Two months after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, most of the FBI's grunt work in tracking the movements of five hijackers who passed through Las Vegas this summer has been completed.
But even after thousands of hours of pounding the pavement and painstaking records searches, FBI agents have been unable to fully document the activities of the five men suspected of playing key roles in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Agents also have failed to substantiate any ties in Las Vegas between the hijackers and a sixth man, an Algerian pilot being held in a London jail who also visited Las Vegas this summer and who is believed to have helped some of the hijackers learn to fly.
The five hijackers were among 19 terrorists who went down with the four U.S. airliners used in the attacks.
"Obviously, they are dead, and they cannot be questioned," Las Vegas FBI spokesman Daron Borst said. "They maintained a very low profile. Nothing they did drew attention to themselves."
There were a lot of alleged terrorist sightings in Las Vegas, Borst said, but agents had trouble substantiating them.
Every day, however, new information gives the FBI hope of eventually putting together the pieces of the puzzle, he said.
Important link
Within days after the attacks, Borst said, finding out why the hijackers visited Las Vegas became one of the most important aspects of what's being called the biggest criminal investigation of all time.
"It was a focal point. There was no doubt," he said. "Early in the investigation, when we discovered that several of the hijackers were in Las Vegas, their activities here were of tremendous importance to the FBI."
More than a dozen agents were brought in from around the country to help the local bureau get a handle on the secretive visits of the hijackers.
"This was the oddest thing that they did -- to come here," Borst said. "They came here alone. They came here at different times. They came here at varying lengths of stay. They came and left by different routes."
Their spending habits also baffled agents. The hijackers, for example, flew to Las Vegas on first-class flights but stayed in what some have called dingy, low-budget motels, and they rented mostly economy cars. Sometimes they paid cash. Sometimes they used a credit card. On occasion they even used the same credit card.
In the past two months, agents have obtained records that show the five hijackers visited Las Vegas between May 24 and Aug. 14 as they crisscrossed the country planning the Sept. 11 attacks.
Four -- Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi, Ziad Samir Jarrah and Hani Hanjour -- are believed to have been at the controls of the airliners that crashed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Atta, 33, an urban planner from Egypt, is reported to have been the ringleader and the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 that slammed into the World Trade Center's north tower.
Agents suspect Al-Shehhi, 23, a native of a poverty-stricken town in the United Arab Emirates, flew United Airlines Flight 175 into the trade center's south tower.
Jarrah, 24, who came from a middle-class family in Lebanon, reportedly commandeered United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.
And Hanjour, 29, an Islamic extremist from Saudi Arabia, is said to have been at the helm of American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon.
Nawaf Alhazmi, a Saudi Arabian native and the fifth suspected hijacker to visit Las Vegas, was on Flight 77 with Hanjour.
Besides these five men, investigators have learned that Algerian-born flight instructor Lotfi Raissi, jailed in London on charges of making a false statement on a pilot's license, visited Las Vegas from his home in Phoenix two months before the Sept. 11 attacks.
British prosecutors believe Raissi, 27, helped train the four pilots of the hijacked planes. His lawyer in London, however, has denied the allegation.
Las Vegas connection
Today, as the investigation tapers off, just what the hijackers did in Las Vegas continues to be the subject of much speculation.
Last week the New York Times quoted senior government investigators as saying the hijackers did most of their important planning in Las Vegas.
Local FBI agents said they couldn't rule that out as a possibility, but they insisted they have no hard evidence that such important strategy sessions took place in Southern Nevada.
Vince Cannistraro, a terrorism consultant for ABC News, said his intelligence sources have told him the Times story was overblown.
"Certainly a lot of discussions took place in Las Vegas, but I don't know that it was the nerve center," Cannistraro said. "I'm not getting that feeling in Washington."
Cannistraro, CIA chief of counterterrorism from 1988 to 1990, described Las Vegas as a convenient meeting place for the hijackers since some of them had been taking flying lessons in Phoenix and San Diego.
Las Vegas, with its thousands of tourists and 24-hour lifestyle, also afforded the hijackers an easy way to move about without attracting attention, he said.
