it is now october 2008, more than a year after he disappeared. >> i came across the id card and the other cards. and the money in the dirt, and the pine needles and stuff. i went wow. we put it all together, it is that fossett guy. >> reporter: turns out these items are discovered in the heart of the original search area. the mountains. the search teams quickly change their focus. once again. >> just about the time we were going to call off the search the aircraft from yosemite national park spotted what they thought was wreckage on the ground. >> reporter: it is fossett's plane. right along the original radar track. the very spot in play before authorities shifted their attention to the desert. based on a so-called hot tip from a ranch hand. >> they probably could have found him relatively quickly if they had followed up on the evidence they had very early on in the search. >> reporter: instead of the