Search continues for Silicon Valley exec’s plane, family in Idaho
Rescue teams resumed their search for a Silicon Valley executive and his family in central Idaho after their plane was reported missing Sunday.
The single-engine plane is registered to Dale Smith, a 51-year-old pilot and president of the data storage firm SerialTek, who was believed to have been traveling with his two adult children and their significant others, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The plane was reported missing after suffering engine failure near the town of Yellow Pine, according to KTVB. Rescue efforts, meanwhile, have been hindered by heavy snow and low visibility, the Mercury News reported.
“We have significant resources dedicated to this search effort,” said Valley County Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Smith. “We are hopeful that the break in the weather will allow us to locate the missing aircraft.”
Smith’s business partner, Rand Kriech, said he believes the family had left Baker, Ore., after celebrating Thanksgiving, and was headed to Butte, Mont., to drop off Smith’s son and daughter-in-law, the Mercury News reported. Halfway through the trip, the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers in Salt Lake City.
Search efforts were halted Monday night because of poor weather. Overnight temperatures were around zero.
“We’re hopeful,” Kriech told the Mercury News. “Today is the first day they’ll have a good clean search and have a good chance of finding them. I think today is going to be a good day.”
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