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Show Y student arrested in hijacking ( 'L ' P K 1 hi AaMMr.-lMl -, The search for the hijacker of a United Air Lines 727 came to a halt early Sunday morning when Federal Bureau of Investigation In-vestigation officers arrested a 29-year-old Brigham Young University student. The suspect, Richard Floyd McCoy Jr., a law enforcement major, was arrested at his home in Provo Sunday around 5:30 a.m. without incident, according to a release prepared through Acting U.S. Attorney Ceneral Richard C. Kleindeinst. The release indicated that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover will charge McCoy with aircraft air-craft piracy in connection with the Friday night hijacking of a United fllight bound from Newark, N.J., to Los Angeles, Calif. Under Aircraft statutes he will also be charged with interfering with flight crew members, the release said. Four large cardboard boxes and two black overnight bags marked "Evidence" were taken from the suspect's home Sunday evening by FBI agents. But the FBI refused to say if the ransom had been recovered. McCoy is charged with taking command of the plane over Crand Junction, Colo, shortly after its scheduled stop in Denver and then diverting it to San Francisco. The hijacker in the incident reportedly asked for and received $500,000, four sport parachutes and his luggage. According to official sources, the hijacker apparently carried his own parachute in his luggage. McCoy was arraigned in Salt Lake City at 8 a.m. in U.S. Post Office building in Salt Lake City before U.S. Magistrate A.M. Ferrol. According to the FBI, the maximum penalty for McCoy's charges is death. His preliminary trial is set for April 14 at 2 p.m. According to the FBI, McCoy is a Vietnam war veteran, married with two children. The suspect had been a helicopter pilot and was an experienced skydiver. The FBI was given a lead to the alleged identity of the hijacker by Utah Highway Patrolman Robert leperen. The patrolman said he serves in the National Cuard with the suspect. Prior to the hijacking, McCoy had talked with Mr. leperen about what he "would do if he were going to hijack a plane," the patrolman added. Mr. leperen told the FBI the details of this "fantasy" hijacking fit exactly into the circumstances of the real hijacking, down to the $500,000 ransom. The search for the hijacker began at the Provo Airport Friday night as FBI agents were transported by helicopter to the Provo area. The searchers combed the area at the west end of the city for 60 miles continuing to the southeast. The search parties also spread to the Utah and Juab counties down to Richfield and Price. Teams included members of the highway patrol, Salt Lake and Utah County Sheriff Jeep Posses, FBI and other law enforcement en-forcement agencies. Crew members of the hijacked plane landed the 727 at the Salt Lake City International In-ternational Airport shortly before midnight Friday. Capt. Gerry Hearn, pilot of the hijacked aircraft, reported the hijacker had sent pre-written instructions to him through the stewardess, Dianne Surdam, 24, of Los Angeles. When the plane landed in Salt Lake City, it was searched by law enforcement teams for bombs. None were discovered. The hijacker had written notes indicating he was carrying two guns, explosives and a hand grenade. Capt. Hearn said the hijacker had worn glasses and a wig. He said he was probably a pilot with "an excellent knowledge of parachutes and airplanes." The pilot indicated in-dicated that after landing in San Francisco the plane was forced into a zig-zag flight pattern over Nevada and Utah. With only the gunman and crew aboard, the hijacker allegedly dropped one of the parachutes with a sounding device out over Nevada. According to national news sources, the suspect's father, Richard Floyd McCoy Sr., who resides in Raleigh, N.C., said he could not believe that his son-a good Mormon boy who went to church every Sunday-could Sunday-could have done this. |