This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Colorado officials have identified the man whose plane crashed in the Rocky Mountains after leaving Salt Lake City.
The Rio Blanco County Sheriff's Office identified him as William Ray Hiler, 62, of Tabernash, Colo., on Monday. His plane crashed Thursday evening about 15 miles west of the town of Meeker.
Though the sheriff's office and the coroner are waiting on "forensic confirmation to be 100 [percent] accurate," the sheriff's office identified Hiler based on its investigation, evidence and identification found at the crash site.
"Hiler was seen fueling his plane in Provo, Utah, and was the only one seen by witnesses," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "It is believed there was no one with him when he left the airport en-route to Grandby, Colorado."
About 6 p.m. Thursday, someone called Colorado dispatchers about a plane possibly crashing, according to the news release. The caller reported hearing a plane rev its engines and bank twice at a high altitude. Then he heard an explosion.
Denver Center Traffic Control lost the plane, a single-engine Bonanza 35, on radar and relayed its last reported location to the dispatchers. Searchers found only plane parts that evening, but discovered "what appears to be one set of human remains" on Friday, according to the sheriff's office.
Searchers recovered Hiler's body Saturday and the National Transportation Safety Board took over the investigation into why the plane crashed.
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