UPDATE: Victims Identified in Small Airplane Crash in Osage Beach

The Osage Beach Police Department has released more information including the identities of two people who were killed and another seriously injured just before 12-noon Thursday in a small airplane crash.

Lieutenant Michael O’Day says that 22-year-old Hayden Ritchhart, of Carrollton, and 19-year-old Evan Vandiver, of Richmond, were both pronounced dead at the scene. Also in the plane, 54-year-old Gary Vandiver of Richmond, was seriously hurt and flown to University Hospital in Columbia.

Osage Beach Fire Chief Paul Berardi says initial efforts locating the crash site were hampered by not having solid information on where the plane went down…“Between the airport and the hospital was a very vague report of where the plane had come down. We finally got some better information and found it five, 5 miles or so from the original location. But that took us about 35 or 40minutes just to locate the downed aircraft.” 

Osage Beach Police and the highway patrol coordinated efforts at the scene and the FAA will conduct the investigation into the cause of the crash.