The Aurora Beacon-News reports: Emma E. Biagioni, 20, of St. Charles, and David O. Otai, 23 — both students at Hope College in Holland, Mich. — were killed Sunday morning after taking off in a small plane in Allegan County, Mich., a school spokesman said.
Otai, a licensed pilot, was a Kenyan international student.
Emergency crews responded at 11:24 a.m. after dispatchers indicated that a small plane made a distress call, but airport radar indicated the plan had gone over the Saugatuck area in Allegan County and disappeared, according to a press release from the Allegan County sheriff’s office.
Plane wreckage was spotted in a soybean field, but search efforts were hampered due to dense fog, which limited visibility to less than an eighth of a mile, the release said.
The two were found trapped in the wreckage and were pronounced dead at the scene, the release said.
The Allegan County Medical Examiner’s Office had not released the victims’ identification pending family notification as of 7 p.m. Sunday, spokeswoman Holly Lott said.
However, Renner confirmed the identities of the two students and said Biagioni and Otai were well-known on campus and that Biagioni’s sister, Elizabeth, a freshman at Hope College, was being escorted home to St. Charles Sunday evening.
Emma Biagioni was a member of the Class of 2007 at St. Charles East High School.
Otai, a sophomore, was a licensed pilot who flew the small plane to gain flight hours, Renner said.
Hope College, which is about 2½ hours northeast of Chicago, hosted a memorial service Sunday night that drew 1,100 people, Renner said. School had been in session for one week after winter break.
Karen Patterson, chief editor of the student newspaper, The Anchor, said Emma Biagioni was a junior political science major and a national news editor.
“Emma was kind, sweet, full of energy,” Patterson said.
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