Four people have died after a small plane crashed in Vermont.
On Sunday, Sept. 8, a “four-seat, single-engine Piper aircraft departed Windham Airport in Connecticut at about 8:30 a.m.” local time before heading to Basin Harbor Airport in Ferrisburgh, Vt., a news release shared by the Vermont State Police confirmed.
The four people — now identified as Paul Pelletier, 55, of Columbia, Conn.; Frank Rodriguez, 88, of Lebanon, Conn., and Susan Van Ness, 51, and her daughter Delilah Van Ness, 15, of Middletown, Conn. — headed to brunch at Basin Harbor before heading back to Connecticut shortly after noon, the release added.
However, the plane failed to arrive and investigators found the wreckage at around 12:20 a.m. in a wooded area to the east of the Basin Harbor Airport on Monday, Sept. 9. All four occupants were found deceased, police confirmed.
“A witness reported seeing the airplane on the runway at about 12:15 p.m.,” the release stated.
The City of Middletown Police Department said in a news release that Delilah had been “taking flight lessons” with Pelletier, and “they were accompanied” by Rodriguez.
Per ABC affiliate WTNH, Rodriguez “was a World War II Veteran and flew planes.”
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed an investigation was underway when contacted by PEOPLE.
