John B. Block

• Missing Since 07/04/1977
• Missing From Utica, Michigan
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Age 57 years old
• Height and Weight 5'6, 140 pounds
• Associated Vehicle(s) Green and white two-seater, single-engine Cessna airplane with the Michigan tag number N 50935
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

John and his wife, Jean, were last seen in Utica, Michigan on July 4, 1977. They took off from Macomb Airport at 11:10 a.m. in their green and white two-seater, single-engine Cessna airplane with the Michigan tag number N 50935. A photo of the plane is posted with this case summary.

The couple planned to visit their son in northern Michigan to celebrate Independence Day together. Their destination was Lost Creek Sky Ranch Airport in Luzerne, Michigan. John is a veteran pilot with thirty years' experience.

The Blocks never arrived at the airport and have never been heard from again. They didn't file a flight plan before leaving the Macomb Airport. They would have normally flown over northbound Interstate 75, but the weather that day was poor and John, who had no instruments on his plane and navigated using visual guidelines only, may have mistaken Interstate 69 for Interstate 75 in the Flint, Michigan area, which would have placed them near Lansing, Michigan. A pilot believes he encountered the couple at an airstrip in Charlotte, Michigan, southwest of Lansing; he stated they took off shortly after noon, heading north. They left the airstrip without refueling because the airport was closed.

An extensive search turned up no sign of John or Jean Block or their plane. North central Michigan, where the search was centered, is heavily wooded and the foliage may have concealed the wreckage of the plane. The couple has never been found.