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Frank Stuart Rodman
- Dec. 11, 1974 -
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(367)
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Resided: |
AK, USA
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Born: | Nov. 14, 1949 |
Fallen: | Dec. 11, 1974 |
Race/Sex: | Caucasian Male / 25 yrs. of age |
| Agency |
Dept: | Alaska State Highway Patrol
Kodiak, AK
USA |
Dept. Type: | State/Police |
Hero's Rank: | Trooper |
Sworn Date: | 10/1974 |
FBI Class: | Accident - Police |
Weapon Class: | Aviation |
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Bio: Frank Stuart Rodman, 25, was born on Nov. 14, 1949, in Hartford, CN. He and his twin sister, Elizabeth Ann, were adopted at the age of 5 by William Francis and Theresa Settembri Rodman.
Frank grew up in Guilford, CN (on Long Island Sound 50 miles east of New Haven) and graduated from Guilford (CN) H.S. on June 23, 1967. He participated in track, cross country, and soccer in H.S.
Rodman joined the U.S. Coast Guard in May of 1968 and served for four years as a radioman. He was first stationed at the Cape May NJ Coast Guard base and then on Governor's Island in New York City. He first went to AK in Feb. of 1969 (and remained through September of that year) while with the Coast Guard. He was listed as 5'11" and 180 lbs.
Frank Rodman, 21, married Sallie North Fuller, 31, on Nov. 4, 1970. The couple met at the Kodiak Police Dept. where both worked. Sallie had three sons from a prior marriage and the couple had one daughter, Terri Ann (born on Jan. 6, 1972).
Rodman was discharged with the rank of RM2 E-5 from the Coast Guard in Feb. of 1972. He then joined the Kodiak Police Dept. in 1972 and graduated with the 3rd Municipal Police Academy class on Nov. 3, 1972. He served as a Kodiak officer until 1974 when he became a "temporary" for the Dept. of Public Safety's Fish & Wildlife Protection Division for the 1974 season. He also received an AA degree from Kodiak Community College in May of 1974.
Frank was accepted by D.P.S. for recruit training in Sitka in Oct. of 1974 and had been in training there for six weeks. He finished 3rd in the class of 17 recruits.
Rodman had been sent home early from the Academy before Christmas because (in 1972 while a Kodiak officer) he had completed the two-week EMT course at the Sitka Academy to be given to the other trainees. He was on regular patrol duties at the time of his death. |
Survived by: |
daughter, Terri Ann, 2; three step-sons, Scott D. Fuller, 13, Todd D. Fuller, 12, and John D. Fuller, 9; and by his mother, Theresa Rodman of Medford, CN, and his twin sister, Elizabeth Rodman, 25, of Medford, CN.
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Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: |
none
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Location: |
AK
USA
Wed. Dec. 11, 1974
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Summary: |
AK State Troopers Larry Robert Carr, 23, and Frank Stuart Rodman, 25, were killed along with three other persons in an airplane crash on Dec. 11, 1974, as they were transporting the body of a drowning victim back to Kodiak on a commercial flight.
Around 4:30PM on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 1974, Kodiak Western Airlines flight #91 from Old Harbor to Kodiak was reported missing. The flight left Old Harbor at 3:30PM and was scheduled to arrive in Kodiak at 4:00PM but had "disappeared" somewhere along the 50 miles between the two communities.
Kodiak Western Airlines had two scheduled flights a day from Old Harbor to Kodiak and the route was "across mountainous terrain, generally through one of the passes, both of which run in almost a direct line from the village to the city of Kodiak." However, in bad weather, the pilot would routinely "follow the beach around the outside" of the mountains.
The missing plane, a "twin-engined amphibious Grumman Goose," carried the pilot, Bob Hall, and four passengers, AK State Troopers Larry Robert Carr and Frank Rodman, and Judy Woodruff, 29, and Jan Morris. The two women lived at Old Harbor and were the wives of employees of SONJA, a seafood processing plant in Old Harbor, and were on their way to Kodiak to do some Christmas shopping. Hall, of Kodiak, was the son of Robert Hall, the founder and president of Kodiak Western Airlines. Both troopers were stationed in Kodiak. Troopers Carr and Rodman were returning to Kodiak from Old Harbor where they had investigated an accident involving Alex Inga, Sr., and his son, Alex, Jr. The father and son had been reported missing on a hunting trip to Sitkalidak Island and both had apparently drowned when their boat overturned. The body of the senior Inga was found and the two troopers were transporting the body back to Kodiak. Hall had radioed that he was only ten minutes out from Kodiak when the plane disappeared.
An intensive search involving several planes and ground rescue parties on snowmobiles was made for several days along the "rugged coastal mountain terrain separating Old Harbor and Kodiak." The rescue operation was hampered by snow and fog with "visibility near zero." The search was co-ordinated by the Coast Guard in Kodiak and involved three planes from Kodiak Western as well as planes from the Coast Guard and other agencies. The ground crew concentrated on searching the pass near Saltery Cove and Saltery Pass.
The body of Woodruff was found on Dec. 13 and that of Morris on Dec. 14. Both were found on the water, "clad in 'May West' type jackets" about five miles offshore about 10 miles north of Ugak Island near Cape Chiniak. The bodies of the pilot and the two troopers were never found. It appears that the plane went down in the ocean and sank.
The Kodiak Mirror noted that the five-person fatal accident marked the "end of a noteworthy safety record in aviation history" as the recently merged airline (Kodiak Airways with Western Alaska Airlines) had a total of over 50 years of scheduled operations prior to the merger with only one fatality. Previous to the merger Kodiak Airways had provided air carrier services to the rugged Kodiak Islands region while Western Alaska Airlines had served the remote Bristol Bay region.
The merged airline served a "significant portion of Alaska's bush population" in "some of the worse climatic conditions in North America." It was the "only scheduled public transportation within the regions served." The merged airline operated 30 Grumman Amphibious twin-engined aircraft that operated with "only visual flight capabilities" since there were no Federal Aviation Administration navigational aids or "improved airports" on any of the carrier's routes. Most of the flights were "to villages having no airport or improved landing areas," and landings were made on the water "or other natural areas."
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Source: |
Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-
FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN ALASKA, 1867-1998
By Dr. Wm. Wilbanks FL International University
To be published by Turner Publications in early 1999
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Larry Robert Carr
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Last Updated: May. 29, 2019 |
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