A small plane from the Upper Peninsula that went missing on Mother’s Day in northern Michigan has been found in Lake Michigan….four and a half miles off the coast of Frankfort. Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel says the two occupants were not with the plane.
“The Michigan State Police did locate the plane,” Schendel said. “It’s in 515 feet of water. They were able to send an ROV (robot) down, which has lights and cameras, and they were able to confirm the tail numbers on the plane. They did look inside to see if there were any bodies, and fortunately, the door was open, but there was nobody inside. So, we’ve found the plane, but we have not located the passenger or the pilot.”
Schendel says the plane was in pristine condition with the door open so they believe Randal Dippold and Emanuel Manos were able to land the plane on the lake and got out, but did not survive the cold lake waters. Manos, of Monroe, was president of Detroit Salt Company and Dippold was the owner of an air service operation in Howell. They had taken off from Ontonogon in the western U-P and were headed to Monroe.
