We’re headed to the finale for Dan Jackson - computer wunderkind (but not this week). Dan assembled a computer in his parent’s basement when he was 14 years old. Friends, neighbors, and even strangers wanted a computer, so Dan started really assembling and building computers. Soon, it was a thriving business and Dan’s parents (Will and Beth Jackson) hired Will’s brother Steve to be the CEO of DJ Computers Incorporated. The brand has really taken off and holds about 30% of the personal computer market (after Dell Computers).
But, two weeks ago, while Dan was opening a new computer sales room for college students in the Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois, he was kidnapped. It is now Sunday, June 16th, 1985. Dan and his kidnappers have reached a tentative solution that will be aired on WBBM television in Chicago (and all CBS affiliates) on Tuesday, June 18th, 1985.
Author’s comments. At times I want to have cell phones, texting, email, and the technologies of today, but not in 1985.
*****
Sunday morning at a Bible Camp near Crandon, Wisconsin, Dan was up with the first light about 5:15 a.m. He put on his running shoes and a light jacket as it was still a little cool in the northern Wisconsin woods. He carefully opened the door so as not to wake Jerry McDowell, one of the kidnappers who slept in the same cabin as Dan.
Dan had been a cross-country runner in high school and he thought it cleared his mind. He had run the previous day and had an idea of where he would run this morning. Down around Lake Lucerne and back to the camp. It would be about four miles and take him about 40 minutes.
Like yesterday, there was fog over the lake. The lake water from being warmed by the sun was warmer than the cool air. What a perfect peaceful time to be out running. The loons were called to each other.
Last night, Dan had talked with Rodney Smith, the leader of the CSA. CSA was “Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord”. Dan had feared Rodney on Friday when he was kidnapped, but as they spent time together, Dan realized that Rodney was a gentle man who had experienced more of life than most people.
Rodney had requested time on the media for Tuesday, June 18, 1985. Dan wasn’t quite sure what Rodney would talk about, but that wasn’t his problem. Dan would be reunited with his parents and life would go on. Dan had called D’Anton Brown, a family friend who had helped broker a deal with the FBI. Dan knew that the FBI wanted to capture Rodney Smith, but had pleaded for his freedom. He knew the slogan that the “FBI always gets their man”.
Dan’s mind focused on the tradeoff on Tuesday. He wasn’t sure that Wayne Pauli, the FBI special agent in charge of this case, was going to honor the agreement.
The run was refreshing, but as Dan headed back towards the CSA camp, he saw three cars sitting on the edge of the road - still about a quarter mile away to the east of the camp. Several men were outside the cars as if waiting for something or someone. They looked official. Then it struck him - they were government cars with FBI agents. They were going to raid the campground. The morning fog still obscured Dan from their view. He walked through the woods until he could see the cars better. Yes, there were three or four in each car, and all wore a navy blue FBI windbreaker.
Going back into the woods, Dan runned to where the fence was partially down and jumped it. He ran to Rodney Smith’s cabin and pounded on the door.
It took Rodney a minute to answer the door.
Rodney asked, “What’s up Dan?”
Dan was panting from his running. “The FBI is here. I was out running and down the road are three cars with three or four agents in the cars with blue windbreakers that say “FBI”.
Rodney gasped. “I thought we had a deal with Special Agent Pauli”
Rodney paused, then said, I’m going to walk out and turn myself in. Which way are they?”
Dan said, “To the east - away from the town.”
Rodney continued, “But, you know how to call - call D’Anton Brown, and have him call Special Agent Pauli. I wrote down the numbers on my desk pad. Grab the desk pad and run as fast as you can to Yeti DriveIn (where we ate the other night). The owners live upstairs - get Aggie (she was our waitress the other night) - use her phone to call D’Anton. And, stay hidden. I’m sure they want me - but they also want you.”
“Go Now, and may God surround you with his wisdom, protection, and peace”.
Dan ran out of the campground and towards highway 8. He was careful to check to see if there were other official looking cars with potential FBI agents before he charged towards Crandon and the Yeti DriveIn.
Meanwhile, Rodney went to Jerry McDowell’s cabin and got Jerry up and made Dan’s bed and took all of Dan’s clothes and things to make it look like he hadn’t been there.
