Man Who Took Off From Sacramento Dies In Small Plane Crash

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ELKO, Nev. (AP) - Authorities have identified a 26-year-old pilot from Mississippi who died this month when the small plane he was piloting from California to Utah crashed in a rugged northeast Nevada mountain range during stormy weather.

Elko County sheriff's Sgt. Nick Czegledi (seg-LED'-ee) said Monday that searchers on Sunday reached the remains of Paul Graham amid the wreckage of the twin-engine Piper in the Ruby Mountains not far from the Nevada-Utah state line.

Graham was from Brandon, Mississippi. He was flying alone late Jan. 11 from Sacramento to Salt Lake City, when he reported ice on the aircraft fuselage amid winds gusting above 70 mph.

Czegledi says snowy weather hampered the search and attempts to reach the wreckage on the east slope of the mountains southeast of Harrison Pass.