SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WZZM) -- Sixty-five years ago Wednesday, an aviation tragedy occurred along the shores of southwestern Lake Michigan.
Northwest Orient Flight 2501 crashed somewhere off the coast of South Haven, killing all 58 souls on board.
Even though none of the plane crash victims were from Michigan, the remains recovered were buried in Michigan.
A few weeks ago, a South Haven cemetery sexton was leafing through a plot registry and stumbled across a mass grave of Flight 2501 victims that had never been marked. For more than six decades, crash victim's remains had been literally forgotten -- until now.
"Many years ago, I discovered that all of the remains picked up by the Coast Guard floating on the lake were sent to a cemetery in St. Joseph," said Valerie van Heest, author of the book "Fatal Crossing," which comprehensively documents the tragic plane crash. "But I always wondered what happened to the human remains that washed ashore on the beaches of South Haven."
A public memorial service at Lakeview Cemetery in South Haven on Wednesday marked the anniversary and honored the victims. It will never be known which victims' remains were buried at the site, but every name was read during Wednesday's service. A large stone donated by St. Joe Monument Works now rests there, making sure the victims will never be forgotten.
Following the service, van Heest spoke about Flight 2501 at the Michigan Maritime Museum, where an exhibit about the accident is currently on display.
