2 victims of small plane crash recovered off cliff in North Cascades

BELLINGHAM -- The two victims of a small plane crash were recovered Wednesday in the North Cascades in Whatcom County, the King County Sheriff's Office Air Support said.

Washington State Department of Transportation Aviation officials confirmed that a plane flying from International Falls, Minnesota to Orcas Island went missing Saturday night. A man and a woman were on board.

Family members contacted authorities Tuesday when they didn't hear from the vacationing couple.

The plane was located Wednesday.

"A WSDOT crew this morning located the wreckage believed to be a Minnesota plane that did not arrive in Orcas Island Saturday and was reported missing to authorities Tuesday," wrote an agency spokesperson on a WSDOT blog chronicling the search.

"The search has been turned over to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, which will work to reach the site and make positive identifications of the plane and occupants," wrote a WSDOT spokesman.  "No identification has been made at this time. The wreckage site was found using radar coordinates from the aircraft's last known location on Saturday."

The owner of a store in Minnesota identified the couple as Bob and Gail Nevalainen, of Kabetogama, Minn., according to the International Falls Journal.

Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo says the plane's tail registration number matches that of an aircraft reported missing from Minnesota.

 

The bodies were taken to the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office for identification.

The crash site was about 10 miles east of the town of Acme, in a remote wilderness area with rugged terrain.
The plane was not connected to the crash of another small plane Saturday originating from Kalispell, Montana. That crash left two people dead, and injured a 16-year-old girl, who hiked out of a remote area over two days.
The bodies of those two victims were also recovered Wednesday, in Skagit County.