On this date (February 12) 1947, a wife lost a husband, his three sons and one daughter lost a father, his
father and mother lost a son, his five sisters and one brother lost a brother, our nation lost a Veteran of the United States Army Air Corp serving during World War II and attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Dallas lost a Police Officer.
Warrant Officer Preston Daniel Hale, Badge Number 231, age 39, died as a result of injuries sustained in an aircraft accident.
Warrant Officer Hale who joined the Texas Air National Guard upon discharge from Active Duty in 1946 volunteered to search for a suspect involved in multiple crimes beginning in Waco, Texas and continuing into the North Texas area. Utilizing a small two seat trainer aircraft, he searched all the roadways leading from Greenville, Texas to Dallas after information was obtained indicating this was his route.
Returning to Hensley Field, Grand Prairie, Texas for unknown reasons his aircraft crashed just west of Cockrell Hill, Texas, south of Jefferson Boulevard on the property of the Swain and Sons Dairy.
Warrant Officer Hale died upon impact and pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect involved in this massive search by multiple law enforcement agencies terminated two days later when he was apprehended in Fannin County near the Texas Oklahoma border.
The suspect, identified as Walter Glenn Ransom, age 33, a career criminal with a lengthily criminal history was charged with eleven felonies. After trials in several involved counties he was found guilty of all charged crimes and received sentences totaling 47 years.
Warrant Officer Preson Daniel Hale, a 13 year veteran of the Dallas Police Department is interred at Restland Memorial Park Cemetery, Dallas, Texas.