ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A high-ranking Kirtland Air Force Base officer with top security clearance who disappeared 35 years ago has been found in California.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations said in a news release this week that it had captured William Howard Hughes Jr., at his home after a fraud investigation involving a fake identity he had been using.
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Hughes was involved in classified planning and analysis of NATO’s control, command and communications surveillance systems during the Cold War.
He was last seen withdrawing over $28,000 in Albuquerque in the summer of 1983 after returning from a stint in the Netherlands.
Hughes told authorities he was depressed about being in the Air Force and decided to leave. He created a fake identity and lived that way in California ever since. Hughes was charged with desertion.