Coroner IDs last 2 victims of plane crash north of Las Vegas

Gregory Akers, 60, had previously been identified as a victim in the crash, which happened Nov. 26 in mountainous terrain near Gass Peak, about 15 miles north of Las Vegas. The coroner’s office on Tuesday identified the other victims as Akers’ wife and mother-in-law — Valeriya Slyzko, 48, and Nina Morovova, 71, respectively.

Slyzko had previously been identified by her co-workers and Akers’ family. The three, who were all from Henderson, died of blunt force injuries, and their deaths were ruled accidents, the coroner’s office said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in November that the plane — a single-engine Cirrus SR22 registered to Akers’ company, Baron Von Speed LCC — went down under unknown circumstances.

Akers’ cousin, Tina Lopez, told the Review-Journal in December that Akers was a man with “a big heart.” Akers was a retired air traffic controller at both McCarran International and Dallas-Fort Worth International airports.

“He didn’t have any children. … His babies were his airplanes,” Lopez said.

Slyzko worked at a U.S. Postal Service processing office near McCarran. According to Slyzko’s coworkers, she was from Ukraine and had worked at the office since about 2014.

Diana Spence, one of her coworkers, said Slyzko was texting her the day of the crash, sharing selfies of her in the small plane and the view over Lake Havasu.

“She loved everybody, she defended everybody, she liked everybody,” Spence said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.