Risk Assessor Says "There's No Proof" Fossett Died

A lawyer speaking on behalf of Peggy Fossett has dismissed claims that his client's husband, aviation adventurer Steve Fossett, may have faked his own death. Michael LoVallo disputed suggestions from investigators and insurance assessors that the record setting pilot could still be alive after his mysterious disappearance in the Nevada desert 10 months ago.

"The remarks (that Fossett could still be alive) were in disregard of the fact, many facts. The petition to the court is of public record, which includes comprehensively all the relevant facts and I suggest someone actually review the facts responsibly and review the petition," Mr. LoVallo told The Daily Telegraph.

Fossett, 63, the first man to fly solo, non-stop around the world in an aircraft and around the world non-stop in a hot air balloon went missing last September after taking off from a remote Nevada airstrip on a short trip to inspect a site for possible use in a land speed record attempt. He never returned. His disappearance sparked the most intensive hunt for a missing aircraft in US history. Mrs. Fossett contributed over $1 million to the efforts, her lawyers have said. Neither Fossett's body, nor the plane's wreckage was ever located.
 
Mrs. Fossett petitioned a Chicago court in November to have her husband declared dead. According to the petition, "Fossett did not have any reason to disappear... (he) was happy and passionately involved in his pursuit of adventure." It added that "no-one involved in the search holds out any hope that Fossett is still alive. He did not have a parachute, nor did he take a watch that had a transponder and could have sent out a distress signal. There was a transponder aboard but no signal was received."

Her request was granted in February and her husband's estate of more than $10 million was awarded to her. State law requires a person be missing for seven years before being declared dead. However a Chicago probate judge granted an exception after hearing evidence from Mrs. Fossett and members of the search teams that scoured the remote Nevadan terrain.

In a statement at the time, Mrs. Fossett said: "As anyone can imagine, this is a difficult day for our family. We will continue to grieve and heal, but after nearly three months we feel now that we must accept that Steve did not survive."

Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Ryan of the Civil Air Patrol briefed the media throughout the search, and said the adventurer's body "should have been found," given the extensive search efforts, suggesting he could still be alive. "It's not like we didn't have our eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for him.

"We're pretty good at what we do," Ryan added.

On Monday, CAP took pains to "clarify" Ryan's remarks, which the organization says "contain errors of fact, appear to be taken out of context and were not released with the knowledge or approval of CAP.

"Civil Air Patrol’s role in the search for Fossett, as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, was limited to search and rescue in coordination with other emergency service providers. Issues pertaining to Fossett’s personal life and/or rumors surrounding his disappearance are entirely unrelated to CAP’s search efforts and, therefore, it would be inappropriate for CAP to comment about them."

Risk assessor Robert Davis, who conducted an eight-month investigation for insurers Lloyd's of London, said he "discovered that there is absolutely no proof that Steve Fossett is actually dead. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm a man who deals in facts, and I don't really care if he is alive or dead, it makes no difference to me. What I am interested in is the truth -- and a proper criminal investigation of this man's disappearance was never undertaken by law enforcement or officials in the state of Nevada."

We may never know the whole story of Steve Fossett's demise. In many ways, it is even more intriguing than the Amelia Earhart disappearance so long ago. No matter the case, aviation lost a great personality somewhere in the Nevada desert.

And, just in case you're still out there... Steve, please come home.

FMI: www.cap.gov, www.stevefossett.com