His Last Steps

Michael Kruse: Early on the morning of Oct. 2, 1957, an Army propeller plane took off from Governor's Island in New York City, headed to Burlington, Vt. On board were three officers and pilot Eual Arthur Cathey, 33, who had at home in Brooklyn four young sons and a wife pregnant with twin girls. Somewhere south of its destination, the plane encountered a ragged band of unexpected weather, and disappeared.

In 1958, Eual Cathey's family moved to Tampa, starting over.

The kids grew up in Palma Ceia. They knew their father had died in a plane crash. They knew those were his golf clubs in the corner of the garage. Their mother told them she had loved him very much and that he had loved them very much. They didn't ask too many questions because they saw how it hurt her. And what difference do details make when one thing mattered more than any other: They grew up with no father.

They all graduated from Plant High School, the six Cathey kids, and they all graduated from college. They got jobs. They had kids. Their mother remarried. Their mother passed away. The family's central story remained mostly a mystery.