A 15-year-old Connecticut girl, her mother, her aerospace teacher, and a fourth person all perished in a small plane crash in Vermont Sunday afternoon.
Authorities identified the victims as Middletown High School sophomore Delilah Van Ness; her mother Susan Van Ness, 51; her teacher Paul Pelletier and 88-year-old Frank Rodriguez, a former fighter pilot.
Investigators said the group flew from Middletown to Ferrisburgh, Vermont where they had brunch at the Basin Harbor Resort.
They left the resort shortly after noon on their way back to Connecticut but never made it. Their airplane was last seen on the runway at around 12:15 p.m.
The privately owned four-seat, single-engine Piper aircraft was found wrecked in a wooded area east of Basin Harbor Airport at around 12:20 a.m. Monday.
Pelletier was an aerospace and manufacturing teacher at Middletown High School who loved to teach anyone willing to learn, according to his students.
“This unimaginable loss has left a void in our hearts and our community,” said Superintendent Dr. Alberto Vazquez Matos.
“Paul, Delilah, and Susan were special individuals whose absence is already being felt throughout our district and city.”
