VZCZCXRO4111
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0641/01 1340926
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 140926Z MAY 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3785
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000641 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A A/S CARTER, AF/C, CA/OCS/ACS/AF 
NSC FOR MGAVIN DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
CAIRO FOR CHRIS ROWAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL CASC KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT:  EMBASSSY RECEIVES APPARENT FALSE REPORT OF PLANE CRASH 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Embassy Khartoum, in cooperation with 
CA/OCS/ACS/AF, received an apparently false report of a plane crash 
initially made to the office of Representative Jay Inslee (D-Wash). 
Post believes that the report could be part of a larger fraud scheme 
or hoax. The Department may wish to investigate the report to see 
why it was made and whether it constitutes a criminal act. END 
SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (SBU) On Thursday May 7, 2009, at 10:06 PM local-Khartoum time, 
US Congressman Jay Inslee's office sent an inquiry via E-Mail to the 
Embassy Khartoum consular section regarding an alleged report of a 
missing medical plane. The initial information apparently stemmed 
from an e-mail allegedly sent to Congressman Jay Inslee from an 
individual claiming to be one of his constituents.  The text of the 
undated e-mail follows: 
 
¶3. (SBU) BEGIN TEXT 
Name: Bob Miller-Rhees 
Company : 
Email: BOB at COATESDESIGN.COM 
Phone : 206-842-0138 
Dear Jay, My daughter Catherine's fiance is with a medical missions 
team in Africa and their plane disappeared last Friday over the 
Sudan. The search team started looking yesterday (unsuccessfully) 
along a strip of 400 miles of jungle. They have requested assistance 
from the US Embassy. I'm  hoping you can lend your voice to 
encouraging the military to join the search. My daughter Catherine 
can supply the details (206-842-0138) or you can check with the 
Sudan Embassy. Thank you! END TEXT 
 
¶4. (SBU) As US Embassy Khartoum operates on a Sunday-Thursday 
workweek, the consular officer did not read the e-mail until 
Saturday May 9, when remotely accessing DOS E-mail from home. The 
consular officer immediately contacted the DCM and canvassed Embassy 
personnel to ascertain if there had been any reports of a missing 
plane. No Embassy personnel had received any such information. 
 
¶5. (SBU) At 6:30 PM, the consular officer called the phone number 
listed in the e-mail and spoke with two individuals who identified 
themselves as Bob and Catherine Miller-Rhees. They reported that the 
wreckage of a plane carrying 13 passengers (including Catherine's 
fianc Rob Bryant) had been located on the morning of May 9, with 
reportedly no survivors, somewhere between Southern Sudan and Darfur 
in the western part of the country.  They stated the plane was 
affiliated with "Catholic Medical Missions" and was flying from a 
base in South Sudan to Darfur to distribute medical supplies. They 
explained that the plane had disappeared two weeks prior and had 
likely been carrying other Amcits, including a German and a Canadian 
citizen. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Neither Bob nor Catherine daughter could provide any other 
information related to the crash, or contact info for Catholic 
Medical Missions, besides an E-mail address for an individual whom 
they claimed was a local Catholic Medical Missions staffer, George 
Malcolm (georgemalcolm96 at yahoo.com). E-mails sent to this address 
bounced back. Conoff provided the phone number of the Operations 
Center to Catherine and asked her to call him back if she had any 
additional information. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Conoff called the public phone number of the Catholic 
Medical Mission Board (CMMB), but the office was closed for the 
weekend.  At 6:55 PM, the consular officer called the Operations 
Center and was connected to the ACS duty officer. The Ops Center had 
not received any reports of a plane crash, nor any inquiries from 
relatives of Amcits possibly involved in an aviation incident in 
Sudan of any kind. 
 
¶8. (SBU) At 7:30 PM, the conoff again called the phone number listed 
for Miller-Rhees and spoke with a woman identifying herself as 
Catherine's mother, Lisa. Lisa said that she would try to get 
after-hours contact information for Catholic Medical Missions and 
their local staffer. She asked the conoff to call back in 30 
minutes. 
 
¶9. (SBU) At 7:50 PM, a USAID officer with extensive contacts in the 
NGO-community confirmed with UNDSS that the UN had received no 
reports of a missing plane or any plane crashes over the previous 
two weeks. In addition, the AID officer told conoff that she had not 
heard of any activities in Sudan of Catholic Medical Missions. 
 
¶10. (SBU) At 7:55 PM, Catherine Miller-Rhees called conoff through 
the Ops Center and informed him that the local Catholic Medical 
Missions staffer, George Malcolm, "has it covered."  When asked by 
conoff what she meant by this, Ms. Miller-Rhees said that Mr. 
Malcolm did not need the Embassy's assistance. The conoff inquired 
 
KHARTOUM 00000641  002 OF 002 
 
 
how Mr. Malcolm  planned to ship the remains of the 13 crash victims 
back to the U.S. Ms. Miller-Rhees  again said that Malcolm  "has it 
covered," and asked the conoff not to call her again. The conoff 
asked Miller-Rhees for contact information for George Malcolm, 
Catholic Medical Missions, and the NOK of her deceased fiance. She 
replied that she would not provide any of this informtion, adding 
that there was no need for U.S. Embassy assistance.  She ended the 
conversation by repeating her request that the conoff not call her 
again. 
 
¶11. (SBU) At 8:00 PM, the conoff called the Ops Center to report the 
above information. The ACS duty officer had also been unable to 
reach anyone from CMMB or Congressman Inslee's office, but concurred 
with post's assessment that it was likely the report of the missing 
plane and casualties was false. 
 
¶12. (SBU) On Monday, May 10, the CA ACS officer contacted the CMMB's 
national volunteer coordinator, who had no knowledge either of a 
plane crash in Sudan involving any of the organization's  or 
volunteers.  The CMMB coordinator also said that he had not heard of 
Robert Bryant, the subject of the initial email. CA OCS/ACS/AF left 
voicemail messages with Congressman Inslee's office for follow-up, 
but as of May 12, 2009, had not received a response from the 
Congressman's office. 
 
¶13. (SBU) COMMENT: Based on the lack of any reports regarding a 
missing/crashed plane from UNDSS, NGOs, the media, or private 
Amcits, coupled with the refusal of Ms. Miller-Rhees to provide any 
corroborating or contact information, post believes it likely that 
the reports of a missing/crashed plane are false.  In our view, they 
could be part of some sort of hoax or fraud scheme. Post takes the 
safety and security of Amcit cases very seriously.  For this reason, 
conoff assisted by other embassy personnel spent many hours over the 
weekend trying to track down information on what was apparently a 
false claim.  Accordingly, the Department may wish to investigate 
this claim to see if it is some sort of cruel misunderstanding or is 
part of some larger overseas fraud scheme or constitutes a criminal 
act. 
 
FERNANDEZ