The death of Bankers during the dawning of a banking scandal is not unusual. Just ask the relatives of poor John Ochenrider, former VP of Whitefish Mountain Bank, who fell earthward after attempting to climb his first mountain. Bad timing for John Ochenrider- he was only a few weeks away from trial with the Lucianos.
Crashes, falls, sudden illnesses, and suicides, there's lots of ways a person can die. Why, just a few months ago a fellow burned up in his house in Eureka. Next thing you know a 17 ton drug bust out of Eureka surfaces. Well gee... how far is Eureka from Whitefish ?? How far is Polson from Eureka and Whitefish ? Not very far as the crow flies.
Airplanes have always crashed. Governor Don Nutter's pilot flew him right into the ground up around Wolf Creek. Nutter had been bellyaching about Montana not wanting to join the United Nations. Then there was Jim Waltermier, GOP front runner for Governor a few years back. Jim was too busy checking out the strange drug conspiracy talk at Glasgow to help tend to his airplane that day. Crunch time as they tried to land. Well, it did work out for the best. Marc Racicot got in to office after that.
Heck, death can come at any time. Poor Chet Blaylock died only 5 days after his staff had called Orlin Grabbe. Chet was on his way to raise ethics issues with the other candidate.
Do I suspect foul play in the death of the two Polson bankers? YES. Read my predictions for 1998. There are more accidents in store for Montana than you can shake a stick at. Why ? Banking records are coming out which counter the deaths of witnesses.
— Yellowstone Sam
KALISPELL, April 13 — Three days after a private airplane went down in Flathead County, authorities have released the names of the two men on board. They are 48-year-old Douglas Hanson and 42-year-old Robert Bowers, both of Polson.
Hanson and Bowers are president and vice president of Security State Bank in Polson. Hanson was flying the single-engine plane when it disappeared from radar at around 2:30 AM on Saturday.
The plane was traveling to Polson from Madison, Wisconsin. Hanson and Bowers were in Madison to install computer software at an area bank. Douglas Hanson developed the software.
A ground search for the two men has been called off, and an air search continues. The primary search area is around Mount Aeneas, where Douglas Hanson’s plane was last seen on radar. That search area has been expanded southward into the Swan and Mission ranges.
The rugged terrain of the Mount Aeneas area is frustrating searchers.
“If you ever go hiking in that area, it’s thick timber, steep mountains,” says David Hoerner of Red Eagle Aviation. “You take a little airplane and put it anywhere in one of those draws, it’ll be hard to find.” Hoerner adds that “the last place you want to be is up in the mountains at this time of year.” While the chance of the two men surviving decreases with every day, the Montana Aeronautics Division isn’t giving up.
“We don’t like to put a deadline on anything, because there’s always hope,” says Mike Ferguson. “But we can’t go on forever, either.”
About 10 pilots were searching for the men on Monday. A helicopter from Malmstrom Air Force Base joined in the effort. Workers are investigating snowslides and other tips, looking for any sign the white airplane.
“The airplane was probably traveling around 200 miles an hour,” says pilot Monty Montgomery. “So if it impacted, it probably might not be intact.” Weather permitting, the volunteers will keep searching through this week.
Douglas Hanson once worked as a commercial pilot. He was flying a Piper Mirage this weekend– a type of plane the FAA says had some safety problems in the past. When the lost plane is found, those potential problem areas will be examined.
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