After weeks of searching, the plane of a pilot who went missing earlier this month was found near Mount Jefferson on Saturday.

Authorities had not been able to get more than a couple of miles away from the scene as of Sunday afternoon, and the condition of pilot Michael Martin, who was the only person onboard, remains unknown.

Nye County Director of Emergency Management Scott Lewis was just returning from the scene Sunday afternoon when he spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and said that there was “significant damage” to the aircraft.

“We just need to get the resources and get them up there as quickly as we can. It was very windy during our search just now, very treacherous area, very steep area. We have a lot of things to overcome, but we’re working on it,” Lewis said.

The elevated position made the scene unreachable by foot, and Lewis said the team needed to wait for helicopters to reach the scene.

Martin, an experienced, licensed pilot, took off from North Las Vegas Airport the morning of Jan. 2 without telling anyone. His location last showed him as near Mount Jefferson, about 50 miles from Tonopah. His family reported the 65-year-old pilot missing on Jan. 5.

Authorities searched hundreds of square miles for Martin but suspended search and rescue efforts Thursday after finding no physical evidence, Lewis said.

Local resources were still looking in the area, and late Saturday, a game warden using special glasses found the plane, Lewis said. The search team had already looked in the area, but the snow previously covering it had melted.

Mystery departure

The circumstances of Martin’s disappearance remain unclear. The day he went missing, he told the owner of the company where he works that he’d be taking an early lunch but would return by 12:30 p.m. for an important meeting, according to his daughter-in-law Kathleen Martin.

Martin, an aerospace engineer, is employed as president of Erickson International, a window film manufacturer in Las Vegas, according to his family and LinkedIn page. Erickson operations employee Don Gist previously said the two had discussed working on a project together that afternoon.

Martin’s plane took off at 10:51 a.m., but his flight transponder stopped transmitting at 11:15 a.m. At 12:06 p.m., Martin’s daughter-in-law said, his phone last pinged near Tonopah, and at 12:26 p.m., his iPad — which he used as a navigation aid — and his Apple Watch last showed him near Mount Jefferson, about 50 miles from Tonopah.

She said his family initially believed he’d had a stressful holiday season and was taking a one- or two-day break in a local hotel, but they reported him missing the evening of Jan. 5 because they couldn’t get in touch with him.

Martin did not appear to have established a flight plan, according to Lewis,

Cathy Martin, his wife of 40 years, previously told the Review-Journal that Michael Martin had left without explanation years ago for one or two days.

“We had a little tiff Wednesday night, but it wasn’t a huge one,” she said. “I just asked him a question and we discussed it and it was done. He wasn’t upset.”

If he survived a crash, he had the skills to take care of himself in the wilderness, his wife said.

A missing person report released by police indicates Martin might have been upset and carried a handgun in his work bag the morning he left.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social. Review-Journal staff writer Noble Brigham contributed to this report.

BOISE, Idaho (Nevada Athletics) – Nevada women’s basketball closed out its road trip in Idaho, taking on Boise State and falling to the Broncos with a final score of 61-53.

Lexie Givens continued to move up in the record book as she reached sixth all-time in scoring after dropping 17 points on the day. She also had six rebounds. 

Izzy Sullivan knocked down the first points of the game, splashing a three after Dymonique Maxie forced a turnover. Givens followed it up on the next possession with a three of her own. 

The Pack only gave up the lead once in the opening quarter, but quickly jumped back in front off a jumper by Imbie Jones. Sullivan had a long two just before the buzzer to put the Pack up by six.

Into the second quarter, Nevada was in control, 19-23. The next 10 remained the Pack’s game as they saw their first double-digit lead come with four minutes left before the half. Boise State began to cut into the lead, but Nevada held them off to remain in front, 31-29. 

Coming out of the break, Boise State cut it to one before Maxie hit two from the charity line to put Nevada back up by three.

At the seven minute mark, the Pack found themselves in a tie for the first time since the first.

With just over four minutes remaining in the third, Nevada was playing from behind. Despite the Broncos taking the lead, the Pack only allowed them to score from the paint twice, the majority of their points coming off free throws.

