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Costa Rica Farmers Find Missing WWII Plane

WWII Plane That Vanished on Flight From Texas Discovered in Costa Rica

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica
Farmers in the mountains of Costa Rica found a Chilean air force plane that disappeared during World War II while flying from Texas to Chile.

Police were led to the crash site after an anonymous caller reported seeing a local Costa Rica resident carrying plane parts in the town of San Isidro de El Guarco, located in the mountains outside of the Central Valley, Costa Rican capital of San Jose.

Officials confirmed the plane was the Vultee BT-13 Valiant that disappeared in 1943 on a flight from San Antonio, Texas, said Francisco Lara, a spokesman for the Chilean Embassy in Costa Rica.

"You can plainly see the coat of arms and the colors," he said. "We are sure it is the same plane."

The Chilean air force had just purchased the plane in Texas and was flying it home.

Lara said pilot Werner Martinez and Sgt. Tomas Ayala were on ill-fated flight 65 years ago, but that officials found no sign of human remains. A man found selling the plane parts said he found the crash site more than 30 years ago and that it was no secret at least to locals.

"A lot of people around here knew about the plane, and I thought authorities also knew," Victor Navarro told the Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion.

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