THOUSAND OAKS : Search Continues for Pilot, Passenger
A 57-year-old Thousand Oaks pilot and his woman passenger, who were last seen Monday, remained the subject of an intensive search by the Civil Air Patrol on Wednesday.
William Crimmins was last seen about 6:40 p.m. Monday when he left Grand Junction, Colo. He and his passenger had stopped there en route from South Dakota to Thermal, Calif., Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Edward Crankshaw said.
Crimmins was taking Lavonne DeSchpper of South Dakota to Thermal to visit friends for Thanksgiving, Crankshaw said. The plane should have arrived in Thermal by 9 p.m. Monday.
Crimmins, an executive of a national hotel chain, planned to go on to Arizona to visit family members, Crankshaw said.
Civil Air Patrol pilots from California, Arizona and Utah began searching for the missing plane Tuesday, using special equipment to listen for an emergency locater transmitter signal, Crankshaw said.
The search, which involved about 125 people, ended about 5 p.m. Wednesday and was scheduled to resume at dawn today.
An investigation of radar records revealed that a plane traveling the flight path that Crimmins’ single-engine Beach Bonanza should have been following was last noted southeast of Kingman, Ariz.
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