FBI reveals 3 kidnap threats on JFK Jr.

WASHINGTON - In his 38 years of life, John F. Kennedy Jr. was the target of at least three kidnapping threats - the latest just four years before he died in a plane crash, according to FBI records released yesterday.

The first one, confirmed by the U.S. government, occurred more than two decades ago when Kennedy still was in elementary school. The 162 newly released records, which The Associated Press obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, contain sketchy details about two more threats.

In 1995, someone called the FBI in New York offering information about an alleged plot to kidnap Kennedy in New York City, according to an FBI report dated July 13, 1995. The caller told the FBI the alleged kidnappers "had determined that Kennedy rode a bicycle in Manhattan and did not have any bodyguards," the report said.

`ARMED AND DANGEROUS'

The phrase "ARMED AND DANGEROUS" was typed on several of the FBI documents about the plot. But the individual told the FBI "that he never heard any statements from any of the suspects that suggested they would harm Kennedy," the report said.

Few details about the suspects, who were believed to have some connection to Colombia, could be gleaned from the pages, which were heavily redacted, or blackened out, before their release.

"The security firm that handles security for the Kennedys has been apprised of the potential threat to John F. Kennedy Jr.," one report said. "A representative from the firm advised that Kennedy would be notified."

FBI bureaus in Florida and California also were advised of the alleged kidnapping scheme, which never was carried out.

The documents reveal another threat on May 14, 1985, two years after Kennedy graduated from Brown University.

Intoxicated caller

The Herndon, Va., police department received a call from an apparently intoxicated white male who told them "he and seven other individuals intended on kidnapping John Kennedy that evening at 8 p.m."

The other kidnapping threat occurred in the 1970s.

Greeks arrested

The U.S. government announced on July 15, 1972, the arrests of eight Greeks on various charges, including an alleged plot to kidnap Kennedy, who was in elementary school at the time. He was to be abducted while visiting the Greek island of Skorpios, which was owned by his stepfather, Aristotle Onassis, a shipping tycoon.