Jim Dove recalls:
"Jerry was in a different flight than I, so I really didn't know him that well. If I remember, just a little derbis was recovered, but no body.
"As far as what happened: It was a night active scramble. The aircraft they were intercepting was a cargo flight from Miami to South America, a C-46 I think, a U.S. registered aircraft. They lost an engine just north of Cuba. I remember when the accident board talked to the C-46 crew, they said that they did not want to land in Cuba and turned back to Miami, lost altitude because they were heavy, and were too low to make radio contact with FAA. Jerry was lead, but I can't remember who the wingman was. The wingman was S turning above them, standard procedure, saw Jerry's beacon, lost it when he turned above them, and never saw it again.
It was a dark night, no moon, and a very low, slow target. The Air Force wanted type and numbers information. Most probable cause was Jerry just got a little too low and slow and flew into the water. The accident board thought the C-46 might have jettisoned some cargo that hit his aircraft, but there was no evidence that they had."