United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

[jeff of pa]

On June 17, 1948 Flight 624 Left California for a flight to New York, With 43 on board......... On Board were Earl Carrol, famous for his Vanities Showgirls, His Leading Lady, Beryl Wallace, Venita Varden, Comedian Jack Oakies wife, & many other stars & Dignitaries of the time. also on Board was a package Containing $250,000.00 in Cash & a Shipment of Uncut Diamonds. At 1:40 P.M. Eastern Time, The Plane hit a 66,000 Volt Substation Transformer , exploding over a Mountainside, Scattering everything evrywhere. ............ Newspapers of the time Reported the Search For The Cash & several Packets of burned Bills being Picked up along with most of the Diamonds, being picked up 1 by 1 from the Mud.......... after The Investigaters Ended their job, they declared the Site Cleaned up and Turned it back over to the Land Owners. A local Mining Company. the Site is being Stripped out for Coal Silt, to Fuel Electric Plants........................ 55 Years after the Crash , My Friend Rich & I obtained Permission to Search the site for 1 year. We received Written Permission Letters, which included Waivers, in case of Injury......... Here Are A few Of Our Finds. About half, of them are Mine, the Coins His, As I don't Have All the Pics of his, or mine.


Make up case, purse or Luggage Tag
for venita varden



or Vanities Showgirls



Vintage 14K 1/4 K Diamond Mason Ring





22K Gold Teeth


Sterling Silver Brooch


CRL Token's


Miscellaneous




Parts Inspection Tag





Largest Piece of Plane, Possibly part of Seat. 22 1/2 "



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[omnicognic]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

WOW! how long have you been hunting this site? That's awesome! thanx for sharing! 8)

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

one year. Our Permits were only good for a year. I'm hopeing Rich will come on & post his Ring also. IT will be in W&E's best finds next month

1948 Press Photo Lorena R. Berg, Victim of Airline Crash




Picture of VENITA VARDEN
Venita Varden was an actress, known for The Great Ziegfeld (1936). She was married to Jack Oakie




View attachment 86886

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

we were told By people up there That after the Site was released, the Locals went in with Screens. I can Only Imagine the Items Found Back Then. DID you see the date on the INSPECTION PLATE ? "Halloween"


Similar DC-6

 

[bergie]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Fascinating. Have you determined that the "V" is for Vanities show girs?

 

[stoneshirt]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Great work Jeff!!
I can't believe you found BOTH Cufflinks,whats the Odds on that?? Ken.Kinda Spooky.

 

[Rich in Central PA]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Here are 3 more rings that I found at the crash site.

1.? The "Signet Ring" has not been positively identified so if anybody has any ideas about the lettering and/or the side markings please let me know.

2.? This "Coin Ring" was made from a British Two Shillings coin known at the time as a King George V? Florin. It was most likely hand-made by one of the passengers while in WW2.

3.? This 1.5 karat 14K gold diamond ring has the initials inscribed inside A.B.S. It belonged to the passenger Arthur Butler Smith who was an Auditor with Brown Brothers Harriman bank in Brooklyn, NY. Unfortunately, there was no mention of any next of kin, but I'm still looking. Ring was professionally appraised for $8,250.00.

 

[bergie]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

What were the depths of some of these finds? Thank you.

 

[Rich in Central PA]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Some of the coins, rings, and other stuff were just under the topsoil to about 6 inches. Remember the plane crashed into a slush bank, which is loose coal dirt, and therefore the ground was still soft but compacted coal dirt. I do remember pulling out a quarter under some rocks and dirt at about 6 inches or so and the diamond ring was close to that...................Rich

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Great work Jeff!!
I can't believe you found BOTH Cufflinks,whats the Odds on that Ken.Kinda Spooky.

From the Time I found the first one Rich kept telling me the other one gotta be there. I thought "Yea Right, Needle in a Haystack" several month later on my way out, about 500 ft. from the first one, I found it? Thanks for noticing KEN ; jeff

 

[sgtfda]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Jeff

Check the area at night with a strong ultraviolet light. Some diamonds fluorescence a stong blue under UV.

 

[Rich in Central PA]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Here's a few more items that we found.?

1.Jeff found the sterling silver ladies brooch.
2. Jeff and Rich each found one of these from the CR & L lines.......Connecticut Railway & Light transportation tokens.
3. A closer look at the Mason ring that Jeff found.............has a 1/4 karat diamond in the center 14K

Update:CR&L Lines Tokens Found on site



1 Fare - C R & L Lines (New Britain, CT)

Were Most likely Property of 15 Year old Kay Thorpe
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 18 June 1948.

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...+624&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

 

[spotz]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Jeff! Did I ever mention that you are a DOG! One VERRY LUCKY DOG! Bet it was a lot of work. Average THers don't stop to think of all the time, labor, gas, etc. that goes into a find like this. Great job. Hope I do something beyond the norm someday. Spotz

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

THANKS SPOTS? & yes, about a 40 Mile Round trip Daily, for me. and we Dug well over 60 pounds of aircraft Metal, each piece about the size of a dime on average. plus. every night & rainy day, we were researching the Crash from all angles. Plus I put an Ad in the Paper, requesting original Newspapers From the Time. Which also meant Running back up to the area & talking to People who saw the plane crash, or Went to the Site to look.Rich Even got a tour of the site by a Fire Fighter who was there. which was very valuable, in nailing down the site,RICH was also running to librarys & doing his thing on the computer to find out what he could about the Passengers & Crew.Alot of Work, But when you Enjoy What you Do. it's Very Rewarding work jeff

 

[williefire]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

What else can I sa But "AWESOME"....hunt of a lifetime... Wade

 

[cheleinPA]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

This so totally cool! Ever since I was a young girl I have always dreamed of finding treasure, everywhere, even in water. It was so vivid to me, and not until recently, within in the past year, did I realize that there actually IS treasure out the to be found! I've watched divings and such on TV, but never realized that there could be some right in my own back yard! My brother used to go out metal detecting in the 80's, but gave it up. Maybe I should get him back into it and have me as a partner Of course finding a treasure for me would be awesome, not just for the value of something, but for the hunt, the thrill, after all, I would love for my "dreams" to come true! I live in Central PA, if there are any areas for me to check out, I would love to know, and how to go about doing so. Jeff, that is such an great find, I am excited for you! Good luck in your adventures down the road! cheleinPA

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Thanks Chelein & WELCOME. Just let me know where you are in Central Pa. Here, By PM or E-mail & I'll see what I can come up with for you ; jeff

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

What else can I sa But "AWESOME"....hunt of a lifetime...? Wade

Thanks Wade, But I'm hopeing Not The Last. I'm still trying to Find Something to top it. IT IS HARD THO' jeff

Pictures of
Beryl Wallace




& EARL CARROLL

 

[bergie]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Jeff--do you think there's still lots of stuff there? Can you get extended permission beyond that year?

 

[LelandGaunt]

Re: United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

Jeff--do you think there's still lots of stuff there? Can you get extended permission beyond that year?

Seconded... I live in Philly and have family from both Mt Carmel and Centralia. I've been meaning to visit there again.