Beneath Haunted Waters - by Peter Stekel (Paperback)

About the Book

The rarely known story of a father's search for his son's body after one of the most mysterious and tragic plane crashes in war history.

Beneath Haunted Waters is the story of two B-24 Liberator bombers that disappeared in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains in early December, 1943. One plane wasn't found until 1955 at the bottom of a reservoir. The other plane was discovered in 1960 at the bottom of a lake, high in the mountains. It's the story of these planes and their two crews and how they died so young, as well as the story of a father's devotion: Clinton Hester looked for his pilot-son Robert's body for the next 16 years, dying one year before Robert's body was discovered within ten miles of where Clinton thought it would be. California named the crash site Hester Lake in his honor.

Book Synopsis

The rarely known story of a father's search for his son's body after one of the most mysterious and tragic plane crashes in war history. Beneath Haunted Waters is the story of two B-24 Liberator bombers that disappeared in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains in early December, 1943. One plane wasn't found until 1955 at the bottom of a reservoir. The other plane was discovered in 1960 at the bottom of a lake, high in the mountains. It's the story of these planes and their two crews and how they died so young, as well as the story of a father's devotion: Clinton Hester looked for his pilot-son Robert's body for the next 16 years, dying one year before Robert's body was discovered within ten miles of where Clinton thought it would be. California named the crash site Hester Lake in his honor.

Review Quotes

Poignant and gripping, Beneath Haunted Waters reminds us of a side of war we seldom hear about, the high toll it takes outside of combat. Flying into a mountainside at night is just as deadly as flying into a hail of enemy gunfire-and just as painful for the families of those killed. Perhaps even more so, because in the two cases Peter Stekel expertly reconstructs here, years passed before the survivors knew how their sons' lives ended.

About the Author

Peter Stekel is the author of Final Flight, the Mystery of a World War II Plane Crash and the Frozen Airmen in the High Sierra (Wilderness Press), Best Hikes Near Seattle (Falcon Guides), Best Wildflower Hikes Western Washington (Falcon Guides), and a mystery novel, The Flower Lover.

He has published feature stories in more than 700 magazines and newspapers, including articles on aviation, science and nature, Olympic sports, outdoor adventure and recreation, history, theatre arts and entertainment, and celebrity profiles.

In 1975, Stekel received a B.A. in botany from the University of California, Davis. He conducted graduate work in ecology at Humboldt State University and in 1982 received a secondary teaching credential in life science. He has worked as an educator, outdoor adventure guide, laboratory technician, botanist, and plant ecologist.

He lives in Seattle, Washington.