Air Force Officer Missing 35 Years Assumed Fake Name, Lived In CA

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — An Air Force base officer with a top secret security clearance who vanished more than three decades ago has been living in California.

Capt. William Howard Hughes, Jr. deserted the U.S. Air Force in 1983 after returning from temporary duty in western Europe, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations said in a release. He was last seen in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area withdrawing nearly $29,000 from his bank account at 19 different branch locations.

On Tuesday, the State Department's diplomatic security service unit questioned someone who claimed to be Barry O'Beirne as part of a passport fraud probe.

"After being confronted with inconsistencies about his identity, the individual admitted his true name was William Howard Hughes Jr., and that he deserted from the U.S. Air Force in 1983," the Air Force said.

A day later, he was apprehended at his home in California.

Hughes said he was depressed about being in the Air Force in 1983, so he left and assumed the bogus identity of Barry O'Beirne. He has been living in California ever since.

When he disappeared, the Air Force said Hughes had a top secret/single scope background investigation clearance. He only had access to U.S. Secret and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secret information, the Air Force said.

Hughes had been assigned to the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. His duties included classified planning and analysis of the NATO command, control, and communications surveillance systems.

Hughes was sent dispatched to the Netherlands in July 1983 to work with NATO officers on the operations of Airborne Warning and Control electronic surveillance aircraft. He was expected in Albuquerque on Aug. 1, but never showed. In December of that year, the Air Force formally declared him a deserter.

Hughes is at Travis and awaits pre-trial confinement.

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force photo