RODNEY MOLLER & BONNIE, TRACY,SHANNON

The death date was not listed in this article. The origin and date of this newspaper article was not recorded.

A search in Find-A-Grave mentions birth and death dates as “unknown.” However it does list the place of burial as Evergreen Cemetery in Wright County, Iowa.

FOUR PERSONS, DOG KILLED. CRASH CAUSE BEING PROBED by a World-Herald Staff Writer

(picture & caption: “Crash site…. Debris was spread over wide area.”)

Blair, Neb. - - Federal investigators Monday began sifting through the wreckage of a light plane near here to determine why it crashed, killing all four passengers and a dog aboard.

A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration district office in Lincoln said it will be at least four weeks, possibly two months, before the findings are made public.

Killed were Rodney Moller, 40, a Clarion, Ia., mortician, his wife Bonnie, 41, and two of their three children, Tracyt 16, and Shannon, 12. A third child, Kim, 21, was at home at the time of the crash.

The single-engine Piper Cherokee came down Sunday afternoon during heavy fog and a light rain. It fell into a soybean field owned by Kent Kuhr about 5 ¾ miles north of Blair. The crash site is some three miles northeast of the Blair Airport.

The Associated Press said the Mollers were returning to Clarion after visiting relatives in Blair.

Authorities said there apparently were no witnesses to the crash.

The plane disappeared from a radar screen Sunday afternoon, but officials said it was first thought the pilot may have landed at another airport because of the poor weather.

A check of area airports, however, failed to turn up the plane. An air search was organized for Monday.

But, about 8 a.m., Jeff Jenkins, a sophomore at Blair High School, was looking out the window of the school bus he was on and “noticed a bunch of white stuff scattered over the field.” “I heard that morning on the radio that they were looking for a missing plane and I knew that had to be it,” he said. When Jenkins arrived at school, he telephoned the sheriff’s office.

Jenkins said he may have heard the crash.

(picture of Jeff Jenkins)

“I was at home with my mother and sister and I was eating cookies when I heard this plane overhead rev up its engines. Then the motor died. I then heard a boom.

“My sister said it was probably a truck backfiring. The planes usually fly low over our place and rev up their engines to land at the airport (three miles away).”

The crash site was about half a mile from the Jenkins home.

Funeral services for the Mollers were scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Clarion.

Publication: The Lincoln Star Location: Lincoln, Nebraska Issue Date: Tuesday, October 25, 1977 used as death date.