May 28, 2021 • 33 mins
Two congressmen vanish in Alaska in 1972.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Good evening. Search planes and fishing boats hunted along the
Alaska coast today for a small plane that disappeared yesterday
on a flight from Anchorage to Juneau. On that plane
four men, one of them the Democratic Leader of the
House of Representatives, hay O Boggs of Louisiana. The fifty
eight year old Louisiana congressman, was in Alaska campaigning for
the re election of that state's only Congressman, Nick Beggitt.
(00:29):
Boggs spoke Sunday night at a dinner for baggage at
an Anchorage hotel before leaving with him and others yesterday
morning on the flight to You know, it was a
warm reception, but then the next day trouble. Somewhere along
the five hundred and fifty mile planned flight path, the
plane disappeared in a rain store. Close your eyes, picture Alaska.
(01:07):
What do you see? Mountains, snow, waves, Do you feel cold? Alone?
Somewhere in that expanse lies the wreckage of a missing
cessna and the bodies of four men, including two US Congressmen.
Their disappearance on October six two prompted the largest search
(01:32):
in American history, a search that spanned thirty nine days
and covered three and twenty five thousand square miles. Yet
no sign of the men or they're plane ever surfaced,
No oil slick, no wreckage, nothing. Ever. This story is
(01:52):
one of the great mysteries of American history. But you've
probably never heard of it, and that's okay. Even in
nineteen seventy two, it vanished from the headlines within weeks.
A nation consumed with Watergate and Vietnam quickly moved on.
For the families of the men of Congressman Hail Bogs
and Nick Beggett, pilot Don John's, and political aid Russ Brown,
(02:14):
it was a slower process without a wreck. There were
no definitive answers, no closure. Eleven children, including the journalist
Coke Roberts and future U. S. Senator Mark Begets, lost
their fathers. The weather that day in two was turbulent,
(02:36):
the skies a violent gray. The plane was last heard
from near a rugged mountain pass. It was presumed to
have iced up and crashed, perhaps crumpled into a glacier
or submerged in frigid water. That presumption that the plane
was felled by ice explains in part why so little
attention has been paid to this story during the past
(02:56):
fifty years. Alaska, bad weather, a small plane, nothing special. Sure,
there were two congressmen on board, so what right? But
the story that was never told, the story I uncovered
during a nine year investigation, is much more complex. My
name is John Wallzac. I'm an investigative journalist based in
(03:17):
New Orleans, and since I've obtained thousands of pages of
government documents, interviewed dozens of people, and traveled all over
the nation researching the disappearance. What I learned is bizarre
and until now largely untold. Nearly fifty years after the
plane vanished, people are dying and time is running out.
(03:38):
This mystery will be solved now or will likely never
be solved. And to be honest, I'm exhausted, but I'm
making one final push to solve this case. I'm not
giving up yet, but I need your help. One last thing.
(03:58):
I struggled with whether or not I should even tell
this story or just let it be publishing It will
hurt people, It will drag out allegations of affairs and murder.
A few people, including FBI agents, journalists, and politicians, end
up looking good at the end. If you're in Alaska,
and you're hearing this for the first time. Ask yourself why,
(04:19):
because well connected people in your state no significant parts
of this story and they're not telling it to you.
But first some background. Let's flash back to October fift
n two. The only thing I remember was dead. My
(04:44):
husband tell me we were reception and expecting I don't
know people or something. That's Susan Millish. She and her
husband Donald, hosted a cocktail fundraiser for the congressman in
Anchorage the night before they disappeared. Donald remembers that Boggs,
who had just flown in from d C, was jet
(05:06):
lagged but jovial as he spoke to a small crowd
in front of a fireplace, was having a good time,
and they talked about their trip, and you know, Bobs
was excited about going down to southeast and country. And
that's about it. After the reception, the Congressman drove to
a dinner fundraiser in a packed hotel ballroom. Their final
(05:28):
public event. Alan Dodds Frank was a young reporter who
covered it for the Anchorage Daily News. Energetic, thoughtful speaker
who pumped up the crowd. He's got everybody is on
their feet and more important he was he was a
(05:50):
big attraction to raise money for Vegas and draw a
big crap box. Was indeed a v I p His
visit to Alaska was a big deal. He been friends
with the presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Was
expected to be elected the next Speaker of the House,
and in the nineteen sixties, during a pivotal moment in
American history, he had supported civil rights legislation, something which
(06:12):
almost cost him his seat in nine because I come
from a deep ship, but I have consistently believed in
the Bill of Rights, and I have voted for civil rights,
and I have voted for voting rights. Des I didn't
(06:36):
think the people of the territory of Alaska shouldn't be
second class citizens. I didn't think that the people who
have had a color of skin that was open from mine,
who lived in my community community, shouldn't be second class.
So I voted that boy. But perhaps what Boggs is
(06:59):
best known for war is his service on the Warrant Commission,
which investigated JFK's assassination. Inevitably, when people here I'm working
on this story, they ask whether or not I think
the congressman's disappearance had anything to do with Kennedy's death.
My answer is emphatically no. In private letters and public remarks,
Box expressed confidence in the commission's findings. The Warrant Commission
(07:24):
took testimony from many, many witnesses, well over a thousands uh.
The testimony runs in twenty six bound volumes and many,
many millions of words. It had its disposal, the complete
(07:45):
resources of the FBI, the Secret Service, c i A,
the Intelligence of the Army, Navy, Air Force, the State Department.
The only admonition we had was to find the truth,
and we sought the truth, and I my own conviction
is that we found it. I have my my own
(08:07):
conviction is it. There's no doubt about it. Even though
I found nothing indicating Box's disappearance had anything to do
with the Kennedy assassination, I did uncover serious allegations of
a different conspiracy. I'll get to that in due time.