Jerry took the things to a storage room away from the camp where a tractor and lawn mower were, and stashed them away. They wiped down the surfaces where Dan might have touched and left fingerprints. Jerry also made sure he left his fingerprints on almost all of the surfaces in the cabin he had shared with Dan.
Rodney grabbed a cup of hot, black coffee from the cafeteria, and walked to the main gate, opened it and walked east on Potawatomi Trail. He didn’t walk fast. He wanted Dan to get to town before he surrendered to the FBI.
*****
Dan ran faster than his earlier jog around Lake Lucerne. It was a Sunday morning, and there were only about three cars on highway 8 - and none looked like official FBI type cars. Dan ran on the left side so he could see traffic coming towards him. With the fog, a car might not see Dan until he was almost upon him.
The Yeti DriveIn was on the southside of highway 8 at Forest Street, just before highway 8 turned north and into Crandon proper. Dan vaguely remembered the restaurant from two nights ago, when he had dinner there with the CSA folks. He was guessing that maybe Aggie and her family lived above the restaurant.
Dan looked at his watch, it was 6:50 - still early on a Sunday morning. The Yeti DriveIn had parking on the east side of the restaurant and there was an outside staircase on the west side of the building.
‘Here goes’ thought Dan as he climbed the stairs and pounded on the door.
“Who’s there” was the answer from behind the door.
Dan yelled, “It’s Dan Jackson, can I come in?”
It took a minute for the door to be opened. A man in his early 60s - mostly bald, in jeans and a plaid shirt was standing behind the door.
“So you're Dan Jackson, the computer kid”, asked the man.
Dan answered “Yes. Is Aggie here?”
The man said, “Aggie’s my wife. I understand she got you a burger the other night. I’ll get her.”
Then the man, remembering his manners, said, “Please come in” and he motioned to a chair.
The man walking towards the back of the apartment was calling, “Aggie, somebody to see you?”.
Dan heard something and assumed that was Aggie replying to the man.
The man turned to Dan. “Do you drink coffee?”
Dan answered ‘yes, black coffee’.
The man went into a kitchenette area and brought back a cup of strong-smelling coffee. “That’ll put hair on your chest son”.
In a minute, Aggie, in a blue bathrobe came into the living room.
Aggie said, “My goodness. I sure didn’t expect to see you again. What’s up”.
Dan went into his story.
“We’ve been staying at the campground”. Aggie nodded. “This morning as I was out running, there were three cars east of the campground with men standing around the cars. They all had blue windbreakers with FBI on them. I ran to tell Rodney Smith about them, and he sent me to tell you and to use your phone to call a friend.”
“We’ve been working on a plan. Rodney wants to address the country about CSA and return me to my family on Tuesday morning. My friend in Bloomington, D’Anton Brown has been working with an FBI special agent to arrange the time on WBBM in Chicago. But, to have the FBI show up this morning seems to be a breach of the arrangement. I want to call D’Anton and have him work with the special agent to clear things up - if they can be cleared up.”
Aggie and her husband listened intently to Dan’s comments.
Aggie said to her husband, “Steve, can you help Dan make his call?”.
The husband, whose name was Steve, said, “The phones over there by the table. Let’s get you set up.”
Dan got out of his chair and walked the few steps across the living room to a table. Steve sat down at the table and pulled the telephone from a stand next to the table and put it in front of Dan, who had sat next to Steve.
“Here you go, son”. Steve said as he put the phone down in front of Dan.
Steve said next to Dan as Dan dialed the number for D’Anton Brown in Bloomington Illinois.
Denise Brown, Dan’s friend and statistician at DJ Computers answered and was amazed to hear Dan’s voice.
“My Goodness, Dan,” she said, “Are you okay?”.
Dan replied “yes, but I need to speak to D’Anton.”
Denise laughed “I’ll get him, but it might take a couple of minutes. He’s in the shower.”.
Dan heard the phone clunk as Denise put it down on a table and then silence. He was mentally thinking “Hurry up D’Anton”.
Then there was noise as D’Anton Brown picked up the phone and said, “Good Morning, Dan. What can I help you with?”
