Shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, Glenn and Carole Johnson of Hempfield received the call they had been awaiting for more than three decades.
The U.S. Justice Department told them Sunday the man who built the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, finally is in custody.
The Johnsons’ daughter, Beth Ann, a senior at Seton Hill University, was on her way home from a semester abroad at Regent’s College in London when a bomb blew apart her plane, killing 259 passengers and crew members and 11 people on the ground.
“This is the one we really wanted to get. He’s the man who built the bomb,” Glenn Johnson said.
The justice department announced Libyan intelligence official Abu Agela Masud Kheir Al-Marimi, who was first charged two years ago, has been taken into U.S. custody and will face federal charges in Washington.
Related:
• Libyan accused in Lockerbie bombing now in American custody• With suspect in custody, spotlight returns to 1988 bombing
In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted of bombing the flight. He was the only person convicted after the attack. He was released early from prison in 2009 and died three years later.
The Johnsons and other survivors of the bombing victims have for years lobbied the federal government to ensure the investigation continued and the men involved in bringing down the plane were prosecuted.
“We are starting to turn the corner in our journey to find the truth. The perseverance of the families is why this has continued all these years,” Johnson said. “It will still be a long haul.”
Carole Johnson said Sunday’s news, while welcome, comes with mixed emotions.
“It’s bittersweet. There’s satisfaction, but the bottom line is Beth is never coming home again,” Carole Johnson said.
