MYSTICS CONFOUND MYSTERY OF A VANISHED MILLIONAIRE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000700500019-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 8, 2004
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: November 23, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved FWIdfffto
CIA-RDP75-00149R000700500019-3 -
' VOV z s rsci
?4I It-[ I I I i E:_f !`! (I H I V H U I-.1 U V I'i I.1 c *11. I'i
Mary of these and other notions nists. and though his own opinions 4Y--:
the
tern
ile
h
ded
t
h
...,...
, .C.......-- , about 1
ompson u
1Lr YJtw
------"
en
e
w1lsl,i'aton Post Portion Service sensory powers or Imaginations of a .were decidedly conservative,
of Asiari
to sympathize with the cause
ANGKOK -- This Southeast Asian " wondrous variety of divines who have nationalism.
dom of Thailand, formerly taken part in the case. One Is Bob } How. these experiences 4light have ' ~.
t nter-
kin
ba
li
re
an ca
McGowan, an Austra
g
known as Siam, thrives on political in=tainer who supposedly can sea through made Thompson a victim f ;the Com-
trigue and tales of the supernatural. walls and who "saw" Thompson being
and have these ingredients held in a Cambodian village. Another.
roduce a headier mix - is the celebrated Buddhist monk Kheo.
combi o p
case of James H. W.
redicts that Thompson will even-
h
h
e
o p
w
lure n t
Thon,p~ the millionaire American tually return here with "exciting-politi-
silk ufacturer who vanished last cal news."
;as:. Sunday. .'. The monk, a seer of Immense pres.
Th. or.!y solid fact in the' case is .1 tige In Thailand, emerged from medi-
that weekend
lain that ;
ex
di
th t
,
p
ng
o
tation last mon
that Thompson, spen
in the hills of Malaysia, went out for Thompson was kidnaped by four '
:n afternoon stroll and disappeared Malay bandits in the employ of Hanoi
vitnout leaving trace. I is presumably low in the process
in the Gighw s since, an assort- ' , of settling the Vietnetnwifar.
nee or Buriuh;~. soothsayers,' night {
brother-in? j
ti
l
'
a
s re
ves-;~a
Thornpson
.lw, magicians and other mystics as
President Ei-
las
Dou
H
s A
,
g
.
mes
well as private investigators, Asian ex; law i
of the Air Force
retar
'
S
h
y
ec
s
ower
rerts and various kibitzers have ad- sen
f theories as to --also hired Peter Hurkos, the Dutch-
t
s o
-anced an, sor
'hoe: ,son's whereabouts. Several of born psychic who featured in the case
of the Boston Strangler. Like the oth-
'
s
here theories have given. Thompson
amily and friends fresh hopes and re- ers, H;=Acs I.i:.ked Tzompsons disap-.
Communists
th
.
e
~~tcd disappoirt:e:its, leaving the pearance to
+npression that the East is as mysteri- , it
us as advertised. } A Sister Murdered
HE ~ IDEA of : a Communist con-
6T -X to Carnhntlia 17 sniraev was given added weight
yy
OT LONG AGO, for example, a Aug., 31 when one of Thompson 's s s-
1 r .qr ex
was
w ~
Wood
Tho
, , ?
,
,
mpson
few of -s friends rushed down to ters, Katherine
[alaysia to .heck out a story that found murdered on her 14-acre estate..' Associated Afiu
dyed his hair red and near Wilmington, Del. This prompted Iarnea . H, : W..Thomr~yors
hat
l
aWVU
a...... .. - that-i rake his r4gurasoze.
.as fundioni-1 as a fortune teller near--,' IiesLL specu
g plot was unfolding that would threaten
..... , o ~4 `ha ctnrv_ nf'course. . . t.- w
roved to -,c :alse. ? Much of the political aroma in the `'i
Before that, a pair of Americans res puzzle apparently rises from Thomp-
.er, considered chartering an airplane,1 profession, he initially came to South- ,
rescue Thompson from a spot. in east Asia in World War II as an agent
...n; . went, h was being held by the ! In that capacity, he worked with Pridi,`
The would-be rescuers were'' who led the Free Thai underground
ietcong
.
ssuaded ;?ying out their flan ' movement fighting the Japanese and
.
.i U.S. off:c s who foresaw the dan- ! ..was later ousted from office in a ; {
ra international incident. military coup d'etat.
f a
g
=rs o
Another theory holds that Thompson l As an OSS agent, Thompson was
lease of fo..ner Thai Prime Minister Vietnamese nationalists In the postwar
-Idi,. Phanomyong, who. has lived in- : period. He. was well liked -even by,
sown, has been. seeking 'to join his - -