OKLAHOMA CITY – The search for a missing Arkansas Forestry Commission pilot who disappeared — along with his plane — while looking for wildfires last month has been extended into eastern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas, an official with the commission said late Sunday.
The search for pilot Jake Harrell began on Jan. 31 after he failed to return from a flight searching for fires in western Arkansas. Crews have been searching some 950,000 acres in the heavily wooded and mountainous region, but snow, fog and and other winter weather conditions have hampered the search.
Commission spokeswoman Adriane Barnes said search teams have been gathering information from satellite images and cellphone towers, which could help indicate Harrell’s locations. She said teams also have been following up on leads, including reports from people in the area hearing a plane, but she noted that any wreckage could be obscured by snow and ice.
“We’ve had two leads in Oklahoma and Texas, and they (authorities) have checked by ground for us,” she said. “There are some leads that indicated that he may have been over the Oklahoma line.”
The search was expanded after an Arkansas National Guard pilot helping in the search suggested that Harrell may have turned around while at an elevation that prevented any radio communication, Barnes said. She noted that any communication from Harrell could have faced interference from the heavily forested Ouachita National Forest area in which he was flying and that extends into Oklahoma.