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Bill Barilko Found 44 Years Ago Today + Thurman Munson |
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June 7, 1962, the body of Bill Barilko is found45 miles north of Cochrane, Ontario. Barilko had been on a fishing trip with Dr. Henry Hudson a Timmins dentist on James Bay. They were set to return on August 25th, 1951 but they disappeared on their way back to Timmins. They were travelling in a Fairchild 24 pontoon plane, speculation is that the plane was weighed down by too many fish that the men caught on their trip. The plane was found in dense bush, partially submerged in water. The skeletal remains of both men were found strapped to their seats, and they were partly burned, which made investigators believe that they died on impact. The search for Barilko in 1951 was the most costly air search in Canadian history at aprice tagof $385,000. Barilko's plane was found by a helicopter pilot named Gary Fields who was on a timber cruising patrol. Fields noticed the wing of the plane sticking out of the bush. Unfortunately Fields took no location readings so the exact location was not known. He returned to his base and contacted the Department of Lands and Forests and they found the plane again. The search party landed their plane about 1.5 miles away from the wreckage and they walked through the knee deep swamp to the wreckage. There had been a $10,000 reward posted by the Maple Leafs in 1951 for the discovery of Barilko dead or alive, but that expired at the end of the year so Gary Fields was not able to collect. Two years before Barilko was found his family erected a tombstonefor him in a Timmins cemetery where he was buried a little over a week after he was found.
I have a picture of Barilko's grave, but can't add it to the site, if you want to see it, drop me an e-mail and I'll send it to you.
Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash in 1979, he was born on June 7th.
On the day Barilko was found the Leafs made a 5 for 1 minor league trade, acquiring Kent Douglas from Eddie Shore'sSpringfield Indians.
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