What did Julie VanBuren experience that day?

 

It's story number 24, page 91 from 

Tales Unleashed.

A Skate on Strange Ice

At age nine, Julie van Buren loved playing in the shallow McHenry Creek, just behind her house in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She would sit on the bank of the creek with her mother and toss stones into the water; on occasion they would launch a paper boat, set it in the water and watch intently it as it slowly made its way southward. 

Winter time was just as much fun. Her mom would let her skate unattended on the very shallow creek which had a few pools of water less than ten feet across and less than nine inches in depth. It was a safe and gleeful place that had entertained many families over the years. 

Today was a beautiful sunny day in February of 1954. Julie laced up her skates and shoved off from the bank onto the frozen surface of McHenry Creek, its ice lightly covered with fresh snow from the night before. Julie’s smile was ear to ear as she pushed herself around the frozen pool. The scarf wrapped around her neck barely kept the cold air from creeping under her collar. As Julie completed her fourth or fifth trip around the ice, she dropped a glove and quickly turned to retrieve it. She didn’t know why she even had the gloves with her today—it was cold, but the sun was warm, and they were tucked in her coat and out of the way. Julie arrived at the spot where the glove laid, and as she reached down to pick it up, something beneath the ice caught her attention.

She sat down, moved the glove, and brushed away the light snow with her left hand. As she peered down through the ice Julie was startled to see a young girl’s face just below the surface. It was a young face, perhaps about her same age: rounded, highlighted by chin-length blond hair with curls on the forehead. The eyes were closed, and Julie thought it resembled a Halloween mask. The face was pale with no color and no movement whatsoever.

Julie was startled and tried to get up quickly, but lost her balance and fell back to the ice. She struggled to get away from the face that she had just seen. She made her way quickly to the back door and went to the kitchen to report to her mom of her ghostly encounter. Her mother assured her that it was just her imagination, but she persisted and the two returned to the creek and the spot that Julie had told her about. They found nothing.

The next few days passed with little being said about the incident by Julie or her mother. On the fifth day, her mother’s curiosity had gotten the best of her, and while Julie was at school, she went to the local library to do some research.

Finding some Lancaster history books she started thumbing through the pages of gathered materials looking for anything out of the ordinary. One story in particular jumped off the page at her. The headline from 1928 read: Lancaster girl Ruth O’Brien still missing.

Reading on she discovered that the young gal had disappeared in February of that year while playing in light snow. A total search of the area, including local waterways, had shed no clue. Along with the article was a pencil sketch of what Ruth looked like at the time of her going missing. Julie’s mother copied the article and the sketch and took it home, it was something she wanted to study further as time allowed her. 

Three days later young Julie discovered the article and the pencil drawing at her mother’s desk. Picking up the picture and going to the kitchen, Julie said to her mother, “Mom, where did you get this drawing? This is the girl that I saw in the creek last week. Remember me telling you?”

“I’m sure it’s just coincidence, honey,” said her mother. “That little girl lived here a long time ago.”

Julie’s mom decided to call the sheriff the next day, just to report what Julie had seen. The sheriff, getting on in years, chuckled and said, “There have been numerous other sightings over the years of young Ruth, but nothing has ever come of them.”

And so, Julie’s sighting in McHenry Creek would be the latest to be lodged with the local authorities.  

 The girl Ruth, who had vanished almost three decades ago during the month of February, had just made another brief stop near Lancaster.   

The Reading.....

 

    It's chapter eight from Tales Unleashed.....

    What could be more fun than to have your fortune read at the county fair.

For Jim and Cathy, a brief stop along the midway in a dark and mysterious

tent would make great changes in their lives.  Dont' be afraid....after all....

 it's just a story.  

The Reading

Jim and Cathy hadn’t planned to go to the county fair that day. Jim’s mom was a bit under the weather, and being the man of the house, Jim felt he should be nearby if she needed anything. His dad has passed away several years before. At twenty three and single, his job at the auto parts store and some other part time work helped to pay the bills and put some food on the table.

