Gary Corsair

Evan, You're not the only one who advanced the suicide scenario. Someone threw it out there and it keeps getting repeated. I'm not prepared to say it wasn't suicide, but to me, it doesn't fit Baron's character, as described to me by his stepbrother, ex-wife, and others who knew him. The belief that he killed himself because he was so distraught over the death of astronauts is absurd. For one, Baron's death came three months after the Apollo 204 tragedy. Secondly, even though Baron got verbally beat up when he testified, he was still receiving considerable press. And at least one relative believes he was turning his report into a book. If he was depressed, it was likely because he was financially broke and couldn't find a job after being dismissed by North American. It's a matter of record that he was behind on child support and his landlord says he had trouble paying rent. And he was dealing with diabetes. But I still don't believe he was so despondent that he would run his car into a train. Baron was determined and persistent when he believed he was right, and he definitely believed he was on target. As a side note, according to the lone survivor of the crash, Baron washed his car shortly before taking his final trip in it. Who washes a car they intend to slam into a train? For those who wonder if Baron was murdered for his 500-page report, here's grist for the mill: Baron told his stepbrother that his trailer had been broken into by someone who was obviously looking for something, but took nothing. Baron told a NASA employee that he was being watched. And a neighbor claimed that "men" ransacked Baron's trailer the night he died. Heresay, heresay, and heresay. But those three claims by three different people who don't know each other have me looking at every possible scenario.

I've read with interest each and every post relating to Thomas Baron and have the following observations to offer based on a year-long, and ongoing investigation into the life and death of Thomas Ronald Baron: Baron's 55-page report (which was actually 58 pages) was condemnatory of his employer, North American Aviation, not NASA. In it, he expresses the opinion that more oversight from NASA was needed, but that's about it for his "criticism" of NASA itself. Secondly, I know of no "official" ruling that Baron's death was a suicide. Neither the State of Florida, nor Brevard County, have an autopsy or coroner's report. I don't believe either documentation existed. Law enforcement and medical personnel never viewed the death of Baron, wife Marlene and stepdaughter Penny Frey as anything but an accident. The only "official" ruling, or rather conclusion I've found is that of the Florida Highway Patrol, which concluded that Baron tried to beat the train and was unsuccessful. And the train did not strike Baron's automobile, the car actually struck the train. Also, the bodies were not cremated, as some websites maintain. As for the 500-page report, it obviously existed. Baron tried to present it at the hearing and he told family members he had written it. Also, I have interviewed someone close to Baron who claims to have received a copy of the report after this death, which would throw cold water on the "he was killed for the report" theory. With that said, the person who made the claim contents the report was destroyed several years ago, so the claim must be considered heresay. I have not been able to determine if anyone in an official capacity received the 500-page report. I hope to visit the National Archives to see if it exists, or at least a receipt or other documentation that would prove it had been received. As for Baron's briefcase, it existed in December of 1966, for sure. A man I view as very credible saw it and a number of documents in it. As far as I can tell, the briefcase never surfaced after Baron's death. I've talked to two relatives who received personal belongings and neither received the briefcase. In fact, very few personal effects were given to family. But then again, no one from his or her family came to Mims to settle his estate or claim any belongings. I have been unable to find an inventory of Baron's belongings at the time of his death. The Florida Highway Patrol listed no belongings in the car, which I believe view with great skepticism. One of the photographers who captured the "accident" scene on film remembers a tool box, but doesn't know what happened to it. Baron believed he was being watched. He told more than one person that he was being followed. Again, heresay, but I've heard it from more than one person, independent of each other. Again, I haven't found concrete evidence. Hopefully, I've addressed a couple of misconceptions. I will continue to investigate. And I would like to hear from anyone who has leads I should look into. I'm not prepared to say Baron was murdered. But "trying to beat the train" doesn't fit the safety-conscious, meticulous nature of the man either. I'd be interested in how the "accident" could have been arranged. There was brake fluid in the master cylinder and the FHP noted no evidence of foul play (the trooper claims he considered it after realizing who Baron was). Any ideas? For the record, I am an investigative journalist with more than 30 years in the media business.

Gary Corsair is a senior writer who specializes in in-depth features and investigative reporting. Mr. Corsair was a junior at Eastern High School in Greentown, Indiana when he began his journalism career in 1976 as a sportswriter at the Howard County News. In 1977, he joined the Sports Dept. of the Kokomo (Indiana) Tribune. He worked at both newspapers for four years. Mr. Corsair has excelled in a variety of roles: sports editor, sportswriter, photographer, news editor, magazine editor, and publisher (of Corsair¹s Sports Authority and later, the Tri-County Sun). Mr. Corsair has received 34 state and regional awards for journalistic excellence. In 2009, he won a 1st and two 2nd place awards in the annual Florida Press Club Excellence in Journalism contest. In 2008, he won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards from the Florida Press Club. His first-place awards include: An expose of secret chemical weapons tests conducted in Florida during World War II; the story of James "Killer" Miller, a Wildwood High School football star who traded dreams of fame for drugs; the true story of the USS Eagle PE-56, a World War II U.S. patrol boat sank by a German U-boat, not a boiler explosion as believed for 50 years; and the saga of Reggie Colton, who became a world-renonwed wheelchair basketball star after having his legs severed in an accident at age 12. Mr. Corsair also earned two first-place Associated Press awards for broadcast excellence during a brief television career. Mr. Corsair is author of The Groveland Four: The Sad Saga of a Legal Lynching, and is currently writing a book about the 1955 Grand Ole Opry tour that catapulted Elvis Presley to stardom. Mr. Corsair joined the Daily Sun in 1993 as editor-in-chief and led the two-year transformation of the newspaper from a free weekly to a 7-day-a-week paid daily. Mr. Corsair was born in Irvington, New Jersey on July 29, 1959. He lives in Lady Lake, Florida with his wife of 29 years, Gwen. They are parents of four grown children.