Duluth pathologist dies in Wyo. plane crash

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) -- Officials in northeastern Minnesota are mourning a longtime Duluth pathologist and deputy St. Louis County medical examiner who died in a plane crash in Wyoming.

Dr. Donald Kundel was flying to Wyoming for a hunting trip with his son when his single-engine homebuilt RV-7A plane crashed at the Laramie airport Friday. He was 79.

Kolleen Kennedy, chief investigator in the medical examiner's office, tells the Duluth News Tribune that Kundel had just been declared cancer-free after being treated for bowel cancer and was traveling to Laramie to celebrate by going bird hunting with his son.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Kennedy says family members told her Kundel had been cleared to land when the crash occurred. She says someone on the ground heard the engine stop.

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