Still Missing: Rethinking the D.B. Cooper Case and Other Mysterious Unsolved Disappearances by Ross Richardson Page A
Authors: Ross Richardson
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about it, the more I believe it was your father’s plane.
Mr. John Block,
For what it’s worth, I will give you an accounting of what I saw July 4, 1977, in Northern Michigan.
We went up to our place for the weekend—East Rose Lake Forrest in Osceola County, about 15 miles South East of Cadillac, Michigan. On the morning of July 4, my husband and I were sitting in the front of our lot, in the shade.
We were listening to the radio, and they were telling people of the different celebrations that were planned for the 4th in and around the area.
We were contemplating going to the parade in Lake City that morning. But it was so hot and muggy; it must have been 120 degrees in our lot, because we had several trees removed earlier in June, so we could have our well put in.
We have a mobile home and the sun was beating down in the center of our lot in front of our home. So that was why we were sitting up front in the shade. The forests were so dry from lack of rain that there were fire warnings.
We decided against going to Lake City, because it was so hot and we heard on the radio that some members of the parade were falling over because of the heat. It must have been about 1 p.m. My husband took my daughter down to the beach that belongs to the property owners in that part of Rose Lake Forrest.
I went down in front of our home, there was a narrow strip of shade by then, so I sat on our porch, I was watching some woodpeckers in the tops of the trees, when this plane came right over, he made like 2 circles low over the forest. In the meantime, my husband came back from the beach. I told him to look at that plane circling. He must be lost. He said, “It must be the conservation checking the forests. So we forgot about it.
Then a little later we went for a ride through the forest, then a sudden thunder squall came up and it poured so hard you couldn’t see the drive. But it was brief. We came home the next day and I read in the paper about a plane missing. I told my husband, I wonder if that was the plane we saw. Something drew our attention away from the subject and we forgot about it, till I read the paper this morning, giving a re-accounting of it and also the color, green and white. That was the color of the plane we saw. My husband associated the color with the Cons. Dept. at the time for some reason!
If your father was following the x-way he could of gotten confused in that area because 131 was under const. at the time heading North from LeRoy Michigan Road towards Cadillac and if he hit that storm, he could have gone down in that area and the dense forests of the Pine River and Manistee because the last circle he made put him in that direction from where you are. For what it’s worth, I certainly hope it helps in the search for your parents.
Sincerely, Mrs. Joyce Holappa
P.S. If that plane was your father’s then they are concentrating on the wrong area, in my opinion. I really hope this helps.
Another letter the Block brothers received was a report from Lt. Colonel Eldridge of the United States Air Force Search and Rescue Coordination Center, explaining the reasoning behind the official suspension of the Block search effort by the Air Force:
Dear Mr. Block:
The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center conducted a search for Cessna 150, N50935, from 5 July 1977 thru 15 July 1977. The search was reopened from 26 July thru 27 July.
Aircraft and occupants, John B. Block, pilot, and Jean Block, wife, departed Macomb, MI, on 4 Jul at approx. 4-4:10 p.m. for a three-hour flight to Lost Creek Sky Ranch.
Michigan Civil Air Patrol aircraft assisted by aircraft and crews from Ill, Ind, Ohio and the Coast Guard, conducted the search over the entire route. Two hundred flights were flown on the search for a total of 571.9 flying hours.
The mission was suspended on 15 July after the entire route and all leads had been thoroughly searched.
The mission was reopened and re-suspended to check an additional non-productive lead in the
Mr. John Block,
For what it’s worth, I will give you an accounting of what I saw July 4, 1977, in Northern Michigan.
We went up to our place for the weekend—East Rose Lake Forrest in Osceola County, about 15 miles South East of Cadillac, Michigan. On the morning of July 4, my husband and I were sitting in the front of our lot, in the shade.
We were listening to the radio, and they were telling people of the different celebrations that were planned for the 4th in and around the area.
We were contemplating going to the parade in Lake City that morning. But it was so hot and muggy; it must have been 120 degrees in our lot, because we had several trees removed earlier in June, so we could have our well put in.
We have a mobile home and the sun was beating down in the center of our lot in front of our home. So that was why we were sitting up front in the shade. The forests were so dry from lack of rain that there were fire warnings.
We decided against going to Lake City, because it was so hot and we heard on the radio that some members of the parade were falling over because of the heat. It must have been about 1 p.m. My husband took my daughter down to the beach that belongs to the property owners in that part of Rose Lake Forrest.
I went down in front of our home, there was a narrow strip of shade by then, so I sat on our porch, I was watching some woodpeckers in the tops of the trees, when this plane came right over, he made like 2 circles low over the forest. In the meantime, my husband came back from the beach. I told him to look at that plane circling. He must be lost. He said, “It must be the conservation checking the forests. So we forgot about it.
Then a little later we went for a ride through the forest, then a sudden thunder squall came up and it poured so hard you couldn’t see the drive. But it was brief. We came home the next day and I read in the paper about a plane missing. I told my husband, I wonder if that was the plane we saw. Something drew our attention away from the subject and we forgot about it, till I read the paper this morning, giving a re-accounting of it and also the color, green and white. That was the color of the plane we saw. My husband associated the color with the Cons. Dept. at the time for some reason!
If your father was following the x-way he could of gotten confused in that area because 131 was under const. at the time heading North from LeRoy Michigan Road towards Cadillac and if he hit that storm, he could have gone down in that area and the dense forests of the Pine River and Manistee because the last circle he made put him in that direction from where you are. For what it’s worth, I certainly hope it helps in the search for your parents.
Sincerely, Mrs. Joyce Holappa
P.S. If that plane was your father’s then they are concentrating on the wrong area, in my opinion. I really hope this helps.
Another letter the Block brothers received was a report from Lt. Colonel Eldridge of the United States Air Force Search and Rescue Coordination Center, explaining the reasoning behind the official suspension of the Block search effort by the Air Force:
Dear Mr. Block:
The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center conducted a search for Cessna 150, N50935, from 5 July 1977 thru 15 July 1977. The search was reopened from 26 July thru 27 July.
Aircraft and occupants, John B. Block, pilot, and Jean Block, wife, departed Macomb, MI, on 4 Jul at approx. 4-4:10 p.m. for a three-hour flight to Lost Creek Sky Ranch.
Michigan Civil Air Patrol aircraft assisted by aircraft and crews from Ill, Ind, Ohio and the Coast Guard, conducted the search over the entire route. Two hundred flights were flown on the search for a total of 571.9 flying hours.
The mission was suspended on 15 July after the entire route and all leads had been thoroughly searched.
The mission was reopened and re-suspended to check an additional non-productive lead in the
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