Overdue pilot’s mother: Girlfriend also on board

LAS VEGAS — The mother of a 30-year-old Reno pilot whose small plane went missing after departing from North Las Vegas said she’s hardly been sleeping in the three days since her son and his 21-year-old girlfriend disappeared.

Kay Lynn Marble said her son, Cory Marble, is an Eagle Scout and veteran pilot with survival skills, but the snow-covered hills of rural Lyon County have been experiencing overnight lows below freezing.

“I’m concerned about my son being out in the elements,” she told The Associated Press on Wednesday, as rescuers from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, the Civil Air Patrol, and other agencies scoured the area where the plane was last detected.

A single-engine Cessna 128 departed from the North Las Vegas Airport about 6 p.m. on a windy Sunday and was last recorded 78 miles southeast of Reno, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane never arrived at its destinations at the Minden-Tahoe Airport or the Reno-Stead Airport.

Plane owners Paul and Sharon Tueller said they’d loaned the aircraft to Marble, whom they’ve known since he was a child, so he could take a short business trip to southern Nevada on Friday. He’d promised flight lessons in exchange, the couple said.

On Monday, the Tueller’s said, Marble’s mother called them in tears to say her son was missing.

“We’re so sad,” Sharon Tueller, 70, told The Associated Press, adding that she’s hoping for a miracle. “It breaks you up.”

Marble grew up in a family of pilots and got his own license at the age of 17. He flies professionally for an air ambulance company, his mother said.

Marble is the oldest of three boys. One of his brothers, who served in the Army in Afghanistan and now works there as a private contractor, is headed back home to be with his family while the search continues.

Lyon County deputies did not immediately return calls Wednesday seeking additional information about Marble’s girlfriend. Kay Lynn Marble said authorities had informed the young woman’s parents that she is missing.