Born in the small town of Kłodzko, Poland,
Jarek
immigrated to Vancouver, Canada with his family at the age of ten to re-join his father in hopes for a better life.
Despite the language barrier, he would eventually excel both scholastically and athletically during his adolescence
as he slowly adapted to his new "Westernized" lifestyle.
But everything changed during the latter part of his high school years when he met and fell in love with an extraordinary girl named
Dianne.
Before long, the two became inseparable in an environment that appeared to threaten their intimate relationship. She was to become
a nurse, and he an airline pilot, until the crazy idea of elopement changed their lives forever.
Armed with their youthful innocence and a yearning for adventure, the star-crossed lovers devised a plan to elope using a rented aircraft.
The getaway plan was simple: leave quietly and minimize the impact to both their families and friends. Everything
was going according to plan until, during their final flight leg, the plane crashed into Little Bitterroot Lake and Dianne tragically died.
Distraught and in shock, Jarek hitch-hiked aimlessly south, where he would spend the next twenty-four years trying to
make sense of the accident, as he slowly pieced his life back together.
After the plane recovery, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police looked extensively into the accident and eventually concluded that
there was
no basis for criminal charges. After all, this was just two kids eloping when the horrendous accident occurred.
They were both Canadian citizens and the plane was rented from Sol-Air Aviation, a small aircraft rental company
also based in Canada. This was an "open and shut" case as far as the Canadian justice system, the Crown Counsel,
was concerned.
But as it turned out, that mind-set was far from what was concluded by the State of Montana, Flathead County authorities.
Jim Dupont, the county
investigator at the time,
Sheriff Al Rierson, and Flathead County Attorney
Ted O. Lympus, all decided to take
matters into their own hands. Irrelevant to the facts and the available evidence—and contrary to the Canadian Crown Counsel
findings—they decided to
file a Negligent Homicide charge
of their own.
And that is how the twenty-four year man-hunt began. Read more...