For now, though, let me say this, it's amazing what
you can dig up with the Freedom of Information Act
request or a deep dive in an archive. Here are
(08:29):
two quick examples. One, on the night of July nineteen seventy,
someone in a late model Lincoln Continental forced Bogs off
the road in d C near the intersection of Woodley
Road and thirty fourth Street. Boggs gave chase and took
down a license plate number. Beyond that, I don't know
much the incident, which picture it a congressional car chase,
(08:50):
was only documented on a single sheet I obtained from
the FBI. Two. While digging through documents at Tulane University,
I found a letter dated December nineteen sixty three indicating
Bogg's plan to keep a diary while serving on the
Warrant Commission. That diary, if it existed, would obviously be
of immense interest to historians and conspiracy buffs alike behind
(09:12):
the scenes account of the investigation into the Kennedy assassination. Sadly,
though I found no proof Bogs followed through and actually
kept one, a member of his family told me they
were unaware of the existence of any diary. If Bogs
(09:33):
wasn't murdered because of his service on the Warren Commission,
some people say maybe he was killed because of his
feud with j Edgar Hoover, the infamous FBI director. I
don't buy it, but the feud was real. In April,
Bogs had taken to the floor of Congress to slam
Hoover and the FBI, which he compared to the Gestapo.
(09:56):
Hail Boggs, the Democratic leader of the House, insists that
his telephone has been tapped, that the FBI has spying
on his personal life, and, as he puts it, we
are living in a police state today. The FBI said
the charge was, in its words, absolutely and utterly false,
but Boggs was insistent. He said j Edgar Hoover was
(10:18):
incompetent and should resign. And he asked the question, if
this can happen to the majority leader of the House
of Representatives, what do you think could happen to an
ordinary citizen. The Nixon administration was piste off, and it
pushed back. Attorney General John Mitchell accused Boggs of quote
tap anoia. At the White House. President Nixon was ironically
(10:41):
caught on tape discussing Bogs with then Congressman Gerald Ford,
who didn't know he was being recorded. Good morning, the surprise, Jerry,
are you what's the matter with your opposite number? He's
not my god. I when I read the spar last night,
and incidentally, I thought you made fine comment it I uh,
(11:02):
I said Jesus Key right. Did you know that the
FBI has not had a tip I don't knowing, not
only on no congressman or no old senator, but not
even any place anybody that is ever the moment that
crossed into that capital for did you know that? I
didn't know that. But I mean, oh, Hoover has got
the record. I mean, this is the most ridiculous stamping.
(11:24):
And but the fellow is uh, it's he's on the sauce,
isn't it it? Well, I I'm afraid that's right now.
Is crazy. I mean he's either drinking too much or
he's taking some pills that that are upsetting him mentally.
Last Thursday when we were getting the program for the week,
he was mumbling. He was almost incoherent. It was very
(11:50):
embarrassing to Carl and to everybody who was on the floor. Yeah,
Bogs like to drink, sure, but Nickson like to slander people.
And I have no idea of any of this is true. Regardless,
as NBC's David Brinkley pointed out, their Bad Blood did
highlight bitter tensions in the body politic. As Bog said,
numerous members of Congress believe at least that their phones
(12:12):
are tapped and they're being spied on, or both. Even
if they believe this wrongly, the fact they believe it
at all tells a great deal about the mood and
temper in Washington these days. Ultimately, there's no evidence Hoover
had anything to do with Box's disappearance. In fact, Hoover
himself died in May, five months before Bog's vanished. When
(13:01):
Boggs landed in Alaska on October, he found a state
undergoing a rapid transformation. Only four years earlier, Alaskans had
discovered they were sitting on a sea of gold, black gold.
That's the camp on the first oil well struck on
the North Slope in Alaska. This country's biggest oil strike
(13:23):
in a generation, bigger than Texas. This is the shore
of Prudeo Bay. But it's hard to tell where the
shore stops in the bay starts, because the so called
land in summer is two thirds water and one third
mud tundra it's called In the winter, it's all frozen.
Since we're well inside the Arctic Circle up toward the
(13:44):
North Pole. It's so cold here in the winter, sixty
below zero with the wind blowing. Even the Esquimos left
a long time ago, and until now the Caribou had
it all to themselves. But now with the oil strike,
the oil companies are moving in and drooling and building
camps for their workers. It's about as rough as in
(14:06):
the Alaska gold rush of the eighteen nineties, and the
man are just as tough. But before Alaska could reap
the benefits of that oil, a pipeline needed to be constructed.
And before a pipeline could be constructed, there were legal
and political obstacles to overcome, including demands from Alaska Natives
that they'd be compensated for their land across which part
(14:26):
of the pipeline would be built. This is how Nick
Beggett got a chance to make a massive, lasting impact
on the state and the nation. In his first and
only term in Congress, Beggatt's helped pass the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act, or ANKSA, which President Nixon signed into law.
ANKSA gave Alaska Natives forty four million acres of land
(14:47):
and nearly one billion dollars, paving the way for pipeline
construction to eventually begin. Beggatt's raw political talent driven by
an earnest nerdy charm and infectious laugh and a hard
charging work ethic through the attention of leaders like hell Bogs.
By this time I've gotten very fund of him, and
also admit his wife and I liked it. But if
(15:09):
any ways, This is the final recording of Bogs, taken
the night before he disappeared. In it, he discusses the
turbulent political moment and fears of creeping authoritarianism, but ultimately
I took chalitarian phone government comes along. Of course, the
(15:33):
idea of any such thing occurring of necessary in this
country is ridiculous. The idea that we should have twenty
five percent of the industrial capacity of the United States
lying on today, when every city needs rebuilding, when project
(15:57):
after project after project, cry is out, you're shopping that.
I reject off that. After Bogs finished speaking, Begette took
the podium. Though he was expected to easily win re election,
he didn't want to take victory for granted, that wasn't
his style. He had a busy few weeks planned, will
(16:18):
be in the state the next approximate twenty one days
through the end of making approximately two appearances from now on,
and we want you to know that Hale says, where
do you get the energy when you get people turned
out like this? For you, you you get the energy and return.
