1965 Airplane Crash in Folsom, California

I live in Fair Oaks, California, which is roughly about 8 miles from Folsom. Two days ago, it was announced that a small aircraft was found in Folsom Lake using sonar. It is suspected that the plane is from a mid-air collision that happened 56 years ago- January 1, 1965. 

I researched the accident, because...that's what I do. A Piper Comanche 250 collided with another small aircraft and went down into the lake. The other aircraft had damage, but was able to land safely, no passengers injured. The passengers on the Comanche, however, all perished. One passenger's body was recovered but the plane and the other 3 bodies were never recovered...until now? I'm eager to see what details they will find as they investigate! 

The perished: 

There were four people aboard the Piper Comanche-

    1. The pilot- Ford Marshall, age 50

    2. Passenger- James Marshall (brother to the pilot), age 51

    3. passenger- Helen Gotcher, age 50

    4. Glenn Emick, age 15

~Ford Marshall- Pilot

Ford Morton Marshall was born on 21 Oct 1908 in Colorado to Franklin D. Marshall (1885-1965) and Maude Ford (1887-1979). He owned and operated the Town House Motel in Roseville, which was built in 1955. 

Town House Motel
401 Washington Blvd, Roseville
Image is from Google maps

Ford was married 2x- first, to Marjorie Elizabeth Norton on 30 Aug 1932 and then on 25 Oct 1936 to Marguerite Olga Romero (1910-2010). Ford and Marguerite had 1 daughter- Sheryl Dee Marshall, born 04 Dec 1938. 

Ford was 50 years old when he died. 

~James Marshall- Passenger

James Boyd Marshall was the brother of the pilot- Ford. He was born on January 10, 1913 in Colorado. James and Ford were 2 of four sons- the other two were Donald Franklin Marshall (1910-1993) and William Chandler Marshall (1918-2007). 

James was the only body recovered at the time of the accident- the other three bodies have yet to be found. James is buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. 

~Helen Gotcher- Passenger

Helen Gotcher was born Helen Lisbia Bancke. She was born on August 9, 1915 in Alberta, Canada to Ferdinand Bancke (1887-1952) and Augusta Ingrid Johnson (1887-1965). 

Helen married Gordon James Gotcher (1920-1992) in 1944 in Canada and they came to America on December 7, 1948. 

Helen and Gordon had 3 sons:

1. Jack Ralph (born 1946)

2. Gordon George (born 1949)

3. Royce Keith (born 1952)

Helen, her husband Gordon and their three boys-
Royce, Jack and Gordon

 ~Glenn Emick- Passenger

Yearbook Photo
1965

Charles Glenn Emick II was born on January 11, 1949 in Sacramento. He attended Roseville High School and was voted Most Valuable Player on the football team. He was the son of Charles Glenn Emick Sr. (1925-1983) and Phyllis Lorraine Bowman (1929-2003). He was the oldest of 4- Jerry Earl (born 1949), Diane Marie (born 1951) and Rickey Phillip (born 1954). 

The Team Football Picture was very odd in that it cut off some of the members and put them on a different page. Glenn is in the second picture at the top, looks like number 17.

Roseville High School Yearbook, 1965
Glenn was a sophomore and had a memorial page shared with a school councilor named J.C. Cole.