DENVER — Seventy years after the bombing of United Flight 629, one of Colorado’s deadliest tragedies, the families of the 44 victims met face-to-face ahead of Saturday’s memorial.
More than 100 loved ones gathered Friday inside the Denver Crime Lab, coming from across the country to share stories, memories, and grief that has quietly stretched across generations.
Friday’s memorial luncheon kicked off the weekend of activities the Denver Police Museum planned to permanently and officially recognize the 44 people killed when the plane exploded just minutes after taking off from Denver’s old Stapleton Airport on November 1, 1955.
“When we first undertook this project, I didn’t know what to expect,” said Michael Hesse, president of the Denver Police Museum. “It’s been 70 years. Their families were so strong that they wanted to come here and recognize them.”
The museum spent the past two years tracing the victims’ family trees, identifying relatives through ancestry research, and inviting them to Denver for this milestone gathering. Many met one another for the first time Friday, united by a single event that changed aviation and Colorado history.
Investigators later determined that the explosion was caused by a dynamite bomb hidden in a suitcase. The bomber, intent on collecting insurance money, killed all 44 people on board — including his own mother — in what became the first confirmed case of airline sabotage in the United States.
For Shirley Rinn, whose mother, Alma Windsor, died on the flight, the event brought both closure and connection.
“My mom was a friend to everybody,” Rinn said. “We all loved her, and she was good to us. This is wonderful. I think this is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Now 88 years old, Rinn told Denver7 she has spent decades without a sense of closure for her mother. Seeing more than 100 people gathered to honor the victims, she said, was proof that others still think about the lives lost.
Friday’s luncheon also recognized the families of the FBI agents who helped solve the case — men whose investigative work led to the bomber’s confession and changed how air disasters are investigated nationwide.
“It’s important for Coloradans to be aware of this,” Hesse said. “This had national and international implications.”
Hesse said the museum sees this project as part of its responsibility to preserve stories of both loss and resilience.
“There’s an old saying: You die twice: once when you physically pass, and again when people stop saying your name,” he said. “By building this memorial, we’re giving people a chance to keep saying their names.”
Families will gather at the old Stapleton Tower on Saturday for the unveiling of the first permanent granite memorial dedicated to the victims and first responders of United Flight 629. Twenty-one of the 44 victims will have family present at the ceremony.
Later Saturday evening, a symposium at Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum will explore the investigation and its lasting impact on aviation safety and forensic science.
For the families of United Flight 629, this week marks the end of seven decades of silence and the beginning of shared remembrance.
Denver7's coverage of United Flight 629 changed the way courtrooms are covered in Colorado. We continue to share the stories from that dark day many have forgotten.
United Flight 629: Previous Denver7 stories
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