Douglas County searchers are responding to Sunrise Pass to conduct a search for signs of famed aviator Steve Fossett.
Sheriff's Search & Rescue team was called out at 1:55 p.m. after a tip received earlier was confirmed. Lyon County spokesman Jeff Page said the initial tip that an airplane flew into an area canyon and didn't fly out was overheard in a bar. Confirmation of the tip came a few hours ago.
A second tip, came from a camper near Sonora Pass south of Coleville who said that she heard a plane fly over and then the sound of a crash.
Page said California law enforcement officers were talking to the woman to get a better location. Meanwhile winds over Sonora Pass are preventing light aircraft from taking a better look.
Fossett has been missing since Labor Day morning when he took off in a borrowed Citabria Super Decathlon from the Flying M Ranch south of Wellington. Dozens of tips a day are being followed. The Sunrise Pass area of the Pine Nut Mountains between Douglas and Lyon counties is a common spot for searches, said Page. Off-roaders and hikers are typically the target for those searches.
"We know it pretty well," he said. "Douglas County goes in one side, we go in the other and we meet in the middle."
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