Plane Crash in Wyoming Mountains Kills 3

Cheyenne, WYThree people are dead following a plane crash in the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming.

All three people were members of the same Jasper, Texas family, namely pilot Ralph Day, 56; his wife Doris Day, 52; and Connor Day, 12.

According to a report in the Texas Chronicle Fremont County Coroner Ed McAuslan, the single engine plane took off from Loveland, CO, on December 22 heading for Jackson, WY.

Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane, a 1998 Commander AC 11, crashed about 15 to 20 miles southwest of Lander, near Christina Lake, at an elevation of about 11,700 feet. The plane reportedly hit the top of a ridge in an steep area of the mountains, where the snow may have been as deep as three feet. McAuslan he was not sure what the weather conditions were in the area at the time of the crash.

Currently it appears that Day had not filed a flight plan. McAuslan said local authorities weren't aware that a plane was missing in the area until they received the report of the locator beacon.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.