Couple Found Dead in Wreck of Small Plane in Mountains

SAN BERNARDINO — A man and woman were found dead in the wreckage of their single-engine plane that crashed in a rugged area east of Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains, Sheriff’s Department officials said Friday.

Authorities believe the couple may be John Morrow, 70, and his wife, Patricia, 65, of Yorba Linda, who were reported missing Feb. 23 on a flight from Boulder City, Nev., to Fullerton Municipal Airport, said Jim Bryant, spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Bryant said the plane, a Cessna 206, crashed 50 feet below a 5,400-foot ridge about nine miles east of Lake Arrowhead. The pilot and passenger of the plane were burned beyond recognition, he said.

The Morrows’ plane, a Cessna 206, was the subject of an intensive two-week search that was called off Thursday. That same afternoon, the wreckage was spotted by the pilot of a U.S. Air Force observation plane, Bryant said.

A sheriff’s search and rescue team arrived at the remote site at 10:18 p.m. Thursday, Bryant said. The bodies were recovered Friday afternoon. Officials of the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.