This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Death Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/JW.2ADE/7927 Message Board Post: Two Uranium Hunters Die In Plane Crash Ralph Vanderpool, 32, and Dan Alksne were killed in an airplane crash Sunday, March 13, in the vicinity of Independence, Nev., in Eureka Valley. Mr. Vanderpool, an instrumentation mechanic for North American, was transferred to the Rocket branch at Edwards AFB August 1954, from White Sands, N.M. He and his family had resided at 120 Blackfield Street in Mojave Gardens since that time. The two men had been uranium prospecting for several months. On his particular trip, Mr. Vanderpool, the owner of the plane, and Mr. Alksne, the pilot, left on Saturday morning for Nevada and were to return Sunday. Mr. Vanderpool, a native Californian, is survived by his wife, Marion and two children, Chris. 4½ years old and Craig 1½ years old. Soon after the news of the accident, Mrs. Vanderpool and the children went to Newport Beach, to stay with her sister. The bodies were taken to Bishop from the scene of the crash but Mr. Vanderpool's body was transferred to Roy Clinker Mortuary at Huntington Park. There will be grave side services at Inglewood Park March 17th at 1 :00 p.m. Dan Alksne was a civil service employee at Edwards, living in Boron. His home was in Palo Alto. California. Posted by East Kern Genealogical Society Courtesy of Mojave Desert News California City, Kern, CA Published: 17 Mar 1955