Page 37 - Ranch Hand News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Id cards and the $100 bills in the dirt and the pine needles and stuff. and i we knnt wow. we put it altogether, it is that fossett guy. >> reporter: turns out these items are found in the original search area, the mountains. the search teams quickly change their focus once again. >> just about the time we were about to call off the search, the air national search spotted 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. ...

>> just about the time we were about to call off the search, the air national search spotted 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 plane being located in just days the search lasted over a year. and cost millions. randi kaye, cnn, new york. could t...

Desert. that one was very tempting because whenever somebody says they saw the plane, people tend to put a lot of credence in that. >> that visual sight came from a ranch hand in the area, who said the plane flew over him when he stood on his porch just about ten to 15 miles from where the plane took off. he said the plane flew low. >> it was very distracting, they never looked back at the previous evidence they had. they focused everything on this new piece. >> reporter: the search area suddenly shifts dramatically, from the mountains, about 60 miles northeast to the desert. the search contin...

>> reporter: the terrain there is rugged. the wilderness between western nevada and eastern california is vast. >> did that plane have the equivalent of a black box? >> it has an elt, a locater system that can be picked up by satellites. >> reporter: radar picks up the plane's crack along the sierra nevada mountains. >> before they could really pursue this evidence they were distracted by another piece of evidence that popped up which was a visual sight out in the desert. that one was very tempting because whenever somebody says they saw the plane, people tend to put a lot of credence in that....

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 t...