It's spontaneous with me and I sort of lived off
the match, off the galls of crowds. Anything more than
(16:38):
two gets me going tonight. We got quite a few tunes,
so okay, not sleep tonight. This tape rediscovered in fades
in and out to Carol and Carol, Lonnie and Barbara
and doctor and mus Lay and A Cram and all
of you made this affair such a success tonight. This
(17:00):
is one time I was not too closely associated with
the event as I have in the past. That too
many things along the last two the recent and with
that the video cuts out. Eight days earlier, on October seventh,
(17:26):
Beggae had given his final recorded interview to Tom Duncan
of k u a C, a radio station in Fairbanks.
Congressman Baggage, I'd like to shift the scene from Alaska
to Washington. Do you feel that the Watergate affair will
have any influence on President Nixon's campaign for re election? Oh? Shared, well,
I think all of these things. In fact, I call
that I'm sure you've heard of mission impossible. I call
(17:51):
that mission incredible, the most incredible thing I've ever imagined.
When Mr Nixon way back in those days, way way
ahead points totals, and to get connected with this kind
of thing and just it was well, it was insulting
to the American system, a fair play. Americans react to that,
(18:12):
and I could see why he's trying to disavow any
association with that affair. I would if I were in
his position too, because the most incredible that you'd have
it tied to the higher ischela that's being tied right now,
and there's been some real revelations the last couple of days. Baggage,
a clean, scandal free politician, denounced Nixon's behavior but recognized
(18:34):
that the president remained popular. He predicted Nixon's Democratic opponent,
Senator George McGovern, who was down in the polls, would
come out swinging, and said the race was still unpredictable,
so it might be an interesting campaign. Yet, don't underestimate
the American public this year. Nobody can come count what's
gonna happen. Strange year. Indeed, whoever thought the year ago
(18:58):
the McGovern would be the cadidate? I didn't be very
honest about it. Neither did my government. Maybe with six
percent of the vote. You know, back in Florida, look
what happened, Congressman beg thank you very much as Begat
and Bogg's campaign an anchorage. On October, Don John's, a
thirty eight year old blonde haired, blue eyed bush pilot
(19:20):
in Fairbanks, three d and sixty miles to the north,
got an unexpected call. His friend Tom Cora Mettis was
with him when the phone rang. And I went over
to Don's place and gave that call, and Don says, Tom,
let's go. I said, where are we going? He said,
I got to go to Anchor supply. This guy too
(19:41):
Beggage and this guy to Juno. I said, I can.
I left Sandra over at Barry's place. Sandra was Tom's wife,
and he said, okay, I've got to go, and that's
when he backed up and took off. But before he
drove to the airport, John's called one of his mechanics,
Phil Hugh, who had just finished a hundred hour maintenance
(20:02):
inspection on the plane. John's wanted to take the anchorage,
and he called me in the evening about six o'clock
and nice says, it's sitting in the hangar warm. He says, well,
could you roll it out? I need that aircraft and
roll it out and feel it up for me. I says, okay. Well,
when he got there, the airplane was sitting outside, fueled up,
(20:25):
ready to go, and I met him. He says he
was going to anchor each with it and spend spending
the night. Do you remember the last thing he said
to you? Goodbye? I will you know? Yeah. He walked
around the air plane, done a pre flight check, and
(20:49):
I did most of the talking. I told him about
the airplane. Everything was button up, everything looked good. It
was fixed, fueled oils fine, spark plugs are clean. This
would be the first flight out of it. And he
went and got an airplane and closed the door, and
(21:09):
before he did, I said, they have a good flight.
Fired up the engine. He waved to me out the
cockpit window and start taxing out and then get kind
of windy standing in the back of the props. And
so I turned around and walked to the truck. When
I walked back to the hangar, which was real close,
(21:31):
shut the lights out, closed the door, and went home.
At M John's landed an Anchorage fifty minutes later, as
Bogs and Beggett spoke only a few miles away, Cheryl James,
then Cheryl Mitchell met him at the airport. John's and
(21:53):
James had dated for about a year. I picked him
up the airport. We went out and we had dinner
new Um. He wouldn't drink. I think he had one drink,
and that's it. Because he was flying, he really restricted
his alcohol intake. I remember during the night he woke
up like two times and checked the weather forecast because
he was really concerned about weather, and that back then
(22:16):
was a matter of picking up a phone landline phone
and calling. And then I took him to the airport
the next day. That morning, John's and James arrived at
the airport sometime before eight am. We went to the
airport and we had breakfast, and then after breakfast, and
I think that may have been where he called John's
(22:38):
who was divorced, placed a brief call to his ten
year old son, Aaron, and then we um went to
the aircraft. It was parked below the tower, got in
the aircraft and we taxied over and got gas, Um
filled up the plane and then we taxied back That
probably took maybe half an hour, I'm guessing. When we
(23:02):
got back there were three men standing there waiting for us,
and uh, he parked the plane and we both got out.
We kind of introduced ourselves to each other, and um,
they got him ber the aircraft. Cheryld. James left shortly after.
She didn't see the plane take off. Is it surreal
(23:24):
to you that you played a small part in history,
that you were the very last person to see these
men alive? These men who had families and bogs, who
was a historic figure, who was on the Warrant Commission
and played a role in passing civil rights legislation, and
(23:46):
you were the very last human being on the planet
to see them alive. I it's really hard to believe
that I was the last person. I mean, it just
and I don't think of it in that. I just
think of them all getting on board that airplane and
that being the end um the last one. It's hard
(24:10):
to believe. At John's requested permission to taxi down Runaway
twenty four, R found a drive that four minutes later
(24:35):
he lifted off. Melvin South, a controlled tower operator, was
(24:56):
the last person to spot the plane, A white and
orange cessa of three Tennessee, everything appeared normal. At nine
o nine, John spoke with Robert Mahoney, an f A,
a flight service specialist for years. I tried to locate
a tape of their conversation, but had no luck. The
f A says it no longer exists. John's estimated the
(25:18):
flight would take about three and a half hours. Mahoney
asked whether or not he had emergency gear and a
locator beacon on board, and John's replied affirmative. Then silence.