FBI agents believe the most significant lead they've developed in Las Vegas has been Atta's frequent afternoon and evening visits to CyberZone, 4440 S. Maryland Parkway, a local hub for surfing the Internet.
Experts theorize the hijackers used the Internet to send hidden messages to each other as they planned the attacks.
"They had to stay in touch," Cannistraro said. "There was a lot of coordination that needed to be done in getting four planes hijacked on the same day."
But no one is saying who was on the other end of Atta's possible communications.
Larry Johnson, a terrorism consultant for several national news organizations, including the Times, said Atta likely was sending messages to others involved in the plot in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Afghanistan, the headquarters for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.
If messages were being sent mostly at night, they would have been received during the day in those countries because of the time difference, he said.
The FBI's inability to account entirely for the hijackers' whereabouts in Las Vegas has led one terrorism expert to conclude that the city indeed may have been a crucial planning haven for the attacks.
"It would have been easy for them to meet with each other and mix with the crowd here," said Naranapiti Karunaratne, a UNLV criminal justice professor who specializes in terrorism. "They would hardly be noticed."
Karunaratne said the terrorists, at such a critical time close to the attacks, would have chosen to use the less-risky method of passing information in person rather than by telephone or other means of communication.
He also suggested that the hijackers may have been aided by someone locally.
"The question has always been that maybe there's someone here who is critical to the plot, someone who is kind of the center of information," he said.
That person still could be living in Las Vegas, leading a quiet life, even holding down a legitimate job, he said.
FBI agents interested in that scenario, Karunaratne said, should be looking for someone who matches the terrorist profile and who moved here during the summer.
Cannistraro, however, said his sources have told him there is no evidence of any terrorist cells in Las Vegas.
"They haven't seen anything that indicates there is a permanent presence in Las Vegas," he said. "That would be the key."
Johnson, a former counterterrorism expert with the State Department, said he also doubted the hijackers had an associate in place locally.
"If someone was in Las Vegas, I'm sure they (investigators) would have found him by now," he said.
Borst would not comment on the possibility the hijackers may have had local help. But he said agents have been trying to determine whether any living associates of the hijackers traveled to Las Vegas prior to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Close ties
Three of the hijackers who visited Las Vegas -- Atta, Al-Shehhi and Jarrah -- attended college together in Hamburg, Germany, and arrived in the United States within a month of each other in late spring last year.
Hanjour already was in the United States, attending the Sawyer School of Aviation in Phoenix. Raissi, who had been living at the same Phoenix apartment complex as Hanjour, also was taking flying lessons there.
And Alhazmi was learning to fly in San Diego.
In July 2000 Atta and Al-Shehhi signed up for flight training at Huffman Aviation International in Venice, Fla. They shared an apartment and later were joined by Jarrah.
By the end of the year, both Atta and Al-Shehhi received licenses to fly small aircraft. Then they trained on Boeing 727 simulators at an airport outside Miami. Jarrah had learned to fly in Germany.
On May 13, Atta and Al-Shehhi moved to Hollywood, Fla., where they rented an apartment and hooked up once more with Jarrah, who was living in an efficiency about two miles away.
Two weeks after renting the apartment, records show Al-Shehhi became the first hijacker to visit Las Vegas.
Investigators confirmed that he boarded a United Airlines flight on May 24 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and traveled first class to San Francisco in what may have been a trial run. From there he took a first-class flight to Las Vegas and rented a Dodge Durango from Enterprise Rent-A-Car with a credit card Atta later would use.
Al-Shehhi spent one night at the Las Vegas Inn Travelodge, 1501 W. Sahara Ave. Then he turned in his Durango to Enterprise and later showed up at the St. Louis Manor motel, 2000 S. Paradise Road, with a Dodge Neon he had rented from Budget Car & Truck Rental.
He stayed at the St. Louis Manor, a block away from the Stratosphere, until May 27. Motel employees saw him meet once with another man of apparent Middle Eastern descent.
FBI agents know little else about his visit other than he flew back to San Francisco first class on United Airlines and then back to JFK in New York.
Next to come to town was Jarrah, reports indicate.
On June 7 Jarrah took a United Airlines first-class flight from Baltimore to Los Angeles and flew first class to Las Vegas in another possible scouting mission. Once here, he rented a midsize vehicle from Payless Car Rental and reported that he was staying at Circus Circus.
