Copyright 1994 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago Sun-Times
December 14, 1994,WEDNESDAY,Late Sports Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS;Pg. 24
LENGTH: 325 words
HEADLINE: FBI Casts Internet on Bomb Probe
BYLINE: Michael Fitzpatrick
DATELINE: NEW YORK
BODY:
The nationwide search for the suspected serial bomber who has killed two people and wounded 23 others spread into cyberspace Tuesday.
The FBI, investigating whether a hatred of computers may be behind the mail-bomber's campaign of terror, has asked for help from Internet computer networkers. The bomber has been named "UNABOM" for his propensity to target universities and airline officials for the past 16 years.
Officials have speculated that the bomber might have lost his job to a computer, leading him to pick victims with ties to high technology.
The hunt for the bomber, who uses precisely constructed and powerful homemade devices, was made all the more pressing by fears he may soon strike again, a high-ranking FBI agent in Newark, N.J., said Tuesday.
"We are still nervous about another bomb being out there somewhere," the agent said. "It's very possible."
The FBI agent noted that the bomber's last two attacks, in 1993, came within days of each other.
Thomas Mosser, a 50-year-old advertising executive, was killed in his New Jersey home by a package bomb Saturday that the FBI said fit a pattern of terror by mail dating to 1978, including attacks in the Chicago area.
The FBI has posted its offer of a $ 1 million reward over the Internet for the capture and conviction of the bomber. It also has set up a hotline with an 800 number, 800-701-BOMB. "Dear Netters, the purpose for submitting the information on the Internet is twofold," the FBI said.
"First, the Internet is another medium that enables us to reach as wide an audience as possible, to spread the word. Second, Internet users are precisely the type of individuals that . . . have been recipients of explosive devices attributed to UNABOM; scholars and researchers."
The hunt for the killer was focusing on the San Francisco area, where the the videotape-size package holding the bomb was mailed Dec. 3, the FBI said Monday.
GRAPHIC: Reuters