NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

INCIDENTS

Hot Springs NP

Search For Stolen Explosives Leads To Partial Park Closure

On Thursday, April 9th, a portion of Hot Springs National Park was closed for approximately ten hours while a search was conducted to locate stolen dynamite which had possibly been stashed within the park's boundary.

On March 27th, 195 pounds of ammonium nitrate explosives and 83 sticks of Red Delite dynamite were reported stolen from a work site in Lonsdale, located about ten minutes east of the park boundary.

Some of the explosives were located two days later after Garland County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to a call of a possible kidnapping at a residence on White Sulphur Road. A suspect at the scene identified as S.D.S., 43, fled from deputies in his car, which he abandoned near the park boundary in the area of East Grand Avenue. Investigators believe S.D.S. to have fled on foot into the park, but he could not be located during a subsequent search.

An inventory of the car was conducted which lead to the discovery of a bag in the back seat containing five sticks of dynamite. The sticks were banded together and fused in series.

A passenger in the vehicle, Kandyce Renae Jones, 23, was arrested on five counts of criminal possession of explosives. S.D.S. was later arrested and also charged with five counts of criminal possession of explosives.

During the investigation, S.D.S. admitted that he bought the dynamite from J.A.B., 38. Investigators with the Garland County Sheriff's Department sought J.A.B. and considered him armed and dangerous. One of J.A.B.'s known residences was located directly across the street from the parks law enforcement headquarters.

Rangers assisted in the investigation after information was shared concerning J.A.B.'s mother, B.A.Y., 58, who had previous history with the park's law enforcement division. B.A.Y. was taken into custody on April 7th and charged with hindering apprehension, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison.

J.A.B. was also taken into custody on Tuesday, approximately two blocks east of the the park's ranger station. He was charged with 84 counts of possession of stolen explosives after investigators located a large quantity of ammonium nitrate and approximately 45 sticks of dynamite he admitted to possessing.

On April 9th, rangers received two anonymous reports concerning J.A.B. Callers stated that they had observed him enter the park on the Reserve Street Trail system carrying a box of unknown contents three days prior to his arrest. The callers said that J.A.B. returned from the trailhead empty handed approximately 20 minutes later.

Rangers quickly secured the trail area and with assistance from NPS and FBI special agents began the process of clearing the area of any potential explosive materials. An explosives K-9 from the Little Rock Police Department was brought in along with park law enforcement and FBI search members and conducted a thorough search of the area. This portion of the park was closed for approximately ten hours while investigators coordinated their search. No explosives or suspicious items were located and the park reopened the trail system to the public.

[Jeff Johnson, Acting Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):

National Interagency Fire Center - The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise has issued its April, May and June through July 2015 significant wildland fire potential forecasts.

Flagstaff Area National Monuments - The Flagstaff Area National Monuments recently received funding to conserve and rehouse rare fragments of ancient clothing from archaeological sites at Navajo, Walnut Canyon, and Wupatki National Monuments.

Southeast Region - On Thursday April 9th, Southeast Regional Director Stan Austin joined invited guests and park staff at the Find Your Park Virtual Tour at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

Pacific West Region - Mike Reynolds has been named the new superintendent of Death Valley National Park, replacing Kathy Billings, who recently retired. Reynolds will begin his new assignment on May 31st.

Partnerships and Visitor Experience Directorate - George Minnucci, Eastern National's CEO, has received the 2015 James V. Murfin Award, which recognizes an individual who has made a substantial contribution to the partnership between the NPS and cooperating associations.

To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:

NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/

The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).

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