Dan explained the situation, that the FBI were closing in on the campground where the CSA had taken him,and how he thought that Special Agent Pauli had arranged for Rodney Smith to turn himself in on Tuesday after talking on WBBM.
D’Anton asked, “Are you safe, Dan? Did you escape?”
Dan laughed, “Yes, I am safe, and no I didn’t escape. These are nice people and Rodney sent me into the town to call you and see if you could help us.”
D’Anton listened as Dan used the words, ‘nice people’, ‘help us’. Was Dan being brainwashed by the CSA? He remembered the Patty Hearst kidnapping a few years back where Patty Hearst became sympathetic to the Symbionese Liberation Army who had abducted her.
But, he knew Dan and really thought it would all be over in a few days.
D’Anton said, “Dan, I’ll try to get ahold of FBI Special Agent Wayne Pauli and see what is going on and what we can do. It is Sunday, so I have no idea if I can reach him. But, I will try.’ Dan, God works in mysterious ways, and I believe that God’s hand is in this situation.”
They said “goodbye” and D’Anton filled Denise in on the latest news, and then called the Bloomington Hampton Inn to see if he could locate Special Agent Wayne Pauli.
*****
There were two Hampton Inns in Bloomington. D’Anton thought that Special Agent Pauli would probably be at the Hampton Inn North - which was closer to State Farm Insurance Headquarters and to DJ Computers Headquarters.
D’Anton was in luck. He called the number from the phone book and got to the reception desk. He asked to speak to Wayne Pauli. The desk clerk said, “Wait a minute until I connect you”. D’Anton could hear the phone ringing but no answer.
The clerk came back on. “I’m sorry he doesn’t seem to be answering. He might be at our breakfast, can you wait a minute while I check?”
D’Anton waited and three minutes later, he heard Wayne Pauli’s voice say, “Hello”.
D’Anton said, “Good Morning Special Agent Pauli. This is D’Anton Brown - we talked yesterday about the Dan Jackson case. Well, we seem to have a problem.”
Wayne Pauli said, “Good Morning Mr. Brown. I’m at the desk phone for the Hampton Inn, can I go upstairs to my room and call you back where we can have privacy?”
D’Anton agreed “Yes, that would be better. Do you have a pen? I’ll give you my number.”
Wayne borrowed a pen and a notepad from the desk clerk and wrote down D’Anton’s number.
“I’ll call you in maybe five minutes”, said Special Agent Pauli to D’Anton. He hung up.
Wayne Pauli thought, ‘well FBI business doesn’t stop on weekends. I’ll grab a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon and a cup of coffee and go to my room.”
It took a couple of minutes for Wayne to get a tray and some food to take to his room. Meanwhile D’Anton Brown was pacing the floor.
*****
At the Brown’s house, the phone rang, and D’Anton grabbed it on the first ring.
D’Anton said, “Hello, is this Special Agent Pauli?”.
Wayne answered “It sure is. So what’s up, Mr. Brown?”
D’Anton said, “Well about 30 minutes ago, we got a call from Dan Jackson. Seemingly Dan was out jogging, which is normal for Dan, and as he was going back to where he was staying, he saw three cars with FBI agents, wearing FBI Navy Blue windbreakers. He finished his run back to the camp and told Rodney Smith. Seemingly, Mr. Smith was going out to surrender to the agents but sent Dan to a neighbor to call me. And, I called you.”
D’Anton continued, “I thought we had an arrangement for Rodney and his group to show up on Tuesday morning at WBBM television in Chicago, but it seems like your folks are not following that agreement.”
Wayne asked, “Did Dan say how many people were in the cars?”
D’Anton answered, “Yes, he said there were three cars with three or four people in each car. They were on the road leading to the camp and maybe they were waiting for some others.”
Wayne replied, “Hmmm - this wasn’t my doing. I know nothing about this. I did not approve any raid on wherever they are. In fact, I don’t know for sure where they are. We’ve traced their calls to public phones in the Kansas City area, but think they were just using those to keep us from really tracking the calls.”
Wayne was quiet for a minute. “D’Anton, I’m going to have to look into this. This is most unusual, and Sundays are not a good time to get a hold of people. I’ll try to get to the director of the Milwaukee FBI office and find out. I will not be able to keep in touch with you, but let me promise that I will try to let you know by 1:00 p.m. if I know something - and realize that I may not be at liberty to share specific information.”
