Pilot Requested A Lower Altitude From Air Traffic Control (ATC) Due To Encountering Ice

On June 2, 2023, at about 0907 Central Daylight Time, a Vans RV-7, N977RV, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident in Gibbon, Nebraska. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that the airplane departed Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC), Denver, Colorado, at 0610 and proceeded direct toward Red Oak Municipal Airport (RDK), Red Oak, Iowa. The pilot filed an instrument flight plan. About two hours after departure from BJC, at an altitude of 15,000 ft mean sea level (msl), the pilot requested