Missing Wilton pilot identified as body found near Tahoe plane wreck

Oct. 21--The El Dorado County Coroner's Office identified the body of a man found Tuesday afternoon near the site of a Sierra Nevada plane crash as Tyrell Kremer, the pilot of an aircraft reported missing days before.

The 52-year-old Wilton resident was flying from Idaho to Jackson early Oct. 15 after a weeklong hunting trip, said longtime friend Rick Seifert, who was in Idaho with Kremer.

Kremer's body was found days later near the wreckage of a small plane by search and rescue crews in a rugged area of the Sierra Nevada on Tuesday afternoon, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office. The plane, a small, single-engine Cessna manufactured in 1960, was registered under Kremer's name, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Kremer worked as a senior safety consultant for Alliant Insurance Services, providing safety training and onsite help for construction companies, according to Seifert, who said the two first met on a construction site roughly 20 years ago.

"He could relate to anyone on the job site and he was very dedicated to create a safe job site for thousands of construction workers," he said.

Seifert described Kremer as a loving father and husband who lived in Wilton, an unincorporated town in Sacramento County, and grew up in Idaho. The two had started a magnetized hanger business based in Idaho.

On Oct. 14, the two went to dinner after what Seifert called a successful hunting trip. Seifert said Kremer planned to leave early Saturday, and that the two did not see each other the next day.

"He wanted to get off early in the morning because the weather was coming in," Seifert said about Kremer.

When no family or friends had heard from Kremer by midday Saturday, Seifert said they began to worry. Seifert said Kremer had been flying for about 25 years and was good about notifying his loved ones of his landings.

Mark Deutschendorf, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Reno office, said a wind advisory had been issued for Saturday throughout the entire Lake Tahoe area. Heavy rain and low visibility caused by cloud coverage were persistent through the day, he said.

"There really wasn't any break in the weather," Deutschendorf said.

On Sunday, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office reported that his plane had gone missing. Authorities said the last known position of the aircraft was traced to an area of the Sierra Nevada southwest of Lake Tahoe.

Search and rescue crews on the ground and in the air battled with a fury of rain and wind as they searched for the missing aircraft in the following days. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office posted on its Facebook page that search efforts had been stalled due to poor weather conditions.

On Tuesday, the Sheriff's Office posted at 3:40 p.m. that ground crews would continue to work throughout the night while airborne search efforts had been suspended for that day. Kremer's body was found outside of his wrecked plane in the Desolation Wilderness, southwest of Lake Schmidell, at 4:15 p.m., according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.

A woman who answered the phone listed under Kremer's name said his family did not wish to comment on Kremer's death.

Seifert said Kremer's passion for helping others and his positive attitude would be missed among those who worked with him.

"He was a very unique and well-liked individual who will leave a big hole in the construction industry," he said.

Nashelly Chavez: 916-321-1188, @nashellytweets

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