In a strange case of identity theft and possible espionage, a man working as a US defense contractor, and his wife, were arrested and held without bail, for living for decades using the identities of two dead Texas children.
Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison, allegedly identified as Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague. They were arrested Friday on the island of Oahu.
Primrose was able to get secret security clearance with the US Coast Guard and as a defense contractor, using the stolen identity.
The story is suspicious because old photos of the two show the couple wearing KGB uniforms, from the former Russian spy agency during the Soviet years. Prosecutors decided to hold the couple without bail because of the danger of them fleeing the country. It is also feared, that if the couple are spies, they could communicate freely if released. Primrose was privy to Coast Guard secrets. The Coast Guard works with the military on counterintelligence and border patrol issues on the nation’s coastal waterways and in Hawaii.
“The Coast Guard has a unique perspective on our vulnerabilities,” he said, including how to infiltrate the country through water ports. Hawaii, a major military center, “is a prime target for a lot of espionage and such,” Assistant US Attorney Thomas Muehleck said.
The couple may be known by other names, according to Muehleck.
The family of one of the deceased children was shocked when they heard that their daughter Julie’s name was being used by the couple. Julie died at 1968 at 3-weeks-old.
Julie’s father, John Montague, told reporters, “I still can’t believe it happened. The odds are like one-in-a-trillion that they found her and used her name. People stoop to do anything nowadays. Let kids rest in peace.”
It is unclear why Primrose and Morrison, who were both born in 1955, would assume the identities of children who died many years later. A clue could be that the couple’s home was foreclosed in 1987, the year they assumed the stolen identities.
Primrose started work for a defense contractor at the US Coast Guard in around 2016.
Police are trying to put the puzzle pieces together. They suspect the couple are Russian spies.
The couple is charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the US, false statement in passport application and aggravated identity theft.