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Show CANYON 11 SEARGHEB FBI FLIER Believe Graham Died in Vicinity Vicin-ity ol Spot Where Wrecked Plane Was Found By Two Shecphcrders; Mail Intact. CEDAR CITY,. Utah. June 25 (UP) Spurred by the belie! be-lie! that , the body ot Maury Graham, missing airmail pilot,, may be found . somewhere some-where within a mile radius of his wrecked pianc, scores of volunteer, and organized searchers scoured the lough, mouri tainous region south of here today to-day in an attempt to complete the five months' hunt for the aviator. . The search was being led by ot-"oinls ot-"oinls of the western Air Express, and deputy sheriffs who stayen at :'he plane lost night after It had ,heen discovered by two young sheepherders, Ward Mortenson and Elhron Orion. The mall carried in the Western Air Express plan! was removed from the partially i wrecked fusllage today. j Old timers in this section be j lieved that Grahahi, possible slightly injured in the crash, died 1 when he attempted to wade through heavy snow and reach civilization. They said it would have been im-oossible im-oossible for. a man to go far Ir. the heavy snows that covered th mountains last January, unless equipped with snowshc-s. Many believed that Graham probably collapsed within half a mile of hii wrecked ship. .. Becnuso. of the extreme roughness rough-ness of the region, mombcrs-of the searching parties said it might re quire several days to make a minute min-ute inspection of the mountains and canyons Immediately adjacent to the plane. CEDAR CITY, June 24 U.P) An unopened parachute,, found by thft side of a. partially wrecked plane in the Wasatch Mountain range uf Utah, today was received at mute evidence that Mnury Graham, m-iHS-ing Western Air Express pilot, died in a snow storm during his mail run last January. Wing Damaged t The parachute was brought t to Cedar City, Utah, by Ward Morten-son Morten-son and Elbron O'Roton. sheep herdoi3 who discovered the wreckage. wreck-age. The chute was identified as Graham's Gra-ham's by Jim Carson,' associate of the missing pilot. Carson said he found in the chute a slip of paper Graham signed when he. had it Graham's disappearance as one of the most dramatic episodes of western aviation history. He left Los Angeles the night of January 0, and late the next day refueled at-' Los Vegas, Nov.,1 .bvr fore turning the nose of his plane into a raging snow storm . and heading for Salt' Lake City. , . When the flier laiied to arrive at his destination one of 'the greatest searches ever conducted for a missing miss-ing aviator was started. Hundreds of mountain residents . and scores of fliers participated in I the search which gained mo-1 ; menlum from time to time as 1 clews were reported. Several weeks, ago a sensation j was created when a mechanic j j working in Elk City. Okla., claimed to be Graham. His clftlms were declared de-clared a hoax. Graham, during the World war, made a distinguished record. He whs the American aviator who dis repacked and inspected :--,t June. I j It was believed that Graham j vaa unhurt or only slightly injured I when he was forced to land In ! I the mountainous region. It was feared, however, that he met death in the eight or ten foot snow drifts j as he attempted to fight his way ' to civilization. j Western Air Express wan i.jv j formed by Mortenson and O'Roton I that the mail compartment seemed to he intact and that only the j right wing of the plane was dam-l dam-l aged. The air company organized for a complete search of the moun-; moun-; tains for Graham's body. |
