European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes tuesday August 10,1993 Fri probing alleged furniture rip offs 1. It Al service members still in dark after company fails to fill orders by Kevin Robinson business writer the Federal Bureau of investigation is looking into complaints from customers of stateside furniture inc., Many of them service members who have paid thou Sands of dollars to the company without receiving their furniture said a spokeswoman for the . Air forces in Europe. The Fri has taken Over the Case from the san Diego District attorney s office capt. Felecia Tavares said from her office in Ramstein a Germany. They invite clients to provide them with written summaries of their problems with stateside furniture and any supporting  these documents she added include copies of any invoices receipts contracts and announcements from or about the . Company. Efforts to Contact the Fri in California have been unsuccessful. Several weeks ago Todd Smith a spokes Man for the Fri in Washington said we Don t con firm or deny Standard investigations As a  however the Fri s participation in the stateside probe was confirmed by Gerald Mitchell an investigator with the North Carolina attorney general s office for consumer fraud and antitrust in Raleigh . In july Mitchell s office closed its investigation and forwarded its 36 cases to the Fri. The North Carolina Agency had continued its probe after the stateside furniture warehouse in Greensboro ., closed March 31. As possible leads about the furniture company s whereabouts dried up so did his office s jurisdiction to pursue the Case Mitchell said. No one s been Able to find anything about state Side Mitchell said about attempts to locate the owner or anyone else connected with stateside s head quarters in la Jolla Calif. However because la Jolla is in san Diego county Mitchell said the postal inspector for san Diego is looking at the Case to determine if it warrants any  Many of the furniture company s customers agreed that it would take the investigative resources of a government Agency such As the Fri to locate stateside owner Sam Levine and shed Light on what has happened to Money that customers invested upfront for new american furniture. After stateside Cut off communications with its Over Trie four  soldiers killed in a land mine attack sunday in Somalia were from left spec. Mark gutting in an undated photo spec. Keith Pearson sgt. Christopher Hilgert and sgt Ronald n. Richerson. Army identifies killed soldiers two arrived in Mogadishu Days before they died by the associated press two of the four . Soldiers lulled by a land mine in Somalia had been there Only a few Days. Another was due to come Home in a couple of weeks. Three of the victims of sunday s at tack were from the 977th military police co in fort Riley Kan. The  identified them As spec. Mark gutting 25, of grand rapids Mich.  Pearson 25, of Tavares Fla. And sgt. Christopher Hilgert 27, of Bloo Mington ind. It s a loss to All of us. These Guys Are part of the division. They re of us staff sgt. Ken Clauson said of fort Riley. It s particularly hard for the unit because they had t been in the coun try very Long but it s never easy whether you be been there two Days or two  also killed was sgt. Ronald n. Rich Erson 24, of Portage ind., the  said. He was part of the 300th military police co in fort Leonard Wood to. The four soldiers belonged to the . Logistics support come based at the main . Headquarters in Mogadishu said . Military spokesman maj. Dave Stockwell gutting had been in Somalia fewer than 48 hours when he was killed said his father Eugene gutting or. The father said that neither he nor his son was Happy about . Participation in the . Famine Relief Effort. We were in agreement that or National policy Over there pretty much stinks the elder gutting said. Being a Soldier he followed his orders and  the younger gutting thought . Policy in Somalia with limited rules of engagement showed the country had failed to learn the lessons of Viet Nam his father said. He Felt either we should get out or we should go in and take total control of Mogadishu and clean it up the elder gutting said. We told him to keep his head  Richerson arrived in Somalia in april and was due to return Home aug. 20, said his aunt Bonnie Carmichael of Valparaiso ind. She described her Nephew who lived at fort Leonard Wood with his wife and two children As a dedicated sol Dier who believed in his Mission. He was doing his Job and his parents Are very proud of him and of the Mission he was on she said. Ronny would probably have said that if he were a missionary he would be there. That was the Type of person he was. He was very much  Pearson had left for Songalia from fort Riley on thursday. His father Burton Pearson said his son was one of about 30 soldiers whose names were drawn of of a hat to serve. Fort Riley spokeswoman Pat Henry said Hilgert was married and resided atthe fort trouble plagued discovery starts 3rd countdown Cape canaveral Fla. A Nasa began the third countdown Mon Day for the launch of space shuttle Dis covery grounded for nearly a month by mechanical failures and a meteor Shower. A that s behind us now and we re ready to try again Nasa spokesman Bruce Buckingham said As the count Down clocks started ticking at 9 30 . Liftoff is set for thursday morning in the states. The satellite delivery and space walking Mission by discovery has been on hold since july 17, when the first launch at tempt was foiled by a failed electronics switch. The switch is part of the rocket release system at the pad. Nasa came within 19 seconds of launching discovery on july 24. That countdown was halted because of a prob Lem with one of two steering mechanisms in discovery s right solid rocket Booster. Nasa replaced the bad switch and the Power unit containing the faulty steering mechanism and aimed for an aug 4 launch. But liftoff was delayed until thursday to avoid the annual perseid meteor Shower this week expected to Bemore intense than usual. Shuttle managers feared the meteor Shower caused by debris from Comet Swift Tuttle might damage the shuttle and endanger the five Man Crew. Seas customers some of them received payment checks returned uncashed. But most of them want the Furni Ture they paid for or their Money refunded. The Issue of refunds or whether customers who or dered their furniture from stateside offices on military bases can put in claims for reimbursement from the government is still being addressed by Safe officials Tavares said. However air Force Legal and morale welfare and recreation officials have suggested that it would t Hurt customers to Contact the furniture manufacturer listed on their stateside contract to determine if any Relief is available to them Tavares added. They should be advised that some manufacturers won t. But some May do it provide them with furniture at a  customers Are asked to Send in summaries of their dealings with stateside furniture along with copies of any other supporting documents to the Federal Bureau of investigation attn Steven Devincentis 880 front st., suite 6236, san Diego Calif. 92101-8836. They also can Send the same documents to the postal inspector attn Robert Neve . Box 2110, san Diego Calif. 92112. Stab wounds killed Sailor paper reports Rota Spain is an american Sailor who died aug. 4 near naval station Rota was stabbed in the heart a Spanish newspaper has reported. Local civilians found the body of Petty officer 3rd class Kenneth Earl Dingle on a Beach near the naval station. An autopsy next Day determined that the 26-year-old Hospital corpsman died of Stab wounds. His personal belongings including a Chain a ring and a Gold watch were on Dingle s body when City sanitation work ers found his Corpse about 9 30 ., according to the newspaper Diario de Cadiz. A Large Dagger produced the wounds according to the newspaper. Chief Petty officer Terry Briggs a spokeswoman for the naval station said monday that she had no comment on the Diario de Cadiz report. No arrests had been made As of monday in the death she said. Spanish and . Navy investigators Are trying to establish what Dingle did from the time he left his Home in Rota at 10 . Aug. 3 until shortly after mid night when doctors who performed an autopsy said he died according to the newspaper. Dingle of Fayetteville ., is survived by his wife and a 2-year-old son. Loves unit pullout nearly Complete Lajes Field azores is the last two sailors associated with a . Anti submarine unit Here Are scheduled to leave next week. The pullout july 31 of All but the two remaining sailors ended More than 25 years of anti submarine activity from the azores. The personnel and their p-3aorion aircraft known As sub chasers patrolled the Atlantic Ocean in search of foreign submarines. The last nine Orion aircraft left the azores in april. Personnel equipment and weaponry associated with the anti submarine operations started leaving the Island march26. Service members attached to the naval air facility unit had numbered 250. The two remaining sailors Are handling administrative matters