Sep 21, 2006 7:01 pm US/Mountain
Missing Marine Seen On Video Buying Bus Ticket
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ―
A Marine who vanished weeks before his scheduled return to duty bought a bus ticket in Denver the day after staging a bogus story about injuring himself during a hike in the Colorado mountains, authorities said Thursday.
Lance Cpl. Lance Hering, 21, bought the ticket using a different name at about 6 a.m. on Aug. 30 as search crews were gearing up to look for him, Boulder County Sheriff's Commander Phil West said.
West, who did not immediately return a call seeking more details, did not say where Hering might have gone or what alias he used. He said the video obtained with help from Greyhound Bus Line officials would not be released because it is considered evidence.
Hering returned from Iraq in July and was due back at Camp Pendleton, Calif., earlier this month.
Hering is wanted on a felony charge of failure to comply with terms of a deferred sentence from a 2004 burglary charge. He is also wanted on a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit false reporting to authorities.
Hering's parents have reviewed the video and are 99 percent sure the individual is their son, West said. Convinced Hering is alive, the search has been scaled back and deputies involved in the case are returning to regular duties, West said.
A telephone message left at Hering's parents Boulder home was not immediately returned.
Authorities said they were alerted to Hering's disappearance by a friend, Steve Powers, 20, of Boulder. Powers claimed that Hering fell Aug. 29 while the two were hiking in Eldorado Canyon, southwest of Boulder, and lost consciousness.
Powers said he went for help the next morning, but when he returned, Hering had vanished. Powers has since been charged on suspicion of lying to authorities.
Marine officials have told sheriff's officials Hering was considered to be on authorized leave pending his Sept. 18 return to Camp Pendleton.
Staff Sgt. Jesse Lora at the base's media center said Thursday Hering is still not listed as being absent without authorization.
Lt. Esteban Vickers in an e-mail wrote if it turned out Hering was purposely absent he could be charged with desertion, with a likely penalty of up to three years confinement and a dishonorable discharge if convicted.
"For desertion, the death penalty is available during time of war, but not a real possibility here," Vickers wrote.
The Pentagon has said simple desertion has been decreasing in the military in recent years -- about 2,500 troops last year didn't show up for work, down from almost 5,000 in 2001.
But groups that run the GI Rights Hotline, which helps service members interested in getting out of their required service, have reported receiving more than 36,000 calls in 2005 and about 19,000 in the first six months of this year, up from fewer than 1,000 in 2001.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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