Bag from plane missing with 6 aboard washes ashore

CLEVELAND (AP) — A University of Wisconsin-Madison freshman and her father were among six people aboard a plane that disappeared over Lake Erie as the group was returning from a Cleveland Cavaliers game, the school said Monday as search crews continue to hunt for the aircraft.

Megan Casey, 19, of Powell, Ohio, and her father, Brian, were returning from the NBA game in a plane piloted by their neighbor late Thursday when the aircraft suddenly lost altitude about 2 miles out and vanished from radar, the school and authorities said.

Megan Casey was in a sorority and was pursuing a career in nursing, the university said. The university released a statement from the Casey family calling the father and daughter “loving, caring, remarkable individuals.”

The plane and its occupants haven’t yet been found, but emergency officials have been searching for them by air, shore and water.

A bag that washed ashore near a private harbor in Bratenahl, a small lakeside community outside Cleveland, was confirmed as coming from the plane, authorities said Monday. There have also been multiple reports of debris washing ashore east of Burke Lakefront Airport, where the plane took off. The other debris hadn’t been verified as coming from the Cessna 525 Citation.

John T. Fleming, chief executive of a Columbus-based beverage distribution company, was piloting the aircraft. His wife, Sue, and their two teenage sons, Jack and Andrew, were also aboard.