(25:57):
At one pm, forty five minutes after the plane was
scheduled to land in Juno, word reached the US Air
Force Rescue Coordination Center that the men were overdue. At three,
when the plane still hadn't arrived and when it theoretically
would have run out of fuel, concern ratchet it up.
It affected everyone in town. It was like wildfire package box.
(26:18):
The plane didn't arrives baggage, and the whole town was paralyzed.
It was it was just frozen moment, and of course
it always is with a plane crash. Um. We in
the state of Alaska don't have many roads, so our
means of transportation or airplanes, so it's nothing and we
don't even think about it. I'm gonna just top the
(26:38):
plane and go to Juno, go to Anchorage, go to
non Contibute. It's our means and mode of travel. So
it's always frightening when you hear the plane didn't derive.
Ah missing late, and everyone has the same paralysis in
their brain. Oh my god, where are they? TERSA Gergson
(27:01):
was a Civil Air Patrol volunteer in Juno. She was
working at a shoe store when the call came in
that the plane was overdue. I just remember it was serious.
It was you know, time stopped. It was very serious.
People then were just hushed. Everyone was talking. The planet
(27:21):
is messing out, you know. It was just because then
people because then activity started happening in the little shoe store.
People were in and out the door, and what would
soon morph into a massive search operation began simply enough,
with the help of fishing boats, volunteer pilots, and a
few military planes. But there was only so much they
(27:45):
could do. The weather was bad and it was getting
dark across the country. And besides the Maryland Lyndy Boggs,
Hale's wife was dozing off at her kitchen table with
Rowan and Martin's laughing and blaring on the TV. Here
she is recalling that moment. It was almost asleep. I
(28:08):
was waiting for hal to come in from the airport
in Washington, and I I had a telephone call that
startled me just because I was half asleep, and completely
startled my little dog. And the dog tried to get
(28:28):
between me and the telephone. He jumped on to the
table where the phone was, tried to knock the phone
out of my hand. Yes, like he knew. And it
was Carl Albert telling me that he didn't want me
to hear the ten o'clock news. To the speak of
the half, I really wanted to interview Lindy, but in July,
(28:52):
only two weeks before I moved to New Orleans, she
died at the age of of course, was shot and
and apprehensive and all of that. But by the time
we hung up the phone, of course, and began to
ring off the hook, and two of the people who
(29:14):
called were Teddy Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, both of whom
had been down in planes with the pilot with Don
Johns on other occasions, and who testified to me in
glowing terms about what an ingenious and remarkable person, and
pilot Don was and that I should not lead too
(29:38):
apprehensive about all of this. Meanwhile, about ten miles away,
the Beggatte family, Nick's wife, Peggy, and their six young
kids were watching a cop show called The Rookies when
their phone rang. Ten year old Mark picked up. It
(29:58):
was Alaska Governor Bill In Peggy took the phone. When
she returned to the living room, she abruptly told the
kids to go to bed. They scurried off, and she
started calling family and friends to let them know Nick
was missing. Later that night, several Ham radios crackled to
(30:26):
life in rural northern California. Operators heard a man a pilot,
begging for help. Next time on Missing in Alaska, they
notified of what they heard of the plane going down
close to some islander land and he out and they
(30:48):
going down. Before we go, I want to let you
know that at the end of each episode, I'll be
giving you a task, something you can do or some
way you can help move the story forward. And then
I'll give you our tipline and details on how to
anonymously send us information or even documents via email. Some
(31:11):
of these hasks will be interactive and relatively easy. Some
will be specialized and difficult. The goal is to add you,
our audience, to our investigative team. This week, you have
three tasks. First, help me find a recording of the
final conversation between Don John's, the missing pilot, and Robert Mahoney,
an f A, a flight service specialist. A tape existed
(31:33):
at least in nineteen seventy two. So far, the FAA
has been unable to locate it, saying it was likely destroyed.
If you know where it might be in some musty box,
feel free to contact us. Second, help me figure out
who took the last known photo of the missing congressman.
It's a black and white image of them getting into
a car at the Anchorage Airport, probably right after hill
(31:56):
Bogs arrived from DC on October two. Multiple newspapers around
the nation published it, crediting the Associated Press, but I'm
not sure if it was taken by an AP photographer
or more likely by a photographer for one of the
anchor's papers. We'll post the photo online for you to see. Finally,
if you know anyone who attended the congressman's final events,
(32:18):
the cocktail fundraiser at the Melish's house or the dinner
at the anchor's Westward Hotel. Check with them to see
if they have any photos from that night. If so,
let us know. You can reach us by phone at
one eight three three m I A tips that's one
eight three three six four two eight four seven seven
again one eight three three six four two eight four
(32:42):
seven seven, Or you can reach us via email at
tips at iHeart media dot com. That's tips, T I
P s at I heeart media dot com. Ben Bolan
is our executive producer. Paul Decan is our supervising producer,
Chris Brown is our assistant producer, Seth Nicholas Johnson is
our producer. Sam T. Garden is our research assistant. And
(33:05):
I'm your host and executive producer, John Wallzac. You can
find me on Twitter at at John Wallzac j O
n w A l c z a K. Footage for
this episode was provided by CBS, NBC k u A
C Louisiana Public Broadcasting in the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
special thanks to the Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University,
(33:28):
the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections,
and Archives at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Christophe
Zappery in New Orleans. Missing in Alaska is a co
production of iHeart Media and Greenfork Media.
