Investigators combed a rural Florida orange grove for clues to the cause of a plane crash that killed two couples from Orange County who were en route to a boating vacation in the Cayman Islands. Authorities identified the victims as Jack A George (SPHS '48), 63 of Newport Beach, the pilot and owner of the private plane; Colleen O'Neill, 50, of Costa Mesa; and Carolyn Ann Speers, 57, and Dallas Earle Speers Jr (SPHS '46), 66, of Laguna Beach.

The Speerses were flying with George, a pilot for nearly 40 years and a longtime friend, for the first time. Federal investigators said George's twin-engine 1967 Beechcraft Barron BE-55 was flying through heavy thunderstorms June 7, 1994 about noon when the aircraft apparently began to disintegrate in flight and crashed into an orange grove near Wauchula, Florida, about 65 miles southeast of Tampa. Wreckage from the plane was strewn across a 2 1/2 mile area in Hardee County. No injuries were reported on the ground. 

George was flying at about 9,000 feet when air traffic controllers in Miami warned him that thunderstorms were straight ahead. Controllers gave George permission to change course to avoid the storms, but soon lost radio and radar contact with him. The investigation was expected to focus heavily on the thunderstorms as a possible cause of the crash, officials said.

Dallas Speers (October 25, 1928 - June 7, 1994) was born and raised in South Pasadena, where he ran a television and radio repair sales and service shop, 'Speers' TV' for 35 years. Dallas and Carolyn Speers married about seven years ago, second marriages for both, and bought a home in Laguna Beach. In Orange County, the Speers often cruised between Newport Beach and Dana Point harbors on their boat, The Whisper II. Dallas Speers was also a volunteer for the Laguna Beach Police Department, working for about six years as the department's alarm officer. His job was to bill property owners for hooking up home security systems and notify them of penalties for too many false alarms.

Dallas Speers is survived by two daughters, JoAnne Speers '76 and LuAnne Speers Pisarski '81; and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents, Tillie Bauer Speers '15 and Dallas Speers Sr '15. 

Los Angeles Times, June 9, 1994