MISSIONARY'S DEATH HAUNTS PARENTS FOR ANSWERS

Criminal Probe Dropped In Downing Of Peru Plane

Gloria and John Luttig had no idea that federal prosecutors had been
investigating a clandestine Central Intelligence Agency operation that
was shut down after a Peruvian Air Force jet fired on a small
propeller airplane, killing the Luttigs' missionary daughter and their
infant grandchild.

The Luttigs, who live in Pace, reacted with frustration and anger to
the revelation Sunday that the Justice Department last week dropped a
criminal inquiry into whether four CIA officers lied to lawmakers and
their superiors about a program that involved CIA surveillance
airplanes helping the Peruvian Air Force intercept drug smugglers.

"No one has ever given us any answers," said Gloria Luttig, leafing
through accordion files stuffed with correspondence and documents
regarding the incident. "We've written and written and called and
called. All we want is to know why."

The investigation, disclosed for the first time in news reports
Sunday, began after Veronica "Roni" Bowers, 35, and her 7-month-old
daughter, Charity, were killed while flying from Colombia to Peru on
April 20, 2001. CIA contractors mistakenly identified a missionary
pontoon plane as a possible drug smuggling aircraft and summoned a
Peruvian jet, which fired the fatal bullets.

Bowers' husband, Jim, and son, Cody, were not shot. They survived with
the pilot, fellow missionary Kevin Donaldson, who managed to land the
riddled airplane on the Amazon River, despite having been shot in the
leg.

A State Department report issued three months after the incident
blamed it on poor communications, a language barrier and a failure to
follow established procedures.

The Luttigs are not satisfied with the results of that limited
inquiry, however, and want to know what the prosecutors learned during
their three-year investigation of the broader program, which was
approved by President Clinton in 1994 to assist Peru and Colombia. The
New York Times reported that unnamed government officials said the
investigation was the most serious one of official CIA conduct since
that of the Iran-contra affair in the late 1980s. Among the four
officers being investigated were at least one former CIA station chief
in Lima, Peru's capital, at least one former chief of the aviation
mission assigned to a base in Peru and at least one official who was
based at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., according to the report.

The Luttigs plan to ask Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, for help in
uncovering the truth. He could not be reached for comment Sunday.

"I want somebody to tell us how this was allowed to happen?" Gloria
Luttig said. "What were the conditions that made it possible."

The Luttigs said their many inquiries have been answered with only
offers of condolences, including a brief telephone call from President
Bush a few months after the incident. They received a portion of an $8
million dollar settlement for the victims' families and the pilot that
the Bush Administration approved in 2002, but no one has apologized to
them or accepted responsibility, they said.

"Money doesn't heal a broken heart," Gloria Luttig said. "I just want
somebody to say, 'Look, we dropped the ball. We got this program
started and didn't really follow up. There was no oversight. It's our
mistake. I'm sorry.' I think I could shake that man's hand."

John Luttig's frustration is that no one has been held accountable for
what he calls the murder of his daughter.

"The guys in the surveillance plane didn't even get their hands
slapped," John Luttig said. "Really, I don't think anybody is
interested in learning anything except us. Nobody has said a word
about it. No congressmen, no senators. This is probably the last
hurrah. It's been pretty well swept under the carpet now."

The New York Times reported that Justice Department officials decided
Thursday not to pursue criminal charges but that administrative
sanctions against the CIA officers still are possible.

The Luttigs learned of the investigation exactly one month before the
planned dedication March 6 of the Roni and Charity Bowers Lighthouse
at Marcus Pointe Baptist Church. The Luttigs say it will be a fitting
tribute to their daughter.

Jim Bowers has remarried and moved in January with Cody, now 10, to a
mission in Mozambique, John Luttig said. He could not be reached Sunday.