When two passenger airplanes collide over the Grand Canyon in the 1950s killing all aboard , John Clarke 's body is lost , as is the briefcase of diamonds he had locked to his wrist . Scorning Mr. Clarke 's pregnant fiancée , the Clarke family disclaims the out-of-wedlock daughter , Joanna Craig . When Clarke 's father dies without heir shortly after the crash , the family fortune is entrusted to the estate 's attorney , Dan Plymale , to create a charitable foundation . Mr. Plymale then proceeds to live well as executor of the foundation 's funds , while Joanna Craig and her mother make their own way
collide over the Grand Canyon
1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision
Skeleton Man (novel)