FRANKFORT, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - Authorities have found the body of one of two men missing since a small plane they were aboard went down in Lake Michigan.
Michigan State Police said the body of 53-year-old Emanuel Manos of Monroe was found Wednesday night and the search for 65-year-old Randal Dippold, of Perry, was ongoing Thursday.
Searchers found the red Beechcraft Bonanza 35 last week about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the coastal city of Frankfort, in northern Michigan. Police say Manos' body was found nearby in more than 500 feet of water.
Because the plane was in pristine condition, Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel said investigators believe that Dippold and Manos were able to land on the lake and get out, but then did not survive the cold waters.
Schendel said the pair took off Sunday, May 12, in Ontanagon in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and were headed to Monroe when the FAA lost contact with them at around 8 p.m.
"We received a call from traffic control from Minneapolis stating that they'd received an emergency response from a single-engine aircraft that reported that his engine was locked up and dead...It then descended below 1,000 feet, so they lost it on radar," the sheriff said.
Manos was president of Detroit Salt Co. Dippold owns a flight training service based in Howell.
Reports say an autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.
