1999.07.08: July 8, 1999: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Safety: Obituaries: Fallen: Dayton Daily News: Evidence in the death of Ukraine Peace Corps volunteer Brian Krow of Fremont, Calif., seemed to contradict the official Peace Corps findings
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1999.07.08: July 8, 1999: Headlines: COS - Ukraine: Safety: Obituaries: Fallen: Dayton Daily News: Evidence in the death of Ukraine Peace Corps volunteer Brian Krow of Fremont, Calif., seemed to contradict the official Peace Corps findings
Evidence in the death of Ukraine Peace Corps volunteer Brian Krow of Fremont, Calif., seemed to contradict the official Peace Corps findings
Okeksandr Bachysche, a government prosecutor who oversaw the investigation into Krow's death, said Peace Corps officials refused to let him interview other volunteers to determine Krow's mental condition. "When I wanted to talk to colleagues of Brian, they refused," Bachysche said during an interview in Ukraine. "The Peace Corps authorities here said, 'Why do you need to talk to them?’ ” A written statement from the Peace Corps says the agency had no knowledge that the prosecutor had been denied access to volunteers or information. The response also says Ukraine authorities determined the cause was an accident.
Evidence in the death of Ukraine Peace Corps volunteer Brian Krow of Fremont, Calif., seemed to contradict the official Peace Corps findings
Mystery deaths
Official records fail to tell complete story
By Russell Carollo and Mei-Ling Hopgood
rcarollo@DaytonDailyNews.com and mhopgood@coxnews.com
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala | The body of 26-year-old Peace Corps volunteer Joseph Teates was found hanging from ropes attached to his neck and feet in June 1987.
His death was called an accident.
The body of 27-year-old volunteer Brian Krow was found in Ukraine under a footbridge with chest-high railings along both sides.
His death, too, was called an accident.
Wyatt Pillsbury died of an overdose of drugs and alcohol in Tanzania in 2001, but the Peace Corps' public Web site says he died of "asphyxiation due to the aspiration of undigested food which was lodged in his throat."
A 20-month Dayton Daily News examination found that the United States government failed to reveal the full truth about the deaths of at least 10 Peace Corps volunteers who died over a 30-year period.
"I personally never believed them when they said it was an accidental death," said Ronda Thorne, who learned through records obtained by the Daily News that her brother, 25-year-old Jerry Dean Bryan of Spokane, Wash., had a history of alcohol and drug abuse before he died of a barbiturate overdose in Brazil in 1978.
Records from the State Department detailing the events prior to Bryan’s death said, "Should not reveal full story."
Using never-before-released records from the Peace Corps’ Deaths in Service computer database, the Daily News re-examined deaths in the Peace Corps since 1962. The newspaper also obtained new information in foreign countries and through a federal lawsuit the newspaper filed against the Peace Corps, which originally refused to release the records.
In 10 cases, the examination found that the agency misled or failed to provide essential details to the families, to the public or to other volunteers about the circumstances of how volunteers died. In at least six other cases, the Daily News found that circumstances other than those suggested by the Peace Corps were possible and that the deaths remain mysteries.
Other deaths, too, warranted further examination. But Peace Corps deaths have occurred in more than 60 countries, most with primitive record-keeping systems, and many happened more than 20 years ago, making it impossible to verify the information provided by the Peace Corps in every case.
Several families said they learned critical details about the deaths of their loved ones after being contacted by the Dayton Daily News.
Other families suspected the agency wasn't telling them the truth, but they have little means to investigate cases in foreign countries.
"I always felt like I got the runaround from them, like they were protecting themselves," said Stacy Krow, who believes her brother, Brian, either committed suicide or was killed in Ukraine in 1999.
In a written response, the Peace Corps says it relies on the causes of death as officially determined by local authorities, who are responsible for making such determinations.
"The Peace Corps is not the official investigating authority in any death of a volunteer," the response says. "Local authorities in country are in charge and report any official causes, details or other facts they believe to be true."
[Excerpt]
As was the case in the death of Teates, evidence in the death of Brian Krow of Fremont, Calif., seemed to contradict the official Peace Corps findings.
Krow, who was still in training, bragged to his family in California that his Peace Corps service would lead to a career with the federal government. But in Cherkassy, Ukraine, the 27-year-old's life appeared to be unraveling the day he walked beneath the tall evergreens in the 50th Anniversary of October Park, named for the 1917 Communist revolution.
A letter from the Peace Corps dated two days earlier threatened him with expulsion, accusing him of putting himself in danger by seeking Ukraine women, of openly discussing his need for drugs, of being caught masturbating by his Ukraine host family.
"Your response to all allegations and admitted behaviors in writing is welcome and strongly encouraged," says a copy of the letter provided by Krow's sisters. "Failure on your part to make the adjustments necessary . . . could result in administrative separation."
Before Krow left his tiny room and walked the mile or so to the bridge, his landlord noticed that he was red-faced, as if he was angry or had been crying, records from the Peace Corps inspector general say. All that week, she said, he had acted differently and seemed more withdrawn, the records say.
Early on the morning of July 8, 1999, a bicyclist found Krow's body under the footbridge, which sits about 75 to 80 feet above an asphalt walking path.
The bridge has chest-high wooden railings on either side, and authorities couldn't recall anyone accidentally falling off the bridge. To fall over the side, someone even as tall as 6 foot would first have to boost himself atop the railing or be tossed over by someone else. Krow was 5 feet, 5 inches tall.
A 1999 Peace Corps report calls the death "unintentional."
"It is notable that there have been no in-service suicide deaths since 1983," says a 2001 Peace Corps report.
Okeksandr Bachysche, a government prosecutor who oversaw the investigation into Krow's death, said Peace Corps officials refused to let him interview other volunteers to determine Krow's mental condition. "When I wanted to talk to colleagues of Brian, they refused," Bachysche said during an interview in Ukraine. "The Peace Corps authorities here said, 'Why do you need to talk to them?’ ”
A written statement from the Peace Corps says the agency had no knowledge that the prosecutor had been denied access to volunteers or information. The response also says Ukraine authorities determined the cause was an accident.
The prosecutor said his determination was that no crime was committed. He said Ukraine authorities couldn't do a complete psychological examination because they didn't have the money to travel to the United States. Bachysche, now prosecutor for police matters in Cherkassy, said the Peace Corps hadn't told him that Krow was threatened with expulsion.
"Taking into consideration the new information you told me, I think he committed suicide," Bachysche said. "It's a pity I didn't have such information at the time."
Krow's sisters never accepted the official explanation.
"We didn't trust him,” Stacy Krow said.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Peace Corps Annual Report: 1999; Peace Corps Ukraine; Directory of Ukraine RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ukraine RPCVs; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Obituaries; Fallen
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Story Source: Dayton Daily News
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ukraine; Safety; Obituaries; Fallen
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