to stated that it more than likely WAS him!

HOLY SMOKES!!!

Really... it may seem corny, but the more blogs this guy's picture is on, the more likely he will be seen. And captured.

[Information redacted here and in the orignal comments for safety reasons.]

Note: I'm currently trying to get confirmation on this from the FBI. The tipster could just be wrong, or may have misinterpreted what the FBI told her. I'll let you know when they call me back.

And usually they do. They're pretty good about that.

Update From The FBI: Partial confirmation on the story.

Yes, the FBI office in question did receive this tip. Yes, they are looking into it, although the woman I spoke with noted they take all terrorism-related tips fairly seriously.

As for the "more likely than not" statement as to this being a genuine sighting: The woman who fielded the call said she did not say anything to that effect, and doubted that any other agent who may have subsequently folllowed-up with the tipster would have said that either. Simply because they don't have enough information based on a tip to say anything of the sort, and because they just generally don't comment like that upon a sensitive matter.

As I wasn't a party to the phone call, I have no idea what might have been said, or what an agent might have said to the tipster to give her the impression he felt it was "more likely than not" that this was a genuine sighting.

Still, it does seem interesting, at least to me. The tipster in question says she has two other witnesses beside herself positively identifying the guy, and the details she provides (refusal to let his identification information be copied, a Mexican consular ID, no valid Texas ID, no Hispanic accent, strange concerns about whether or not noises made inside the house could be heard outside) seem to suggest shenanigans of some kind.

I'm awaiting a response from the tipster to ask her to describe her conversations with the FBI more fully.

posted by Ace at 02:28 PM