Good evening. Search planes and fishing boats hunted along the
Alaska coast today for a small plane that disappeared yesterday
on a flight from Anchorage to Juneau. On that plane
four men, one of them the Democratic Leader of the
House of Representatives, hay O Boggs of Louisiana. The fifty
eight year old Louisiana congressman, was in Alaska campaigning for
the re election of that state's only Congressman, Nick Beggitt.
(00:29):
Boggs spoke Sunday night at a dinner for baggage at
an Anchorage hotel before leaving with him and others yesterday
morning on the flight to You know, it was a
warm reception, but then the next day trouble. Somewhere along
the five hundred and fifty mile planned flight path, the
plane disappeared in a rain store. Close your eyes, picture Alaska.
(01:07):
What do you see? Mountains, snow, waves, Do you feel cold? Alone?
Somewhere in that expanse lies the wreckage of a missing
cessna and the bodies of four men, including two US Congressmen.
Their disappearance on October six two prompted the largest search
(01:32):
in American history, a search that spanned thirty nine days
and covered three and twenty five thousand square miles. Yet
no sign of the men or they're plane ever surfaced,
No oil slick, no wreckage, nothing. Ever. This story is
(01:52):
one of the great mysteries of American history. But you've
probably never heard of it, and that's okay. Even in
nineteen seventy two, it vanished from the headlines within weeks.
A nation consumed with Watergate and Vietnam quickly moved on.
For the families of the men of Congressman Hail Bogs
and Nick Beggett, pilot Don John's, and political aid Russ Brown,
(02:14):
it was a slower process without a wreck. There were
no definitive answers, no closure. Eleven children, including the journalist
Coke Roberts and future U. S. Senator Mark Begets, lost
their fathers. The weather that day in two was turbulent,
(02:36):
the skies a violent gray. The plane was last heard
from near a rugged mountain pass. It was presumed to
have iced up and crashed, perhaps crumpled into a glacier
or submerged in frigid water. That presumption that the plane
was felled by ice explains in part why so little
attention has been paid to this story during the past
(02:56):
fifty years. Alaska, bad weather, a small plane, nothing special. Sure,
there were two congressmen on board, so what right? But
the story that was never told, the story I uncovered
during a nine year investigation, is much more complex. My
name is John Wallzac. I'm an investigative journalist based in
(03:17):
New Orleans, and since I've obtained thousands of pages of
government documents, interviewed dozens of people, and traveled all over
the nation researching the disappearance. What I learned is bizarre
and until now largely untold. Nearly fifty years after the
plane vanished, people are dying and time is running out.
(03:38):
This mystery will be solved now or will likely never
be solved. And to be honest, I'm exhausted, but I'm
making one final push to solve this case. I'm not
giving up yet, but I need your help. One last thing.
(03:58):
I struggled with whether or not I should even tell
this story or just let it be publishing It will
hurt people, It will drag out allegations of affairs and murder.
A few people, including FBI agents, journalists, and politicians, end
up looking good at the end. If you're in Alaska,
and you're hearing this for the first time. Ask yourself why,
(04:19):
because well connected people in your state no significant parts
of this story and they're not telling it to you.
But first some background. Let's flash back to October fift
n two. The only thing I remember was dead. My
(04:44):
husband tell me we were reception and expecting I don't
know people or something. That's Susan Millish. She and her
husband Donald, hosted a cocktail fundraiser for the congressman in
Anchorage the night before they disappeared. Donald remembers that Boggs,
who had just flown in from d C, was jet
(05:06):
lagged but jovial as he spoke to a small crowd
in front of a fireplace, was having a good time,
and they talked about their trip, and you know, Bobs
was excited about going down to southeast and country. And
that's about it. After the reception, the Congressman drove to
a dinner fundraiser in a packed hotel ballroom. Their final
(05:28):
public event. Alan Dodds Frank was a young reporter who
covered it for the Anchorage Daily News. Energetic, thoughtful speaker
who pumped up the crowd. He's got everybody is on
their feet and more important he was he was a
(05:50):
big attraction to raise money for Vegas and draw a
big crap box. Was indeed a v I p His
visit to Alaska was a big deal. He been friends
with the presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Was
expected to be elected the next Speaker of the House,
and in the nineteen sixties, during a pivotal moment in
American history, he had supported civil rights legislation, something which
(06:12):
almost cost him his seat in nine because I come
from a deep ship, but I have consistently believed in
the Bill of Rights, and I have voted for civil rights,
and I have voted for voting rights. Des I didn't
(06:36):
think the people of the territory of Alaska shouldn't be
second class citizens. I didn't think that the people who
have had a color of skin that was open from mine,
who lived in my community community, shouldn't be second class.
So I voted that boy. But perhaps what Boggs is
(06:59):
best known for war is his service on the Warrant Commission,
which investigated JFK's assassination. Inevitably, when people here I'm working
on this story, they ask whether or not I think
the congressman's disappearance had anything to do with Kennedy's death.
My answer is emphatically no. In private letters and public remarks,
Box expressed confidence in the commission's findings. The Warrant Commission
(07:24):
took testimony from many, many witnesses, well over a thousands uh.
The testimony runs in twenty six bound volumes and many,
many millions of words. It had its disposal, the complete
(07:45):
resources of the FBI, the Secret Service, c i A,
the Intelligence of the Army, Navy, Air Force, the State Department.
The only admonition we had was to find the truth,
and we sought the truth, and I my own conviction
is that we found it. I have my my own
(08:07):
conviction is it. There's no doubt about it. Even though
I found nothing indicating Box's disappearance had anything to do
with the Kennedy assassination, I did uncover serious allegations of
a different conspiracy. I'll get to that in due time.
