AN IFR BE24 ON APCH AT 4000 FT MISINTERPS APCH CTL INSTRUCTION AND CHANGES TO TWR FREQ. THE LCL CTLR ASSUMES THAT APCH CTL HANDED OFF THE BE24 AND WAS #1 TO LAND. WHEN THE BE24 QUESTIONED IF HE WAS CLRED FOR THE APCH; THE LCL CTLR ACKNOWLEDGED 'ROGER.' APCH CTL HAD A B737 ON FREQ HOLDING AT 3000 FT IN FRONT OF THE BE24. LOSS OF SEPARATION OCCURRED WHEN THE BE24 STARTED DSCNT.

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A BE24 CALLED ME ON RAL ATCT LCL FREQ. HE SAID HE WAS ON THE LOC JUST OUTSIDE OF SWAN LAKE. I LOOKED AND SAW NOTHING ON THE D-BRITE. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT THE PLT WAS EITHER LOST OR DOING THE APCH VFR AND HAD LOST HIS XPONDER. (I HAD D-BRITE SET ON A 10 MI DIAMETER AROUND RAL -- THIS INCLUDES ABOUT 4 MI W OF SWAN LAKE.) I ASKED HIS POS AGAIN AND WAS TOLD JUST OUTSIDE OF SWAN LAKE. I THEN ASKED HOW FAR OUTSIDE OF SWAN LAKE HE WAS. HE PAUSED THEN SAID ABOUT 4-5 MI. ('JUST OUTSIDE' NORMALLY MEANS 1- 2 MI.) I THEN EXPANDED THE RADAR AND SAW HIS DATA TAG FLASHING TO US IN HDOF MODE. I TOOK THE HDOF THEN ASKED HIM IF APCH HAD TOLD HIM TO CONTACT ME. (I ASKED BECAUSE HE HAD CALLED ME ABOUT 2-3 MI EARLIER THAN NORMAL.) HE ANSWERED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE SAYING APCH HAD TOLD HIM TO CONTACT ME AS SOON AS HE WAS ESTABLISHED ON THE LOC. I SAID 'ROGER' (THINKING THEY SENT HIM TO ME A LITTLE EARLY; BUT SINCE I SAW NO OTHER TFC AT THE TIME; MAYBE THEY HAD OTHER THINGS TO DO AND SWITCHED HIM EARLY -- NO PROB). THE PLT THEN ASKED IF HE WAS CLRED FOR THE APCH. (I THOUGHT THIS WAS A STRANGE QUESTION. IF APCH CLRED YOU FOR THE APCH AND SENT YOU TO ME; OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE CLRED FOR THE APCH. THEN I THOUGHT WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAD BEEN ASKING HIM; MAYBE HE WAS CONCERNED THAT I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO CONTINUE WITH HIS APCH BECAUSE OF SOME OTHER FACTORS; WHICH WASN'T THE CASE AT ALL.) I SAID ONCE AGAIN; 'ROGER;' MEANING TO ME THAT I UNDERSTAND IF I MADE YOU HESITANT TO CONTINUE WITH ALL OF MY QUESTIONS BUT IT'S OK; I'M NOT GOING TO TURN YOU AWAY. AT THIS TIME; HE WAS JUST STARTING TO APPEAR ON MY D-BRITE WHEN THE CONFLICT ALERT STARTED GOING OFF. AS HE WAS ON HIS DSCNT OUT OF 4000 FT; THERE WAS A B737 HOLDING AT 3000 FT. I CALLED TFC AND HE RPTED THE B737 IN SIGHT AND SAID IT WAS NOW BEHIND HIM. APCH THEN CALLED AND ASKED IF I WAS TALKING TO THE SIERRA. I SAID YES AND THEY ASKED ME TO SEND THE SIERRA BACK TO THEM. I CALLED OUT 2 OTHER TFC CALLS FOR THE SIERRA THEN SENT HIM BACK TO APCH. APPROX ONE HALF MI W OF RAL; THE SIERRA CALLED AGAIN; STILL ON AN IFR TAG; AND RPTED 'AGNES.' I GAVE HIM INSTRUCTIONS ON ENTERING THE PATTERN. WHEN THE SIERRA WAS ON DOWNWIND; APCH CALLED AND TOLD ME TO HAVE THE SIERRA CLB TO 4000 FT AND FLY DIRECT PDZ. I RELAYED THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO THE PLT ONLY TO HAVE THE PLT TELL ME HE CANCELED IFR WITH APCH. I TOLD APCH AND CLRED THE SIERRA TO LAND. IN HINDSIGHT; I SHOULD HAVE CALLED APCH AS SOON AS I DISCOVERED SIERRA WAS ON IFR FLT PLAN AND VERIFIED THAT THEY HAD SENT HIM TO ME. MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS! THIS WILL BE HOW I HANDLE ALL SIMILAR SITS IN THE FUTURE.