The Pack tied it up with two and a half remaining in the quarter after Audrey Roden fed Givens down low for a made layup.

Into the final 10, Nevada was playing from behind, 41-38. The Pack opened up the final quarter with two consecutive baskets, a jumper by Victoria Davis and layup by Givens to regain the lead.

Tempo was high as the teams went basket-for-basket. In the fourth alone, there were four lead changes. Nevada ultimately couldn’t hold off Boise, falling to the Broncos.

Nevada will have some time off before hosting Air Force on January 25 at 1 PM.

Copyright 2025 KOLO. All rights reserved.

Nevada Wolf Pack vs. UNLV Rebels

• January 17, 2025
• Lombardi Pool, Reno, Nevada (University of Nevada)
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Dual Meet
• Altitude Adjustment (4,505 Feet)
• Full Meet Results (PDF)
• Team Scores
  • Nevada W 140 – UNLV W 101

The Nevada women moved to 5-0 in dual meets this season, celebrated seven seniors, grabbed three points for the Silver State Series Trophy, beat their in-state rivals UNLV, and saw one of the oldest school records on the books fall in a momentous dual meet on Friday in Reno.

The win for the Wolf Pack snapped a four-meet losing streak to UNLV.

Sophomore Scarlett Ferris was a big contributor to the effort, including winning the 50 free in a new school record of 22.65. That broke the old record of 22.66 that was set in 2000 by Nevada Hall of Famer Jia Lin Sun. Sun would go on to finish 7th (in short course meters) at that year’s NCAA Championship meet.

Ferris entered the meet .01 seconds away from the record, having swum 22.67 at the Phil Hansel Invitational in Houston in November. Her best time as a freshman was 23.04.

Ferris is from Scotland and her best time in long course is 28.04 from 2023. She sat out the 2024 long course season and hasn’t swum a long course 50 free since starting at Nevada, so her long course progression remains-to-be-seen.

She also won the 100 back in 52.50, which is faster than any swimmer in Wolf Pack history other than herself – she swam 51.49 last year to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Ferris swam three races, with the other being the leadoff leg on Nevada’s winning 200 medley relay, splitting 24.05 in the backstroke. That Nevada relay finished in 1:39.99.

Ferris doesn’t swim on the team’s 400 free relay, but even without her they were able to win in 3:21.46 to bookend the meet. The relay included a 48.90 anchor split from junior Enkhkhuslen Batbayar, which overcame a 1.2 second deficit to give the Wolf Pack an exclamation point at the end of the meet.

Nevada won 9 out of 13 races in the short-schedule meet, with Batbayar being jointly or wholly responsible for three of those. Besides the relay win, she also grabbed wins in the 200 free (1:47.55) and 500 free (4:53.08). Batbayar has been a big addition for the Wolf Pack this season after representing her native Mongolia at the Olympic Games over the summer.

Nevada did most of their work in the front-half of the meet, leading 65-46 after the 50 free. UNLV fought back in the middle section, though, grabbing three straight swimming wins.

Freshman Grace Wharton won the 200 IM in 2:03.64, sophomore Maria Mendez won the 100 fly in 53.90, and junior Erika Carlson won the 100 free in 50.14.

Ferris’ 100 back win would stop that streak, and the Rebels would get only one win the rest of the meet when Heather Gardner won the 100 breast in 1:02.97. She had a fast front-half split of 29.18 and was able to hold off Nevada’s Sara Mihalic at the end of the race.

Other Winners:

• Nevada freshman Keira-Lee Allott won the 1000 free in 10:08.51. While that’s not a best time, the NCAA altitude conversion puts the swim at 9:57.11, which would be 8.5 seconds better than her fastest time.
• Nevada junior diver Bailey Hedra swept the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events.

Nevada will attempt to end the season undefeated next week on the road against San Jose State. The UNLV women still have a two-day dual against Wyoming next weekend and a dual against Grand Canyon on February 1 before beginning championship season.