Teen walks out of the woods 2 days after plane crash

A teenage girl walked out from the woods and waved down a driver Monday, saying she was the girl from the plane crash that happened over the weekend, according to the Okanogan County sheriff. 

>>From KIRO-TV: 5 things to know about the plane crash and the teen survivor

The driver dropped the teen off at a Mazama, Washington, store, and she was treated by an EMT who worked there.

The plane that took off from Kalispell, Montana, dropped off the radar near Omak, Washington, Saturday afternoon.

Civil Air Patrol pilots searched the area near Omak in the Cascades but did not find the missing plane over the weekend. They were grounded most of Monday morning due to weather conditions.

"This is a particularly rugged area, and right now the weather is not cooperating but we're hoping that it clears up," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lustick, Civil Air Patrol.

By Monday afternoon, the weather had cleared.  Four planes took off from Bellingham and a fifth launched from Spokane.

Lustick said a red and white Beech 35 plane flying from Kalispell, Montana, was supposed to land in Lynden Saturday.

The plane never arrived, and volunteer pilots started searching near Omak on Sunday, but didn't find anything.

"Since it is rugged with steeps hills lots of trees and canyons, there's kind of a logical flow of how you might fly from Kalispell to Lynden, so we're using that along with information from local pilots in the area on where this aircraft could be," said Lustick.

Autumn Veatch, 16, and her step-grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman, were on board.

"I just, I had a bad feeling about it when they told me what was going on," said David Veatch, the teen's father.

He said he  found out his daughter was on the plane only after he got a call that the plane was missing.

"I just, I really don't like those smaller planes. I've been on them before. They're scary. They don't feel safe," Veatch added.

Lustick said the last cellphone pings from the three passengers were picked up Saturday near Omak. Crews did not pick up an emergency beacon signal.

"Right now, it is not out of the question that we will still hear a beacon; the batteries are still good for a very long time and the equipment that the air patrol is using is very sensitive," said Lustick.

Civil Air Patrol said pilots would continue to search as long as the weather cooperates.

"We are not ruling out hope for these individuals and we are very hopeful that these individuals will be found and there's still plenty of time for that," said Lustick.

Timeline

WSDOT provided a timeline of Saturday’s events (All times are in Pacific Daylight Time).

1:01 p.m. – Plane departs Kalispell, Montana Saturday, July 11, headed for Lynden, Washington.

2:21 p.m. – Plane crosses ID/WA state line, near Newport, WA