Iowa State Patrol, Iowa
End of Watch: Friday, June 30, 1989
Age: 30
Tour of Duty: 6 years
Badge Number: 142
Cause of Death: Aircraft accident
Date of Incident: June 30, 1989
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Trooper Pilot Lance Dietsch and Trooper Stanley Gerling were killed in an airplane crash 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 Pilot Dietsch had served with the Iowa State Patrol for six years.