FBI divers were searching Seccombe Lake in San Bernardino, California on Thursday for potential evidence that could help their efforts to gather information for what is being described by the FBI’s Assistant Director in Los Angeles David Bowdich as a “massive investigation.”
On Thursday, Bowdich and his entourage held a press conference to update the media and public on progress they have made on the case so far, although he continued to limit the information he was providing. The FBI expressed its belief that the terrorist duo may have been near the park around the time of the shooting. It appears the efforts for recovery include a missing hard drive that could provide information in the case.
At least 10 FBI personnel were searching the lake, which is located near the intersection of Waterman Avenue and 5th Street, just 2.5 miles away from the Island Regional Center where Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, carried out their massacre, killing 14 people and injuring 21. Farook and Malik were killed by police during a gun battle hours later.
Bowdich emphasized the importance of protecting “the integrity of this investigation” and asked that the media respect the families of the victims who were affected in last week’s terrorist attacks.
“Emotional and physical scars that were suffered by them will take years to overcome and some of them will never get over their emotional scars,” Bowdich said.
New revelations may link Farook’s childhood friend, neighbor and brother-in-law Enrique Marquez to the terrorist attacks, noting that he had purchased the guns that were used by the married couple to carry out the murders. Marquez was also reportedly linked to a planned 2012 terror plot that fell through. He will likely face federal indictment over his connection with the San Bernardino attack.
Bowdich clarified that the four local terrorists whose arrests in 2012 rompted Farook and Marquez to drop their own attack plans were not planning to attack local targets: “they were planning to go overseas, through a Taliban training camp and then fight against U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.”
According to Reuters, Marquez–who had converted to Islam over the course of his friendship with Farook–had told Azmi Hasan, manager at the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco three years ago “that Islam was not for him. He said that he was thinking about becoming a Buddhist.”
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz and on Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.