Fossett search turns to Death Valley
Pastor Dale Morgan
Fossett search turns to Death Valley*
By BRENDAN RILEY,
Associated Press Writer
Wed Sep 26, 11:50 AM ET
CARSON CITY, Nev. - Relying on new leads from Air Force experts, crews
looking for famed aviator Steve Fossett plan to comb a rugged area near
Death Valley by air and foot, authorities said.
Gary Derks, the state Department of Public Safety official in charge of
the search, said Tuesday that the Air Force analyzed images picked up by
radar and satellite and "picked up what could be Mr. Fossett, his track."
"It gives us an idea, if it's him, what direction he was going," Derks
said of the wealthy adventurer, missing for more than three weeks.
Derks said the area stretches about 100 miles to the southeast from
where Fossett took off Sept. 3, an airstrip on a million-acre ranch
owned by hotel mogul Barron Hilton. Maps show the area would include
Nevada's remote Silver Peak Range, close to Death Valley National Park
in California.
"There's nothing definite, nothing concrete," Derks said. "These are
just some hits that we want to track."
Search planes will fly over the area Saturday and Sunday, Derks said.
The area is "very rough terrain," Derks said. "If he's there, he's going
to be hard to see. That's why we're sending in the ground
search-and-rescue crews, too."
A private search effort by Fossett's family and friends continued
Tuesday when a plane with sophisticated camera gear took off from the ranch.
Fossett, 63, has not been seen since he left on what was supposed to be
a short ride in a lightweight acrobatic plane to scout locations to
break the land speed record.
The adventurer, who made millions as a commodities broker in Chicago, is
the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon. He has also swum
the English Channel, completed the Iditarod sled dog race and scaled
some of the world's best-known peaks.