Wreckage of Truckee pilot's plane found

TRUCKEE, Calif. - The wreckage of an airplane belonging to a missing Truckee pilot was found Saturday in a heavily-forested area of the Sierra about 25 miles north of his hometown, authorities said.

Nevada County sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Pettitt said a body found in the wreckage near Sierraville has not been positively identified but the victim is believed to be Clayton Beck, 37.

Beck left Truckee Tahoe Airport on Wednesday afternoon for a short flight around the Truckee area in his single-engine, two-seater RV-6 experimental aircraft, Pettitt said.

He had planned to make a meeting later that afternoon in Reno, Nev., and was reported missing that night by his wife, Lisa Beck.

"As of right now, we don't know the cause of the crash. We really don't know," Pettitt said.

The crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration.

The wreckage was spotted by a Civil Air Patrol crew.

Beck was a grandson of Don Beck, a renowned pilot who was killed in a 1991 plane crash in Lake Tahoe.

Clayton Beck recently retired as head coach of the Alpine Meadows freestyle ski program, where he coached several Olympic athletes.

In a retirement letter he wrote in March, he said he wanted to spend more time with his young family, according to a Reno newspaper. His wife was expecting the couple's second son at the time.