ACME, Wash. -- Crews working in mountainous terrain in northwestern Washington state on Wednesday recovered two bodies from wreckage believed to be that of an overdue plane carrying a Northland couple.
The missing single-engine private plane, which authorities said departed from International Falls with two occupants, had been scheduled to arrive at Orcas Island, Wash., on Saturday but never reached its destination.
Whatcom County (Wash.) Sheriff Bill Elfo told the Bellingham (Wash.) Herald late Wednesday that air crews had recovered two bodies from the crash site, and that a tail registration number spotted amid the wreckage appeared to match the overdue plane from Minnesota.
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Larry Warrington, fire chief in Kabetogama in northern St. Louis County, Minn., told WDIO-TV that the two people onboard the overdue plane are believed to have been Bob and Gail Nevalainen, residents of the small community who were on vacation.
Phil Hart, owner of Gateway General Store in Kabetogama, said the Nevalainens are "strong community leaders in this area." Bob Nevalainen is Kabetogama town chairman and Gail is town treasurer, taking an active role in community events.
Authorities in Washington state on Wednesday did not officially release the names of those aboard the overdue plane.
Family members notified officials about the overdue plane on Tuesday night, said Barbara LaBoe, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Transportation. That prompted a search.
The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office reported search crews -- using radar data from the overdue plane's last known location -- on Wednesday morning located a crash site on Twin Sisters Mountain, about 10 miles east of Acme, Wash., and near Mount Baker.
"Aerial photographs of the site ... indicate that debris is spread over a large area (with) no signs of human life," the Sheriff's Office reported in a news release. "The crash site is in a remote wilderness area with rugged terrain."
Hart, from the Gateway General Store, said Bob Nevalainen has been interested in aviation for years. Both Bob and Gail are retired, but Gail has worked a few days a week at the store.
"Gail wanted a couple weeks ... off because they were going to make a trip to Alaska," Hart said Wednesday. He said everyone in the close-knit community -- the township population is about 135 -- was following the news on Wednesday.
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"Everybody's kind of concerned, and everybody's ... praying for their safety," he said.
The wreckage found in Whatcom County is about 50 miles from where the wreckage of another small plane, believed to be from Montana, was reached by search crews Wednesday, the Seattle Times reported. In that incident, two people died when the plane crashed Saturday but their 16-year-old step-granddaughter survived and hiked through the wilderness to a highway to get help.
State transportation officials said Wednesday that "there is no evidence the two missing planes were involved in any mid-air collision. The Minnesota plane left radar several hours before the Montana plane was last tracked on radar."
Forum News Service reporters John Lundy and Jimmy Lovrien contributed to this report.
