Businesses, entertainers lose possessions in plane crash

Osmond was one of 26 clients of AAA Self Storage Inns, just off the busy Highway 76 strip, affected by the crash. The accident took the lives of four Texans who were leaving Branson after a weekend excursion.

Osmond had just returned from a European tour when he got the call about the crash.

“Who would’ve ever thought that a plane would fly out of the sky and blow everything up?” he asked. “Talk about a weird situation.”

Destroyed in the four units that Osmond was renting was an eclectic array of personal memorabilia and business inventory – thousands of compact discs, a $40,000 prototype of an animatronic suit designed for a Cirque du Soleil-style traveling stage show, gold records, People’s Choice Awards, outfits from the Osmond family’s first television appearance, show tools such as magic tricks and a Bob’s Big Boy statue.

“It was packed to the gills,” he said. “It was just really sad. There wasn’t even a trace of any of that stuff. It just vaporized.”

His biggest loss? A hat Frank Sinatra gave Osmond after he performed as a child with Frank and Nancy Sinatra. “You can’t replace that stuff,” he said.

Osmond owns the Bart Rocket Theater, which was renamed from the Jimmy Osmond American Jukebox Theater in September, and other Branson properties. He’s been renting space at AAA Self Storage for 15 years and estimated his losses from the crash were in excess of $300,000.

Of course, Osmond said, destroyed possessions don’t mean as much as the lives that were lost that day.

“I’d give up everything I could if I could save one of those people,” he said.

Damage assessment

AAA Self Storage manager Mike Willett said there are 318 units in separate buildings at the site. The crash destroyed a 6,000-square-foot, 32-unit building.

Other items lost belonged to country music artist Moe Bandy, Chateau on the Lake Resort and Convention Center, and ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen.

“Everybody stores their best stuff there because you can get access to it so easily,” Osmond said of the units’ proximity to the city’s theaters.

Willett said they’re getting insurance bids and that he doesn’t know how much it will cost to rebuild.

Chateau on the Lake General Manager Stephen Marshall said the unit it rented for nine years contained extra carpet, vinyl and tile.

Marshall said he didn’t know if they would be able to replace the materials in the small, matching quantities.

“We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said.

Federal aviation investigators have been on the scene determining the cause of the crash. Early reports said the plane had mechanical troubles.

The plane departed from Taney County Airport in Point Lookout 15 minutes before crashing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.