This photo provided by Nancy Johnson shows what authorities say is a hot-air balloon that was believed to have caught fire and crashed in Virginia, Friday, May 9, 2014.DOSWELL, Va. – A University of Richmond women’s basketball team staff member was one of three occupants on a hot air balloon that drifted into a power line, burst into flames and crashed in Virginia, her family said Saturday.
The body of Natalie Lewis has not been found, family spokeswoman Julie Snyder told The Associated Press. The remains of the pilot and the other passenger, whom authorities haven’t identified, were found just under a mile apart in densely wooded areas.
More than 100 searchers spent the day scouring the woods and fields around the crash site for the third victim and any remnants of the balloon, police said. The search was being scaled back as darkness approached but was set to resume Sunday.
“The search continues for our beloved daughter and we remain hopeful and ask for your continued prayers,” Lewis’s parents, Patricia and Evan Lewis, said in a statement.
However, state police have described their search as an operation to recover remains.