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Steve Fossett declared dead
19 Feb 2008
The self-made business tycoon, who in 2002 became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon, was last seen on September 3, 2007, heading toward Bishop, California, after taking off in a single-engine light aircraft from an airstrip in Nevada.
Fossett's wife, Peggy, had him declared legally dead in Cook County Circuit Court as a step toward resolving the legal status of his estate. Judge Jeffrey Malak heard testimony Friday from Peggy Fossett, a family friend and a search-and-rescue expert before deciding there was sufficient evidence to declare him dead.
The adventurer was on a pleasure flight when he vanished. Dozens of planes and helicopters spent more than a month searching the rugged western Nevada mountains before the effort was called off as winter approached.
The search area covered 20,000 square miles, and according to the Reno Gazette-Journal, about 15 to 20 light aircraft have been lost in the area since 1950. In 2005, wreckage was found in Kings Canyon National Park from a aeroplane that went down during World War II.
In 2004, Fossett and his crew broke the round-the-world sailing record by six days.
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