The Nation - News from March 13, 1989

Four Scottish constables arrived in Boston to calm families who say they cannot put to rest loved ones killed by a terrorist bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 until the victims’ personal belongings are returned to them. The senior police officers wanted to ease the pain and confusion felt by many families of the 259 victims whose possessions have been withheld during the investigation of the Dec. 21 plane explosion over Lockerbie, Scotland. Assistant Chief Constable Paul Newell said he and his fellow officers also wanted to quell rumors that investigators had destroyed victims’ property. He reassured more than 100 people who had gathered that many of the victims’ personal belongings would be returned. So far, police have found and catalogued more than 11,000 items strewn over 40 miles of Scottish countryside.