| Trooper Stanley E. Gerling Iowa State Patrol Iowa End of Watch: Friday, June 30, 1989 Biographical Info Age: 34 Tour of Duty: 1 year Badge Number: 190 Incident Details Cause of Death: Aircraft accident Date of Incident: Friday, June 30, 1989 Weapon Used: Not available Suspect Info: Not available Trooper Gerling and Trooper Pilot Lance Dietsch were killed in an airplane accident while searching for an elderly man who had wandered off. They were about to call off the search when the troopers located him in a soybean field. They began to circle the area when the plane made a sudden turn and crashed vertically into the ground.
Trooper Gerling had served with the Iowa State Patrol for 1 year. He was survived by his wife and two children Related Line of Duty Deaths |