I’m fairly certain none of you have been waiting with baited breath for this. However, considering this thread still appears when my name is googled. I may as well allow readers to know what really occurred. Note: I fully expect one of two things: silence, or creative comments from people hiding behind a screen name while accusing me of lying.
To put this to rest, let me jump right to the end. The FBI agents I spoke with were flown in from national. That’s why they didn’t know what their PIO looked like. I doubt if they even knew her name before the clinic lady passed them the note she wrote while speaking with me.
I’m sick of telling this story. In turn, what you’re about to read is going to be super dry and boring.
Disclaimer aside, here it goes...
My phographer, Alex, and I were across town working on an H1N1 story when the desk called and said a helicopter landed in the middle of the road a few towns over. We were the closest crew to that location so we were the ones they sent. Note: I was irritated with the switch because I had a great interview with a guy dressed up as Santa clause and pleading his case as to why he should get the swine flu vaccine first because he works with children. Highly entertaining.
I digress...
All we had was a cross street. When we drove up, all we saw was a line of people with pets outside a vet clinic. We parked the WDIV live truck in the clinic’s parking lot. Right when we got out, a man who had been eating at the next door restaurant came up showing video he shot on his phone of the helicopter landing.
He said they took a dog in on a stretcher. I recognized the helicopter. I have no idea how I knew it was FBI. I’m a little odd with random stuff.
By the time we finished shooting video on our camera of what he had on his phone, most of the people in line at the vet clinic had gone back inside.
I went up and talked to a guy with a sick dauchhound[[sp?).
Now, things you have to know before I continue: I was wearing an electric blue coat. I was walking with my mic in hand and giant WDIV logo [[mic flag) attached.
The entire front lobby of the vet is surrounded in glass. Our live truck was parked in the parking space closest to the entrance.
I literally walked up to the door and the lady inside said, “Sorry, I can’t talk to you, Natalie” and locked the glass doors with clients looking at me from inside. Yes, she knew my name!
I then went back to the live truck and called the assignment desk. Corey, the desk person, said she already called Sandra Burkhold and she didn’t answer. Corey said she is either on her way to the vet or already inside.
I told Alex I’d be right back and went back to the front entrance. The clients inside gave me sad looks, shook their heads, and let me know they weren’t allowed to let me in. I loudly begged them to get the lady again so I can explain that I need to speak with someone who may be inside.
The clinic lady came back and unlocked the door. I told her I was looking for Sandra Burkhold and she’s either on her way or already there. She told me to hang on then disappeared. She came back with a posted note and asked me to repeat myself. So, I did.
She left for a minute then came back out and said, “They’re in there.” and pointed down a hallway. I started walking down and opened a door. She called out, “No, keep going down.” I opened the last door.
There was one man right on the other side of the door. Neither of us said anything at first. I looked to the left to see where Sandra was standing. Nope. Just 3 more guys. Everyone was really quiet.
All of a sudden the guy in front of me reached for my hand to shake it. He then stopped before touching me and apologized for having blood on his hand. I said, “It’s okay. I’ve seen blood before.”
He then started talking.
The first thing he said was, “They Killed our dog.” He then rambled about different places and people and everything that was happening. He then stopped and said, “Please Don’t tell anyone. You’re only one in five who know this. You can imagine if this gets out and gets into my guys heads!”
I said, “Okay. I can keep it from going online, but a lot of people saw the helicopter land and it’s only a matter of time before more news people are here.”
He said, “Wait. Sandra?”
I said, “No, I’m Natalie.”
He asked, “Well, who is Sandra.”
I was baffled and said, “She’s your PIO!”
He asked, “Who are you?”
In his same loud voice I said, “I’m a reporter!”
His eyes turned the size of dinner plates.
And the he pointed at me and started screaming, “They said she was FBI! They said she was FBI!”
He and the rest of the guys started saying, “You’ve got to go, you’ve got to go” while pointing down a hallway that led to the side entrance.
I was pretty freaked out as well and walked a little faster than normal. When I got to the door, the man called out to me again and said, “Hey! Please don’t tell anyone.” I told him, “I don’t want your guys to get hurt either.”
As I walked outside, turned right, and started back toward the truck, I ran smack dab into the clinic lady again. She was picking up pieces of stuff that came off the building when the helicopter landed and trying to put it back on the building.
I immediately said, “I didn’t tell you I was FBI!” She was super calm and barely looked at me before saying, “It isn’t everyday a helicopter lands outside the building.”
Ugh.
I went back to the live truck. My boss called and asked what was happening. I said I didn’t know. She pressed me further. I said a dog might be dead. She was pissed that I “didn’t know more.” We sent back the video of the helicopter landing and went back to doing my H1N1 story.
A day or two later I was on a story with my photographer Ted Pregitzer in Detroit’s Westside when the assignment desk called to say some guy named David Ashenfelter wanted me to call him. The desk didn’t seem to know who he was and said he was a newspaper reporter. I figured he was someone I met on a scene and wanted to hang out or something. So, I’m not even sure if I wrote down the number, or where I put it if I did.
All of a sudden, there’s a picture of me looking like I just got off a broomstick on the front page of the Detroit Press saying I posed as an FBI agent!
I’ve never been so livid in my life. I called two of the four agents in charge of the Detroit branch and lit them up with endless rants. I finally got it out of one of them. I kept saying, “Your guys.,,,rah rah rah!!!”
His response, “Natalie, those weren’t our guys!”
They were flow in from National to do the raids across the Detroit metro. And I kept my promise to not say what they said.
My credibility, the only thing you truly have as a reporter... gone.
And for what? Yes, I was invited to and attended that years FBI Christmas party. I even spoke with Sandra [[who was tipsy) while there. She was pissed because after I left the clinic, she had to wait 3 hours to be appropriately vetted before going in. I can’t believe I actually laughed out loud while she was complaining about it. I apologized of course.
So, there you have it.
Feel free to call or email with questions.
Natalie Sentz
507-219-1714
nsentz@gmail.com
