United Airlines DC-6 Flight 624

[Rich in Central PA]

Jeff or Rich , I know you had permission to hunt the wreck site but do people go to Centralia and hunt the old home sites or is this not allowed because of the danger . Thanks and This is G R E A T? story. thanks for telling it.

Centralia is just about a ghost town with about a dozen dwellings remaining.? There are many foundations there and detecting is allowed...............no questions asked.? There are many yards, driveways, homesites, schoolyards, fields, etc., etc., as far as the trained eye can visualize.

I have been there many times as it is just about a 20 minite drive from my house.? I found my very first seated liberty dime there digging near a clothsline next to a huge oak tree.? The place is still burning underground and smoke can be seen, and cracks appear in the concrete and roads periodically due to the fire underground.? Its just a matter of time before everybody leaves............Rich

[Ads]

TreasureNet.com is the premier Treasure Hunting Forum on the internet. Registered Users do not see these ads. Please Register - It's Free!

[hollowpointred]

this is a fascinating thread! both the plane crash and the Centralia stories. nice finds thanks for sharing them with us!

[archmjr]

Wow, the Airline specific stuff is really cool and definitly the most historic!

Arch

[richg]

That is a great story! Very nice finds Jeff, and Rich in central pa. Keep up the good work!! Happy Hunting!!

[Born2Dtect]

Jeff, Your posting here is incredible. The finds look as if they want to speak and tell a story. The one that caught my eye was the tooth and partial/crown. My first thought was should it be given to authorities to help identify remains? Other the that the ring with initials possibly being returned to a relative all of the other finds should be added to your collection. Did you or your partner find any signs, such as when the coins were found, were they in cloth possibly coat pockets or pant pockets or purses? Man could I go on forever with questions but I won,t. Once again great finds and posts. Keep at it.

Ed Donovan

[jeff of pa]

ED, a Couple of Good Questions there.

On Giving anything to the Authorities at this point, the Crash happend in 1948, over 55 years ago, Pre DNA, & all the Boddies were I.D.'d even tho' some Reports say Different, They were All Definatly I.D.'d.? Local Papers List Names As they were I.D.'d,? ? and Exhumation, at this point, would not be done anyway, Because the Investigators, finished their Investigation over 55 years ago also.

as You May have seen Earlier, The ring with Initials, Found by Rich. has been I'D'.d to a Passenger, But All attempts to Locate a Relative have hit Dead Ends. he may have Been Single, & any Parents would have been at least in there late 30's 55 years ago, as he was a the Head of a Bank, he should have been in his 20's at least. & any Bro's or Sisters would also be in there 60's or older & even so, None Can be Traced so far. The Bank wont even give info, if they even have it.

we did find alot of Zippers, Suite Case Parts, Etc.
A couple of the Quarters Showed Signes of Having posably Scotch Tape Melted on them, as if they May Have Been taped fast to something, maby like inside A Suite Case Lid, for Emergencies ? or maby they were inside some kind of plastic Slots. SOME Coins showed signs Of intense Heat. some Even Burnt.

& some buttons, had some remains of Cloth.

An intresting Note on the Sterling Chain Bracelet, in the One Pic. that is 3 Pieces. I found 2 of the pieces at complete opposite ends of the Crash site & Rich found the Other Piece at another spot there.
? IF it was the Same Bracelet as it Looks, it Must Have Flew all Directions at Once. and May have Been an I.D. Bracelet.? ? however either The Investigaters, or Earlier Searchers, Got That, or it may still be there

Thanks ED, & All Again for looking and, for the Kind comments

[Born2Dtect]

Jeff,
Sounds like you and Rich did a real good job with the site, including efforts to help and or return what you could. I am impressed with your dedication to the hobby.

Keep detecting,
Keep digging,
Keep finding.

Ed

[ghost surf]

This is an amazing store..Did you ever think of doing a book, video or tape your hunting of this site for historical reference?It would be interesting reading how you thought about doing this sight,how you investigated it and then how you proceeded doing your search..It is sad that these people died such a tragic death..but with your dedication to finding the owners of these items, is just like so inspirational! I congratulate you all for doing such great work!Now this would be a great dedications store for a metal detecting show.Was there any news paper stoy on your search..I would like to read the information.

