Report - Impostor may be ex-con from Bootheel

MUSKOGEE, Okla. -- A man who showed up at last month's deadly bridge collapse in eastern Oklahoma claiming to be an Army officer may be a Missouri ex-convict with a history of impersonation, according to a newspaper report.

The FBI is investigating the man who arrived in Webbers Falls two hours after a barge struck the Interstate 40 bridge and caused it to tumble into the Arkansas River, killing 14 people.

The man, dressed in fatigues and a beret, identified himself as Capt. William Clark from Fort Carson, Colo.

A Missouri law officer and a relative of the man believe he may be Billy Clark, a resident of Tallapoosa, Mo., the Muskogee Daily Phoenix reported in Thursday's editions.

Officials at Fort Carson said they had no record of Clark.

FBI spokesman Gary Johnson would not confirm to The Associated Press late Thursday if Billy Clark was the man under investigation.

Billy Clark got out of a Missouri prison six months ago, Alan Clark, the man's uncle, told the Phoenix. Alan Clark said his brother and nephew have the same name, and that the elder Clark was once in the military.

"Billy wears his dad's clothes and uniforms and charges motel rooms to the U.S. government," Alan Clark told the newspaper. "He has even charged hospital stays to the government. He never pays for a meal.

"He'll go into a restaurant and say he's a firefighter and they paid for 10 meals and only got eight. He's unbelievable."

Van Buren, Ark., police believe the man showed up at a motel there on May 28, two days after the bridge collapse, saying he was helping with the disaster and needed eight rooms. He stayed in one of the rooms and put "Do Not Disturb" signs on the other rooms, which were never occupied.

The man didn't pay the $900 bill for the rooms, Van Buren police Lt. Brent Grill said.

While in Webbers Falls, the man told the town's mayor, Jewell Horne, that he was in charge and that Army Capt. Andrew Clements had died in the river.

At that time, no vehicles or bodies had been recovered, Horne said. The body of Clements, 35, of Woodbridge, Va., was recovered late Sunday afternoon.

Authorities aren't sure if there's a connection between Clark and Clements.

A fisherman who found Clements' belongings gave them to a Webbers Falls police officer, who later gave them to Clark. According to Muskogee County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Wright, Clark took the briefcase into an office at a local restaurant.

Witnesses said that while there, he spread papers from the briefcase out to dry and examined Clements' dog tags. Horne said that after Clark went through the briefcase, he had her lock it in a safe.

Horne and others eventually became suspicious of the man, and Horne said she told him the Monday following the collapse that he was not in charge, unless the governor declared martial law. Horne said he left that Monday night.

"I know the police carried him (Clark) out of here," said resident Lottie Hufford, who was photographed with Clark while at the site. "He had at least three file folders with him -- he didn't give them up."

Hufford said the man gave her his grandmother's address in Tallapoosa. A National Guard representative picked up the photos and negatives for the FBI investigation, she said.

Bertha Weaver, former police chief in Tallapoosa, said Billy Clark spent time in her town staying at his grandmother's residence.

"He's a con and he's good at it," Weaver told the Phoenix. "He can get money ... any place."

Weaver described Clark as being in his late 20s to early 30s, standing 5-foot-11 to 6-2 and weighing about 180 to 200 pounds. He has light, sandy red hair and a muscular build.