NC NC - James Lewis, 42, Fayetteville, 3 October 1982

[Legally Bland]

James Edward Lewis, of Fayetteville, NC, left home on October 3, 1982 in a white Ford Fiesta. He told his family that he was going to Vero Beach, FL to interview for a job ferrying Piper airplanes from the dealer to buyers. Jim Lewis was a recently-retired major with 25 years in the US Army -- a Ranger, founding member of the "Golden Knights" U.S. Army Parachute Team, a highly-decorated and wounded Vietnam veteran, a skilled pilot with commercial and seaplane ratings, as well as a dedicated husband and father. It was his habit on trips away from home to stay in phone contact with his wife; however, after his October 3 departure, he did not call home. In January 1983, Ms. Lewis received a call from a parking-lot attendant at the Fayetteville Municipal Airport informing her that the Ford Fiesta had been parked in the long-term lot since October 6, and was accumulating fees. The family reported the discovery of the vehicle to Fayetteville police, but the car was repossessed by the finance company before authorities investigated. In 1992, reading a news report of remains found in a nearby county, The family contacted the Hoke County Sheriff's Department but the discovered remains were determined to be those of another deceased. Soon after, The family had James Lewis declared legally dead. However, his remains were never found.

Height (inches) 70.0
Weight (pounds) 214.0
Hair color Brown
Head hair mixed with gray
Body hair
Facial hair none
Left eye color Brown
Right eye color Brown
Scars and marks Shrapnel wounds to the right side of his chest, right forearm, shoulders and upper back.
Dental Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered

DNA Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete
Fingerprint Information Status: Fingerprint information is available and entered


https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/32471/0/

 

[Legally Bland]

After not hearing from her husband for several days, Patsy Lewis contacted the Fayetteville police, but she was referred to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department because their residence was outside of the Fayetteville city limits. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was contacted, but declined to investigate.

Read more: http://www.missingveterans.com/1982/james-jim-edward-lewis/

ETA: There's an interesting comment below that article.

 

[alb1on]

After not hearing from her husband for several days, Patsy Lewis contacted the Fayetteville police, but she was referred to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department because their residence was outside of the Fayetteville city limits. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was contacted, but declined to investigate.

Read more: http://www.missingveterans.com/1982/james-jim-edward-lewis/

ETA: There's an interesting comment below that article.

The interesting comment, from the son of James Lewis, refers to his friendship and working with Gene Paul Thacker. Both were members of the Golden Knights and Thacker owned an airfield in Raeford, NC. The relevance of this link is Thacker's legal history. In 1985 he was charged (but found innocent) of a role in a massive cocaine smuggling operation ( http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-05-31/news/8501210917_1_drug-ring-cocaine-colombia ). Further information on Thacker is contained in an FBI document on archive.org at https://archive.org/stream/AndrewCarterThorntonII/1347377-0_-_File_1-Section_1_djvu.txt . It will be necessary to do a document search for 'Thacker' to get to the relevant part of a long document but, in summary, it suggests LE had been watching him for a long time, had large files on him and tied him to large scale drug running.

What is the relevance of Thacker. It may be that he had no connections to drug running and has no relevance to Lewis going missing. On the other hand, if he was involved and the LE files are correct, then he had been in that business for some time, Lewis was working for him and it would be a dangerous business in which to be involved. Add in that it was other 'Golden Knights' who provided the testimony which cleared Thacker in 1985 (despite the LE files suggesting they followed the drug plane which the Golden Knight witnesses claimed never appeared, to his field) and you have a web of connections which set alarms ringing.

What is the truth? Given Thacker is also dead we will probably never know.

 

[Legally Bland]

Don't know how you found the FBI doc, Albion. Good work.

This looks like it's only street gossip, but it's a shame this pilot's name has been redacted.

a certified flight instructor, was doing commercial flying for
THACKER for some time, but according to street word is missing due
to crashing his airplane in a S outh Ameri can flight for THACKER.
THACKER denies any knowledge of| [and his demise.

https://archive.org/stream/AndrewCarterThorntonII/1347377-0_-_File_1-Section_1_djvu.txt

 

[alb1on]

Don't know how you found the FBI doc, Albion. Good work.

This looks like it's only street gossip, but it's a shame this pilot's name has been redacted.

I had missed that little gem when I searched the document! If Thacker and Lewis (through Thacker) were connected to Andrew Carter Thornton the whole thing gets very interesting. Thornton's Wikipedia entry ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_C._Thornton_II ) serves as a good intro, but a google search turns up myriad books and articles on his drug running and associates. Given the list of associates on the Wiki entry I think we can assume the FBI/CIA/DEA know exactly what happened to Lewis if this association did cause him to disappear. And. if that is the case, it raises still more questions about was it an accident, was it murder or did he choose to go missing (either on his own initiative or because he was playing a double game requiring witness protection). Given the trail of dead bodies with close or distant links to Thornton, I suspect foul play. In 1985, the year Thornton died in a suspicious skydiving 'accident' when bringing in drugs there was a plane crash in Tennessee which was caused by sugar in the fuel and killed 17 skydivers. The owner and pilot of that plane was Thornton's drug smuggling partner. There were many claims it was organised by the Colombians for failure to deliver on a drug deal ( http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/19...e-shipment-colombian-drug-smugglers-skydivers ). If those people could kill 17 people (16 of whom were innocent of any involvement) just to send a message I doubt getting rid of individuals would have been a problem.

 

[Legally Bland]

Snapshot from the PDF version of the FBI doc. Interesting that the LE Officer is from Cumberland County (see post #2). There's probably nothing in this, but it does make me wonder.

https://archive.org/download/AndrewCarterThorntonII/1347377-0_-_File_1-Section_1.PDF
Page #113. Warning: it's 14mb.

Lot's of info and articles, mainly on Thornton. It's easier to read than the OCR version, but not searchable.

 

[apearn]

I see the info about South America but I keep coming back to this John Doe from Key Largo : http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1880umfl.html

 

[Hockeyfan158]

Submitted him to the doe network he looks like William L Toomey William L. Toomey | Unsolved Mysteries Wiki | Fandom

 

[alb1on]

It is a long time since I looked at this case. Whilst I have little to add I did find a bit more on the drug ring which Gene Thacker, Lewis' employer/associate/partner was involved in. The News Press from Fort Myers at News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida on May 4, 1984 · Page 46 (newspapers.com) lists the other defendants in the 1984 case where he was charged but somehow got off. The key name is Severo Escobar, the nephew of the infamous Pablo Escobar. So Thacker, and possibly Lewis, were involved with the Medellin cartel, possibly the biggest and most dangerous drug empire ever.

The more I look at this, the more difficulty I have in discounting the drug links.

 

[chaddylex]

The Vanished Podcast just released the first of a 2 part episode about James's disapperance.
<iframe src="James Lewis Part 1: The Hero" style="width: 100%; height: 200px; border: 0 none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>



On October 3, 1982, 42-year-old James Lewis left his home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Jim told his family he planned to drive to Vero Beach, FL, for a job interview. Jim was a decorated veteran who had recently retired from the Army. He was a skilled pilot looking for something to do in the next phase of his life post-retirement. He was interviewing for a position ferrying airplanes from a dealer in Florida to buyers. After Jim left, his family never heard from him again, something that was very unusual for Jim. Months later, in January of 1983, Jim’s wife received a call from a local airport, stating that his car had been parked there since early October, just days after her husband had vanished. Had Jim actually driven to Florida? Had he taken a flight somewhere? Why was his car at the airport? These questions have haunted his family for more than 40 years.

If you have any information about the disappearance of James Lewis, please contact the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office at (910) 323-1500.