For now, though, let me say this, it's amazing what
you can dig up with the Freedom of Information Act
request or a deep dive in an archive. Here are
(08:29):
two quick examples. One, on the night of July nineteen seventy,
someone in a late model Lincoln Continental forced Bogs off
the road in d C near the intersection of Woodley
Road and thirty fourth Street. Boggs gave chase and took
down a license plate number. Beyond that, I don't know
much the incident, which picture it a congressional car chase,
(08:50):
was only documented on a single sheet I obtained from
the FBI. Two. While digging through documents at Tulane University,
I found a letter dated December nineteen sixty three indicating
Bogg's plan to keep a diary while serving on the
Warrant Commission. That diary, if it existed, would obviously be
of immense interest to historians and conspiracy buffs alike behind
(09:12):
the scenes account of the investigation into the Kennedy assassination. Sadly,
though I found no proof Bogs followed through and actually
kept one, a member of his family told me they
were unaware of the existence of any diary. If Bogs
(09:33):
wasn't murdered because of his service on the Warren Commission,
some people say maybe he was killed because of his
feud with j Edgar Hoover, the infamous FBI director. I
don't buy it, but the feud was real. In April,
Bogs had taken to the floor of Congress to slam
Hoover and the FBI, which he compared to the Gestapo.
(09:56):
Hail Boggs, the Democratic leader of the House, insists that
his telephone has been tapped, that the FBI has spying
on his personal life, and, as he puts it, we
are living in a police state today. The FBI said
the charge was, in its words, absolutely and utterly false,
but Boggs was insistent. He said j Edgar Hoover was
(10:18):
incompetent and should resign. And he asked the question, if
this can happen to the majority leader of the House
of Representatives, what do you think could happen to an
ordinary citizen. The Nixon administration was piste off, and it
pushed back. Attorney General John Mitchell accused Boggs of quote
tap anoia. At the White House. President Nixon was ironically
(10:41):
caught on tape discussing Bogs with then Congressman Gerald Ford,
who didn't know he was being recorded. Good morning, the surprise, Jerry,
are you what's the matter with your opposite number? He's
not my god. I when I read the spar last night,
and incidentally, I thought you made fine comment it I uh,
(11:02):
I said Jesus Key right. Did you know that the
FBI has not had a tip I don't knowing, not
only on no congressman or no old senator, but not
even any place anybody that is ever the moment that
crossed into that capital for did you know that? I
didn't know that. But I mean, oh, Hoover has got
the record. I mean, this is the most ridiculous stamping.
(11:24):
And but the fellow is uh, it's he's on the sauce,
isn't it it? Well, I I'm afraid that's right now.
Is crazy. I mean he's either drinking too much or
he's taking some pills that that are upsetting him mentally.
Last Thursday when we were getting the program for the week,
he was mumbling. He was almost incoherent. It was very
(11:50):
embarrassing to Carl and to everybody who was on the floor. Yeah,
Bogs like to drink, sure, but Nickson like to slander people.
And I have no idea of any of this is true. Regardless,
as NBC's David Brinkley pointed out, their Bad Blood did
highlight bitter tensions in the body politic. As Bog said,
numerous members of Congress believe at least that their phones
(12:12):
are tapped and they're being spied on, or both. Even
if they believe this wrongly, the fact they believe it
at all tells a great deal about the mood and
temper in Washington these days. Ultimately, there's no evidence Hoover
had anything to do with Box's disappearance. In fact, Hoover
himself died in May, five months before Bog's vanished. When
(13:01):
Boggs landed in Alaska on October, he found a state
undergoing a rapid transformation. Only four years earlier, Alaskans had
discovered they were sitting on a sea of gold, black gold.
That's the camp on the first oil well struck on
the North Slope in Alaska. This country's biggest oil strike
(13:23):
in a generation, bigger than Texas. This is the shore
of Prudeo Bay. But it's hard to tell where the
shore stops in the bay starts, because the so called
land in summer is two thirds water and one third
mud tundra it's called In the winter, it's all frozen.
Since we're well inside the Arctic Circle up toward the
(13:44):
North Pole. It's so cold here in the winter, sixty
below zero with the wind blowing. Even the Esquimos left
a long time ago, and until now the Caribou had
it all to themselves. But now with the oil strike,
the oil companies are moving in and drooling and building
camps for their workers. It's about as rough as in
(14:06):
the Alaska gold rush of the eighteen nineties, and the
man are just as tough. But before Alaska could reap
the benefits of that oil, a pipeline needed to be constructed.
And before a pipeline could be constructed, there were legal
and political obstacles to overcome, including demands from Alaska Natives
that they'd be compensated for their land across which part
(14:26):
of the pipeline would be built. This is how Nick
Beggett got a chance to make a massive, lasting impact
on the state and the nation. In his first and
only term in Congress, Beggatt's helped pass the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act, or ANKSA, which President Nixon signed into law.
ANKSA gave Alaska Natives forty four million acres of land
(14:47):
and nearly one billion dollars, paving the way for pipeline
construction to eventually begin. Beggatt's raw political talent driven by
an earnest nerdy charm and infectious laugh and a hard
charging work ethic through the attention of leaders like hell Bogs.
By this time I've gotten very fund of him, and
also admit his wife and I liked it. But if
(15:09):
any ways, This is the final recording of Bogs, taken
the night before he disappeared. In it, he discusses the
turbulent political moment and fears of creeping authoritarianism, but ultimately
I took chalitarian phone government comes along. Of course, the
(15:33):
idea of any such thing occurring of necessary in this
country is ridiculous. The idea that we should have twenty
five percent of the industrial capacity of the United States
lying on today, when every city needs rebuilding, when project
(15:57):
after project after project, cry is out, you're shopping that.
I reject off that. After Bogs finished speaking, Begette took
the podium. Though he was expected to easily win re election,
he didn't want to take victory for granted, that wasn't
his style. He had a busy few weeks planned, will
(16:18):
be in the state the next approximate twenty one days
through the end of making approximately two appearances from now on,
and we want you to know that Hale says, where
do you get the energy when you get people turned
out like this? For you, you you get the energy and return.
