ALF member disappears

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1998:

SALT LAKE CITY– –Douglas Joshua
Ellerman, 19, who pleaded guilty in February to
three of 16 felony charges filed against him re the
March 1997 pipebombing of the Fur Breeders
Agricultural Cooperative building and trucks at
Sandy, Utah, has reportedly not been seen since
April 30. Ellerman was to appear in court on May 6
to receive a sentencing date.
“In a plea bargain designed to spare him
from a possible life sentence,” wrote Joe Costanzo
of the Deseret News, “Ellerman agreed to cooperate
with investigators who are working to identify others
involved in the bombing. Prosecutors were prepared
to recommend that Ellerman receive less than
the minimum five-year sentence. But word of his
cooperation reached members of the Animal
Liberation Front, who [according to family members] apparently scared Ellerman into flight.”

U.S. Magistrate Ronald Boyce issued a
warrant for Ellerman on May 5, as word reached
Salt Lake City that the ALF had claimed credit for
an arson attack at the Florida Veal Processors
slaughterhouse the previous evening in Wimauma,
Florida. The arson had certain similarities to the
Utah case. It did an estimated $500,000 in damage.