Missing San Jose Pilot's Plane Found, No Survivors

—By Bay City News Service

A plane that had been carrying a San Jose technology executive and four of his family members and was lost last month flying over Idaho has been found but it appears there were no survivors, according to the Valley County Sheriff's Office in Idaho.

A severe storm moving in to the Idaho mountains is causing delays in the recovery efforts, Valley County sheriff's Lt. Dan Smith said today.

Officials in Idaho conducted an extensive search for the plane last month over rough terrain and snowy weather after transportation officials lost radio contact with it on Dec. 1.

The small 1983 single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza was flown by Dale Smith and had four other passengers on board -- his son 26-year-old Daniel Smith and his son's wife Sheree Smith, and Smith's daughter Amber Smith, 21, and her fiancé Jonathon Norton.

Smith was the president of San Jose-based SerialTek, a company that develops hardware and software tools for the data storage industry, according to its website.

Co-owner Rand Kriech said Smith had been flying from Oregon, where his father lives, to drop off his son and daughter-in-law in Butte, Mont., where the couple lives.

The plane took off from Baker City, Ore., and was headed to Bert Mooney Airport in Butte, according to transportation officials.

The plane never arrived after radar and radio contact was lost near Yellow Pine, Idaho.

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