Cathy had graduated with Jim just six years prior. She didn’t want to go to college and had been Jim’s steady since the tenth grade. They had often talked about tying the knot but circumstances seemed to be against them both . . . so they went on day to day, week to week, trying to look down the road for brighter days.

The county fair was in action, just five miles to the east, and Cathy had asked for two weeks solid if they could go on that first Friday night. Jim hesitated, but his mom pushed him into it.

“It’ll do you and Cathy both good,” she advised. “Go have some fun. I’ll be just fine here.” His mom was confined to a wheelchair, had breathing difficulties, and suffered from a plethora of other problems which seem to get worse yearly.

Jim took her advice and picked up Cathy at 7:00 the night of the fair. They drove in his Chevy pickup, contemplating what was ahead for them at the fair. It was the event of the year with lots of food, entertainment, a midway, and just bushels of excitement to experience. As they walked by the fortune teller’s tent, Cathy grabbed Jim’s left arm and asked, “Hon, let’s go in. I’ve never had my fortune told. It’ll be great. it’s only five dollars . . . can we?”

Jim tried to pull away, but Cathy pushed him into the tent opening which led into a very small enclosed canvass room, no bigger than ten feet square. Dimly lit, they could see the room was appointed with wall hangings touting the great mind-reading powers of Belinda, who they assumed to be an older woman. To their great surprise, a sheet was swept aside and out walked a very attractive woman, probably in her thirties, dressed in a white fluffy blouse tucked into a deep purple floor-length skirt.

“Please sit down,” Belinda commanded, as she pointed to the two chairs in front of the small card table. On the table were just two items: a six-inch white candle which was lit and producing just a whisper of smoke, and the crystal ball, approximately ten inches in diameter and cradled in an ornately carved gold base.

Her eyes met Jim’s and she gave a smile of approval. “Why haven’t you married this fine-looking man?” she asked Cathy.

“Well, maybe someday,” Cathy replied. Before she could say more, Belinda had put a finger to her own lips, asking for quiet.

After being seated, Belinda surrounded the crystal with both hands turned up, almost in a position of accepting a gift. The room was quiet, the only sounds were those of others passing by on the midway and the carnival music drifting in slightly through the gaps in the tent.

There was no movement in the closed room, only the light grey smoke from the candle, which started to envelope the crystal, making for quite an eerie presentation.

“You two will be married in March of next year,” Belinda said. Do whatever you have to in order to make that happen.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and reached for Jim’s hand. “Soon after you marry, you will be taking your mother for a long ride. It will be out of state. Now I must go.”

With that, the mysterious woman got up and quickly departed the same way in which she had appeared.

“That certainly was strange,” Cathy said.

“Indeed it was,” replied Jim. “But eight months from now, you and I will be one!”

The pair stood, gave each other a huge hug and headed for the midway which awaited their discovery.

The courting of the two continued for the next several months, through the holidays and on into winter. Not wanting to jinx the reading they had received, Jim and Cathy planned a wedding in Jim’s house with his mom and a few close friends . . . and their dreams would soon be true. A March wedding was a bit different, but the two were deeply in love, and no matter the financial circumstances, they would make it happen.

Two weeks after the couple exchanged vows, Jim’s mother took a turn for the worse. With pneumonia complicated by heart problems, she quietly passed away one evening while sitting in her favorite chair, doing her entertaining crosswords.

Upon making the final arrangements for his mom, Jim found out she had already attended to such, and had most of the expenses in advance. The big surprise was discovering she was to be buried in her home town of Bethlehem, PA. That was over one hundred miles away. But it was what she wanted, so Jim was not one to change plans that had been set in advance.

Jim and Cathy followed the hearse the day of the funeral. Under some small maple trees on a beautiful mid-April afternoon, they said goodbye to this sweet lady who had done so much for them. As they motored their way back home, Jim and Cathy talked about the day they had been at the county fair—specifically, their encounter with Belinda in the tent, the marriage in March, and taking his mother for a long ride. A visit to a county fair fortune teller had produced the two opposite ends of life itself: a wedding and a funeral. Joy and grief.

As they continued North along the interstate, Jim pointed at a billboard just before they made their exit. It advertised the 85^th Annual Broome County Fair.

