LAREDO PLANE MISSING WITH THREE ABOARD
A plane from Laredo with three persons aboard is reported
missing,
last heard from Wednesday morning when the pilot radioed the Del Rio
International Airport for weather information.
An aerial search will
be launched by the Civil Air Patrol from headquarters being sent up
this morning in Ocona if a check of airports and airstrips where the
plane might have landed proves fruitless. Sheriff Herman Richler said
at noon here.
C. E. Drury, piloting a Cessna 182, left Laredo Wednesday
at 6 a.m., carrying two passengers and apparently bound for Midland.
No flight plan was filed.
At 8:03 a.m. Drury called the airport in
Del Rio for weather conditions but he was checking on weather
information at Uvalde rather than Midland.
Ocona reported hearing the radio request,
the sheriff said. Air distance from Laredo to Midland is approximately
250 miles, officers here estimated, and under ordinary circumstances
the plane would not have required refueling before
reaching its destination.
The pilot and plane were reported missing
by Drury's brother, who celled the sheriff's department here from
Midland when the aircraft failed to arrive.
Assistance in the
ground search was sought by (he Texas Department of Public Safety by
radio and teletype and a check is being made by sheriffs, Border
Patrolmen and Highway Patrolmen of airports where the Cessna might
have landed-
Rlchter said his department has checked Uvalde, Sonora,
Junction, Kerrville. Eagle Pass, Carrizo Springs and Ocona this morning without locating
the missing aircraft. Airport and air strips will be checked for a
possible landing and if nothing is found the CAP will
be called on to launch an aerial search," Judge Jim Lindsey said this
morning. He is commander of the local CAP squadron, which has 20 members,
and E. E. Townsend, the deputy. If the ground search doesn't
[see Plane --- Page 2A] Plane ... [continued
from page 1]
turn up something, the CAP headquarters being set up in Ocona probably ask for help;
and the planes will take to the air. We might send a couple of
planes up if this search is mounted, Lindsey said.
Also ready to assist if asked is the Air Rescue Service at Laughlin
Air Force Base, Lindsey said.
The sheriff's description of the indicated the Cessna 182 bears the
markings N559-Bind and is pink, blue and white. The engine aircraft has a speed of about 125 miles an hour, local pilots
estimated
Del Rio News Herald, Del Rio, TX, 17 Sep 1964, Thu
1]
Plane Crash Kills Three
CIUDAD ACUNA, Mexico (AP) Mexican police found the bodies of three
Texans with a wrecked plane Thursday.
They identified the dead, all from Laredo, as pilot C. E. Drury,
Don Sparks and Pete Barrera.
Sheriff Dale Richter of Del Rio, Tex., reported the plane, a Cessna
182 which disappeared the day before on a flight from Laredo to
Midland, cracked up about 2 1/2 miles south of the Rio Grande a
point, opposite Comstock, Tex.
Drury had inquired about the weather at Midland at 8:02 a.m.
Wednesday. Apparently that was the last word before the craft went
down.
[The Odessa American
(Odessa, Texas)
18 Sep 1964, Fri • Other Editions • Page 6]
|
Crash Victims' Bodies Being Returned To City
Bodies of three Laredo men were brought from the wreckage of their
plane on the Chularosa Ranch in Mexico to Ciudad Acuna shortly before noon
today and are to arrive here following an inquest by Mexican
authorities.
Deputy Sheriff Calvin Watten took relatives of the dead
men to Acuna to fill out necessary papers for authorities there. The
crash site was pinpointed Thursday at 6:35 p.m. by aircraft from Del
Rio following a widespread search for the plane, missing since
Wednesday morning on a flight from Laredo to Midland.
Killed in the
crash on the rolling countryside 2 1/2 miles south of the Rio Grande
across from Comstock, Texas, were C. E. Drury, piloting the plane,
Don Sparks and Pete Barrera.
The three men took off from Laredo
Wednesday at 6 a.m. in a single engine plane, bound for Midland. At
8:03 that morning Drury called the Del Rio International Airport for
weather information about the time a squall line had formed to the
vicinity.
The radio call was the last, word heard from the three and later
Wednesday Drury's brother in Midland launched the search that did not end until Thursday night.
A ranch worker on the Chularosa Ranch saw the wreckage and reported
it to police officials in Ciudad Acuna. They in turn , notified the
sheriff's department in Del Rio. Sherriff Herman Richter
received notice from Acuna police at 6 p.m., Thursday.
At that time, four Civil Air Patrol planes from Del Rio were
searching the northwest portion of of
Val Verde County, flying about two miles apart in an assigned
pattern, each plane with an observer,
The CAP
planes were contacted by radio and flew to the ranch owned by Juan
Quiroz. Judge Jim Lindsey, commander of the CAP unit here, was flying as observer for E.E.
Townsend and Townsend landed at (he ranch to talk to the worker for
explicit instructions.
His information was relayed to the other
planes in the air and one of the CAP aircraft, 1 piloted by Noble
Taylor with Jack Moon as observer, landed at the crash site. Two of the
bodies had remained in the craft; the other was about 70 or 80
feet away.
Wings had been torn from the the plane and wreckage was scattered
over a wide area.
The engine had been pushed back into the fuselage and the tail
portion was standing straight up, Taylor said. The plane did not
burn.
Mexican officials posted a [SEE CRASH — Page 5]
Crash ... [Continued from Page 1]
guard at the site,
barring all until this morning, when the bodies were moved.
The three dead men were contractors in Laredo. Drury and Sparks, were
builders; Barrera was an air conditioning contractor. All have
families in Laredo.
Search for them had been made by
sheriffs. Border Patrolmen and Highway Patrolmen over a wide area
before the aerial search was launched. Planes from Laredo,
Midland and Del Rio hunted In addition to the planes piloted by
Townsend and Taylor, CAP planes involved in the search were those
piloted by Dr. L M. Cartell and Walter Fawcett with! Bob
Nicholson as Cartell's observer and J B. Phillips flying with
Fawcett.
Lindsey estimated the four CAP planes from Del Rio had
searched a 1.000 square mile area before being notified by radio the
wreckage had been sighted in Mexico, 10 miles from the Chulorosa
ranch house.
[Del Rio News Herald (Del Rio, Val Verde, TX, 18 Sep 1964, Fri, Pages 1 & 5] |
[courtesy of Jim Liles]
Grave marker for Cloysce E. Drury in Block 27,
Section A, Row 2, Space 15, Laredo City Cemetery, Laredo (Webb
county), Texas.
Cloysce enlisted in the Army at San Antonio, TX on
6 October 1942.
On 23 October 1942, Pvt Drury was transferred from
the Reception Center, Fort Sam Houston, TX to Company A, 508th PIR
In 17 July 1943 he was appointed to the grade of Corporal and on 16
August 1943 to Sergeant.
On 26 June 1944, he was reported as missing
inaction as of 13 June.1944. On 16 July 1944 his status was
changed to wounded in action on 17 June 1944.
Sgt Drury was able to return to duty on 27
September 1944 but was transferred to service Company for light
duty. He was transferred back to Company A on 13 December
1944.
However, just two days later he was hospitalized
at the 50th Field Hospital, Camp Sissonne, classed as a non
battle casualty. He returned to the regiment on 23 December,
again being assigned to Service Company.
Following this respite he was reassigned to
Company A on 8 January 1945, presumably o the front lines.
His military decorations include the Purple Heart
and the Bronze Service Arrowhead device awarded for participation in
Normandy assault.
|