RIYADH, 22 July 2004 — The head of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was kidnapped and beheaded by terrorists last month, was found by security forces during a raid that targeted the Saudi Al-Qaeda chief, a statement from the Interior Ministry said.
The ministry said Johnson’s head was found in a refrigerator during a search of three locations after the raid late Tuesday that hit the home of Saudi Al-Qaeda leader Saleh Muhammad Al Oufi — a former security officer and fourth on Saudi Arabia’s list of most-wanted terrorists.
The statement did not make it clear if the head was found in the house where Al-Oufi was living with his family.
“The Saudi authorities have informed the US mission that they found what they believe to be the head of Paul Johnson Jr.,” said Carol Kalin, spokesperson for the US Embassy in Riyadh, and added that the mission was in the process of contacting Johnson’s family in order to identify the head.
Last week, US authorities announced the search for Johnson’s body had been called off. Johnson’s son in Florida, Paul Johnson III, 28, had been pressing US officials to do more to find his father’s body.
The embassy said cooperation between Saudi and US authorities, which involves the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, will continue in the investigation of both Johnson’s murder and that of Kenneth Scroggs, a co-worker who was gunned down the same day.
Last Thursday, US Ambassador James C. Oberwetter informed the Johnson family of the outcome of the search for his remains by telephone, through the victim’s son Paul III, again expressing sympathy.
“We did everything we could to find Paul and bring him home,” the ambassador said. “Saudi law enforcement officials asked for FBI assistance and the FBI had their total support. We will continue to work with them here in Riyadh in the effort to ensure that all who may have been involved in any way in this terrible murder are brought to justice.”
According to the US Embassy, at the invitation of the Saudi authorities, a team of FBI special agents and experts arrived in Riyadh to work on the Johnson and Scroggs cases shortly after June 12. Drawn from throughout the United States, they included members of the Critical Incident Response Group, which deals with hostage situations. After the US Embassy confirmed Johnson’s death on June 18, additional FBI personnel were dispatched.
The intensive three-week search for his body in and around Riyadh was conducted with the help of a Human Remains Detection K-9 unit, commonly known as a “cadaver dog” team.
Significant evidence collected during the search for Johnson’s remains has been shared and is currently being examined by Saudi authorities and will be later sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington, DC. Assistance to the Johnson family, including his wife Thanom, who has left Saudi Arabia, as well as to the Scroggs family, is now being provided in the United States through the FBI’s Victims Assistance Program.
Kalin said the bulk of the FBI personnel who came to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Johnson investigation had returned to the US. Kalin clarified that a death certificate had not yet been issued to the Johnson family.
Johnson, 49, was working as an engineer for Lockheed Martin in Riyadh when he was abducted. He worked on Apache attack helicopters and had lived in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade. He grew up in Eagleswood Township, New Jersey.
An Al-Qaeda group claiming responsibility for Johnson’s killing posted an Internet message that showed grisly photographs of a beheaded body on June 17. Later, video of the beheading was posted. Hours after the pictures appeared, Saudi security forces shot and killed Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, the alleged mastermind of Johnson’s kidnapping and beheading.
