{"id":252744,"date":"2026-07-27T07:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/252744\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T07:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:20:09","slug":"familys-500-mile-search-ends-after-pilots-plane-found-submerged-near-lawton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/252744\/","title":{"rendered":"Family\u2019s 500-mile search ends after pilot\u2019s plane found submerged near Lawton"},"content":{"rendered":"

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – A small private aircraft reported missing by a pilot\u2019s family in Colorado was located Saturday evening in a body of water near Lawton, Iowa, following a multi-agency search. The pilot, 64-year-old Dennis Elkins of Erie, Colorado, was the sole occupant of the plane.<\/p>\n

Elkins had been departing Oshkosh, Wisconsin, following the 2026 EAA AirVenture event on Thursday and was believed to be en route to Erie Municipal Airport in Colorado. He was piloting a Zenith CH-640 that he built himself.<\/p>\n

\"GregGreg Gottron (left) and Dennis Elkins (right).(Greg Gottron)Family sounded the alarm from 500 miles away<\/p>\n

By Friday morning, Elkins\u2019 family had not heard from him. By Saturday, they reported him missing. A friend of Elkins pinged the plane\u2019s last known location and contacted the Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center received a phone call from a friend of a pilot that had not been heard from for a while,\u201d said Sheriff Dean Kruger of the Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office. \u201cThis incident was reported to the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center on Saturday, July 25th at 1443. A search of the area where the plane may have been turned up nothing. A civilian flew a drone in the area as well and came up with nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the friend, the Civil Air Patrol then took over the search, using more advanced tracking technology to ping the plane\u2019s location near Lawton, Iowa. The Woodbury County Sheriff\u2019s Office assumed control of the investigation from there.<\/p>\n

Plane located in body of water by 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

At approximately 5 p.m. Saturday, the Woodbury County 911 Center received a report that a small, single-occupant private aircraft was overdue for arrival and was believed to be in rural Woodbury County near Lawton. The plane was located in a body of water along Buchanan Avenue by 5:30 p.m. The Iowa Task Force Dive Team was called in to assist. The family was notified by 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"Elkins'Elkins’ plane was located in this body water in rural Woodbury County.(KTIV)<\/p>\n

According to the FAA\u2019s preliminary investigation, the plane went down at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 24. The plane remained in the water as of Saturday night. Dark water conditions posed challenges for first responders and made the aircraft difficult to see.<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s believed the plane may have gone down Thursday. <\/p>\n

NTSB takes over investigation<\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board has taken over the investigation. An NTSB investigator was expected on scene Sunday. Once on site, the investigator will begin documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation.<\/p>\n

NTSB investigations cover three primary areas: the pilot, the aircraft, and the operating environment. During the on-scene phase, the NTSB does not determine or speculate about the cause of the accident. A probable cause and any contributing factors will be detailed in a final report.<\/p>\n

The Woodbury County Sheriff\u2019s Office said an update is expected Monday afternoon. The investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n

\"DennisDennis Elkins is described as an avid aviation enthusiast.(David Elkins)<\/p>\n

Elkins\u2019 family described him as an avid aviation enthusiast. Their one request was to extend their gratitude to local law enforcement who helped locate him.<\/p>\n

Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland\u2019s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app<\/a> and our First Alert Weather app<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KTIV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – A small private aircraft reported missing by a pilot\u2019s family in Colorado was located…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-252744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}