Fresh Kills Recovery site - tiffany globe survived WTC collapse:

[The Straight Story]

December 17, 2003


MEMORANDUM FOR ROBERT S. MUELLER, III
DIRECTOR
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

FROM: GLENN A. FINE
INSPECTOR GENERAL

SUBJECT: Investigation Regarding Removal of a Tiffany Globe from the Fresh Kills Recovery Site

Attached is the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report of investigation regarding an allegation that a Special Agent (SA) from the Minneapolis office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), committed misconduct by removing a Tiffany & Co. crystal globe paperweight (globe) from the Fresh Kills site that was processing materials from the World Trade Center.

This investigation was based on a complaint that the OIG received from Minneapolis FBI Special Agent Jane Turner. Around the same time, the Minneapolis FBI office reported the allegation to the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility (FBI OPR), which also referred the matter to the OIG.

was part of the Minneapolis Evidence Recovery Team (ERT) that worked at the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island, New York, along with other ERTs , to sift through the material from the World Trade Center. and the Minneapolis ERT were deployed to New York from September 23, 2001, to October 8, 2001. They worked the first week at Ground Zero inspecting trucks leaving the site. During the second week, they were assigned to Fresh Kills to sort through materials that came from Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex. Building 7 housed the offices of the and the United States Secret Service (USSS).

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said that while raking and inspecting through the material he found what looked like a globe that one would find on a person's desk. He said that the globe was chipped and cracked, and that he did not realize that it was from Tiffany. He admitted that he took the globe from Fresh Kills as a souvenir. He said he also took three rocks and a metal bolt as souvenirs. claimed to the OIG that he did not think that the globe had any value or that it was an item that could be attributed to anyone. He said he believed that the item was rubble, and if he had thought the item had value he would not have taken it.

acknowledged, however, that he thought the globe was "interesting" and that he showed it to several other Minneapolis ERT employees at Fresh Kills when he found it. Several of them confirmed to the OIG that had shown them the globe. One of them remembered him stating something to the effect "Can you believe this survived?" We determined that the globe, when new, sells for $350. ( We did not determine the value of the globe as an artifact from the World Trade Center, but it certainly was much higher than $350.)

http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0403a/index.htm