Remains of WWII-era plane carrying U.S. diplomat and downed by Soviet bombers found by divers

A World War II-era mystery surrounding the disappearance of a Finnish passenger plane carrying American and French diplomatic couriers that was shot down over the Baltic Sea appears to have been solved more than eight decades later.

The plane was en route from Tallinn to Helsinki when it was downed by Soviet bombers on June 14, 1940 – just three months after Finland signed a peace treaty with Moscow following the 1939-40 Winter War. It was also days before Moscow annexed the Baltic states.

All nine people on board – a two-member Finnish crew and seven passengers – were killed.