Mystery Surrounds Plane Crash Near Silverton, Passenger Was Busted With Meth

SILVERTON, Colo. (CBS4) - Investigators have been trying to find out why a plane veered so far off course when it crashed near Silverton earlier this month.

Investigators are now exploring possible links to a methamphetamine bust, according to the Durango Herald.

Before the crash one of the passengers, Steven Wilkinson, 59, of Newberry Springs, California, had been arrested in California on drugs and weapons charges. The flight originated in Barstow, California, and was supposed to be flying to Amarillo, Texas. But after refueling in Flagstaff, Arizona it flew north and crashed near Silverton.

Wilkinson had been free on a $50,000 bond.

The others who died in the crash were Wilkinson's father-in law, Harold Joseph Raggio, 72, of Big Bear, California; Rosalinda Leslie, 57, of Hesperia, California; and Michael Lyle Riley, 59, of Barstow.

(credit: CBS)

"I didn't know the individual. But I knew of him. He was a shady character with a lot of bad history," said Ron Hamm Jr., operator of Daggett Aviation at the Barstow-Daggett Airport, according to the Durango Herald.

"Rumors at the local bars … either going out there to get money to make a big deal or to help him with his current 'lawyer stuff' because of that bust," Hamm said. "Or he was going to get dropped off and not come back."

Law enforcement isn't discussing the case.