Crash victims yet to be identified

Tim Willert

It could be several weeks before the remains of five people killed in

a plane crash -- including three believed to have Burbank ties -- are

identified, authorities said Tuesday.

“At this point we can’t confirm any of the identities,” said Jon

Kroeker, supervising deputy coroner for San Bernardino County.

“Anytime you have a multiple fatality, it presents a challenge for

us.”

The wreckage of a Cessna 421 Golden Eagle plane was discovered

Thursday morning, about 60 miles east of Needles. The nine-passenger

plane departed Bullhead City, Ariz., about 8 p.m. Wednesday and was

heading for Van Nuys Airport when it disappeared from radar.

On Friday, family and friends confirmed that Bob Brown of Toluca

Lake, a longtime Burbank Realtor, was the plane’s owner and pilot,

and that Burbank residents Bonnie Day and Bart Caldarell, were among

the passengers.

Day, a retired real estate agent, served as a board member for

North Hollywood Republican Women Federated, a women’s political

organization, according to Millie Simic, a fellow member and neighbor

of Day’s.

“That is a shame,” Simic said Tuesday. “She was always happy, and

she was always the first one to arrive at every board meeting we

had.”

Simic on Tuesday also feared that another passenger on the

ill-fated flight was Patricia Wiseman of Seal Beach, also a member of

the women’s political group.

“They always went on trips together,” Simic said of Ray and

Wiseman.

According to Kroeker, fingerprints and/or dental records will be

used to identify the victims.