I’ve always been a document digger. You never know what you might find.
The FBI has released a lot of its investigative documents from some of its most high-profile cases over time from the JFK assassination to 9/11. It’s also released the files it had on some of the nation’s most famous people from Marilyn Monroe to Frank Sinatra.
Dothan appears in quite a few big cases. Below is a sample from the FBI documents:
The Escape from Alcatraz
Inmates Clarence and John Anglin and Frank Morris escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in June of 1962. The maximum security prison was located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay and it was believed an escape was impossible.
The Anglin brothers were never found and no one knows what happened to them. Some believe they died in the escape attempt and others believe they made it out and evaded the law for the rest of their lives.
A massive manhunt ensued and the FBI pursued hundreds of leads including many in the Wiregrass where some of their relatives lived.
Leads were pursued in Albany, Blakely and Donalsonville, Ga.; Havana, Fla. and Columbia and Dothan, to no avail.
There are thousands of public documents related to this escape. You can start right here.
The Atlanta Child Murders
Beginning in 1979 and continuing into 1981, at least 28 children, adolescents and two adults were murdered and authorities believe the murders were connected.
Wayne Bertrand Williams was arrested and charged with the adult murders. He was convicted in 1982 and police attributed the additional murders to Williams although he was not tried. The investigation into the murders was far and wide.
As you can tell, there is much redaction in publicly-released FBI files. In this case, the FBI redcated the names of the special agents (SA) assigned to run down the leads below:
There is no indication from the file about the identity of the possible suspect lead in Dothan.
Read all you want and more from the public FBI file on the Atlanta Child Murders here.
Midwestern Bank Robberies
In 1995 and 1996, a series of bank robberies occurred throughout the Midwest.
The perpetrators used explosives in the commission of the robberies. Those arrested were members of a white separatist group.
A search for information on one of the suspects made it to the Wiregrass.
Thousands of documents about this case can be found here.
Serial Killer Aileen Wournos
In 1989 and 1990, Aileen Wournos is believed to have murdered seven men who picked her up along the side of Florida roads for sex.
She was executed in 2002. She was portrayed by Charlize Theron in a 2003 movie, earning Theron an Academy Award for Best Actress.
As part of the investigation, the FBI reached out to Dothan to determine whether there was a connection to a then-recent murder of Marilyn Mitchell in Dothan, as this story from the Miami Herald indicates. It was included in the FBI file on this case.
The FBI released 121 pages to the public on this investigation and it can be viewed here.
The DC Sniper Case
In 2002, two men randomly shot and killed people in the DC, Maryland and Virginia areas.
A total of 10 people were killed. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo were tried and convicted. Muhammad was executed in 2009.
In September of 2002, Muhammad and Malvo were believed to have shot two, killing one during a liquor store robbery in Montgomery.
Prior to that, Muhammad and Malvo were believed to have stayed in Dothan for 10 days in July:
Read from the FBI’s public file on the DC Sniper case here.