Stolen small plane found, but not pilot

A stolen airplane from North Idaho has been found in a clearing in Western Washington, and a newspaper reports that a teenager who taught himself to fly may be responsible.

A logger found the 2005 Cessna 182 on Thursday afternoon crashed near Granite Falls, north of Seattle.

The FBI, DEA and Homeland Security are scouring the area looking for the pilot, who apparently walked away from the crash, which a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman described as “survivable.”

Authorities told the Seattle Times newspaper that the plane heist resembles two aircraft thefts in Western Washington that Colton Harris-Moore, an 18-year-old serial burglar who escaped from a juvenile facility in April 2008, is suspected of committing.

“We still don’t know it’s that guy, but everything’s pointing to it,” said the plane’s owner, Patrick Gardiner.

Gardiner, who owns an Angus cattle farm in Bonners Ferry, used the plane to attend cattle sales. Investigators remained at the scene of the crash Friday with the plane, which Gardiner said was totaled.

The plane was worth about $340,000 and had about $200,000 in avionics – electronic equipment – aboard. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said that while some have speculated Harris-Moore may be responsible, he is not considered an official suspect. Boundary County sheriff’s Detective Dave McClelland said the only thing linking the teen to the crime is “method of operation.”

Harris-Moore, of Camano Island, Wash., has been the focus of a manhunt following a string of burglaries and thefts on the island and the San Juan Islands, according to the Seattle Times.

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office is also looking into whether he was responsible for the thefts of two other small planes, the newspaper reported.

A construction crew spotted Gardiner’s Cessna flying south or southwest from the Boundary County Airport early Tuesday.

Authorities think the thief or thieves who took the plane stole handguns, food and beer from the Creston, B.C., airport about 30 miles from Bonners Ferry last week and tried stealing a Cessna plane similar to Gardiner’s.

Authorities found an abandoned stolen car on the Canadian side of the border after the break-ins, then another stolen car along Highway 2 near the Boundary County Airport. Officials said the airport had been broken into a night earlier before someone returned late Monday or early Tuesday for Gardiner’s Cessna.

The plane’s hangar had been burglarized in the previous break-in, and someone tried prying the plane’s door open. Gardiner installed a large padlock on the hangar, but the culprit broke through.

Authorities found prints from bare feet in the area of the burglary, airport office manager Jessica Short said.