Plane Wreck not that of Omar Torrijos
Over the weekend residents of El Copé were stopped when they were seen towing parts from a crashed plane into town with a Jeep. People thought they had found the remains of the plane crash that killed Omar Torrijos. Upon further investigation, authorities discovered the parts were from a Cessna 206, tail number HP-740 that crashed on the 9th of July in 1979. Captian Félix Valenzuela died in that crash. In any case, the wreck they found was not that of Omar Torrijos.
The remains of three U.S. servicemen, missing in action since 1941, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors. They are Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Augustus J. Allen, of Myrtle Springs, Texas, Staff Sgt. James D. Cartwright, of Los Angeles, Calif., and Cpl. Paul R. Stubbs, of Haverhill, Mass. On June 8, 1941, Allen, Cartwright and Stubbs departed France Field, Panama in an O-47A aircraft, en route to Rio Hato, Panama. When the aircraft failed to arrive at its destination, a search was initiated by both air and ground forces, but with negative results.