D’Anton agreed, and the two hung up.
*****
Well, thought Special Agent Wayne Pauli. That is weird. I didn’t authorize a raid on the CSA camp, and I’m trusting that D’Anton Brown and Dan Jackson are telling the truth when they say that FBI agents seem to be gathering to raid the CSA camp.
Wayne’s first call was to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin office of the FBI. The clerk gave Wayne the phone number of Dennis O’Connell, the director of the Milwaukee office. Wayne called that number and left a voicemail message.
He called the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. The clerk on duty took the message and said he would pass it on to Jason Bonick, the midwestern FBI director.
Wayne was stuck. He would wait in his Hampton Inn room waiting for either the Milwaukee office or national FBI office to get back to him. He called the front desk and asked if they could bring up a pot of coffee. (Wayne didn’t trust the individual coffee makers in hotel rooms. The FBI had reports that drug addicts were using hotel coffee pots to make methamphetamine or meth).
About an hour later (and three cups of coffee later), Wayne got a call from Jason Bonick, the midwestern FBI director.
“Hey Wayne, what’s up? Your call sounded urgent.”
Wayne Pauli gave what he knew to Jason. “Jason, this isn’t fact, but I think it comes from reliable sources. I’m on the kidnapping case of Dan Jackson, and Dan himself called a friend here in Bloomington Illinois with a report that an FBI squad was surrounding the area where Dan had been held.
“First, I didn’t authorize any raid on that location, and I’m not exactly sure where it is. Is there a rogue group out there? Is this a real FBI raid or some rival gang wanted to get back at CSA?
“Secondly, this is my case, I’m mystified that something is going on that I don’t know about.
“And, finally, I think you probably have gotten my report that we are working on a solution for Tuesday in Chicao.
Jason answered, “Wayne, I know nothing about this. Yes, this is your case and I haven’t authorized anything. Have you contacted the Milwaukee office?
Wayne said, “Yes, I’ve left a voice message but haven’t heard.”
Jason said, “I’ll do what I can. I’ll leave a message for Dennis O’Connell in Milwaukee as well. Maybe he is at church or at a picnic, but we’ll track him down.
They clicked off.
*****
Dennis O’Connell was indeed at church, and then out to eat with his wife and family. About 12:15 he got home - ready to enjoy a quiet Summer afternoon. He did have some work to do. There was an FBI squad in the northern woods of Wisconsin doing a raid on a terrorist cell that might be connected to the kidnapping of that computer kid.
His voice message system had two messages. He listened to both. The first was from an agent in Illinois relating to the kidnapping case, and the second was from his boss, Jason Bonick, his regional boss. That call from his boss deserved the first callback.
Jason answered the phone, “Good afternoon, may I help you?”
Dennis O’Connell said, “Hi Jason, this is Dennis O’Connell from the Milwaukee office. What’s going on?”
Jason asked, “Dennis do you have a squad doing some kind of raid in the northern woods of Wisconsin today?”
Dennis answered, “Yes. We’ve identified a potential terrorist, radical group near Crandon Wisconsin. My staff was going to raid a campground that seems to be their headquarters this morning. They are probably done by now. I’ll expect a report from them about 3:00 this afternoon when they are back in Green Bay.”
Jason started slowly, “Well Dennis, that is probably the group that kidnapped the computer kid, Daniel Jackson from Northwestern University two days ago. We’ve got an agent working that case that seemingly had arrangements for the group’s leader to turn himself in on Tuesday in Chicago. And, you might have messed it up and messed up the kid’s chances for getting away.”
Jason continued, “How did you authorize the raid?”
Dennis answered, “We got a tip from an FBI wire-tap in Indiana that this was the hideout for this gang that kidnapped that computer whiz. We did surveillance and thought the kid was in the camp, but somehow got out before we got there. But, we got the others, Rodney Smith, Jerry McDowell, Wayne Fleming, and Bob Wilson. We read them their rights and we have them in the Green Bay jail. But, the kid got away somehow.”
Jason Bonick had to refrain himself from yelling “YOU IDIOTS”.
