Summary

Chapter 36, “Dry Leaves,” includes the memories of select family members. Mary Lou, Frankie’s sister, recalls learning about the crash through the radio. Carutina Paredes Murillo recalls hearing the news when she was ten years old of her father’s death. Gilberta Marquez, Tomas’s sister, remembers crying with her family. Casimira also learned about the crash through the radio. Don Fermin, Guadalupe’s son, recalls how Lobo, Guadalupe’s dog, never really recovered from his master’s death. The chapter ends with Mary Lou learning that “a set of baby clothes was found at the crash” (173).

In Chapter 37, “Funeral Services for the Crew,” investigators try to identify the bodies. The four crew members are returned to their families. In Chapter 38, “Funeral Services for the Passengers,” many of the Mexican passengers are neither properly identified nor returned to Mexico. On January 31, 1948, funeral services...