“Maybe we’ll pass the fair up this year,” Jim chuckled. Within the hour, the pair had arrived home.

Two years passed and Cathy, seven months pregnant, wanted to go back to talk with the lady at the fair to see if she could tell them if it were to be a boy or a girl. But Jim would have no part of it. “One trip in a lifetime to a fortune teller is more than enough,” he warned. Their daughter was born two months later. They named her Belinda, after the ravishing black-haired beauty who had foretold their marriage.

And perhaps another trip to the county fair?            Maybe next year.

The Loss of Buddy Holly.....part five

 

This is part five, and the last installment on that horrific crash on Feb.
3rd, 1959. If you missed any of the parts in this series, you can simply
scroll down to view them.  I hope you enjoyed the read....the events
are part of rock and roll history....and each year they continue to fade
into the fabric of time itself.

conclusions on the crash…

Before the NTSB, there was the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).  They were the official

agency in charge of investigating the who, what and why of the Holly plane crash.

The post crash investigation at the scene came to no immediate conclusions. The

instrumentation all appeared normal with gauges and readings in their acceptable

parameters.  The engine gave no clues to mechanical failure or loss of power, the

propeller hub upon inspection proved the engine was performing normally at the

point of impact.

There was no part or parts of the wing, or moveable control surfaces

 found far away from the aircraft that might indicate an early departure from the fuselage  before the crash. Upon reviewing the autopsy report of pilot Roger Peterson, nothing remarkable was found that would indicate a medical emergency that would affect his flying senses or motor functions.

His injuries as the other victims were of mass trauma including the head and brain.

The young pilot Peterson was certified to operate under visual flight rules; i.e.

you need to be able to SEE where you are going. On that particular night, the lack of

a good horizon, low clouds, minimal amount of ground lights in the little populated area

would all make for poor visual flying.  To my knowledge the CAB never attempted

 to calculate the final weight of the aircraft with its’ passengers,

fuel and luggage.. if the aircraft was overloaded and the center of gravity was

compromised the plane would be severely challenged to fly correctly.

The CAB in Sept. of 1959 said the following about the crash, quote:

‘At night, with an overcast sky, snow falling, no definite horizon and a proposed

flight over a sparsely settled area with an absence of ground lights, a requirement

for control of the aircraft solely by reference to flight instruments can be

predicted with virtual certainty. The board concludes that Pilot Peterson was

confronted with this situation. Because of fluctuation of the rate instruments

caused by gusty winds he would have been forced to concentrate and rely

greatly on the attitude gyro, an instrument with which he was not completely

familiar. The pitch display of this instrument is the reverse of the instrument

he was accustomed to; therefore, he could have been confused and thought

that he was making a climbing turn when in reality he was making a

descending turn. The weather briefing supplied to the pilot was seriously

inadequate in that it failed to even mention adverse flying conditions which

should have been highlighted.’

 In 2015, the NTSB, who succeeded the CAB had considered re-opening the crash investigation. That was proposed by a pilot L.J. Coon, who felt the first conclusions were not correct.

He thought a possible right rudder failure, fuel readings and that improper weight

distribution as mentioned above could be involved. Coon also thought that Peterson

may have tried to land the aircraft, a distinct possibility, and that his efforts should

be noted in the official record. The NTSB in 2016 considered re-opening the

investigation into the crash, but it never happened. And there you have it.

 There are rumors the plane still exists…..and that the Dwyer family has at

least part of it hidden away.

Within the past two years I tried to contact Mrs. Dwyer to ask about the location of

the remains of the airplane, but I never received any answer from her or

her family. (Jerry and Barb Dwyer, were the owners of the airplane.)

Jerry Dwyer passed away in Clear Lake in January 2016. He was writing a book

about the whole affair…his wife has stated she will continue and eventually

finish the book in his memory and honor.

February 3^rd, 1959, a date forever etched in rock and roll history.

The loss of Buddy Holly..... part 4

 

A pistol found and the exhumation of J.P. Richardson....

