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Show f : -1 11,- ' 1 j I '-- " . . - . . . . " ."' .. I ..... '. , : ' ' Motel manager Carl Trotter shows Sheriff Than Cooper and Panguitch Police officer Kevin Moore location of rooms in one-story Bomb Threat At Local Motel A bomb threat at a Panguitch motel kept local law enforcement personnel busy for several hours on the afternoon of April 4. "I'm calling to tell you that you have a bomb in room 12," the man's voice said as Donna Jefferson answered the telephone in the office of the Cameron Motel just after noon.. When she seemed confused by the startling message, the caller repeated the threat twice more, until there was no doubt about what he said, Jefferson related. She said the caller appeared to be trying to disguise dis-guise his voice and she guessed him to be an adult male. After a brief discussion with her husband Les Jefferson and daughter and son-in-law Judy and Carl Trotter, Trot-ter, the only others in the motel office, of-fice, she decided to call law en structure where April 4 caller said bomb was planted. Afternoon search by officers yielded no bomb and motel reopened for business. forcement. Because Panguitch Police Po-lice Chief Martin Nay was out of town, Garfield County Sheriff Than Cooper took charge, closing off one-half the block on the north side of East Center between Main Street and 1st West. Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Gaylen Moore was positioned at East Center and Main Street and other officers and Search and Rescue personnel at the north end of the alley where it joins 1st North. Cooper's vehicle was at East Center and 1st West with all traffic stopped from Main Street to 1st West on East Center. No traffic was allowed in the alley running parallel to Main Street between it and 1st West while officers prepared to search the one story structure where room 12 is located. Sheriff Cooper contacted the Bureau Bu-reau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Salt Lake City and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, required re-quired whenever a bomb threat is encountered. The federal agency commissioned Cooper to proceed with a search, since the building was evacuated and no threat to the public appeared imminent. Rick Swanger who was helping to direct traffic had been in the room in question installing cable television equipment for Premiere Cable Television only a few minutes min-utes before the telephone call. Cooper, Panguitch police officer Kevin Moore and Carl Trotter conducted con-ducted the search, beginning with See Bomb Threat Page 3A Bomb Threat Prom Page 1 the basement of the building and the attic before searching individual rooms one at a time. The tedious search yielded no indication of a bomb, Cooper said. Mrs. Jefferson said that she believed be-lieved the phone call came from a local source since a trace indicated no connection with their toll-free number. She said she has been evacuated more than once from the buiilding in which she works in southern California when bomb threats have been made and realizes they must be taken seriously. The motel had opened for business for the summer tourist season only a week earlier, with most rooms rented each night. The Cameron Motel has some 20 rooms. Seventeen rooms had been rented the night prior to the threat, but all guests had left by noon, she said. |
