Peter Stekel made a gruesome discovery… and now he's writing a book about.
He discovered the frozen remains of a world war two airman in the Kings Canyon National Park. He found the remains while hiking in a remote section of the park. The bodies of the airmen had been buried in a glacier. Their plane crashed during a training flight some sixty years ago.
Rebecca Lindstrom talked with the man who found the body of Ernest Munn, who hiked into Kings Canyon as part of his research, but now instead of just writing about history, he's actually making it.
Peter Stekel went hiking high into the Sierras to learn more about the crash for his book, “Final Flight”. He never imagined that he would find another one of the aviators, but last month, the military positively identified the remains he found on the Mendel Glacier as that of Ernest Glenn Munn.
The military tried to recover the bodies in 1947; five years after the men flew into a storm and crashed 150 miles off course. By the time they got to the crash site, the airmen were already covered in snow and ice. In 2005 the glacier melted enough to expose the body of Leo Mustonen. Stekel, a freelance writer and history buff immediately wanted to know more.
Stekel wants to talk with anyone who knew the men or were involved in their search. To get in touch with him or learn more about his book, you can visit www.peterstekel.com or www.finalflightthebook.com.
Stekel's book should hit shelves next fall.
