Plane missing in Wyoming Range found; pilot dead

JACKSON, Wyo. — Crews searching for a small plane missing for a week in the rugged terrain of the Upper Hoback found wreckage of the aircraft and the body of its pilot, Sublette County sheriff’s officials said Saturday.

The sheriff’s office said the only person on board, 63-year-old Miles McGinnis, 63, died in the plane crash near the Lincoln and Sublette County line. He and his single-engine Cessna 182 were reported missing a week ago when it failed to arrive in Pinedale on the afternoon of Nov. 17.

McGinnis was flying to Wyoming from Stevensville, Mont., The Jackson Hole News and Guide reported.

An air crew from Teton County found the wreckage more than a mile from the location of the last radar contact with the plane, in the Wyoming Range, and a ground crew hiked to the crash site. The sheriff’s office said search crews had been in that area of the Upper Hoback earlier in the week but the debris field had been covered by snow, which melted during recent warmer temperatures.

Search and rescue teams from both counties had spent the past week searching the area for the La Barge pilot and his single-engine Cessna. The Sublette County Sheriff’s Office began distributing flyers Wednesday for help from hunters and hikers.

Authorities plan to recover the body Sunday. Federal transportation and aviation officials will investigate the crash.

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