Wreckage, victims of small plane crash, found in remote northern Nevada

A rancher found the wreckage of the four-seater plane on Monday while riding a horse near the old Orizaba Mine about 40 miles north of Tonopah, the Lahontan Valley News reported on Thursday.

Lt. Tony Philips of the Nye County sheriff's office said the identities of the skeletal remains were confirmed by personal items found at the site and the victim's relatives were notified.

Frank M. Collins, 59, the pilot, and passenger Vincent Gomez, 44, took off from San Jose, Calif., on July 23.

They were en route to Winner, S.D., and had planned a stop in Wendover on the Nevada-Utah line when they disappeared.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board removed the plane's wreckage and will try to determine the cause of the crash.

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