Body believed to be missing Las Vegas pilot recovered from Nevada mountain
A body believed to be that of a pilot who was missing for weeks was found Tuesday.
Michael Martin, 65, was recovered from the Mount Jefferson area northeast of Round Mountain, according to Nye County. The discovery comes weeks after his plane was initially located.
Martin, an experienced, licensed pilot, took off from North Las Vegas Airport the morning of Jan. 2 without telling anyone. His location last showed him as near Mount Jefferson, about 50 miles from Tonopah. His family reported Martin missing on Jan. 5.
His plane was found on Jan. 18 by authorities, but at the time, they could not get close enough to retrieve it because of its elevated position and high winds, Nye County director of emergency management Scott Lewis, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
After waiting for the weather to pass, the plane was recovered Tuesday by the Salt Lake City, Utah-based Heavy D Sparks Recovery at approximately 11,300 feet, the county said in a statement. The recovery was coordinated by Nye County Emergency Management and the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.
The sole occupant is believed to be Martin, Lewis said.
“It was a super long day, and we’re just thankful that it turned out the way it was and we could bring closure for the family,” Lewis said Tuesday.
The county said that it has not yet officially identified the remains and that the identity will be released by the Clark County coroner’s office.
Long search
Authorities initially searched hundreds of square miles for Martin but suspended search and rescue efforts on Jan. 16 after finding no physical evidence, Lewis said.
Local resources were still looking in the area, and ultimately, a game warden using special glasses found the plane, Lewis said. The search team had already looked in the area, but the snow previously covering it had melted.
The plane had suffered “significant damage,” Lewis said.
When authorities found the plane, Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill said on Jan. 20 that it would be weeks before it would be possible to recover a body.
The Metropolitan Police Department helicopter they need to use is undergoing maintenance and so is a Washoe County helicopter, he said at the time.
Officials also asked federal agencies — the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board — for helicopters, but the agencies said they couldn’t provide them, according to McGill.
Mystery departure
The circumstances of Martin’s disappearance remain unclear. The day he went missing, he told the owner of the company where he works that he’d be taking an early lunch but would return by 12:30 p.m. for an important meeting, according to his daughter-in-law Kathleen Martin.
Martin’s plane took off at 10:51 a.m., but his flight transponder stopped transmitting at 11:15 a.m. At 12:06 p.m., Martin’s daughter-in-law 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.
His family had initially believed he’d had a stressful holiday season and was taking a one- or two-day break in a local hotel, but they reported him missing the evening of Jan. 5 because they couldn’t get in touch with him, according to Martin’s daughter-in-law.
Martin did not appear to have established a flight plan, Lewis said.
Cathy Martin, his wife of 40 years, previously told the Review-Journal that Michael Martin had left without explanation years ago for one or two days.
“We had a little tiff Wednesday night, but it wasn’t a huge one,” she said during a Jan. 9 interview. “I just asked him a question and we discussed it and it was done. He wasn’t upset.”
A missing person report released by police indicates Martin might have been upset and carried a handgun in his work bag the morning he left.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social. Review-Journal staff writer Noble Brigham contributed to this report.
