Crews searching for missing Marion plane
<p><strong>Sharon and Leland Bowman</strong> of Marion died when their plane crashed in western Washington in July 2015. (Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation)</p>
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Search efforts are underway in Washington state for an overdue airplane carrying a Marion couple.
Aircraft resumed the search Monday morning in a rugged, mountainous area south of Mount Baker and northeast of Seattle.
Air crews searched the area Sunday listening for emergency locator beacon signals as well as conducting visual searches. Ground search crews are on standby and will be sent in if something is detected from the air.
Crews are searching for a small, private plane that didn't reach its destination in Lynden, Washington, on Saturday, the Washington State Department of Transportation said.
The plane carried three people, including the pilot, left Kalispell about 1 p.m. Saturday and was due in Lynden around 4 p.m. Pacific time.
Those on the plane were identified by the Department of Transportation as pilot Leland Bowman, 62; his wife, Sharon Bowman, 63, both of Marion; and their step-granddaughter Autumn Veatch, 16, of Bellingham, Washington.
When the plane did not arrive, family members notified authorities.
The last phone signal from one of the plane's occupants was detected around 4 p.m. in an area near Omak, Washington.
The plane is as a white-and-red Beech 35 aircraft.
Volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol and Washington Air Search and Rescue are assisting Department of Transportation Aviation Emergency Services with the search.
Online:
The Washington State Department of Transportation has created a blog on the search effort: http://wsdotblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/search-continues-for-small-private.html