[jeff of pa]

There was a Story Done In a Local paper. I tryed to put it up, but link didn't work.

Was Mainly About the History of The Crash & the Landowners Supprise That after all theses years we were actually finding things.

[Rich in Central PA]

Update:? Complete illustrated story will appear in Treasure Cache 2006 coming out later on this year, I beleive in December 2005.? Title of the story will be:? "The Missing Cargo of United Air Lines Flight 624"...........Rich

[tammahawk]

CENTRALIA is open for Hunting.
I talked to A Local Township Police Officer, Who Told me No Problem.

The only Places in Centrailia where you would need on the Scene Permission, are in the Few Yards, where homes Remain.

And the Upper South Western Corner of the Former City, is all that is on Fire

whats so special about the centralia ghost town?, and wow what a cool find the crash site, but i must concure with that gentleman earlier, that tooth and filling were a pretty grusome find ,thought of what occured there wow. sounds like it was so bad only a few could be identified "ouch", and as far as the diamonds like the guy said, they might show up under different spectrums of light, be cool to find one or more of those ,if its soft coal dirt rake it up and use that light try the light 1st before u rake though , maybee you will turn something over i highly dought there sitting right on the top, maybee? you never know cool site good luck on your finds,tammahawk? ?ps,I did find a link to centralia, weird place heres the link, http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm

[NC Barefoot2]

That was an awesome story concerning the DC-6 crash. Thanks for sharing it with us. Also, some VERY, VERY nice finds since that took place.

[laois]

I did some prospecting there in 1971 and found several coins, one dime was partly melted. I have many parts ranging in size from about 2 inches in diameter to one foot in length, mostly parts of the outer skin of the aircraft. The most valuable things I found were two sets of "points" made of gold. These I am told were engine ignition points and they were mounted on a caliper like object about two inches long and the whole mechanism was in pretty good shape. I found all of this stuff by simply kicking around in the ground. I didn't use a metal detector. Myself and three others went back up there on Dec. 31, 1999 and found more airplane parts using a cheap metal detector. Both times, in 1971 and 1999, the site was still the way it was at the time of the crash and it has since been disturbed. I know others have gone over the site also but didn't come up with the kind of stuff you guys found. Anyway, the gold points in 1971 were worth 50 dollars apiece and there are four, so our gold is worth 200 dollars in 1971 and probably more now. In 1999 the concrete building which was part of the power substation was still standing and has since been destroyed by a bulldozer. It was a good reference point for plotting the debris field as it appeared in many news photos of the crash scene in 1948.

[jeff of pa]

Welcome Laois.
I remember Hearing about the Gold Points, you found,? last year sometime.

or was it the year before ?

"Time Flys."

Welcome to TreasureNet
Jeff

[pepperpump]

Now that site would be creepy, I don't think I could ever hunt it let alone go to the site...kinda sacred I would have to think. Good luck either way.
Pepperpump

[jeff of pa]

We were Contacted by The SON of one of the Passengers.

He was 7 at the Time of the Crash in 48.

and Wanted to see where it happend.

We had a VERY NICE Conversation, and Showed Him our Finds, and Newspaper Articles,
He Brought us Copys of the Actual ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION REPORT.

and We gave him a Few Remembrences to take along home.

I just had to Share this with Yous, Because at the Moment I'm on a REAL HIGH,
No Drug could EVER Produce

HAPPY HUNTING ALL !

Jeff

[surfrat96]

I'm sure you got a great feeling from it. Real nice of you to give him some stuff too! My hats off to you Jeff.

HH 8) surfrat

[caratjuice]

What a wonderful thing to do. This is one terrific ongoing story. Thanks for sharing it with us Jeff.

[Visionquest]

Very cool Jeff, good example for others to follow! The entire story is amazing and the way you all handled it is top notch!

-Mike

[dudes2112]

Way to go Jeff! Very cool.

Dudes