The wreckage of a 1963 Mooney M20D that went missing in B.C.’s mountainous interior last November has been positively identified after its discovery near Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park earlier this week by a passing BC Air Ambulance helicopter. Remains found at the site have been removed and are awaiting positive identification.

Dominic Neron, 28, an electrician from Parkland County, Alta. and his girlfriend Ashley Bourgeault, 31, a mother of three from Edmonton, were on a VFR flight from Penticton airport (YYF), in B.C.’s South Okanagan, to Villeneuve airport (ZVL), northwest of Edmonton. They had left Penticton at 14:30 PST and, when they hadn’t arrived at Villeneuve by 22:40 PST, a concerned friend raised the alarm. There was no ELT signal detected.

RCAF SAR and Parks Canada aircraft had flown 120 hours over an area of over 22,000 square kilometres of very rugged terrain before calling off their search after nine days. The search area had been narrowed down to an area of 18 kilometres outside Revelstoke based on information from radar and a cellphone tower that picked up a signal from the pilot’s phone. The RCMP continued the search when their helicopter was available, and local heli-ski operators also kept an eye out for any sign of the aircraft throughout the winter and spring.