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Luggage found in search for missing Kennedy plane
July 17, 1999
BOSTON (CNN) -- Searchers have found a piece of luggage on a Martha's Vineyard beach belonging to the sister-in-law of John F. Kennedy Jr., whose missing plane has been the object of a day-long search off the East Coast. Coast Guard Capt. W. Russell Webster told CNN Saturday a suitcase was found on Philbin Beach near Aquinnah, Massachussetts. The suitcase had a tag on it bearing the name of Lauren Bessette, Kennedy's sister-in-law and a passenger on the missing plane. Pentagon officials, in an afternoon briefing, could not immediately confirm the report. Search crews from five states are combing the waters between Long Island and Martha's Vineyard Saturday, looking for signs of the missing aircraft piloted by the son of the assassinated president. The Kennedy family notified the Federal Aviation Administration that the plane had not arrived at the Massachusetts resort as expected Friday night, agency officials said. Several agencies -- including the U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation and Defense departments and the FAA -- were conducting the search off Montauk Point on Long Island.
About 20 aircraft were involved in the search, ranging from Civil Air Patrol planes, state police and Coast Guard helicopters to C-130 cargo planes, Air Force public affairs officer Sandy Troeber said. The overall search effort was being coordinated by the Air Force's Joint Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Todd Bergen said the single-engine, six-passenger plane took off just after 8:30 p.m. EDT from Fairfield, New Jersey, and was expected on Martha's Vineyard before continuing to Hyannisport, on Cape Cod. Bergen said the plane was last heard from about an hour after takeoff as it made its final approach into Martha's Vineyard.
Troeber said that searchers heard what they thought was a locator beacon off Long Island early Saturday, but found nothing when they arrived on the site where the beacon appeared to originate. Officials now do not believe the beacon was connected with the missing Kennedy plane. Chief Petty Officer Dennis Hall said the search also focused on an area five to 10 miles off Aquinnah, formerly Gay Head, on the western tip of Martha's Vineyard. Weather conditions along what would have been the plane's flight path were quiet overnight, with light clouds, light wind and some haze. Conditions remained calm Saturday morning. The 38-year-old Kennedy, who owned the missing Piper PA-32 Saratoga, did not file a flight plan but was not required to do so. His wife, Carolyn Bessette, her sister Lauren and possibly one other person were reportedly on board the aircraft.
Kennedy was to drop Lauren Bessette on Martha's Vineyard and then continue with his wife to Hyannisport, on Cape Cod, for the wedding of Kennedy's cousin, Rory Elizabeth Kennedy. The youngest child of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, she was scheduled to be married to book publisher Mark Bailey. The Saturday evening wedding has been postponed, Kennedy family friend Rowland Evans told CNN. Evans said that family members were gathering at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport. "This is a real tragedy," he said. "The Kennedys have a habit of gathering around in an extraordinary way in a situation like this. Kennedy, the founder of the politics and culture magazine George, earned his pilot's license last year. He and Bessette were married in 1996 on Georgia's Cumberland Island. Kennedy has eschewed politics, opting instead for the law before launching George in 1995. After attending Brown University, he graduated from New York University Law School, becoming an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan prosecutor's office. RELATED STORIES: Search under way for missing JFK Jr. plane RELATED SITES: The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. "Saratoga II TC"
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