A search of the area around Sonora Pass was completed on Thursday without finding famed aviator Steve Fossett. However, Douglas County seachers will be returning to the Pine Nut Mountains today to look around the Mount Como area and up to Dayton to eliminate the area as a possibility.
Lyon County Undersheriff Joe Sanford said he received a report from Alpine County Sgt. Ron Michitarian that they had contacted the woman who reported seeing a plane fly over and then heard a crashing noise. Sanford reported Alpine searchers examined the area with the support of the Nevada National Guard's C130 and found nothing.
He said the search of the Pine Nuts was to make certain no place had been skipped.
"We're putting ground troops in the area, which is heavily wooded," he said. "We want to cover our bases."
