Bogley

[KapitanSparrow]

Quote:
Some of lost air adventurer Steve Fossett's personal belongings may have been found in the California woods not far from the Nevada state line, FOX News has learned.

A California fire captain and her husband, hiking near their home in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., stumbled across what appear to be two cards with Fossett's name on them that were issued by the Federal Aviation Administration in Illinois.

They also found a small amount of cash and a sweat jacket. Mammoth Lakes Police were interviewing the couple about the find, but early reports suggest the cards are authentic, sources told FOX News.

The papers were tattered and crumpled on the ground; the weather-worn jacket was nearby.

The hikers didn't find any signs of the light plane Fossett, 63, was flying when he disappeared last September, but aviation experts said that doesn't mean the items are bogus.

Fossett was the first person to ride the jet stream around the world in a balloon. He climbed some of the world's tallest and toughest mountains, sailed and set a number of world records.

He was declared legally dead in February.

In August, an attorney for Fossett's widow pleaded for an end to speculation circulating on the Internet that the millionaire balloonist and air adventurer may have faked his own death, possibly because he was heavily in debt.

Fossett, who made a fortune trading futures and options on Chicago markets, took off from a private airstrip in Nevada last September on a solo flight in a light plane.

He never returned, and searchers have found no trace of the plane.

Authorities said it was probable that it went down in rugged country, and that finding wreckage would be hard.

[JP]

Sooner or later something would surface :haha:

Go back to work, I'm sure they're not knowingly paying you to be in here :lol8:

[Redpb]

Brought it on himself really.
Just kidding Last Child, relax.

I thought they were searching up in Washington for his stuff...

[JP]

Redpb wrote: Brought it on himself really.
But he did :haha:

[KapitanSparrow]

Quote: Federal transportation officials headed to California Thursday to investigate the plane wreckage found in a rugged wooded area, confirming that it is believed to be that of air adventurer Steve Fossett.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) went to the eastern part of the state to analyze what appeared to be the remnants of a small plane — discovered overnight by searchers not far from where a hiker came across Fossett's personal effects earlier in the week.

Fossett, 63, vanished on a solo flight more than a year ago.

The wreckage was located at about an elevation of 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Mammoth Lakes, Calif., area, the NTSB said.

The NTSB didn't yet say definitively that the debris is from the light plane that Fossett — who made international headlines with a daring round-the-world balloon trek — was flying solo when he disappeared Sept. 3, 2007.

Authorities cautioned Wednesday night that hundreds of planes have gone down in the mountainous region, so any wreckage found could be that of other aircraft.

The initial aerial sighting was called in around sunset, according to Erica Stuart, spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff's Office.

Searchers had been combing a 10-mile radius around the spot where a hiker had found what appeared to be a pilot's license and other items belonging to Fossett in a thicket of woods not far from the Nevada state line.

Preston Morrow, a local ski shop owner, told FOX News that he was hiking alone with his dog near his home in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. on Monday afternoon when he stumbled across what appeared to be three identification cards bearing Fossett's name and issued by the Federal Aviation Administration in Illinois.

Morrow, 43, also found $1,005 in cash, he said.

On Tuesday, he returned to the site to get a GPS reading when he spotted a sweatshirt on top of a ridge.

Morrow then brought the items back home to his wife, a local fire captain, Mammoth Lakes Police Chief Randy Schienle told FOX News.

He then turned the items over to local police Wednesday after unsuccessful attempts to contact Fossett's family.

Click here for an On the Scene blog by FOX News' Adam Housley.

Officers believe the cards are authentic, sources said.

The bills were tattered and crumpled on the ground; the weather-worn sweatshirt was nearby, Morrow told FOX. Both human and animal hair were found on the clothing.

Morrow said he didn't find any signs of the light plane Fossett was flying when he disappeared last September.

"I have to admit, his name didn't pop in my head immediately," he told FOX.

But Morrow's discovery prompted authorities to assemble a new search team to comb the area, Schienle said.

Fossett was the first person to ride the jet stream around the world in a balloon. He climbed some of the world's tallest and toughest mountains, sailed and set a number of world records.

He was declared legally dead in February.

In August, an attorney for Fossett's widow pleaded for an end to speculation circulating on the Internet that the millionaire balloonist and air adventurer may have faked his own death, possibly because he was heavily in debt.

Fossett, who made a fortune trading futures and options on Chicago markets, took off from a private airstrip in Nevada last September on a solo flight in a light plane.

He never returned, and until now, searchers had found no trace of the plane — though authorities had believed it went down in a rugged region.

One of Fossett's friends reacted to Wednesday's news with cautious optimism.

"It would be nice to get closure," said Ray Arvidson, a scientist at Washington University who worked on Fossett's past balloon flights.

[Last Child]

Redpb wrote: Brought it on himself really.
Just kidding Last Child, relax.

I thought they were searching up in Washington for his stuff...

:boxing: :haha: