A pilot who went missing out of Cass County this week has been found dead.
The Michigan Wing Civil Air Patrol says 83-year-old Richard Martin went missing Sunday after departing the Dowagiac Municipal Airport. The search for him and his small plane began Monday morning with more than 100 crew members looking both in the air and on the ground.
Martin’s plane was found in a wooded area about two miles north of Dowagiac Thursday afternoon. A Michigan State Police helicopter spotted the plane, and authorities were sent on ground to verify the identity of the pilot and plane.
The search had been complicated by the fact that Martin’s plane did not have any tracking equipment, nor was he carrying a cell phone that could be pinged.
The Civil Air Patrol tells us the plane had a radio, but Martin didn’t contact anyone prior to disappearing.
The matter is now being handled by the Cass County Sheriff’s Department.
