Los Angeles Times, Saturday December 23 1944
Army officers and civilian authorities combined forces in ordering a search early today of the Sierra Madre Mountains for a plane, believed an Army plane, which reportedly crashed last night.
The original report of the crash was said to have come from two prisoners of County Camp No. 5 on Angeles Forest Highway leading to Palmdale.
The first report the prisoners saw a plane show a flash of fire, then smoke and that it then disappeared, falling to the north of the highway.
Camp officials reported the story to the Montrose Sheriff's substation, which relayed it to Army authorities. Last night five Army officers were at the first highway tunnel near the camp, making preparations for search today.
Boren Benton, public relations counselor, of 2330 Mountain Ave, La Crescenta, said he and other Boy Scout officials would lead a group of Scouts among civilians joining the search
Army rescue crews last night were removing the bodies of 10 flyers who perished when a B-24 Liberator bomber on a training mission from Muroc Army Airfield crashed and exploded Friday afternoon in mountainous terrain 1000 yards below Mt. Gleason, about 23 miles from Montrose.
Although bodies of some of the men had been removed from the crash scene last night, identification had not been completed and the removal of others will be resumed today. Pending identification of the dead, Army officials said all mean aboard the ship would be listed as "missing" and the next of kin have been notified to this effect.
Two men from the Los Angeles area, copilot and navigator, were on the ship.
They were 2nd Lt. Robert H. Asplund, 20 copilot, whose father, Henry T. Asplund, lives at 5120 Mt. Helena Ave. and Flight Officer Donald M. Pipkin, 21 whose fater is Glenwood R.Pipkin of 8055 California Ave., South Gate.
Others on the ship were;
2nd Lt. Berrett D. Corneille, 21 the pilot, of Olgesby, Ill., whose wife Dorothy lives at 1966 Vermont Ave.
Flight Officer Alan P. Dondaro,22 Medford, Mass,bombardier.
Cpl. Eugene L. Ferrin, 25 , Columbus Oh., Engineer, whose wife June lives at Muroc.
Cpl. Ruben F. Welk, 19, Bismark, N.D.,assistant engineer
Cpl. Elliot R. French, 19, Tucson, Ariz., radio operator.
Cpl. Robert E. Jacoby, 19, Mansfield, Oh., assistant radio operator.
Cpl. Peter P. Bobozich, 22 Chester, W.Va., armorer gunner.
Cpl. Jerry K. Stillinger,18, Columbus, Neb., whose mother Mrs. Lorene Stillinger, is visting his sister Mre. Thomas Barns, of 511 S. Serrano Ave.
Jeeploads of soldiers were rushed to the scene late yesterday afternoon to aqssist in removal operations. The scen of the crash is about 13 miles by winding roads from County Detention Camp No. 5 were inmates saw the plane go over a ridge and heard an explosion about 4:50m Friday.
Maj. M.R. Blacker, air surgon at Van Nuys Army Air Base, was in charge of rescue operations. More than 100 soldiers were called in and dozens of civillian volunteers stood by to help.
The plane, apprently returning to it's home base, struck the side of a ridge and parts of the ship were found over a scattered area. Bodies of the Army men aboard also were scattered over the slope, some burned beyond recognition except for identification tags.
Two searching parties started out over the hazardous terrain earlyyesterday, one led by Dep. Sherrif Lt. Sewell griggers and another by Thelmas Bidderson of the Forestry Service. It was Bidderson's pary that spotted the wreckage.
Ned Irvin and Notchel Birdsong, inmates at the County Cam, saw the Liberator flying low over a ridge, saw a plume of flame seconds later accompanied by a muffled explosion. It took them serveral minutes to convince officers at the camp that they had see a plane crashand it was the camp which gave the first report if tha accident.
In crashing the plane burned out a large area on the mountainside. Parts of the ship were see on the other side of the ridge into which it plummeted.