</s>FD-302 (Rev. 1-25-46) FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Date April 23, 1968 1 Mrs. BETTY CRAFE, Clerk, Congress Airport Inn, 3433 North Lindbergh Boulevard, Clark, advised that the airport inn, knowingly guest JAMES BAY, who occupied Room #114 at the motel as guest JAMES BAY. Who occupied Room (#114 at during the mid-morning hours on April 18, 1968, she, at the motel switchboard, received an incoming call from an unknown male who asked for any reason on April 19, 1968. From an unknown the room asked for a day and she referred the call to Room #144, CRAFE also recalled having recorded two twenty-cent outgoing local calls on the local call slip for RAY's room, however, such calls are not otherwise recorded at the motel and guest JAMS RAY left the motel on April 15, 1968 , without settling for such calls. 362 4/20/68 St. Louis County, Missouri File # SL 44-775 On SA JOHN J. BUCKLEY (A) by SA JOHNJ. BECKLEY (a) :paw Date dictated 4/22/68 This document contains neither recommendations not conclusion of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI, and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency. 2025 RELEASE UNDER E.O. 14176

Summary:  
The document contains two distinct segments. The first segment details an investigation into a white male with a short crew cut observed driving on U.S. Highway 244 in Missouri between April 22 and April 26, 1968. A witness reported the vehicle as a small light-colored American model with Tennessee license plate number KN-7550. The Tennessee Department of Safety was consulted regarding license plate formatting, noting that Tennessee plates have two letter prefixes followed by four digits. The witness later corrected her initial report, stating an error occurred in recording the license plate number and could not confirm its accuracy.  

The second segment outlines organizational details of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (NKKK), including meetings in St. Louis, Missouri, and Georgia. It references a consolidation effort among Klan groups in 1960 to form a national organization under the name "National Ku Klux Klan, Inc." The document notes that James R. Venable was identified as the Chairman of the organization's day-to-day operations, with headquarters in Tucker, Georgia.  

Key People:  
- James Earl Ray (implied through license plate investigation)  
- James R. Venable (Chairman of National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan)  
- Vera Fuchs (witness reporting vehicle sightings)  
- Donald Leroy Willard (suspect with physical resemblance to Ray; SSN redacted)  
- David Lindsey Wilson (suspect with military and mental health history)  
- Eric Starvo Galt (suspect observed in Miami, Florida)  
- Ronald Willard Spivey (suspected look-alike linked to Nashville, Tennessee)  
- John Rufus Willard (FBI #920 94E; fingerprint records did not match Ray’s latent prints)  

Key Locations:  
- Kirkwood, Missouri (location of witness observation)  
- St. Louis, Missouri (Klavern #14 meetings)  
- Tucker, Georgia (NKKK headquarters)  
- Steele, Missouri / Arkansas Border (Old Highway 61; liquor store observations)  
- Miami, Florida (Eric Starvo Galt allegedly seen in the hotel lobby)  
- Nashville, Tennessee (Ronald Spivey linked to gun collection and threats)  

Key Events:  
- Witness sighting of a suspect vehicle on U.S. Highway 244 in Missouri (April 22–26, 1968)  
- Formation of National Ku Klux Klan, Inc., through consolidation efforts in Atlanta, Georgia (May 22, 1960)  
- Organizational meetings and leadership structure of the NKKK  
- FBI records detailing observations of suspects resembling James Earl Ray (March 30–April 5, 1968)  
- Mrs. Mabel Schray reporting a man matching Ray’s description in Miami, Florida (April 11, 1968)  
- Mrs. Hugh E. King sighting an individual with Tennessee license plate JH6-578 resembling Ray in Kentucky (April 5, 1968)  

Key Organizations:  
- National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (NKKK)  
- Klavern #14 (St. Louis, Missouri chapter)  
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)  
- U.S. Army and Marine Corps (military records of suspects)

MLK Declassified Files

44-la-1574_742142_009-01-part_9_of_9.pdf

Document Summary

Try AI Search