A few weeks after the Buddy Holly plane crash, farmer Albert Juhl was plowing the field

where the crash had occurred.  Holly owned a 22 caliber handgun and had placed it in the

bottom compartment of his overnight bag. During the crash, the bag had been thrown out

and had been torn open, dislodging the gun in the snow. It remained there and was found

the day farmer Juhl was plowing. Juhl took the gun and turned it into the local sheriff, but

not before firing the weapon himself. (There is difference of opinion on whether or not he

shared that ‘firing’ information with the sheriff.) ( Holly’s iconic black glasses were also

not found until much later in a snow bank.)   

After testing, it had been determined that the gun had been recently fired…. giving all

kinds of speculation that something might have happened on board that flight involving

the pistol. The facts finally surfaced, but not before planting a seed of inquiry into the mind

of Jay Richardson, only son of J.P. Richardson the Big Bopper.

It’s summer 2007, the Big Bopper’s son Jay Richardson wanted to have his father exhumed.

He had never seen his father, J.P. had died three months before Jay’s birth. There were

unanswered questions…how severe were his father’s injuries? On a long shot, was that pistol

involved in some way, shape or manner?  His father’s body was found the farthest from

the airplane wreckage… had he survived the crash and tried to go for help?  And so

Jay employed Dr. Bill Bass a credentialed forensic anthropologist to examine his father

upon his exhumation. The grave was at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaumont, Tx.

There were a few people present at the exhumation including a film crew. The grave was

opened, the vault was raised, opened and the metal Batesville Casket removed. It was

in extremely good shape for being interred 48 years. In a private setting later that morning

the casket was opened and Jay saw his father for the first time.

 By all accounts the Big Bopper was fully recognizable with his familiar 1959 crew-cut.

 The embalming had been superb, and the restorative art to his features also done well.

Dr. Bass and his assistants removed the body, performed an extensive examination and

multiple groupings of x-rays. Dr. Bass concluded and reported to Jay that there was

no foul play in the death of his father and that he had died from massive trauma, and

that he died instantly. (Dr. Bass noted that Richardson had more than 60 bone

fractures resulting from the accident.)  Batesville Casket Co. provided a new casket in

which J.P. was placed and a small procession drove him to his new resting place. The rumors

were nixed, Jay had seen his father for the first and only time, and had laid his father

back to rest. Sadly, Jay himself passed away in August of 2013.   

So the rumor that the pistol was somehow involved in the crash was finally

dismissed.  Jay Richardson finally got to see his father for the first time….it

must have been a  very bittersweet day for him, for sure.  

So what really happened that terrible morning?

I’m not an investigator by any means, but I actually think that within minutes

of taking off… Holly in the front seat…finding themselves in swirling, blinding

snow urged, or more forcefully, told Peterson the pilot to turn around and get

back to the airport a few short miles away. At the time of the crash, the

landing gear was not deployed, so the chance of him trying to land the aircraft

is quite remote. The engine was at normal cruise speed at the time of the

crash. Peterson may have been trying to gain altitude in an effort

to get above the weather he was confronting, but in actuality was making a

descending move not an ascending one.  I think Peterson, not instrument

rated, was very confused, spatially  disorientated, and lost control.

February 3^rd of 1959 is talked and written about a lot…even 63 years later.

The lack of sophisticated weather tracking, communications and equipment

were most likely also factors in that terrible day. Accidents similar to this are

rare today. The four lost that day will not be forgotten. Their memories will

be perpetuated as time marches on…and that’s the way it should be.

Next up and lastly; the conclusions about the crash

(You can scroll down for the first three parts of this story)

The Buddy Holly crash.....part 3

 

It's February 3rd, 1959, within a few minutes of 1:00 a.m. Young pilot Peterson takes off

from the Mason City Airport in very wintry conditions, with a new weather front coming 

his way from the Northwest.....

The short flight and the crash..

The crash site….

Unfortunately the Beechcraft with Buddy Holly and three others had not gone far.

In less than five minutes and traveling under six miles, the aircraft impacted the terrain

at high speed, descending into a steep bank, hitting the right tip of the wing and leaving

a trail of debris 450 feet long, the remainder of the fuselage rolling into a ball and stopping

at a fence line. Here was an eerie scene for those who arrived the next morning. Four young men with great potential lying around a shattered airplane in a field.

