Five members of a Georgia family died in a plane crash in upstate New York, state police said in a news release Monday.
Roger Beggs, 76; Laura Van Epps, 43; Ryan Van Epps, 42; James R. Van Epps, 12; and Harrison Van Epps, 10, were all returning to Georgia from Cooperstown, New York, where the family had been for a baseball tournament, the release said.
At 2 p.m. Sunday, authorities were alerted to a possible plane crash and dispatched to the area around Lake Cecil Road in Masonville, a town in Delaware County, according to the release from New York State Police.
Multiple agencies used drones, ATVs and helicopters to eventually locate the debris and downed aircraft – a single-engine Piper Malibu Mirage – as well as the deceased passengers, police said.
The plane had departed Albert S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta, New York, and was headed to West Virginia to refuel. Its final destination was Cobb County International Airport outside Atlanta.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by federal agencies, the release said.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp offered his “deepest condolences to all who knew and loved” the victims in a statement on X Monday afternoon.
Correction: An earlier version of this story had the wrong name for the airport in Oneonta. It is the Albert S. Nader Regional Airport.
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