Victim Found in Jet Crash Rubble : Aviation: 30 were homeless and three people, including the pilot, were in critical condition the day after a Navy fighter hit an apartment complex.

Searchers found a body Friday in the rubble of a suburban apartment complex where a fighter jet crashed in a fireball.

The young man’s body was found in the apartment that absorbed the heaviest damage from the crash, Cobb County Medical Examiner Joseph Burton said.

The pilot, who ejected just before the jet crashed Thursday night, remained in critical condition, as did a pregnant woman and her 5-year-old child, who were burned on the ground.

“The worst part was just the sounds--that little girl screaming,” said resident Tamara Owens.

Resident Bill Barcus, who still had a reddened face and a singed arm Friday from facing the intense heat in an attempt to reach the woman, said: “I got to within 10 feet of the woman but it was too hot and I didn’t have any shoes on. All I could hear were her screams, but I had to back off. I went back to get my shoes, but by then somebody had gotten her.”

The man whose body was found about 3 p.m. Friday was identified only as white and in his 20s. Burton said there was no indication that anyone else was in the apartment, where he said a man had lived alone.

Authorities did not immediately identify the resident or the body. Only one person was known to be missing before discovery of the body, but the search continued. Four missing people were located earlier Friday.

About 30 people were left homeless by the fire, and about 50 others who lived in undamaged portions of the Pine Lake Village Apartment complex had not been allowed to return to their homes Friday afternoon. Most spent Thursday night at a nearby motel, which offered free lodging.

Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Robert M. Conlyn Jr. of Marietta, Ga., the only person aboard the unarmed A-7E Corsair II attack plane, was reported doing better Friday, but remained unconscious after brain surgery, said Kennestone Hospital spokeswoman Laurel Fredlake.

Margie Padovani, 28, and her daughter, Jacquelyn, suffered burns over about half their bodies, said Grady Memorial Hospital spokesman Jim Driscoll. He said the mother also had a broken leg.

Troy Kraemer, who said he was Padovani’s fiance, said she was pregnant. He said doctors told him the unborn child might not survive.

A woman hurt while fleeing her apartment was treated for cracked ribs, and a military rescue worker broke an ankle, officials said.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze about two hours after the crash.

Fire Chief Larry Williams said the search of the apartment of the man believed missing was “a military type operation.” Civilian searchers were kept away through much of the day while Navy investigators looked for clues, and Marine Reserve guards helped seal off the crash site.

Police officer Frank Durrance said the Navy jet struck the edge of a building before crashing into a car and coming to rest by a chain link fence about 30 yards away. “You could tell it was a car, but you can’t tell that it was a plane,” Durrance said.

Kathie Barton, Smyrna’s director of community relations, said 12 apartments were destroyed and 20 damaged in two buildings. Three of the 32 units in those buildings were vacant, said Jim Humphrey, maintenance supervisor for the complex.

The jet crashed 2.5 miles short of the runway at Naval Air Station Atlanta, located at Dobbins Air Force Base, 15 miles northwest of Atlanta. The pilot was to land there while on a navigational training mission, the Navy said.