Plane missing after takeoff from Lakeville

By Star Tribune

Last update: November 15, 2009 - 11:56 AM

A plane that took off from an airport in Lakeville on Friday is missing and a search is continuing today, the Todd County Sheriff's Office says.

The black and yellow Piper Cherokee left Lakeville at 5 p.m. enroute to Hallock, Minn., about 400 miles north. At 10:49 p.m., Princeton Flight Service reported to Todd County that the plane was overdue and asked for help finding it.

A GPS signal from a cell phone tower in Wadena County showed that a message was sent from the pilot's phone at around 6:30 p.m. from just outside Staples, Minn., which is about 165 miles north of Lakeville. The GPS showed that the plane was within a 25-mile radius of the Wadena County tower.

The Todd County Sheriff Office is asking anyone in that area who might have heard an airplane having trouble to call the office at 1-800-794-5733.

The Civil Air Patrol is leading the search, the sheriff's office said this morning.

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