Trooper Stanley E. Gerling
Iowa State Patrol
Iowa
End of Watch: Friday, June 30, 1989
Cause: Aircraft accident

Biographical Info
Age: 34
Tour of Duty: 1 year
Badge Number: 190

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