Searchers find body of missing hunter amid plane wreckage

Authorities have found the body of a pilot whose plane crashed in a remote area of Clearwater County as he headed north to go deer hunting.

Searchers from the Clearwater County sheriff's department and the Bagley Police Department reached the wreckage on foot Wednesday morning, said Clearwater County Attorney and information officer Jeanine Brand.

Brand said authorities found the body of Andrew Lindberg of Farmington, who left Airlake airport in Lakeville on Friday. Lindberg sent a text message to his wife during the flight, but he never arrived at his destination.

Brand said authorities were able to see the wreckage last night, but it was too dark confirm if the plane belonged to Lindberg. The wreckage is on the route Lindberg would likely have flown between Lakeville and Hallock.

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The wreckage was in a remote area of Clearwater County, so a State Patrol helicopter Wednesday morning led searchers on the ground to the crashed plane, Brand said.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, she said.

Volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol spent the last few days searching for the plane.

Brand said authorities were able to find the plane after a citizen called the Mahnomen County sheriff's office on Tuesday to report seeing the wreckage.