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Search planes spotted the body of one missionary not far from the wrecked and looted plane. During the next few days, as a ground crew worked its way to the scene, the searchers located the bodies of the other four. The land party reached the riverbank at week's end, found that four had died of spear wounds—and one of machete slashes. Around the shaft of one spear were wrapped a few pages torn from a Bible. The dead were identified, then buried where they lay. Ecuador's government sent sympathy and regrets to the U.S. ambassador, but regarded any attempt to find the Auca murderers as impractical. Back in Milwaukee, McCully's father humbly accepted his son's death. "God makes no mistakes," he said.