I see nothing controversial about this, but it is new. I said above:
"In 1971, in the Portland area, all rescue, law enforcement entities, hospitals, corners, etc were contacted and asked to report anything that might be related to Cooper. After the money find in 1980 a brand new series of searches were launched, old records re-reviewed, etc... Himmelsbach personally managed all of these searches and he set up liaisons with area divers, salvage people, John Powelson at Aquatic Sports, etc and a network for reporting the results of people searching was created - again by Himmelsbach personally. Dorwin Schreuder worked on that team and it ran for a full two years before Tosaw was even on the scene. Out of all of these searches nothing ever surfaced related to Cooper. Searches included both searches on land and in the Columbia including at wing dams. "
Former Portland FBI agents report that some time during the excavation at Tina Bar, Himmelsbach began to expand the list of 'experts' he wanted to consult with in regard to the Ingram money find. These people included salvage experts, divers, river explorers of note, citizens who had expressed an interest in helping the FBI look for Cooper artifacts, etc. A network was set up through some of these people and the Portland FBI, to facilitate future reporting of searches being proposed - John Powelson at Aquatic Sports played a role in keeping this network running and he reported to SA Himmelsbach.
A number of people had boated or driven to Tina Bar during the FBI excavation, and exchanged comments or left advice with FBI agents present. Some left their credentials. It became obvious to Ralph Himmelsbach and the Seattle office that further searching would commence by the public sector, after the conclusion of the FBI excavation. A system for handling reporting was now needed. Tosaw was not one of the people expressing an interest, in fact Tosaw would not join the searching until March 1982, or later, and Tosaw's first searches were on land not in the river.
These private searches had no connection to the Tosaw searches or with any of the people that ever worked for Tosaw. A list of names and the searches these people conducted has been collected. Again many of these people reported to John Powelson, or to agents in the Portland FBI office. The Portland office was kept updated on all searches and results of searches.
Some of these people are still alive, most not alive. Some people do not want their names released - getting permissions is a work in progress. In addition, we are not clear about exactly what role if any the Seattle Office played in this program. John Powelson played a central role in this program since he lived and worked at Portland. His business, Aquatic Sports was established clear back in 1966.
The Portland office and Ralph Himmelsbach were very aware of the public interest generated by the Ingram find and the excavation at Tina Bar. Something and somebody needed to channel that interest and to assist with further searches continuing, and the reporting of results back to law enforcement and the FBI. Ralph Himmelsbach decided he needed to get to know the salvage people and divers who regularly worked the Columbia. One of his first questions put to one of these experts was: "Tell me everything you know about how the river works"! Ralph knew that private searching would commence and he wanted to stay in the loop on that.
*This program was not advertised publicly. By the time Tosaw joined in in 1982, two full years of searches had already been conducted by others.
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