Missing Plane, 2 Bodies Found

Civil Air Patrol searchers found two bodies in the wreckage of a small plane in Ventura County on Thursday, ending an extensive search for the missing plane that was supposed to have landed at Torrance Airport on Tuesday.

The wreckage was spotted by a Civil Air Patrol crew at 12:45 p.m., and ground rescue workers reached the area about two hours later. They found two bodies, believed to be two retired United Airlines pilots from the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Milton Smith, 64, of Rancho Palos Verdes and William Manfrass, 68, of Palos Verdes Estates left Reno Tuesday morning. Smith, who was piloting the plane, was last heard from shortly after noon Tuesday when he made a routine radio call reporting that he was flying near the town of Avenal at an altitude of about 10,500 feet.

Friends contacted federal officials Tuesday night when the men failed to arrive in Torrance.

Lt. Col. Bob Fowler of the Civil Air Patrol said 15 volunteer search crews covered more than 500 square miles of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties before spotting the wreckage near Reyes Peak on Pine Mountain, about 15 miles north of Ojai.