LOCAL : Granada Hills Pilot Missing
Authorities are searching for a 68-year-old Granada Hills man who has been missing since Monday morning when he took off in his single-engine plane from Whiteman Airport.
Robert Bell, a retired carpenter, told his family Monday that he was going to Whiteman in Pacoima to look at a plane, said Detective Jim Lewis of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons unit.
When Bell failed to return home, his wife called police, who discovered Bell’s plane was missing from its hangar and his car parked nearby, Lewis said. Police believe that Bell took off in his plane on an impromptu pleasure ride over the Mojave Desert, as is often his custom, Lewis said.
Tuesday morning, eight planes combed the desert in search of Bell, said Lt. Kate Kelley, a spokeswoman for the Civil Air Patrol.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
