A TURN FOR THE WORSE
MORE THAN A MONTH HAD PASSED SINCE U.S. ARMY AIR SERVICE LIEUTENANTS CECIL CONNOLLY AND FREDERICK WATERHOUSE TOOK OFF FROM CALEXICO, CALIF., BOUND FOR ROCKWELL FIELD, SAN DIEGO, AND VANISHED DURING A PATROL FLIGHT ALONG THE U.S.–MEXICO BORDER.
The mystery surrounding their disappearance captured national attention as fellow Army airmen flew thousands of miles in a fruitless search for them and their Liberty DH-4B.
On September 21, 1919, the crew and passengers of the steamship Navari, traveling south from the Colorado River through the Gulf of California to Santa Rosalía, found themselves in need of fresh water. Captain Alejandro Abaro turned the 50-foot boat toward shore at Bahía de los Ángeles and dropped anchor. One of the Joseph Richards, a railroad worker from Chicago, waded ashore carrying an empty water keg. Having filled his keg at a natural spring 200 yards inland, Richards returned to the beach, where Navari rolled gently in the swells.
“I was the first man back to the boat,” said Richards. “So, when I got back I began walking the beach looking for sea shells. I smelled an awful strong odor. I seen] a mound of dirt sticking up. I went over there and I seen [] a human skull in the sand. I dug the skull up [and] then I took part of a turtle shell and dug in the sand and hit against a boot. I got hold of the boot and pulled on it [and] pulled him clean out of the sand.” Richards examined the body and found it dressed in an Army uniform with high-laced boots and gold buttons embossed with wings and a propeller.
