After 17 years, the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in Michigan’s Lake Huron was discovered, along with the remains of a long-missing passenger, H. Brooke Stauffer Jr. Stauffer, 56, who lived in Washington, D.C., was a passenger in the plane with his fiancee, Karen Dodds, when it disappeared in August 2007. Her remains were found two months later, but there was no sign of the plane or Stauffer.
Great Lakes Search & Recovery, a private company, resumed search efforts in October 2023 at the request of the family members. In August 2024, the search team discovered the plane wreckage near Bois Blanc Island. State police divers subsequently found skeletal remains, which were identified as Stauffer’s with the help of dental records.
Stauffer was a prolific writer and the author of several technical books, magazine articles, a children’s novel, and a guidebook for Washington, D.C. He worked as the director of standards and safety for the National Electrical Contractors Association. Dodds, 52, also had her own business, Dodds Design, a graphic web design and marketing company in Washington.
The discovery of the plane wreckage and Stauffer’s remains brings closure to this long-standing mystery for both families. The Center for Forensic Anthropology at Northern Michigan University assisted in confirming Stauffer’s identity. State police expressed their condolences to the families and are continuing the investigation into the crash.
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