Identities of 1987 plane crash victims confirmed by DNA analysis: RCMP

DNA evidence recovered from the wreckage of a floatplanethat crashedmore than 32 years ago has confirmed the identities of the two people on board, RCMP in Salmon Arm, B.C., say.

On June 20, 1987, awhite Piper Super Cub floatplane leftEagle Bay, near Salmon Arm, with pilot Ernie Whitehead, 78,and passenger Len Dykhuizen,55,on board.

The pair planned to gofishing atMcDougall Lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park, but never returned.Their plane was located in September 2018 nearKostalLake, just south of their intended destination.

DNA analysis has now proventhat the bodies found in the wreckage are those of Whitehead and Dykhuizen,RCMPconfirmed Monday.

"[We] are pleased that we have now been able to provide their family with answers to some long-standing questions. This discovery ends over three decades of uncertainty," said Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey.

Last September, a search team looking for an unrelated missing Alberta aircraftlocated the floatplane's wreckage, according to anRCMP release.

The preliminary investigation determined the wreckage was that of the plane Whitehead and Dykhuizen were travelling in.

RCMP said access tothe crash site was difficult due to extremely rugged andtreacherous terrain withsteep inclines and year-round snow pack.