News Article: The Miller County Sentinel, January 8, 1959 An intensive search ended about the middle of the day last Monday when the twisted wreckage of a single engine, blue and white Piper Comanche and the frozen bodies of Leslie Burks, 51, a former Miller Countian, and Charles Bowles of Kansas City were found in a corn field a few miles northeast of Columbia. Burks, a son of Mrs. Frank Burks of Tuscumbia, had been working as a pilot and instructor with the Roscoe Prescott Rapid Air, Inc., in Springfield for several months and last Saturday was piloting a passenger, Mr. Bowles, to his home in Kansas City from Springfield when they ran into blizzard-like weather. Burks reportedly changed his course and was scheduled to land at the Columbia Airport around six o'clock. No further word was heard from the plane and by morning the Civil Air Patrol, the National Guard, Highway Patrol and private citizens joined in a search of the area running down reports from persons who had heard motors throughout the previous evening and night. W.F. McDonald of Rt. 2, Columbia, volunteered the information leading parties to the crash area. Burkes and Bowles were found about 60 feet from the wrecked plane with bits of wreckage and business papers scattered over the field. Authorities reported that the plane may have gone into a spin and crashed, going through a wire fence before it came to a halt. It is believed that the men died from the terrific impact rather than being frozen to death. Mr. Burks was well known in Miller County. When a boy he lived in Iberia with his family and during 1925 to 1928 lived in Tuscumbia when his father served as sheriff of Miller County. The family again lived for a while in Iberia before going to Jefferson City. During the early '30s, Burks was in the grocery business in Eldon. During that time he and Harry Tompkins of Eldon bought one of the first airplanes to be owned in Miller County. At that time there was no airport in Eldon so the light plane was kept in an open field near town. Naturally enough, the barnstorming which Mr. Burks did over the area added to his popularity. Since that time, Mr. Burks had been an avid flyer and during World War II he made regular flights between Fort Leonard Wood and Kansas City carrying blood plasma. Since moving to Springfield about 18 months ago, he has done piloting for Red Foley and other entertainers, taking them to different points over the country to keep business and entertainment engagements. Besides flying, Mr. Burks had been engaged in other interests. He reportedly owned a business building in Licking and a large timber acreage in Texas County. For a time he operated an outlet store in Iberia. He is survived by his wife, Virginia, who also is a licensed pilot; two small children, Virginia Ellen and Leslie DeForest and his aged mother, Mrs. Frank Burks of Tuscumbia. The death of Mr. Burks makes the third tragic family death for Mrs. Burks of Tuscumbia. In 1924 she lost a young son, Arnie, who was drowned in the Osage River at Tuscumbia and last October her husband became ill and shot and killed himself at the Burks home in Tuscumbia. The body of Mr. Burks was taken to a funeral home in Willow Springs. Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon at the First Baptist Church in Licking. Burial will be made at Licking.