Read this excerpt from the article "clemente's impact wanes in puerto rico 40 years after his death." "we headed out to the beach closest to the crash area and it was packed with people. it was devastating news for everybody,'' says former major league pitcher jose santiago, a close friend of clemente. "people were going, 'are you sure he boarded the plane? maybe he didn't.' or claiming, 'oh, he's got to be alive.' some would say, 'he's clinging to a rock in one of those little islands out there.' " what can best be inferred from this excerpt? clemente's friends and fans did not want to believe that he was dead. jose santiago grew up in the same neighborhood as the clemente family. clemente's plane landed safely on a deserted island. clemente was a skilled swimmer with survival training.