Grygla Couple Dies in Plane Crash

Tragic news as Grygla mourns the loss of two beloved community members, Jim and Gloria Holte, who were on their way to Alaska.

The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed the deaths of the Grygla area couple, killed Monday in a plane crash in British Columbia, Canada.

Captain Ray Jacobson of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria confirmed the Cessna 182 crashed into a mountain Monday morning around 10 a.m. after the centre received the first hits from the plane’s emergency locator transmitter. Travelling in the plane were a husband and wife, both in their 60s, from the United States who were making their way from Dawson Creek to Watson Lake, said Jacobson. Both were killed. Preliminary reports suggest the plane’s flight path had been following a mountain ridgeline. Weather is believed to have been a factor in the crash, with heavy cloud cover believed to have obscured visibility of the mountains, according to Jacobson. A Cormorant helicopter stationed in the Jasper/Hinton area was dispatched to the scene. The wreckage was found around 5:30 p.m. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.