Body of second person in plane crash found

Monday, April 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The body of the second occupant of a plane that crashed on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon has been found about 100 yards east of the main wreckage.

A park ranger from Yellowstone National Park, who was participating in the search, and her dog found the body of Darla Eldredge, 53, of Salt Lake City about 9:30 a.m. Sunday buried beneath about three feet of snow, authorities said.

Several pieces of the plane, including a piece of the wing and tail section, have been found over the last several days.

The National Transportation Safety Board is arranging for the wreckage to be moved to Phoenix, where they will complete the investigation.

A search for the plane and its occupants was initiated April 2 after the National Park Service received a report of a Cessna 210 that had disappeared from the radar screen while above the Grand Canyon's North Rim. The Cessna, which departed from Wichita, Kan., had stopped in Las Vegas, N.M., and was en route to North Las Vegas where Darla and her husband, James Eldredge, 55, had their second home.

A helicopter pilot spotted a portion of the downed plane April 6 in a densely wooded area near the last known radar point. James Eldredge's body was found in the wreckage.