ST. IGNACE — Wreckage and human remains from a plane crash 17 years ago off Mackinac Island were discovered this month, according to Michigan State Police.

According to the MSP press release, in August of 2007, a SOCATA TB-20 Trinidad airplane crashed into Lake Huron en route to Bad Axe from Mackinac Island. The plane was flown by a 52-year-old woman from Washington DC and had one passenger, a 56-year-old man also from Washington DC. A large-scale search for the plane wreckage and/or survivors was conducted, but the plane was never found.

On Oct. 8, 2007, human remains were found in the Straits of Mackinac, east of the Mackinac Bridge. Those remains were recovered and later identified as the missing pilot. The search for the passenger and the plane wreckage continued and was eventually called off without finding the wreckage.

In October 2023, Great Lakes Search and Recovery, a private company, resumed the search efforts at the request of family members. In August of 2024, members of the search team discovered plane wreckage near Bois Blanc Island. This discovery was reported to MSP.

State Police said that members of the MSP Marine Services Team were able to collect evidence from the crash site that led investigators to believe that this plane wreck was that of the missing plane from 2007. As state police divers searched the wreckage, a set of skeletal remains was found at the crash site. The remains were provided to the Center for Forensic Anthropology at Northern Michigan University for identification. The dental records determined that the remains were indeed the 56-year-old passengers.

The MSP credits the amazing work done by Great Lakes Search and Recovery to help bring closure to the victims’ families.