US Media: Mysterious 'Misha' in Boston Bomb Probe

Law enforcement officers in tactical gear during search for Boston bombing suspect Dzhokar 

Tsarnaev, who was captured in Watertown, Massachusetts, April 19, 2013.

U.S. media reports says the FBI has found a mysterious man known as Misha, who is said to have influenced the Boston Marathon bombing suspects and possibly encouraged them to follow a radical path.

 

But the reports say investigators have found no evidence Misha had any connection to the Boston Marathon bombing.

 

The suspects' mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, says she and her older son Tamerlan turned more deeply to Islam about five years ago after being influenced by the family friend.

 

U.S. lawmakers said Sunday investigators are pursuing "persons of interest" in the United States who may have links to the attacks.

But authorities say they believe Tamerlan, who was killed in a shootout with police, and his younger brother Dzhokhar acted alone in carrying out the April 15 attack that killed three people and wounded more than 250.

 

A few days ago, Russian authorities told U.S. investigators they had secretly recorded a 2011 phone conversation in which Zubeidat Tsarnaeva had vaguely discussed jihad with Tamerlan.

 

The CIA and the FBI flagged Tamerlan and his mother over possible extremist ties after Russian officials contacted the U.S. agencies more than two years ago. But a U.S. inquiry at the time was closed in late spring of 2011.

 

Congressman Peter King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told NBC's Today show he believes the FBI investigation would have gone much further if the Russian government had revealed the phone conversation and informed Washington of "the mother's radicalization, [and] the son's radicalization" earlier.