The FBI in eastern Missouri has launched its first-ever initiative to recover military souvenir explosive devices that are stored at home where owners may be unaware of the potential danger. Interim Special agent in Charge Spencer Evans of the St. Louis Division told Missourinet “In the last six months or so we’ve seen a distinct uptick in eastern Missouri and the St Louis metro area with incidents of people reporting military ordinance that they found in their homes or places of business that turns out to actually be live devices.”
Photo of a Civil-War era cannonball that was found earlier this month from the bottom of the Mississippi River. The Army Corps of Engineers was maintaining the river when it dredged up three cannonballs. Each of the cannonballs is about the size of a grapefruit and weighs six pounds. The cannonballs somehow ended up in the river from the U.S. Arsenal that used to be located by the river. (photo provided by FBI)
These explosives could seem harmless, he says, though the older they are, the more unstable they can become.
“So you’ve got everything from, you know, a device like that’s, you know, 150 plus years old that still had live ammunition a life fuse intact. And then it could be everything to more modern devices, right Claymore mines, fragmentation, grenades, blasting caps. Really the number and types of devices are as diverse as the places that we find them such as the Civil War cannonballs that were dredged up in the Mississippi River,” Evans said.
The FBI in Eastern Missouri will take calls from any part of the state about these explosives at a dedicated hotline: 314-589-2680
Evans says the response will be low-key.
“In the movies, these events often call for multiple vehicles that come flooding in with lights and sirens. And it’s kind of this you know, very dramatic thing. In reality, it’s going to be a much more subdued and professional response,” Evans said. “It’s probably going to be a couple of folks even before they get on scene, there’s probably going to be a phone call back with a variety of questions so that we determine what equipment needs to be brought out.”
Evans emphasized that this initiative is not designed to gather evidence or prosecute people.
The bomb squads from the following agencies will participate in the week-long recovery:
Eastern Missouri:
- FBI St. Louis
- Louis Metropolitan Police Department (St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit)
- Louis County Police Department (St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit)
- Charles County Police Department
- SEMO Bomb Squad
- Missouri State Highway Patrol
Metro-East:
- FBI Springfield
- Illinois Secretary of State Bomb Squad
- 375th Explosive Ordnance Detachment Unit, Scott Air Force Base
FBI focusing on souvenir military explosives /4 cuts for Tuesday
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The FBI Eastern Bomb Tech Task Force is on stand-by this week, to help citizens check the safety of souvenir military explosives. There has been an increase in calls to investigate such weapons that may seem harmless, says Interim Special agent in Charge Spencer Evans of the St. Louis Division, and there is a wide variety of places the explosives could come from:
[mo7FBIVariety] :26 :WWII.”
And Agent Evans says the squad will not swoop in dramatically if someone calls them with a concern:
[mo7FBIResponse] :24 :be brought out.”
He says that no one will get into trouble for reporting these historic devices.
* The FBI in Eastern Missouri will take calls from any part of the state about these explosives- call the ST. Louis Division to be directed to a hotline set up just for this.
You can also go to our website -missourinet.com – for more information.
