LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — A Minnesota pilot was found dead after a small plane was reported missing around La Crosse.

Officials with the La Crosse Sheriff's Department say they got a call shortly after noon Thursday about a missing single-engine plane. By pinging the pilot's cellphone they were able to locate the plane in a corn field near Holmen around 6:15 p.m. The pilot was the only person on board.

The La Crosse County Sheriff's Office identified the pilot as 56-year-old Loren Ross Larson of Kerkhoven. He took off from Willmar, Minnesota, on Thursday morning and was scheduled to stop at the La Crosse airport before heading to Appleton.

The cause of the crash is unknown. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were expected to visit the scene Friday.

 

More From KROC-AM