Plane carrying four missing in Montana

KALISPELL, Mont. – Authorities were searching Monday for a single-engine airplane carrying four people, including two Montana newspaper reporters, that took off on a sightseeing tour the day before and did not return.

The 1968 Piper airplane departed from Kalispell City Airport on Sunday afternoon with Sonny Kless, the Missoula man who rented the plane, and his passengers: two reporters for the Daily Inter Lake newspaper of Kalispell – Melissa Weaver and Erika Hoefer – and a man identified by the newspaper, citing the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, as Brian Williams, of Missoula.

Weaver’s roommate contacted the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies on Monday morning when Weaver had not returned or left a message.

Rick Weaver, publisher of the Daily Inter Lake, said the reporters were going on a sightseeing trip to Glacier National Park about 30 miles northeast of Kalispell.

“They were on their day off and just having fun,” said Weaver, who is not related to Melissa Weaver. “We’re just hoping for the absolute best. We hope that they’re found, and everybody’s OK.”