There were no witnesses to the crash. Upon exam, the instruments in the plane read as follows: fuel pressure, oil temperature and pressure gauges were stuck in the green or normal range.

The attitude gyro indicator was stopped in a reading indicating a 90 degree angle.

Also, the rate of climb indicator was stopped at 3,000 feet per minute descent.

The airspeed indicator was stopped showing between 165-170 mph. (At this speed

and rate of descent from 800 feet…it would only take about 15 seconds to impact)

The seat belts had all suffered failures either in their attachment points or buckles.

The violent force of the crash itself resulted in Holly, Richardson and Valens all being

thrown from the aircraft. The bodies of Holly and Valens were within twenty feet of the

fuselage, Richardson’s body was thrown across the fence line some forty feet and onto the

property of Oscar Moffitt. The pilot Peterson’s body was trapped in the cockpit. The deceased were all covered in light snow which had accumulated overnight. The aircraft did

 not catch fire,(with 39 gallons of fuel supposedly on board, it’s kind of unusual that

there was no fire, or even mention of any fuel residue being noticed at the site during

the investigation) the landing gear was retracted at the time of the crash. The propeller hub gave evidence that the engine was under power when hitting the ground. County coroner Ralph Smiley certified that all victims died instantly, cause of death ‘gross trauma to brain’ for the

three recording artists and brain damage for pilot Peterson. The bodies were removed

from the site that morning. The only autopsy performed was that on the pilot

Peterson. Only macroscopic physical exams noting injuries to substantiate cause of death were

performed on Holly, Richardson and Valens.  

Next up part 4;  the pistol found and the years later exhumation of the Big Bopper. 

parts 1 and 2 are found below....

The Buddy Holly crash....part 2.

 

 

The loss of Buddy Holly, part 2, the take off 

The take off and the very short flight…

At 12:55 a.m. on Tues. Feb. 3rd, pilot Roger Peterson eased the nose of the Beechcraft

Bonanza airplane out on runway 17 at the Mason City Airport. On board, Buddy Holly,

J.P. Richardson and Richie Valens. (Yes, Waylon Jennings gave up his seat to the Big

Bopper…Richardson was feeling ill with a cold or worse, so Jennings gave up his seat

to the Big Bopper. The actual famous ‘coin flip’ for one seat was between Tommy Allsup

and Richie Valens..the physical flip was made by local D.J. and M.C. Bob Hale.. and

Valens won the seat so he would be on board.) Holly was seated up front next to the

pilot Peterson, Valens and Richardson were seated directly behind them.

 The weather had down-graded a bit, but not significantly since the last weather check by Peterson and his boss Hubert Dwyer. The ceiling was now down to 3,000 feet from 6,000 feet, and a front was approaching with light snow, winds were 20 to 30 mph and visibility was 6 miles, the temperature was a frigid 18 degrees.

Unfortunately a ‘flash’ weather advisory issued a few minutes before 1:00 a.m. was

never received or passed on to the pilot.  A large mass of snow was moving in their

flight path from the Northwest, and visibility had been lowered to two miles. This would

be significant upon the post crash investigation later on. Remember, Peterson was flying VISUALLY, with no instrument ratings. The flight, only 311 miles would take about one

 and one half hours.

Hubert Dwyer watched as the airplane lifted off the runway, made an initial left turn

onto a northwesterly heading and started climbing to its’ designated flight level of 800 feet.

Dwyer watched the tail light of the aircraft as it disappeared out of view…. that was

just after 1:00 a.m. Peterson had planned to file a flight plan once in the air, and was

to radio Dwyer once settled in for the flight.  When Peterson had failed to make

contact, several attempts to communicate with the aircraft were made and all were

unsuccessful.

At daylight, Dwyer in another airplane, went to trace the route of Holly’s

plane…… and the wreckage was found less than 6 miles from the airport. It hadn’t gotten

far. Had there been a structure failure? Did Peterson quickly discover the weather was

worse than he thought and was he turning to go back? Did the plane have too much

weight with passengers and luggage? Was there an engine problem that

could have caused loss of power? All good questions which would eventually be

confronted.

