Wreckage of Alberta couple's plane found in B.C. months after it disappeared
Missing small plane carrying pilot Dominic Neron and passenger Ashley Bourgeault located in a remote area
The wreckage of a small plane that went missing in the Revelstoke, B.C., area last year has been found, bringing a months-long search for the aircraft and its two occupants to a close.
A B.C. Ambulance Service helicopter crew reported seeing a crashed white and burgundy plane with a distinct tail marker on Monday, according to an RCMP statement.
The crew's description of the aircraft matched that of the missing single-engine Mooney M20D plane that disappeared on Nov. 25.
Pilot Dominic Neron, 28, from Parkland County, Alta., and passenger Ashley Bourgeault, 31, from Edmonton, are believed to have died in the crash.
They were flying from Penticton, B.C., to Edmonton when their plane vanished. The plane's radar and a cellphone signal were last tracked to a location 18 kilometres outside of Revelstoke.
Officials called off the search after nine days, but the families of Neron and Bourgeault maintained their own search efforts since the crash.
Neron's sister, Tammy, posted a message thanking the B.C.-based helicopter crew for spotting the wreckage.
"Our families cannot thank each and every one of you enough for embracing us during what's been the hardest 10 months of our lives," Neron wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
The B.C. Coroners Service and Transportation Safety Board are among half a dozen agencies investigating the crash site.
Mounties did not reveal the location of the wreckage, identifying the area only as "remote."
"The RCMP wishes to thank the helicopter pilots and crew of the B.C. Ambulance Service for their watchful eyes in locating this plane and assisting to bring closure to the two families," RCMP Staff Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky wrote in the release.