Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 25, 1994 TAG: 9408250099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHESTER GAP LENGTH: Medium
The plane was identified as the aircraft that disappeared with an Ohio family aboard Aug.16 after refueling in Fredericksburg, said Maj. Linda Utting, a spokeswoman for the Civil Air Patrol.
The bodies were burned beyond recognition, said Mary Evans, a spokeswoman for the state police.
The wreckage was scattered over a wide area 12 miles south of Front Royal in Rappahannock County, Evans said. She said the National Transportation Safety Board, state police and park police are investigating.
State police were notified of the discovery at 12:55 p.m. after personnel on a Civil Air Patrol search plane spotted the wreckage.
The aircraft was located after an extensive search covering several states.
The missing plane from Ohio was heading from the Manteo, N.C., airport to the Columbus, Ohio, area when it disappeared.
The plane was piloted by attorney Bill Peoples of Powell, Ohio. Also on board the Cherokee Six single-engine plane were his wife, Mary; their daughter, Nichole, 5; and his sons from a previous marriage, Nick, 13, and Nate, 11.
CAP personnel from Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina were involved in the search. The search focused on Northern and Western Virginia this week after authorities learned the plane had refueled at Shannon Airport in Fredericksburg the day it disappeared.
Fifty people - members of a ground team. along with pilots and spotters in eight planes - were involved in the search.
Capt. Anthony Biondo of the CAP said the search had been widened beyond the route the plane would have taken to its destination of Delaware, Ohio, because the pilot did not file a flight plan and may have tried to fly around stormy weather.
Keywords:
FATALITY
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.