Identities of 1987 plane crash victims confirmed by DNA analysis: RCMP
Remains found at remote B.C. crash site are those of Ernie Whitehead and Len Dykhuizen, police say
DNA evidence recovered from the wreckage of a floatplane that crashed more than 32 years ago has confirmed the identities of the two people on board, RCMP in Salmon Arm, B.C., say.
On June 20, 1987, a white Piper Super Cub floatplane left Eagle Bay, near Salmon Arm, with pilot Ernie Whitehead, 78, and passenger Len Dykhuizen, 55, on board.
The pair planned to go fishing at McDougall Lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park, but never returned. Their plane was located in September 2018 near Kostal Lake, just south of their intended destination.
DNA analysis has now proven that the bodies found in the wreckage are those of Whitehead and Dykhuizen, RCMP confirmed Monday.
"[We] are pleased that we have now been able to provide their family with answers to some long-standing questions. This discovery ends over three decades of uncertainty," said Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey.
Last September, a search team looking for an unrelated missing Alberta aircraft located the floatplane's wreckage, according to an RCMP release.
The preliminary investigation determined the wreckage was that of the plane Whitehead and Dykhuizen were travelling in.
RCMP said access to the crash site was difficult due to extremely rugged and treacherous terrain with steep inclines and year-round snow pack.