This story, by correspondent Miguel Frau, first appeared in the Jan. 27, 1973, issue of The Sporting News, under the headline, “Search for Clemente Abandoned.”
BAYAMON, P. R. — The intensive and exhaustive search for her husband's body having been abandoned, the widow of Pirates' star Roberto Clemente gathered her three small sons, members of the family and the Clementes' personal attorney in her spacious Carolina home January 12, met with the press and expressed her gratitude for the efforts extended since the New Year's Eve plane crash near San Juan that took the lives of Clemente and four other persons.
At the same time, Cristina Clemente urged that her late husband's plans for Ciudad Deportiva, the sports city for youngsters in Puerto Rico, proceed with all reasonable haste.
SHE PUBLICLY thanked those in Puerto Rico and the United States, including recently elected Puerto Rican Governor Hernandez Colon and President Nixon, for their efforts in establishing memorial funds which will go toward the building of the sports city, and urged that a board of directors be established to coordinate funds for the project.
Appearing on the televised press conference with sons Roberto Jr., 7, Roberto Luis, 6, and Roberto Enrique, 3, Mrs. Clemente suggested that Pirate Owner John Galbreath, General Manager Joe Brown and possibly Gov. Nelson Rockefeller should be members of the board.
She added that Clemente wanted to include not only sports facilities in the project, but also a hospital and a home for orphans.
Mrs. Clemente, who kept a long vigil on the beach near the San Juan airport while rescuers searched for the wreckage of the plane which carried her husband to his death at the beginning of a relief flight bound for earthquake-devastated Managua, also said she planned to go to Pittsburgh to collect Clemente's personal belongings from the apartment they rented there.
She and the three Clemente youngsters will return to Pittsburgh on opening day, April 6, to participate in ceremonies in which Clemente's uniform will be retired.
THE 11-DAY SEARCH for the bodies of Clemente, associate Rafael Lozano, engineer Francisco Mitias and Interstate Air Service Corp. President Arthur Rivera. was called off January 12. Pilot Jerry Hill's body was the only one recovered from the crash site, about 1 1⁄2 miles off-shore.
Rear Admiral Norvell G. Ward, commander of the 10th Naval District, said after consulting with Gov. Colon that "Navy salvage and diving experts reported that the wreckage had been thoroughly searched and further efforts would not be productive."
The U.S. Coast Guard and volunteer divers also participated in the search. They did recover the briefcase Clemente was carrying, but found no further traces of the victims.
AUTHORITIES PLAN to examine the wreckage of the plane, a prop-driven DC-7, and to get statements from a number of eyewitnesses, in an effort to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred about 9:30 p.m. December 31.
Officials had not ruled out the possibility that the plane, with a cargo of relief supplies, was overloaded. Engine trouble was another possibility. The plane's departure was delayed when it returned from the San Juan runway and spark plugs in one engine were replaced.
Witnesses to the crash said several explosions occurred before the plane crashed into the sea. Pilot Hill had radioed the San Juan tower several minutes after takeoff that he was returning to the airport.