Milton Sims, skyjacked pilot, December 1978

[ssms]

Milton was my cousin, and he worked for Seaback Aviation in Spring as a charter pilot when in December 1978 he flew a customer to Huntsville from Houston Intercontinental, then flew back to Huntsville the following morning to bring the customer back to Houston.  We never heard from him again.  The plane was found several days later at an abandoned hanger in Texas City with a blood soaked seat and a bullet in the fuselage.  Does anyone remember this case?  It received a lot media attention at the time.  Milton’s mother heard very little from the FBI afterwards and it seemed to have dropped off the radar.  His body has never been found.    One of my goals is to find out what happened to him and, as unlikely as it may be, find his remains and bury them with our grandparents in Van Vleck whom he was very close to.  He was originally from Bay City. 

[Chris]

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry about your cousin. I never heard of this case before. I was too young in 1978.


Have y'all contacted the sheriffs office for an update? I am sure they have a file too.


Do you think this case was ignored because they suspect he was involved in criminal activity?

[ssms]

I requested the documents the FBI had on file pertaining to the case last year and received about 180 pages, but we haven't made direct contact with the sheriff or police.       

Nothing in the documents indicate the FBI thought he might be involved in any way and his family & friends never thought he was either.  He was just doing his job and was killed for the plane. 

[Chris]

that is quite extraordinary!

I'm surprised that there is no rush to solve this case then. Murder for a plane is so rare. I hope you can able to get this looked at again!

[machdan]

He won't be forgotten.  I speak of him often.   I have tried for years to get information on his murder from local and federal authorities.  Here is a link to the article published at the time.   http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=109974664

[Chris]

That is an interesting story and very sad. It is amazing it has not been solved all these years.