Search for Missing Pilot, 68, Continues
Authorities are searching for a 68-year-old Granada Hills man who has been missing since Monday morning when he is believed to have taken 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 that Bell’s plane was missing from its hangar and that his car was parked nearby, Lewis said. Police said they believe that Bell took off in his plane on an impromptu pleasure ride over the Mojave Desert, as he often does, Lewis said.
On Tuesday, 14 planes combed a 740-square-mile portion of the desert in search of Bell, said Lt. Kate Kelley, a spokeswoman for the Civil Air Patrol.
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