Maine & 9/11

The mystery of what Mohammed Atta was doing in Portland, Maine, on 9/10/2001 has been compounded by the disappearance of most of the locations that Atta visited that last evening of his life.

As you may recall, Atta on September 10, 2001, picked up another 9/11 terrorist, Abdul-Azzia Al-Omari (or Alomari), at the Milner Hotel (78 Charles Street South) in Boston. 

They drove a rented Nissan Altmia to Portland, Maine, and arrived at the Comfort Inn Hotel, 90 Maine Mall Road, South Portland, Maine, at 5:43 p.m. The Comfort Inn, in 2001, was the nearest inexpensive hotel to the airport.

Financial records and bank video show Atta and Al-Omari made two ATM withdrawals in Portland, and the men were reportedly spotted at an area Wal-Mart, allegedly purchasing box-cutters, as well as in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut restaurant. The ATM was down the road from the Comfort Inn, at a gasoline station in South Portland, and the local Wal-Mart was in Scarborough, a short 10 minute drive down that same road from their motel.

Specifically, a local article detailed their movements on September 10, 2001:

After checking in at the motel, Atta and Alomari were seen several times between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Between 8 and 9 p.m., they were seen at Pizza Hut; at 8:31 p.m., they were videotaped by a KeyBank automatic teller machine, and videotaped again at 8:41 p.m. at a Fast Green ATM next to Pizzeria Uno.

At 9:15 p.m., the two stopped at Jetport Gas on Western Avenue, where they asked for directions, and at 9:22 p.m., Atta was caught on videotape in the Wal-Mart in Scarborough. The FBI reports he spent about 20 minutes there.

Also published was a ...

CHRONOLOGY

MONDAY

5: 43 p. m.: Atta and Alomari check into the Comfort Inn, 90 Maine Mall Road, South Portland.

8-9 p. m.: Two men described by the FBI as "Middle Eastern" males are seen at Pizza Hut, 415 Maine Mall Road, for about 15 minutes.

8: 31 p. m.: Atta and Alomari are photographed at a Key Bank driveup ATM at 445 Gorham Road, South Portland.They are driving a 2001 blue Nissan Altima rental car, Mass.license 3335VI.

8: 41 p. m.: The suspects are photographed by a Fast GreenATM in the parking lot of Pizzera Uno restaurant, 280 Maine Mall Road.

9: 15 p. m.: Atta and Alomari are at Jetport Gas Station, 446 Western Ave., South Portland. Atta wears a half-dark, half-light colored shirt with light-colored slacks.

9:22 p.m.: Atta is at Wal-Mart, 451 Payne Road, Scarborough, for about 20 minutes.

Tuesday

5: 33 a. m.: Atta and Alomari check out of the Comfort Inn.

Source: “The Night Before Terror,” Portland Press Herald, Portland, Maine, 5 October 2001.

In eleven years, businesses close, open, and close, of course. Intriguingly, the physical links to the visit to the Portland area of Atta and Al-Omari have, with the exception of the Comfort Inn, mostly vanished as separate entities or have been physically torn down.

One of the first to go was the Fast GreenATM. It was removed and a nearby gasoline station was torn down, soon after 9/11. Today, a jewelry store sits on the site.

The Key Bank driveup no longer exists, as it was in 2001. The Wal-Mart on Payne Road, Scarborough, closed, although other Wal-Marts continue successfully in the Portland area. The Pizza Hut is gone too. 

The Comfort Inn remains, although there are various rumors that no one is allowed to check into Room 232, anymore, where Atta and Al-Omari stayed, or that the room number has been changed. 

On the morning of 9/11, Atta and Al-Omari drove to Portland International Jetport (below) and boarded a 6 a.m. commuter flight to Boston's Logan International Airport. 

At Logan, they boarded American Airlines Flight 11 on a passenger plane, which, for them, would continue on to the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.

Even today, the reason behind Atta and Al-Omari being in Portland, Maine, remains a riddle.