Mr. President?[note 1] The Presidential Recordings Program revised the following section of text in 2021 for inclusion in The LBJ Telephone Tapes, a project produced by the Miller Center in partnership with the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library to commemorate the library's 50th anniversary.

[talking on speakerphone] Yeah.

I wanted to let you know we found the car.

Yeah?

Now, [clears throat] this is not known. Nobody knows this at all, but the car was burned, and we do not know yet whether any bodies are inside of the car, because of the intense heat that still is in the area of the car.[note 2] The activists had been driving a recent-model, blue Ford Fairlane station wagon. The license plates on the car are the same that was on the car that was in Philadelphia, Mississippi, yesterday, and apparently this is off to the side of the road. It wasn’t going toward Meridian, but it was going in the opposite direction.

Now, whether there are any bodies in the car, we won’t know until we can get into the car ourselves. We’ve got agents, of course, on the ground, and as soon as we get definite word, I’ll, of course, get word to you. But I did want you to know that apparently what’s happened: these men have been killed. Although, as I say, we can’t tell whether there are any bodies in there in view of the intense heat.

Well, now, what would make you think they’d been killed?

Because of the fact that it is the same car that they were in, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and the same license number is on the outside of the car. Now, as I say, the heat is so intense you can’t tell—on the inside everything’s been burned—whether there are any charred bodies or not. It is merely an assumption that probably they were burned in the car. On the other hand, they may have been taken out and killed on the outside.

Or maybe kidnapped and locked up.

How’s that?

Or maybe kidnapped and locked up.

Well, I would doubt whether those people down there would even give them that much of a break. But, of course, we’re going to go into that very thoroughly, not only as to the fact as to whether they’re still alive. If they’re not in the car, then they maybe have been killed and their bodies buried in one of those swamps down there.

Where did you find the car? How far from Philadelphia?

The car was about, I’d say, eight miles from Philadelphia, but not in the direction of Meridian. It was in the opposite direction. Now, they had left Philadelphia—according to the reports that we had earlier—to go to Meridian, which is about 20 miles. This, however, was on State Highway 21, and the car was off to the side of the highway, although it could be seen from the highway. And an Indian agent—there’s an Indian [Choctaw] reservation down in that area, although the car is not on the reservation—an Indian agent saw the car and immediately notified us, and we went there, and there we found this condition.[note 3] According to two journalists’ accounts, Special Agent John Proctor had received a report from Lonnie Hardin, the superintendent of the nearby Choctaw Reservation. In the days after the car’s discovery, finding the identity of the person reporting the car to the FBI was a top priority of the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Cagin and Dray, We Are Not Afraid, p. 338; Gwin Cole, Assistant Chief, Mississippi Highway Patrol, “Report RE: Philadelphia Situation, 1:05 p.m., 1 July 1964,” Folder 1, July 1964, Box 136, Series II, Sub-Series 9: Sovereignty Commission, Johnson Papers, University of Southern Mississippi.

How long had the car been burnt, you reckon, six, eight hours?

Well, we . . . we frankly don’t know. The intense heat would have indicated that the car probably had been burning for nearly six hours, or five or six hours.

What would you indicate? They filled it with gasoline, and . . .

I would think so, yes. There wasn’t any indication of any explosion like dynamite or anything of that kind. And, of course, dynamite wouldn’t have caused the intense heat and fire that kerosene or gasoline would have.

Well, looks like a poor fellow would jump out of a car that’s burning.

Well, you would think they would, unless they’d been bound and were locked in that car, and then the car set afire.

Well, why wouldn’t an agent be able to look at a car and see if there’s any bones in it?

See whether there are any bodies in it?

Any bones, yeah.

Well, the reason for that is the car is so burned and charred with heat that you can’t get close to it, except that we did get the license number, which is on the outside of the car.

You mean it’s still burning?

Well, the car is still burning, yes.

You mean you think this happened in the last few minutes, then?

No, I don’t think it’s the last few minutes. I think it’s something that’s happened within the last maybe five or six hours. You see, they didn’t leave there until sometime yesterday, I think it was.[note 4] Hoover’s early report here on the car’s temperature was likely erroneous, particularly since it had been seen aflame almost 36 hours earlier. The Mississippi highway patrolman on the scene reported that the car had been “burned sometime before and was now cold.” Chief A. D. Morgan, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Report, Folder 7: “Highway Patrol Reports and Correspondence, June 1964,” Box 144, Series II, Sub-Series 10: Highway Patrol, Johnson Papers, University of Southern Mississippi.

OK, you call me as soon as you can.[note 5] End of 2021 revisions.

Now, this group’s coming down here to see Lee White, my assistant.

Yes?

You think in the light of this that this congressman —both of them are raising hell for me to see them. You think I ought to step in and just tell them I’ve talked to you, and you’re doing everything you can?

I think it would be all right. I don’t like to have you having to see these people because we’re going to have more cases like this down South, and every time that it occurs, they’re going to have these families come on here to Washington, and of course the congressmen, being politically minded, they’ll want you to see them.

Now, they’ve seen [Nicholas] Katzenbach, as I understand, over here.

Yeah.

And politically, it might be wise for you to just step in and say that you’ve been in communication with the bureau [FBI], somewhat along the statement that you issued this morning. [Unclear comment by Johnson.] I wouldn’t give the details of the number of agents that we’ve got. You said it was substantially augmented, and I think that’s . . . that’s entirely sufficient. And that you’re being kept advised of any progress that is being made.

That’s good. OK. Thank you a lot.

Fine.

You let me know as soon as you hear anything.

Yes, I’ll call you, Mr. President. OK.