Missing U.S. Navy Photoanalyst Surfaced in Russia Years Later, Only to be Outed as a Prolific Spy By Virginia Chamlee

When a U.S. Navy photoanalyst disappeared from the United States in 1986, it would be two years before he surfaced again — but when he did, he was across the globe in Russia using a new name.

A 1989 PEOPLE story described how American officials had already suspected Glenn Michael Souther of being a traitor. Still, it would be an 1989 obituary in Moscow that shed light on exactly how much Souther had allegedly done for Russia before his death at age 32.

“Referring to Souther as Mikhail Orlov, the Soviets hailed him as a master spy who gave them ‘precious’ secrets, including detailed U.S. plans in the event of nuclear war with the Soviet Union,” the story described. “His missions had earned Souther the rank of major in the KGB. However, the gratitude of his Soviet controllers was apparently not enough to sustain him: On June 22, he took his own life by inhaling the exhaust fumes of his car.”

KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov was quoted in the piece as claiming that Souther’s “nervous system could not stand the pressure” of life in what was then the U.S.S.R.

But back in America, Souther’s friends were “mystified” to learn he was a spy, PEOPLE reported at the time, noting that “friends from Souther’s years at Virginia’s Old Dominion University recall a wild man who was always the life of the party.”

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Born Jan. 30, 1957, to a man who worked as an office manager for the company that produced Wonder Bread and a woman who worked as a secretary, Souther grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Indiana and was an average student who ran track.

”Glenn was a nice, straightforward guy, like the rest of us,” his former track team friend Tom Rasch told PEOPLE at the time, noting that Souther didn’t seem interested in politics or foreign affairs.

After high school, he enlisted in the Navy, serving on the carrier USS Nimitz from 1976 to 1978, then transferring to the Sixth Fleet in Italy, during which time he got married and fathered a child. It is believed that Souther was recruited to the KGB during his time in Italy,

Then in 1982, he was stationed in Maryland before being honorably discharged and enlisting in the Naval Reserve in Norfolk, where he worked analyzing satellite photos (and allegedly had access to “highly classified military material”).

During that time, Souther began taking Russian studies classes at Old Dominion University, where he built a reputation as a party animal.

”He was the guy at parties who always put on a lamp shade,” Barbara Fahey, whose husband, John, served as Souther’s adviser in Russian studies at the school, told PEOPLE.

But a fellow student noted cracks in his armor, telling PEOPLE that he once called to inquire about receiving Russian-language tutoring. She claimed that, an hour after speaking on the phone, he showed up at her door, rambling in “fluent” Russian.

During the introduction, she claimed he brought up a rape allegation that had been levied against him the year prior. While it’s unclear what came of the allegation, the student told PEOPLE Souther “obviously was crazy.”

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It was even hard for Souther’s professors to get a good read on the student. While one professor called Souther one of his “worst students,” Leonid Mihalap, a Russian professor at Old Dominion, said Souther’s mastery of the Russian language was so impressive that he believed he was a spy.

“He submitted a term paper on the Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky that was so excellent and flawless it occurred to me that only a Russian could have written it,” Mihalap told PEOPLE.

At one point, Souther’s estranged wife went to Navy officials to say she suspected him of spying for the U.S.S.R., but an investigation turned up no evidence. However, years later, they revisited her claims.

Amid the mounting pressure, after he graduated from the university, Souther quietly moved to Moscow. It wasn’t until 1988 that he resurfaced, revealing his defection and beginning to criticize U.S. nuclear arms policies and intelligence missions. While there, he reportedly married a Russian woman and had another child; however, little is known about his years there before his 1989 death.

Some suspected Souther had felt rejected after being turned down from Naval Officer Candidate School, with Fahey telling PEOPLE: “‘I think he decided to defect because he wasn’t making it here. So he said, ‘Well, I’ll show you!’ ”