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Friends Holding Out Hope For Missing Pilot As Search Continues In Sierra

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (CBS13) — The search for a missing pilot continued Monday night. El Dorado County Sheriff's search and rescue team along with other agencies gathered at the South Lake Tahoe airport for night number three of the operation.

The Cessna aircraft was carrying 52-year-old pilot Tyrell Kremer of Wilton. The aircraft was returning to Jackson Airport in Amador County from Idaho on Saturday when it lost contact.

The last known position of the plane was in a rugged area of the mountain range southwest of Lake Tahoe.

"We're working in 9,000 feet elevation, and the visibility has been terrible up there, it's a very remote area," said Deputy Damian Frisby with the El Dorado County Sheriffs Department.

For more than 48 hours a number of aircrews have been working with a ground team of more than 40 people making their way through tough weather conditions focusing the search on the last known coordinates provided by the Air Force.

"Today we were able to get in the Red Peak area, our target area, but we were met with a lot of reduced visibility and rough terrain for crews to get in and around," said Frisby.

Rick Seifert is a close friend of the pilots'. He was with Kremer in Idaho Friday night before Kremer started his flight back to Jackson airport on Saturday.

"He's one heck of a pilot, a great father just a great guy," said Seifert.

Seifert said Kremer is a survivalist. "He's lived in Idaho and cold climates for a long, long time. He's one heck of a pilot with over 25- 30 years of flying, he has back country experience. So if anyone can make it, it will be him."

Kremer is a husband and father and is well respected in the industry. He worked as a safety consultant for an insurance company, and friends say he is so well loved that some people who have worked with him from the Bay Area were out searching.

"We have nine people from Level 10 construction right now in the Hills looking for him," said Seifert.

As night fell, the last aircrews from the California air National Guard and a CHP helicopter out of Auburn took off for one final search. Multiple agencies gathered to debrief on their findings, keeping the hope alive.

"A lot of prayers and keep the family in mind, they need our support right now," said Frisby.

The search will resume Tuesday morning. Crews for both ground and air search will be ready. Visibility is expected to be better based on the forecast.

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