FBI Probes How Man Shipped Self to Texas



By DAVID KOENIG, Associated Press Writer

DALLAS - A homesick shipping clerk had himself shipped from New York to Dallas in an airline cargo crate, startling his parents � and a deliveryman � when he broke out of the box outside their home.

Charles D. McKinley, 25, was arrested and jailed on unrelated bad-check and traffic charges after his overnight odyssey. Federal officials are considering additional charges of stowing away on a plane.

"My husband asked him, `Man, what are you doing in this crate?' He said he was coming home," McKinley's mother told KDFW-TV in Dallas.

Federal officials want to know how the stowaway bypassed airport security.

In a rambling jailhouse interview, McKinley told KXAS-TV in Dallas that he made the trip because he was homesick and a friend thought he could save money by flying as cargo. McKinley said he took no food or water on the 15-hour journey, just a cell phone, which did not work.

"I'm sitting there thinking, `Oh God, I don't know why I'm doing this,'" he said. "I'm sitting there thinking like any minute somebody will notice that there's somebody sitting inside this crate. ... No one did."

Before setting out, McKinley filled out shipping instructions saying the crate held a computer and clothes. Authorities believe he had help from at least one co-worker at the warehouse where he works in New York when he loaded himself in the box.

More at:

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