Searchers have found the wreckage of the Beech Bonanza that crashed en route to Bellingham, Washington, over the weekend. Crews recovered two bodies believed to be the step-grandparents of Autumn Veatch, the 16-year-old who survived the crash and walked alone in the wilderness for two days before she was found near a hiking trail, according to an Associated Press report. Leland Bowman, 62, the pilot, and Sharon Bowman, 63, of Marion, Montana, died in the crash, Veatch told authorities. She was hospitalized for dehydration and exhaustion and released from the hospital Tuesday.
The three had departed from Kalispell, Montana, about 1 p.m. on Saturday, heading for Bellingham. The airplane was last seen on radar about 3:20 p.m.Searchers found the Bonanza smoldering from a post-crash fire. Veatch told authorities the airplane had entered clouds and when it cleared, she saw a mountainside ahead. “When they came out of the clouds, she said it was obvious they were too low,” Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said in the AP report. “They crashed right into the trees and hit the ground. She tried to do what she could to help her grandparents, but she couldn’t because of the fire.”