Instead he said, “I will have Special Agent Wayne Pauli contact you within the hour. I give him the authority to take those four men off your hands and transfer them to the Chicago office.
Jason hung up, shaking his head. Yes, the FBI was fallible and could make mistakes but if it were up to him, Dennis O’Connell’s next appointment would be in Minot North Dakota, or maybe even to Nome Alaska.
Jason Bonick called Wayne Pauli. “Well Wayne, I have good news and bad news. The good news first. Oops - I lied, there is no good news.. Now the bad news - The Milwaukee office raided the camp where Dan Jackson was being held, and arrested four men. But, somehow Dan Jackson was gone. I told Dennis O’Connell that you will be sending agents to pick up the four men and bring them back to Chicago - on MY AUTHORITY. “ Jason gave Wayne the phone number of the Milwaukee office and for Dennis O’Connell. “Dennis is expecting your call in the next hour. Get a couple of your people and get to the Milwaukee office and fix this.”
Wayne was grinning as he got off the phone from Jason. Yes, there were some mavericks in the FBI who wanted the fame and glory of solving a case for their own. Now, he had to fix their mistakes.
*****
Wayne called D’Anton Brown.
“Well, D’Anton it seems as if some FBI agents didn’t understand the situation and arrested the group that kidnapped Dan Jackson. They took the men to Milwaukee holding cells, and I’m going to send men up there to pick them up. I don’t know where Dan is, but I think you do. Can you contact him and find a way to get him back to Bloomington safely? I’d appreciate it - and the FBI will reimburse you for the expenses.”
*****
D’Anton Brown wondered how he was going to get Dan Jackson back when Denise came into the kitchen checking on him.
D’Anton asked his wife, “If I found a suitable driver, could you and this driver go to northern Wisconsin and bring back Dan Jackson. He trusts you, and I don’t want you driving alone. What do you think?’
Denise Brown gleamed, “Of course I’ll go. Can you ask Pastor Harbin to go with me? Dan knows me and he has met Pastor Harbin.”
So, D’Anton had more calls to make. His first call was to Steve and Aggie Eide in Crandon, Wisconsin asking them if they would release Dan Jackson to Denise and Ronald Harbin.
When the call came into the apartment over Yeti DriveIn, Steve took it. He asked Dan if it would be okay to ride with Denise Brown and Ronald Harbin back to Bloomington, Illinois. Dan was surprised, but quickly responded "that would be wonderful. "
The second call went to Wayne Pauli saying he had arranged for Denise and Ronald Harbin to pick up Dan.
The third call went to Will and Beth Jackson.
D’Anton told Jacksons most of the story and that Denise and Pastor Harbin would be going to pick up Dan this evening.
Wow - things had gone terribly astray, but now were back on track. D'Anton made another phone call to Steve and Aggie Eide to ask them to reserve two rooms at a local hotel for the night. With a six hour drive up, it was too much to expect them to return tonight. And to get directions to Crandon Wisconsin.
****
Rodney Smith had taken his time to walk up Potawatomi Trail road to where the FBI cars were parked. When he got closer, he was spotted and he raised his hands in surrender.
The leader, Chris Fernando, suspecting a trap, walked slowly up to Rodney. There was one man with a gun on each side of the road walking about ten paces between Agent Fernando.
As Agent Fernando got close enough to Rodney Smith, he asked, “Are you armed?”
Rodney said no and kept his hands in the arm.
Agent Fernando asked “Who are you and why are you coming out to us?”
Rodney said, “I am Rodney Smith. I come in peace. We don’t have any guns or weapons. There are four of us. We don’t know why you are here. We are not terrorists.”
Agent Fernando yelled to the man on the left side of the road, “Come up and search him”.
The agent did search Rodney, and patted him down thoroughly and said back, “No gun, no weapon.”
Agent Fernando lowered his gun. “So who are you and why are you at this tiny camp?”
Rodney answered him, “I’m Rodney Smith, an ordained minister, and this is an official Non-Denominational Campground. At 10:00, I’m to preach at the Lake Lucerne Gospel Church, but we don’t allow guns into our services. Is that why you are here?”
Agent Fernando said, “We have it on reliable sources that you and your group kidnapped Daniel Jackson from Northwestern University on Friday June 14.”
