MAMMOTH LAKES, CALIF — . -- Trying to solve the year-old mystery revolving around vanished adventurer Steve Fossett, searchers scoured the rugged backcountry here until dark Wednesday after authorities announced that a hiker had discovered the billionaire's IDs.
Late Wednesday, authorities said aerial searchers spotted "what could be wreckage of a plane" in the area. A crew hopes to reach the site this morning.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, October 03, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 81 words Type of Material: Correction
Steve Fossett: A photograph on Thursday's front page showing $100 bills and a pilot's license that apparently belonged to billionaire Steve Fossett was credited to Rob Meyers, Discovery Channel. It should have been credited to Michael Slee, Discovery Channel / LMNO Productions. In addition, Thursday's article about the found items said that video executive Eric Schotz had visited the site near Mammoth Lakes where the find was made. Schotz's video crew from LMNO Productions was at the site, but not Schotz.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, October 04, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 52 words Type of Material: Correction
Steve Fossett: An article in Thursday's Section A about missing aviator Steve Fossett said that Mammoth Lakes attorney David Baumwohl accompanied a hiker to the location where he had found documents belonging to Fossett. Baumwohl is an advisor to the hiker, Preston Morrow, but he did not accompany him to the site.
The search is being conducted as a storm draws near. About a dozen searchers were to remain in the field overnight, planning to resume the effort before winds pick up and an expected afternoon snowstorm blankets the area.
"Whatever we do, we've got to do it tomorrow," Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said.
Late Wednesday, authorities confirmed that two documents -- including a pilot's license -- that had been partially covered by pine needles belonged to Fossett. The other confirmed document was a membership card in the Soaring Society of America. A third document, a membership card in an aeronautics association, was too damaged for a positive identification.
Fossett, 63, disappeared more than a year ago while on a solo pleasure flight from a remote ranch in Nevada. The subsequent search for him spanned about 24,000 square miles, including the high country of the Eastern Sierra Nevada. It was unclear whether this particular area was scrutinized, officials said.
Fossett's body has not been located, nor have there been any confirmed sightings of his borrowed, single-engine Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon. "It's a needle in a haystack -- and you have to find the haystack first," Nevada emergency services official Jeff Page said.
Preston Morrow, 43, a hiker who works at a sporting goods store in Mammoth Lakes, came across the three identification cards -- and 10 $100 bills -- on Monday while roaming with his dog in Red's Meadow, a rugged spot at an elevation of about 9,700 feet. As evening approached, Morrow had veered off a trail two miles west of Devils Postpile National Monument.
Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles, said he had received a photograph of a pilot's license that was found by the hiker.
"The certificate number and date of issue on the document in the photo matches the information we have for Mr. Fossett in our database," he said.
Other information, including Fossett's date of birth and his address, also matched, he said.
