Missing Texas plane found; dangerous recovery begins

Albany County, Wyoming officials began recovering the bodies of Billy Gee, Mavrick Cayce, Chuck Ford and James Morgan Friday morning. The Heroic Four, as their communities call them, lost their lives in a plane crash Tuesday. Charles Souder has been a friend of crash victim Billy Gee for more than a decade. He was there for the group's takeoff at Marshall Airport and says everything was normal.

"Everything was routine," Souder said. "Just a normal everyday thing."

However, something went horribly wrong and the plane went down on the Laramie Mountains in Albany County, Wyoming. County Undersheriff Rob DuBree says the area's geography is dangerous, and a helicopter and professional climbers began recovering the victims Friday morning.

"They'll have to remove them from the wreckage and bring them down to our landing zone which is probably 2 miles as the crow flies," DuBree said.

DuBree says the cause of the crash is still unknown. Billy Gee's brother Allen Gee is determined to know the cause.

"This is a tragedy, and something I'm anxious to find out how it happened," Gee said.

The next step for him and others touched with this grief is a long road of healing but never forgetting. Gee says his last memory of his brother was a simple dinner last Saturday night.

"The last thing I did with my brother was have a hamburger with him, hugged his neck, told him I love him," Gee said. "That's good enough for me."

Thursday, dozens from the Marshall, Texas community came together to support the victims' families with a prayer vigil, but one local business is helping sell t-shirts that read the Heroic Four to honor the men. They are working with family friends and all proceeds go to help the victims' families. Owner Kathleen Birmingham- Ramsey says she's happy to help.

"I was just so sad about everything," she said. "It was just on my mind all day long. Actually, it was a relief when they stopped by. I thought, oh my goodness here's something I can do besides praying."

The Dominoes on Highway 80 in Marshall will hold a charity pizza dinner Saturday at 2 until 4. Diners can buy the Heroic Four pizza during that time, and all proceeds go to help the victim's families.