Month-Long Efforts Revealed No Signs Of Missing Aviator

The trail has gone cold. Tuesday night, the US Air Force officially ended search efforts by the Civil Air Patrol to locate missing aviator Steve Fossett, nearly one month after the millionaire adventurer disappeared over western Nevada.

"The Civil Air Patrol joins the rest of the aviation world and admirers worldwide in its disappointment in not locating Steve Fossett," said acting CAP commander Brig. Gen. Amy S. Courter in a statement to ABC News. "This remarkable man showed us what grit and determination are all about. In his life, he chased and shattered world records, floating and flying farther and faster than anyone before. His adventures are many and his accomplishments profound. We regret that those adventures may have come to an end."

As ANN reported, Fossett disappeared September 4, after he failed to return from what was expected to be a short scouting flight. Fossett departed that morning in a single-engine Bellanca Decathlon from a private airstrip near Yerington, NV, to investigate locations for a land-speed record attempt planned for later this year.

Despite numerous leads, efforts by CAP -- as well as other local and national entities, including hundreds of individuals who joined the search effort in person, and online -- turned up no information on Fossett's whereabouts. CAP alone flew 629 flights in search of Fossett, over a 20,000 square-mile search area stretching into California; aircraft from the US Army, Navy, and National Guard also assisted in the search effort.

New evidence released by the Air Force last week -- including radar trails believed to be from Fossett's plane -- also failed to help crews locate the record-setting aviator.

FMI: www.cap.gov, www.stevefossett.com/