On August 3, 1943, The Commercial Dispatch put out a short piece on the Ploesti raid and released pictures of several of the planes flying over the oil refineries. At the time, the Franks were not aware that this was the mission Jesse was on.
A Western Union delivery man showed up on August 16, 1943 to deliver the telegram to Nancy Lee that informed the Franks that Jesse is officially missing in action (MIA). Dr. Franks was in Vaughan, Mississippi conducting a Baptist revival and had to be notified.
The Commercial Dispatch was owned by a good friend of Dr. Franks, Bernie Imes, as such, the paper published a front-page news report “Missing in Action- L.T. J.D. Franks, JR” on August 17, 1943 and an editorial piece “Red Franks Missing” on August 19, 1943.
Dr. Franks and Dottie still believed Jesse was alive and resolved to find him. A week after they had been notified of his MIA status, the Franks received a letter from Jesse that indicated it was sent August 3rd, two days after Jesse was shot down. It turned out to be the letter he sent right before the raid, and the Franks hopes were shattered again.
On September 23, 1943 the War Department changed Jesse’s status from MIA to killed in action. The blow came even harsher after Dr. Franks received the letter he had sent Jesse on August 3rd with “return to sender” and “Status Changed to Killed in Action” printed on it.
Dr. Franks memorialized Jesse in a service at the First Baptist Church in November 1943. He read a eulogy he wrote, “The Christian Courage of Bombardier Jesse D. “Red” Franks,” and his last letter which was later entered into the Congressional Records.
Lt. Jack Warner, another bombardier on the Euroclydon, sent Dr. Franks a letter in November 1943. This letter claimed that he saw Jesse bail out with his parachute and that he was alive. The War Department, however, refused to reverse Jesse’s killed in action status because Warner was still a Romanian prisoner of war (POW). He later revealed that he had not actually seen Jesse get to safety because Jesse was the one that pushed him out of the plane first, saving his life.
On December 22, 1943 the ceremony to award Jesse with a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for Ploesti was delayed by weather until January 1944.
In January 1944, the War Department apologized for declaring Jesse dead and reinstated his missing in action status. Dr. Franks received another letter from Lt. Warner not soon after though that claimed he was listed among the dead at Ploesti with no burial place.
Congress officially declared that without a body, Jesse could not be declared dead. On March 27, 1944 Dr. Franks finally received all of Jesse's personal belongings.
In the summer of 1944, the Romanians switched from the Axis side to the Allies, and in September they released all American prisoners of war, including those from Tidal Wave. Then in 1945, Germany released all of their POWs. Jesse, however, did not emerge from either of these groups. Dr. Franks did not give up hope that he was still alive and instead worried that he could have amnesia or be with the Russians.