Missing Plane Found Crashed Near Tonasket, Both Occupants Deceased

The search for a small plane that went missing in Okanogan County over the weekend has ended.

Authorities say the wreckage of the 1976 Piper Cub was found in the Aeneas Valley east of Tonasket at around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The plane's two occupants, 61-year-old Nicholas Grachanin and Jim Marek, whose age was not disclosed, were both found deceased inside the aircraft.

The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office says the two men took off from Penticton Regional Airport in British Columbia bound for Idaho County Airport in Grangeville, Idaho on Saturday afternoon.

Shortly after crossing the U.S./Canada Border, the aircraft reportedly disappeared from radar between Oroville and Okanogan.

The Washington State Department of Transportation's Air Search & Rescue division began searching for the plane on Saturday evening.

Officials say Grachanin was piloting the aircraft when it went down, but what caused the accident is still unknown.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation into the crash.