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VALLEY COUNTY, Idaho — All the bodies of victims in an Idaho plane crash have been recovered, the sheriff’s office said.
After more than a month of searching, search and rescue teams located the crash site Friday. Over the weekend, the Valley County Sheriff’s Office recovered the bodies of pilot and plane owner Dale Smith, his son Daniel Smith, his wife Sheree Chalmers Smith, their daughter Amber and her fiance Jonathan Norton.
On Dec. 1, the five were flying to Butte, Mont., where Daniel and Sheree Smith live, from Baker City, Ore., where they spent the Thanksgiving holiday. Before the plane disappeared in the mountains 150 miles northeast of Boise, Dale Smith had told Air traffic controllers in Salt Lake City he was having engine trouble and asked for directions to the Johnson Creek Landing Strip.
Amber Smith and Norton were students at BYU-Idaho with family ties to Ogden. The couple were to be married on Jan. 4.
On day one of the recovery effort, rescuers were able to find four of the bodies, Valley County Sheriff's Office Lt. Dan Smith said. The final body was recovered the following day.
Smith said teams cleared a 100-foot area, digging down 5 to 6 feet in the snow to find the plane and its deceased occupants.
The bodies have been turned over to the coroner, who will work with the families.
Wreckage was scattered widely at the crash site, Smith said. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash and will clear the wreckage.
