Police: Missing Las Vegas pilot carried gun, might have been upset

A missing person report released by police indicates Michael Martin, the Las Vegas pilot who disappeared this month, might have been upset and carried a handgun in his work bag the morning he left.

Martin, 65, an experienced, licensed pilot who owned his 1960s Piper plane, was last seen Jan. 2, according to his family and officials.

Daughter-in-law Kathleen Martin previously said his plane took off from the North Las Vegas Airport at 10:51 a.m., but his flight transponder stopped transmitting at 11:15 a.m.

At 12:06 p.m., she said, his phone last pinged near Tonopah, and at 12:26 p.m., his iPad — which he used as a navigation aid — and his Apple Watch last showed him near Mount Jefferson, about 50 miles from Tonopah.

The Metropolitan Police Department report said Martin had access to credit and debit cards and may have carried about $20. Martin’s family reported him missing on Jan. 5, according to the family and police.

“Michael drinks occasional(ly) but does not do drugs,” Metro wrote. “Michael has no known medical conditions. He is not suicidal and can take care of himself.”

It’s not clear why police said he might have been upset; part of the sentence referencing that is redacted.

Martin was “presumed” to be traveling to the Indian Springs and Lee Canyon area to get his plane serviced, according to police.

Authorities searched hundreds of square miles for Martin but suspended search and rescue efforts Thursday after finding no physical evidence, Nye County Director of Emergency Management Scott Lewis previously said.

Kathleen Martin said Friday that her father-in-law had a concealed carry permit and normally carried a gun for his safety. The gun is still missing, she said, and the family thinks he took it on the plane with him.

While her family has not found any records of Martin doing transactions, she said police have issued subpoenas for his accounts.

“The family continues to feel that he wouldn’t have chosen to leave behind everybody,” she said.

Thomas Martin, who is president of Martin Investigative Services in Newport Beach and said he has worked on hundreds of missing person cases, agreed.

“I can’t comprehend that somebody would actually make a decision to fly an airplane and then discard the airplane some way and then walk off into the distance and have a new life,” said Martin, who is not related to the missing pilot.

Cathy Martin, Martin’s wife of 40 years, has said he left without explanation years ago for one or two days. She also said the couple “had a little tiff” before he vanished.

“Dispute is probably a very big word for the recounting she’s given us in detail of it,” said Martin’s daughter-in-law. “It was more like some questioning of his schedule the day before and why he was leaving really early to go do something when it wasn’t going to start for a while and going, ‘why are you asking me? Are you checking up on me?’”

Lewis said Michael Martin did not appear to have established a flight plan.

According to Tim Miller, a flight instructor in the Las Vegas area, creating a flight plan is a “best practice,” but many private pilots don’t do it.

Martin did not always file flight plans, Kathleen Martin said. As far as his family knows, she said, his transponder was functional, but may not have always transmitted reliably.

Martin’s daughter-in-law said she couldn’t rule out the possibility Martin turned the transponder off. “I wouldn’t have a reason as to why he would do that, though,” she said.

“The only reason to actually ever turn it off is if it’s A, on fire, or B, you want air traffic control to stop being able to trace your location,” said William McDonald, an airline pilot and pilot examiner.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.