Agents, however, found no records that confirmed Jarrah checked into Circus Circus. They also were unable to determine where he stayed during his visit, which ended June 10 when he boarded a United Airlines flight to Chicago and on to Baltimore. He flew first class again.
Like Al-Shehhi, agents know little about Jarrah's whereabouts in Southern Nevada during his four-day trip.
A different trip
Two days after Jarrah left, Raissi, the most Westernized of all of those linked to the Sept. 11 attacks, drove with his wife to Las Vegas from Phoenix in a rented red Chrysler and took a room at the Rio.
His visit didn't fit the hijackers' pattern, which has led agents to believe he was here for pleasure rather then business. He claimed he was on his honeymoon.
Raissi even attracted attention to himself, once complaining about his accommodations at the Rio before being given a reduced rate.
He left the Rio on June 13 and checked into the Luxor for one night. Then he returned to the Rio on June 14, staying there until he returned to Phoenix.
While at the Rio, Raissi was spotted having drinks at a casino bar, and records show he rented a pornographic movie.
On his way back to Phoenix on June 18, he was cited for speeding. An Arizona state trooper clocked him traveling 89 mph in a 65 mph zone on U.S. 93 about 60 miles outside of Phoenix. Rather than show up in court, he paid a $230 fine.
FBI agents have no solid evidence that suggests Raissi had any meetings in Las Vegas or met with any of the hijackers.
But on June 23 Raissi reportedly came to Las Vegas again. This time he flew back to Phoenix with Hanjour, British prosecutors allege.
Las Vegas investigators were unable to find any records to confirm Raissi and Hanjour were here. But there has been speculation that the two might have been on some sort of one-day practice run.
Less than a week later, Atta showed up in Las Vegas.
He arrived about 2:40 p.m. on June 28 on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco. Earlier that day he had flown first class from Boston on United to San Francisco in what investigators believed may have been another trial run.
Agents found no records that Atta paid for lodging in Las Vegas that day. But they were able to document that he visited CyberZone in the afternoon and evening of June 28. Records show he rented a Chevy Malibu from Alamo Rent A Car.
Before 1 p.m. on June 29, Atta checked into the Econo Lodge, a low-budget motel at 1150 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Afterward he went to CyberZone and stayed into the early evening.
The next day Atta again went to CyberZone in the early afternoon and left late in the evening. He flew back to Boston first class through Denver on United Airlines early July 1.
Records so far have shown that no hijackers spent time here in July.
Three in LV
But an intriguing lead developed with the discovery that Atta, Hanjour and Alhazmi all flew to Las Vegas from Washington the morning of Aug. 13. All three left the next day. It is the only time FBI agents have been able to determine with any certainty that several of the hijackers were in Las Vegas together.
Atta arrived in the city on a direct America West flight from Washington's Reagan National Airport. He flew first class.
Hanjour and Alhazmi boarded a United Airlines flight from Dulles International Airport in Washington and traveled first class to Los Angeles and then to Las Vegas.
Agents haven't been able to locate any records that show where Hanjour and Alhazmi stayed, and the FBI knows little about the hijackers' whereabouts. Both apparently took steps to cover their tracks.
Atta, however, checked into the Econo Lodge by midafternoon on Aug. 13.
Records place him at CyberZone late in the evening and leaving after midnight on Aug. 14.
Atta departed Las Vegas for the second time the afternoon of Aug. 14 on a Continental flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., through Houston. This time he flew coach.
Agents can't account for his time during this trip other than the hours he spent at CyberZone.
Hanjour and Alhazmi left Las Vegas by midday Aug. 14 on a Northwest flight to Minneapolis and then to Baltimore. They flew coach as well.
Final preparations for the Sept. 11 attacks reportedly were made outside of Las Vegas.
Atta, Al-Shehhi and Jarrah spent most of their time in Florida in the days before the hijackings, and Hanjour and Alhazmi moved to Maryland.
All five left a mystery behind in Las Vegas on Sept. 11 as they boarded life-ending flights into infamy.
Sun reporter Steve Kanigher and librarian Rebecca Bagayas contributed to this report.
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