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Two found dead in missing plane

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The wreckage of a a missing Cessna Centurion was located by a Nevada Army National Guard helicopter crew about 9 miles north of the Tonopah Airport Tuesday afternoon.

The small plane disappeared from Federal Aviation Administration radar about 11 miles northwest of the airport during snow showers Sunday morning, said Maj. Charles McCarty, a Nevada Civil Air Patrol spokesman in Las Vegas.

The pilot had not filed a flight plan, but McCarty said the plane was headed to Eugene, Ore., from Tucson.

The bodies of two people, believed to be the pilot and his wife, were found in the wreckage, McCarty said.

The Nye County coroner made a positive identification of the victims on board, but would not release the names this morning pending notification of family.

Thirty-one CAP members supported the mission as pilots, observers, or base support staff.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be taking over the investigation into the crash, according to Nye County Sheriff Lt. Mike Dolfin.

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