The trucker who crashed his tractor trailer rig into the California State Capitol in an apparent suicide has been identified by his employer, Dick Simon Trucking, West Valley City.
The company said the truck was driven by its employee Mike Bowers of Hemet, Calif. However, on Thursday, California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Nanci Kramer told the Deseret News, "We do not have a positive identification."
The body was removed about 5 p.m. Wednesday, the trailer was taken away and the tractor was pulled out about 8 p.m., she said. Experts at the Sacramento coroner's office were studying dental records in an attempt to prove the identity of the driver and were checking for traces of drugs and alcohol, she said.
The driver was burned beyond recognition in the Tuesday night crash of the Simon-owned tractor trailer into the Capitol building. Other than Bower's death, no injuries occurred, although the California Legislature was holding an emergency session at the time.
Officials, reporters and members of the public were evacuated from the building when the truck's diesel fuel blew up in a spectacular explosion.
The Capitol's interior had what officials termed moderate damage from fire, smoke and water.
Nick Rossi of the California Highway Patrol reported in a recording made for news media that the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, California Highway Patrol, Sacramento Fire Department, police and sheriff and others in the Sacramento Joint Terrorism Task Force were investigating the incident.
"Investigators acknowledged that information gathered to date indicates that the crash was likely intentional," Rossi said.
The trucking company, doing business as Simon Transportation Services, released a terse statement Wednesday afternoon identifying Bowers. He drove for the company from March 10 to March 23, 2000, as a trainee, then as a regular employee since Jan. 9, says the statement.
"His fleet manager reports that he was unhappy due to family circumstances," Simon's chief executive officer, Jon Isaacson, said in the statement.
"We extend our condolences to his family and friends. We and his co-workers are grateful that no one else was injured. We sincerely regret the damage inflicted on California's Capitol Building."
Witnesses reported that the truck drove around the Capitol at least once before it returned and roared into the structure. The rig flew through three stop signs and a red light, said a witness interviewed by the Deseret News. Its tail lights never went on.
The FBI's Sacramento office was investigating the crash. "They haven't given us any indications that it was anything more than just an isolated incident," said FBI spokesman Bill Matthews in the agency's Salt Lake City office.
"We don't have any indications right now that it's a terrorist-type incident."
The Sacramento Bee reported that Bowers, 37, "has a history of assaults, theft and other contacts with law enforcement" and that authorities "have a file documenting threats he allegedly has made against (California) Gov. Gray Davis, according to sources."
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