Risk Assessor Says "There's No Proof" Fossett Died
A
lawyer speaking on behalf of Peggy Fossett has dismissed claims
that his client's husband, aviation adventurer Steve Fossett, may
have faked his own death. Michael LoVallo disputed suggestions from
investigators and insurance assessors that the record setting pilot
could still be alive after his mysterious disappearance in the
Nevada desert 10 months ago.
"The remarks (that Fossett could still be alive) were in
disregard of the fact, many facts. The petition to the court is of
public record, which includes comprehensively all the relevant
facts and I suggest someone actually review the facts responsibly
and review the petition," Mr. LoVallo told The Daily Telegraph.
Fossett, 63, the first man to fly solo, non-stop around the
world in an aircraft and around the world non-stop in a hot air
balloon went missing last September after taking off from a remote
Nevada airstrip on a short trip to inspect a site for possible use
in a land speed record attempt. He never returned. His
disappearance sparked the most intensive hunt for a missing
aircraft in US history. Mrs. Fossett contributed over $1 million to
the efforts, her lawyers have said. Neither Fossett's body, nor the
plane's wreckage was ever located.
Mrs. Fossett petitioned a Chicago court in November to have her
husband declared dead. According to the petition, "Fossett did not
have any reason to disappear... (he) was happy and passionately
involved in his pursuit of adventure." It added that "no-one
involved in the search holds out any hope that Fossett is still
alive. He did not have a parachute, nor did he take a watch that
had a transponder and could have sent out a distress signal. There
was a transponder aboard but no signal was received."
Her request was granted in February and her husband's estate of
more than $10 million was awarded to her. State law requires a
person be missing for seven years before being declared dead.
However a Chicago probate judge granted an exception after hearing
evidence from Mrs. Fossett and members of the search teams that
scoured the remote Nevadan terrain.
In a statement at the time, Mrs. Fossett said: "As anyone can
imagine, this is a difficult day for our family. We will continue
to grieve and heal, but after nearly three months we feel now that
we must accept that Steve did not survive."
Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol briefed
the media throughout the search, and said the adventurer's body
"should have been found," given the extensive search efforts,
suggesting he could still be alive. "It's not like we didn't have
our eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for
him.
"We're pretty good at what we do," Ryan added.
On Monday, CAP took pains to "clarify" Ryan's remarks, which the
organization says "contain errors of fact, appear to be taken out
of context and were not released with the knowledge or approval of
CAP.
"Civil Air Patrol’s role in the search for Fossett, as
tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, was limited to
search and rescue in coordination with other emergency service
providers. Issues pertaining to Fossett’s personal life
and/or rumors surrounding his disappearance are entirely unrelated
to CAP’s search efforts and, therefore, it would be
inappropriate for CAP to comment about them."
Risk assessor Robert Davis, who conducted an eight-month
investigation for insurers Lloyd's of London, said he "discovered
that there is absolutely no proof that Steve Fossett is actually
dead. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm a man who deals in facts,
and I don't really care if he is alive or dead, it makes no
difference to me. What I am interested in is the truth -- and a
proper criminal investigation of this man's disappearance was never
undertaken by law enforcement or officials in the state of
Nevada."
We may never know the whole story of Steve Fossett's demise. In
many ways, it is even more intriguing than the Amelia Earhart
disappearance so long ago. No matter the case, aviation lost a
great personality somewhere in the Nevada desert.
And, just in case you're still out there... Steve, please come
home.