Death of Lt. Francis Peoples- 332nd FG

[kaki3152]

While reading the last book on the 332nd FG, I came across the death of Francis Peoples who was "launched late in P-51C 41-903942 [sic] and he was last seen hurrying to catch the group. He never rendezvoused with the 332nd and never returned to base. " This is from one of the Osprey line "332nd FG Fighter Group" Chris Bucholz.BTW, its a good book albeit with some curious errors.
Except, when looking at Joe Baughers USAAF serial number listing, it has the following citation:"[41]-"5354 crashed Apr 27, 1944 near Auburn, AL when failed to recover from power dive. Tuskegee airman Francis Peoples killed." 41-5354 was a P-40E and was obviously used for training at Tuskegee,making this a training death at Tuskegee not an overseas loss at Ramatelli. Also, the serial number listed in Bucholz's book is not that of a P-51C and seems totally incorrect.

Can anyone shed light on this mystery ?