Army Investigates 6 Deserters Seized in Florida

WASHINGTON —  The Army is conducting an espionage investigation of six soldiers who were arrested in Florida and found to be deserters from the same U.S. intelligence unit in West Germany, the Pentagon said today.

The six soldiers, who are being held at Ft. Benning, Ga., had access to top-secret material at their unit, the 701st Military Intelligence Brigade, in Augsburg, West Germany, where they were cryptographers and trained to break foreign codes or communications during wartime.

Pentagon spokesman Bob Hall said the Army first discovered July 9 that some of the six were missing from their posts without authorization.

A routine traffic stop in Gulf Breeze, Fla., a suburb of Pensacola, led to the arrest of the five men and one woman last Friday night and Saturday.

The six were identified as Michael Hueckstaedt, 19, hometown unknown; Kris Perlock, 20, Osceola, Wis.; Kenneth Beason, 26, Jefferson City, Tenn.; William Setterberg, 20, Pittsburgh; Vance Davis, 25, Valley Center, Kan., and Annette Eccleston, 22, hometown unknown.

Gulf Breeze police said Hueckstaedt was stopped Friday night because taillights on his van were not working. A check showed warrants had him listed as wanted for desertion.

Naval authorities at Pensacola told police Hueckstaedt was traveling with five other people, also wanted by the Army for desertion.