Case Details

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This person was missing Missing Since 10/26/1944

Missing Since:

Missing Since 10/26/1944

Missing From:

Missing From Inglewood, California

Classification:

Classification Lost/Injured Missing

Gender:

Female

Race:

Race White

Date of Birth:

Date of Birth 10/16/1912 (112)

Age:

Age 32 years old

Height and Weight:

Height and Weight Unknown

Clothing/Jewelry Description:

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Gertrude did not use her married name, Silver, at the time of her disappearance, and her nickname is Tommy. Some agencies refer to her as Gertrude Tompkins or Gertrude Tompkins Silver.

Details of Disappearance:

Gertrude, the youngest daughter of Smooth-On Inc. founder Vreeland Tompkins, had a tough childhood. She struggled with stuttering and social anxiety, leading her family to send her to a West Virginia farm to improve. After horticultural school and a stint raising goats, she joined her father’s business in New York City in the 1930s.

Following the death of her aviator boyfriend during World War II, Gertrude found solace in flying. She became a Women’s Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), a “fly girl” ferrying and testing planes for the US military.

In September 1944, she married Henry Silver, but returned to duty just two days later. They never saw each other again. She may have hidden her marriage to avoid losing her job.

On October 26, 1944, Gertrude took off from what is now LAX in a P-51 Mustang, bound for Palm Springs. Her flight records vanished, and she wasn’t reported missing until four days later. A massive search turned up nothing.

Gertrude was declared missing and presumed dead in November 1944. Her husband mourned her until his death in 1965. Despite a book claiming her remains were found, and a Discovery Channel investigation, the mystery of her disappearance remains. Some believe her plane crashed in Santa Monica Bay; others suggest the mountains near Palm Springs. To this day, no trace of Gertrude or her plane has ever been found.

Agency:

G. Patric Macha

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