Air Search For Missing Spokane Man Ends

Thu., Dec. 7, 2000

From Staff Reports

The air search for an airplane that disappeared Nov. 16 in the southern end of the Hells Canyon area has been suspended, Lt. Col. Thomas Traver, a spokesman for the Oregon and Idaho Wings of the Civil Air Patrol, said Wednesday.

Idaho Power Co. employee Keith Williams of Spokane and pilot Brian Moody of Baker Air Service in Oregon were conducting an aerial survey of mule deer in the rugged mountains east of Brownlee Reservoir when their plane disappeared.

The aircraft was reported missing when it failed to land at Idaho Power’s private airstrip at Oxbow.

For more than 20 days, the plane was the object of ground and air searches by several agencies in Idaho and Oregon.

On Dec. 1, Idaho’s Washington County Sheriff Jim Nelson suspended the ground search.

At the request of the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Virginia, the Oregon and Idaho Wings of the Civil Air Patrol continued their search through the weekend.

Williams, 29, is an alumnus of North Central High School and the University of Idaho.

After getting his degree in wildlife resources, Williams conducted several studies for wildlife agencies. He also fought wildfires this summer in Montana and worked on an elite hot-shot firefighting crew in California.

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