Tarzan Star dies in Plane Crash: Here is what we know so far

William Lara, protagonist of the series “Tarzan: The Epic Adventures” died along with his wife, Gwen Shamblin Lara, founder of a church that linked Christianity to weight loss, and five other people after the plane they were traveling in crashed in the US, the congregation reported this Sunday.

Lara, also known as Joe Lara and who was born in 1962 in San Diego (California), played Tarzan in the series broadcast between August 1996 and May 1997. He also played that character in 1989, on the tape “Tarzan in Manhattan”.

During his career, he participated in productions made in countries such as South Africa, Bulgaria and Russia, indicated the information portal of the film industry IMDb, which stressed that he was also a pilot and a certified diver.

In a statement on its website, the church Remnant Fellowship today confirmed the “unexpected death” of its seven leaders.

The Rutherford County Fire and Rescue department reported Saturday that the small plane had left Smyrna Airport in Tennessee yesterday for Palm Beach, Florida.

The aircraft, a Cessna 501, crashed into Percy Priest Loch shortly after take off, according to the report.

In addition to the Lara couple, the other occupants of the aircraft were Jennifer J. Martin, David L. Martin, Jessica Walters, Jonathan Walters and Brandon Hannah, said the fire and rescue group, and noted that it was presumed that “all” had died.

At the scene of the incident, different agencies were working on the investigation and collecting the remains of the device this Sunday.

Remnant Fellowship described in his statement the deceased as “The best and most loving” people and described what happened as a “horrible tragedy”.

In addition, it indicated that the children of its founder, Michael Shamblin and Elizabeth Shamblin Hannah – whom Gwen Shamblin Lara had with her first husband, David Shamblin – intend to continue her dream.

Consulted by Efe, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicated that they are investigating the incident and that they will issue a preliminary report in approximately two weeks.

“The full investigation will take one or two years to complete”, added the spokesman, who did not provide details about what happened or the condition of the plane’s occupants.