It's spontaneous with me and I sort of lived off
the match, off the galls of crowds. Anything more than
(16:38):
two gets me going tonight. We got quite a few tunes,
so okay, not sleep tonight. This tape rediscovered in fades
in and out to Carol and Carol, Lonnie and Barbara
and doctor and mus Lay and A Cram and all
of you made this affair such a success tonight. This
(17:00):
is one time I was not too closely associated with
the event as I have in the past. That too
many things along the last two the recent and with
that the video cuts out. Eight days earlier, on October seventh,
(17:26):
Beggae had given his final recorded interview to Tom Duncan
of k u a C, a radio station in Fairbanks.
Congressman Baggage, I'd like to shift the scene from Alaska
to Washington. Do you feel that the Watergate affair will
have any influence on President Nixon's campaign for re election? Oh? Shared, well,
I think all of these things. In fact, I call
that I'm sure you've heard of mission impossible. I call
(17:51):
that mission incredible, the most incredible thing I've ever imagined.
When Mr Nixon way back in those days, way way
ahead points totals, and to get connected with this kind
of thing and just it was well, it was insulting
to the American system, a fair play. Americans react to that,
(18:12):
and I could see why he's trying to disavow any
association with that affair. I would if I were in
his position too, because the most incredible that you'd have
it tied to the higher ischela that's being tied right now,
and there's been some real revelations the last couple of days. Baggage,
a clean, scandal free politician, denounced Nixon's behavior but recognized
(18:34):
that the president remained popular. He predicted Nixon's Democratic opponent,
Senator George McGovern, who was down in the polls, would
come out swinging, and said the race was still unpredictable,
so it might be an interesting campaign. Yet, don't underestimate
the American public this year. Nobody can come count what's
gonna happen. Strange year. Indeed, whoever thought the year ago
(18:58):
the McGovern would be the cadidate? I didn't be very
honest about it. Neither did my government. Maybe with six
percent of the vote. You know, back in Florida, look
what happened, Congressman beg thank you very much as Begat
and Bogg's campaign an anchorage. On October, Don John's, a
thirty eight year old blonde haired, blue eyed bush pilot
(19:20):
in Fairbanks, three d and sixty miles to the north,
got an unexpected call. His friend Tom Cora Mettis was
with him when the phone rang. And I went over
to Don's place and gave that call, and Don says, Tom,
let's go. I said, where are we going? He said,
I got to go to Anchor supply. This guy too
(19:41):
Beggage and this guy to Juno. I said, I can.
I left Sandra over at Barry's place. Sandra was Tom's wife,
and he said, okay, I've got to go, and that's
when he backed up and took off. But before he
drove to the airport, John's called one of his mechanics,
Phil Hugh, who had just finished a hundred hour maintenance
(20:02):
inspection on the plane. John's wanted to take the anchorage,
and he called me in the evening about six o'clock
and nice says, it's sitting in the hangar warm. He says, well,
could you roll it out? I need that aircraft and
roll it out and feel it up for me. I says, okay. Well,
when he got there, the airplane was sitting outside, fueled up,
(20:25):
ready to go, and I met him. He says he
was going to anchor each with it and spend spending
the night. Do you remember the last thing he said
to you? Goodbye? I will you know? Yeah. He walked
around the air plane, done a pre flight check, and
(20:49):
I did most of the talking. I told him about
the airplane. Everything was button up, everything looked good. It
was fixed, fueled oils fine, spark plugs are clean. This
would be the first flight out of it. And he
went and got an airplane and closed the door, and
(21:09):
before he did, I said, they have a good flight.
Fired up the engine. He waved to me out the
cockpit window and start taxing out and then get kind
of windy standing in the back of the props. And
so I turned around and walked to the truck. When
I walked back to the hangar, which was real close,
(21:31):
shut the lights out, closed the door, and went home.
At M John's landed an Anchorage fifty minutes later, as
Bogs and Beggett spoke only a few miles away, Cheryl James,
then Cheryl Mitchell met him at the airport. John's and
(21:53):
James had dated for about a year. I picked him
up the airport. We went out and we had dinner
new Um. He wouldn't drink. I think he had one drink,
and that's it. Because he was flying, he really restricted
his alcohol intake. I remember during the night he woke
up like two times and checked the weather forecast because
he was really concerned about weather, and that back then
(22:16):
was a matter of picking up a phone landline phone
and calling. And then I took him to the airport
the next day. That morning, John's and James arrived at
the airport sometime before eight am. We went to the
airport and we had breakfast, and then after breakfast, and
I think that may have been where he called John's
(22:38):
who was divorced, placed a brief call to his ten
year old son, Aaron, and then we um went to
the aircraft. It was parked below the tower, got in
the aircraft and we taxied over and got gas, Um
filled up the plane and then we taxied back That
probably took maybe half an hour, I'm guessing. When we
(23:02):
got back there were three men standing there waiting for us,
and uh, he parked the plane and we both got out.
We kind of introduced ourselves to each other, and um,
they got him ber the aircraft. Cheryld. James left shortly after.
She didn't see the plane take off. Is it surreal
(23:24):
to you that you played a small part in history,
that you were the very last person to see these
men alive? These men who had families and bogs, who
was a historic figure, who was on the Warrant Commission
and played a role in passing civil rights legislation, and
(23:46):
you were the very last human being on the planet
to see them alive. I it's really hard to believe
that I was the last person. I mean, it just
and I don't think of it in that. I just
think of them all getting on board that airplane and
that being the end um the last one. It's hard
(24:10):
to believe. At John's requested permission to taxi down Runaway
twenty four, R found a drive that four minutes later
(24:35):
he lifted off. Melvin South, a controlled tower operator, was
(24:56):
the last person to spot the plane, A white and
orange cessa of three Tennessee, everything appeared normal. At nine
o nine, John spoke with Robert Mahoney, an f A,
a flight service specialist for years. I tried to locate
a tape of their conversation, but had no luck. The
f A says it no longer exists. John's estimated the
(25:18):
flight would take about three and a half hours. Mahoney
asked whether or not he had emergency gear and a
locator beacon on board, and John's replied affirmative. Then silence.
