Aero Commander 680 N128C

Did the flight of March 25, 1978, spell disaster for Angel Gestoso and Alfredo Llarena? This is not the only case of disappearance linked with criminal undercurrents.

     On this day, Gestoso and Llarena took off from Opa Locka (near Miami) listing Freeport, Grand Bahama, as their ultimate destination. However,
   Llarena headed in the opposite direction, over the Everglades to
       Immokalee, Florida, so he could look at some property he wanted
           to buy. An insurance agent, Llarena was making good money
               now, and was investing it.

                 Afterward, the pair finally headed to Freeport, where Llarena
                   was selling a boat and had an appointment to show it that
                   afternoon. As it would turn out, the buyer waited and waited.
                   Llarena and Gestoso never arrived. Nor was anything ever
                 seen of the Aero Commander again. The weather was
                   excellent; the trip was very short. What happened?

               Llarena was a good pilot, although he was not instrument rated
             which means he was not qualified in over-water navigation.
             However, Angel Gestoso was. He was a former POW in Vietnam and
               an excellent pilot with an instrument rating.

     There is more here than meets the eye. The names Angel Gestoso and
     Alfredo Llarena appeared frequently in the files of the Coast Guard
     associated with Kenny Bernstein, “a known smuggler killed in an airplane
   crash with a load of M.J.” (marijuana), reads the accident report.

     Moreover, the plane had “loads of info” on it. It was a known smuggler plane. Llarena had had permission to use it from the owners on previous occasions, but apparently had no permission this time. The morning they departed, it had been reported stolen. Yet later on, one of the owners, P. Bonet, spoke to officer Rizzo at the DCPSD (Dade County Public Safety Department) and plainly said “There was no way the plane was stolen.”

   In truth, for the owner to get his insurance, the plane must be listed as stolen. This is the designation in all rental or borrowed aircraft that vanish.

   The vital question to ask is, Was it an intentional disappearance? There are clues that argue against it: like checking out buying land that morning, or like having a man waiting to buy a boat at Freeport. But was this only a front? Gestoso’s talents as a pilot wouldn’t be necessary on the short trip to Freeport. But if they intended to fly to South America, he would be indispensable. Reports reached Llarena’s family that an Aero Commander left Columbia and went down in Venezuela. Gestoso’s family heard that the plane was detained in Maracaibo.

   These just may be the typical rumors that spread after a disappearance. If not, a rusted wreck in the jungles of Venezuela may contain the clue to the fate of these two men and their airplane. Or it could be just another disappearance in the Bermuda Triangle that has no explanation.