142: The Only Missing WASP: The Disappearance of Gertrude Tompkins Silver

On October 26, 1944, Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins Silver took off from Mines Field in Los Angeles in a P-51 Mustang on what should have been a routine ferry flight. She never arrived. Gertrude was one of the pioneering Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), the civilian women who flew military aircraft during World War II so male pilots could be sent overseas. She was also the only WASP to disappear during the war whose aircraft has never been recovered. In this episode, we explore Gertrude's extraordinary life, from a childhood marked by a debilitating stutter and an unlikely love of goats to world travel, flight, and a quiet wartime marriage just weeks before she vanished. More than eighty years later, the fate of Gertrude Tompkins Silver remains one of the last great mysteries of the WASPs. In this episode we talk about women in aviation, World War II history, and the enduring search for one remarkable pilot who never came home. 📍 Los Angeles, California  | October 26, 1944 📖 Featuring an original poem written and read in her honor by Aimee Baker. ➡️ Help bring attention to missing and unidentified women—subscribe and share this episode. 📍 Find us on Instagram & Facebook. 📚 Get Aimee’s book, Doe, now available via University of Akron Press, Bookshop.org, and Amazon. 📰 For more women-centered true crime content, subscribe to Aimee’s newsletter, GIRLHUNT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices