DAGGETT COUNTY, Utah — After search and rescue crews spent all day searching for a possible missing aircraft in Daggett County, deputies have called off the search.
According to a Facebook post by the Daggett County Sheriff, all crews were “exhausted.”
The Sheriff’s Office wrote that it “has not received any missing airplane or persons reports and at this time we have decided to stop all searches until further information is available.”
A relaxing Memorial Day weekend for campers in Daggett County became quite a scene Sunday as search and rescue crews combed the area for the possible missing aircraft.
“It was weird — I didn’t know what was going on, and all of a sudden I see a helicopter with a spotlight and somebody with a red light,” said camper Matt Paquette.
Camping near Cart Creek has been a Memorial Day weekend tradition for Paquette for 12 years now, but Sunday was his first time witnessing a search like this.
“A helicopter, you’d think it’d spot it in a heartbeat,” he said. “That’s crazy it can’t find it.”
The report for a possible missing aircraft came in Saturday night over a handheld radio in Vernal. According to the Daggett County Sheriff’s Office, it was then confirmed by a commercial airline flying over the area.
Search and rescue crews with the Daggett and the Uintah County Sheriff’s Offices were in the Bowden Draw area Sunday. The Civil Air Patrol and the Utah Department of Public Safety’s helicopter were also part of the search.