Rodney answered calmly, “And who is this Daniel Johnson that we kidnapped?”
Agent Fernando said, “It was Daniel Jackson, not Johnson. He was the founder of the DJ Computer Company. Did you kidnap him?”
Rodney answered, “I don’t know much about computers, I don’t have one and don’t use one. So why would we kidnap a computer person?”
Agent Fernando was getting nowhere. “Are you or are you not members of the CSA, Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord terrorist group?”
Rodney answered back, “Yes, I am a Christian, and as I said, I am preaching this morning at Lake Lucerne Gospel Church. How does that make me a terrorist?”.
Agent Fernando turned to his men, “Handcuff him, and put him in a car.”
Rodney answered back, “Am I under arrest? For what reason? For preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ?. And, by the way, this is tribal land belonging to the Potawatomi Tribe. Their tribal headquarters are across the road from the Lake Lucerne Gospel Church where I’m to preach at 10:00. Do you have permission to be on tribal land?”
Agent Fernando replied angrily, “I was called out to arrest four men in conjunction with a kidnapping. They are Rodney Smith, and that seems to be you. I have an official arrest warrant, plus Jerry McDowell, Wayne Fleming, and Bob Wilson. I have arrest warrants for them as well. We have a search warrant to look over this campground for Daniel Jackson.”
Rodney answered back, “Do you have an arrest warrant for this Johnson person?”
Agent Fernando had enough “JACKSON, not Johnson. Carlos, handcuff him, read him his Miranda Rights and put him in a car. If he keeps talking, put a gag in his mouth.”
Rodney interrupted, “But, I am TO PREACH AT 10:00 at the church - you are interrupting the Lord’s work!”.
Agent Fernando yelled, “Carlos, put that gag on him now.”
Rodney didn’t put up a fight as Carlos put handcuffs on him and pushed him into the lead car of the three federal cars.
They drove the car up to the gate. Carlos got out of the car and moved the gate to the campground.
Agent Fernando yelled, “Find the others, bring them here. Find Daniel Jackson and bring him here.”
For the next ten minutes, the men in the blue FBI windbreakers rounded up Jerry McDowell, Wayne Fleming, and Bob Wilson and handcuffed them, without a fight and put them in cars. Then for the next half-an-hour they scanned the campground for any trace of Daniel Jackson. They didn’t find Daniel, and had decided not to check for fingerprints. Finally, agent Fernando decided to get going before church goers came to the campground looking for Rodney Smith.
The FBI cars headed east and then south to Green Bay and Milwaukee. Along the way, Rodney was squirming and making noise through his gag. Carlos took the gag off for a minute and Rodney said, “I have to pee”. So, they made a pit stop at a Pilot convenience station. One CSA person could use the bathroom at a time with one FBI agent walking with them. Other customers looked and they saw blue windbreaker FBI men prodding the CSA men through the store. But it worked out okay, as they all ended up with some hot dogs off the roller cookers.
In Milwaukee, they pulled into the FBI garage and escorted the prisoners to cells on the lower level.
Agent Fernando called in to Regional Director O’Connell to report that they got Rodney Smith, Jerry McDowell, Wayne Fleming, and Bob Wilson - but no Dan Jackson.
Director O’Connell was in a bad mood as Midwestern Director Jason Bonick had chewed him out. He yelled at Agent Fernando for letting Dan Jackson get away.
And, then Midwestern Director Jason Bonick told O’Connell that he wanted the prisoners transferred to Bloomington, Illinois. About an hour later, a prisoner transfer van showed up and the four CSA men were hustled away.
*****
Denise and Pastor Harbin got to the Yeti DriveIn in Crandon, Wisconsin about 11:00 p.m. They had alternated driving. They had stopped for gas, food, and bathrooms a couple of times.
Dan Jackson was glad to see Denise and hugged her. He greeted Pastor Harbin warmly. Aggie offered to put them up for the night, but Denise and Ronald said they would be fine at the Crandon Inn and Suites. Steve offered Dan to stay overnight with them, and he agreed. Aggie insisted that Denise and Ronald come over first thing in the morning to have breakfast at the drive in.
******
End of episode 15. We are getting closer to being done - maybe next time!!!
LOVE WINS
Karen Anne White,
