Wreckage Of Plane Found Near Butte

The wreckage of a missing twinengine airplane was found in deep mountain snow near the Continental Divide Friday, and searchers reported the lone occupant was dead.

A helicopter from Malmstrom Air Force Base spotted the white, twin-engine Beechcraft 18 in steep, wooded terrain and deep snow about 17 miles northnorthwest of Butte and guided searchers on snowmobiles to it.

The cargo plane, on a flight from Seattle, disappeared from radar screens about 9:30 p.m. MST Thursday as it approached Butte’s Bert Mooney Airport.

The aircraft was carrying a load of Wall Street Journal newspapers on a daily run to Montana, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Dick Meyer in Renton, Wash.