WESTCLIFFE, Colo.—The bodies of a doctor and a retired businesswoman from Iowa were recovered Tuesday from the wreckage of a small plane in the southern Colorado mountains.
Custer County Search and Rescue identified the victims as Dr. Michael O. Welton, 66, and Roswitha Marold, 70.
Search and Rescue Capt. Bob Pruiksma said Welton and Marold were friends and that Welton was the pilot. Federal Aviation Administration records show that Welton lived in Waterloo, Iowa, and the six-seat, single-engine Piper Malibu was registered to him.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported Marold was a retired business owner from Waterloo.
The plane crashed Sunday in the Sangre de Cristo range. It was en route from the Phoenix area to Pueblo, Colo.
The wreckage was spotted Monday in deep snow and heavy timber at about 9,700 feet elevation. It was about 110 miles southwest of Denver and 60 miles west of Pueblo.
Pruiksma said the wreckage was difficult to find because snow fell after the crash and because the plane appeared to fall nearly vertically, leaving few damaged trees.