Next up: the crash site 

(scroll down for part 1)

The Buddy Holly crash.....part 1

 

 If you are over 60...you'll remember this mishap..if under 60

 you will at least recall the music made famous by these folks.

 This is a five part series that will be updated every couple of 

 days...so please come back for it.  

Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson, Ritchie Valens and pilot Roger

Peterson....all in a Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, with luggage

and laundry stowed in the back. Within minutes after takeoff

all four would be part of rock and roll history. Here is their 

story............

So much has been written over the years concerning the death of

Buddy Holly.  Volumes of information; accident and investigation

reports, coroner’s notes, published books and articles that seem

to grow year after year.

There  were even rumors as late as 2005 that the NTSB might

re-open the crash investigation of the Holly crash in Feb. of 1959.,

but it didn’t happen.  This author has even made attempts to

reach family members to learn of where the aircraft remains are

now located…even after 63 years….but no responses have been

received  to my inquiries.

All the information in theses next few postings were taken from

public files, documents, police and coroners notes, etc.  And I write

about the event as a tribute to the young men who perished that

February 3^rd. Whether you liked his music or not, Buddy Holly was

a rising star, up there with Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis himself.

So let’s remember these young people, their music, their families

and their legacies….and kind of imagine…what could have been. 

Part 1, the Pilot, Roger Peterson

The pilot, Roger Peterson.  Age age 21, was young, having been licensed in 1954, Roger had accumulated 711 hours of flying experience, 128 of those hours in the Beechcraft  Bonanza, an aircraft with a strange v shaped tail assembly.  It was known as the ‘Dr. killer’ because it had many crashes involving amateur pilots, many of them physicians. The aircraft’s top speed

was 165-175 miles per hour, and this version of the aircraft seated the pilot, three passengers

and their luggage. (As I side note, I had flown in this aircraft configuration a couple of times

years ago. We used to fly from the old Palmyra airport to Syracuse and back. I remember

the cockpit being quite tight with not a lot of room.)

Roger’s boss Hubert Dwyer was owner of Dwyer’ flying service, owner of the aircraft which

was designated N3794N. On the evening of the incident, Monday Feb. 2^nd, both Dwyer and

Peterson had made several stops at the weather control center at the Mason City

airport.  The weather was wintry, light snow, winds from the south at 20 mph, ceiling

of 6,000 feet. Dwyer I’m sure was a bit concerned for the flight because of the three famous

people being transported later that night. But it’s quite evident he had confidence in Peterson who had accumulated his hours on charter flights. The flight was going to be 311 miles as the

‘crow flies’, from Mason City to Fargo, N.D.  Fargo’s airport was the closest to their next

gig to be held the following day in Moorhead, Minnesota.

And so it was that evening that pilot Peterson and his passengers of Holly, J.P. Richardson

and Ritchie Valens started on their fateful journey.

Was Peterson qualified for this evening’s flight? His boss Hubert Dwyer thought so…

even with the ‘famous’ people as his cargo, Dwyer had great confidence in young

Peterson and had sent him on many previous missions before.

As a note; pilot Peterson only had his visual flight rules certification. He had taken 9 months

before, his instrument rating exam and had failed it. So what did this mean? Well,

he would be flying by sight only, landmarks, horizon, lights. Using a compass and the on board

Sperry attitude gyro. Now that was another challenge. Peterson was used to flying with the

traditional horizontal horizon gyro….and not the Sperry gyro. This is a bit complicated, but

basically, incorrect readings can be taken if not totally familiar with the instrument.

There will be more about young Peterson in the final investigation report; that will be

in part five of this story in a few days.

The aircraft was loaded with the luggage and personals and Buddy Holly took the seat

in the front next to pilot Peterson, with Valens and Richardson sitting behind. A last check

and it was off to Fargo, N. Dakota and then to Moorhead for more rock and roll.

Next up: part 2; the takeoff, the short flight, the crash will be posted soon.