Videotape Loss Angers Widow

Judi Papadopoulos lost her husband, Chris, in December in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Just over two months later, she lost a precious reminder of him - a tape of a memorial service in his honor - after she sent it to a friend via Federal Express.

Infuriated by the company's loss of the tape - her only copy - Papadopoulos is demanding a $100,000 settlement and has rejected the company's apologies and goodwill gestures to send her to Greece, her husband's native land. Papadopoulos, of Lawrence, said it was difficult to again hear a company apologize for an irretrievable loss.

Pan Am offered her a $100,000 settlement for her husband's death, which she also has refused. In a letter to her attorney, Federal Express staff attorney William L. Rahner said the company had made an "exhaustive search for the tape" and will continue to investigate, but was "not optimistic" that the tape would be found. Rahner said Federal Express contractually limits its liability for loss to $100, unless the shipper declares a higher value at the time of shipment and pays an additional charge. "This was not done," he wrote.

A memorial service for Chris Papadopoulos, 45, was taped so it could be sent to his mother and two brothers in Greece, who could not attend the service. Papadopoulos mailed the tape, via Federal Express, to a friend who said he would have a shop in Queens make a tape that would be compatible with equipment in Greece. But the friend never received the original. "I'm a business person, and when I make a mistake in business, I pay for it," said Papadopoulos. "And you know, that's what life has become for me, money and death."

Stuart Vincent, Videotape Loss Angers Widow., 05-02-1989, pp 02.