James Kenneth Crone was a highway patrolman for the Texas Department of Public Safety

Texas Department of Public Safety

The Texas Department of Public Safety is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and vehicle regulation. The Public Safety Commission oversees the DPS. Its five members are appointed by the Governor of Texas and confirmed by the...

 from 1967 to 1978. During his law enforcement

Law enforcement

Law enforcement broadly refers to any system by which some members of society act in an organized manner to promote adherence to the law by discovering and punishing persons who violate the rules and norms governing that society...

 career, he was kidnapped on May 2, 1969 by Robert Dent & Ila Fae Holiday & taken on a slow-moving caravan across south Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. This event led to the Hollywood drama movie production in 1974 produced by Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...

 starring Goldie Hawn

Goldie Hawn

Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969...

 in The Sugarland Express

The Sugarland Express

The Sugarland Express is a 1974 American drama film starring Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, William Atherton, and Michael Sacks. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, his first film to be intended as a theatrical release .It is about a husband and wife trying to outrun the law and was based on a...

. Crone was an advisor on the film and actually played a small role in the filming of the movie starring as a deputy sheriff.

Early life

Crone was born in Tyler, Smith county, Texas and graduated from John Tyler High School before entering the U.S. Air Force where he served 4 years. In 1967, he joined the Texas Department of Public Safety graduating in class C-67 and was stationed at Winnie in Chambers county, Texas.

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