Obituary, below, from the Los Angeles Times of July 14,1932. Note the error in his first name, "Carl".
Obituary, LA Times, July 14, 1932
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Obituary, LA Times, July 14, 1932, P.2, Col. 2
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Bill Gilpin and four other people were involved in a crash in Mexico on the night of Wednesday July 13, 1932. Whereas all four of his passengers survived with relatively minor injuries, Gilpin was killed instantly. There was considerable newsprint devoted to the accident, which occurred in the area of the Toluca mountain range, in bad weather, about 30 miles from Mexico City. Interestingly, another Register pilot and passenger, Sterling Rohlfs and Wallace Springer had lost their lives in a plane crash in the same mountains about four years earlier.
Curiously, a lot of the column inches were spent on conjecturing the alleged "honeymoon" status of two of Gilpin's VIP passengers. James Crofton was president of the Caliente Club in southern California, and his new wife, Mona Rico, was a Mexican starlet. His other two passengers were Carlos Verdugo, a Mexican official and translator, and Mrs. Raymond Allen.
Glendale News Press, July 14, 1932
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Glendale News Press, July 14, 1932
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Obituary, Undated
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The papers picked up on Gilpin's desire to be cremated and to have his ashes scattered along his last route of flight. This was not to be. Although he was cremated, he is buried in a mausoleum (see below from the Glendale News)
Funeral Notice, July 20, 1932
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Obituary, July 16, 1932
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Wallet Theft, July 15, 1932
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As happens sometimes in the confusion that surrounds an emergency, some people just can't avoid taking advantage of the situation. The news article, right, reports the theft of a wallet belonging to passenger Crofton. Cash was missing from the wallet of passenger Verdugo as well.
Mona Rico survived her injuries and maintained a low-luster career in films into the late 1930s ("Zorro Rides Again"). Her relationship with Crofton was rocky, ending in divorce in the mid-30s.
They didn't give up, though. The gossip column in the Fresno Bee of
October 24, 1937 states, "Mona Rica [sic] in the hospital receiving messages every day from her estranged husband, Jim Crofton; their friends say there may be a reconciliation."
First Image of Crash Site, July 16, 1932
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UPLOADED: August, 2008 REVISED:
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