(25:57):
At one pm, forty five minutes after the plane was
scheduled to land in Juno, word reached the US Air
Force Rescue Coordination Center that the men were overdue. At three,
when the plane still hadn't arrived and when it theoretically
would have run out of fuel, concern ratchet it up.
It affected everyone in town. It was like wildfire package box.
(26:18):
The plane didn't arrives baggage, and the whole town was paralyzed.
It was it was just frozen moment, and of course
it always is with a plane crash. Um. We in
the state of Alaska don't have many roads, so our
means of transportation or airplanes, so it's nothing and we
don't even think about it. I'm gonna just top the
(26:38):
plane and go to Juno, go to Anchorage, go to
non Contibute. It's our means and mode of travel. So
it's always frightening when you hear the plane didn't derive.
Ah missing late, and everyone has the same paralysis in
their brain. Oh my god, where are they? TERSA Gergson
(27:01):
was a Civil Air Patrol volunteer in Juno. She was
working at a shoe store when the call came in
that the plane was overdue. I just remember it was serious.
It was you know, time stopped. It was very serious.
People then were just hushed. Everyone was talking. The planet
(27:21):
is messing out, you know. It was just because then
people because then activity started happening in the little shoe store.
People were in and out the door, and what would
soon morph into a massive search operation began simply enough,
with the help of fishing boats, volunteer pilots, and a
few military planes. But there was only so much they
(27:45):
could do. The weather was bad and it was getting
dark across the country. And besides the Maryland Lyndy Boggs,
Hale's wife was dozing off at her kitchen table with
Rowan and Martin's laughing and blaring on the TV. Here
she is recalling that moment. It was almost asleep. I
(28:08):
was waiting for hal to come in from the airport
in Washington, and I I had a telephone call that
startled me just because I was half asleep, and completely
startled my little dog. And the dog tried to get
(28:28):
between me and the telephone. He jumped on to the
table where the phone was, tried to knock the phone
out of my hand. Yes, like he knew. And it
was Carl Albert telling me that he didn't want me
to hear the ten o'clock news. To the speak of
the half, I really wanted to interview Lindy, but in July,
(28:52):
only two weeks before I moved to New Orleans, she
died at the age of of course, was shot and
and apprehensive and all of that. But by the time
we hung up the phone, of course, and began to
ring off the hook, and two of the people who
(29:14):
called were Teddy Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, both of whom
had been down in planes with the pilot with Don
Johns on other occasions, and who testified to me in
glowing terms about what an ingenious and remarkable person, and
pilot Don was and that I should not lead too
(29:38):
apprehensive about all of this. Meanwhile, about ten miles away,
the Beggatte family, Nick's wife, Peggy, and their six young
kids were watching a cop show called The Rookies when
their phone rang. Ten year old Mark picked up. It
(29:58):
was Alaska Governor Bill In Peggy took the phone. When
she returned to the living room, she abruptly told the
kids to go to bed. They scurried off, and she
started calling family and friends to let them know Nick
was missing. Later that night, several Ham radios crackled to
(30:26):
life in rural northern California. Operators heard a man a pilot,
begging for help. Next time on Missing in Alaska, they
notified of what they heard of the plane going down
close to some islander land and he out and they
(30:48):
going down. Before we go, I want to let you
know that at the end of each episode, I'll be
giving you a task, something you can do or some
way you can help move the story forward. And then
I'll give you our tipline and details on how to
anonymously send us information or even documents via email. Some
(31:11):
of these hasks will be interactive and relatively easy. Some
will be specialized and difficult. The goal is to add you,
our audience, to our investigative team. This week, you have
three tasks. First, help me find a recording of the
final conversation between Don John's, the missing pilot, and Robert Mahoney,
an f A, a flight service specialist. A tape existed
(31:33):
at least in nineteen seventy two. So far, the FAA
has been unable to locate it, saying it was likely destroyed.
If you know where it might be in some musty box,
feel free to contact us. Second, help me figure out
who took the last known photo of the missing congressman.
It's a black and white image of them getting into
a car at the Anchorage Airport, probably right after hill
(31:56):
Bogs arrived from DC on October two. Multiple newspapers around
the nation published it, crediting the Associated Press, but I'm
not sure if it was taken by an AP photographer
or more likely by a photographer for one of the
anchor's papers. We'll post the photo online for you to see. Finally,
if you know anyone who attended the congressman's final events,
(32:18):
the cocktail fundraiser at the Melish's house or the dinner
at the anchor's Westward Hotel. Check with them to see
if they have any photos from that night. If so,
let us know. You can reach us by phone at
one eight three three m I A tips that's one
eight three three six four two eight four seven seven
again one eight three three six four two eight four
(32:42):
seven seven, Or you can reach us via email at
tips at iHeart media dot com. That's tips, T I
P s at I heeart media dot com. Ben Bolan
is our executive producer. Paul Decan is our supervising producer,
Chris Brown is our assistant producer, Seth Nicholas Johnson is
our producer. Sam T. Garden is our research assistant. And
(33:05):
I'm your host and executive producer, John Wallzac. You can
find me on Twitter at at John Wallzac j O
n w A l c z a K. Footage for
this episode was provided by CBS, NBC k u A
C Louisiana Public Broadcasting in the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
special thanks to the Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University,
(33:28):
the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections,
and Archives at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Christophe
Zappery in New Orleans. Missing in Alaska is a co
production of iHeart Media and Greenfork Media.
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