As the summer months approach, Washington state search and
rescue personnel will resume a limited search for missing Hollister
pilot Rocky Stewart
– whose plane disappeared over the Cascade mountain range last
October. Stewart was a suspect in an investigation of sexual
misconduct by the Hollister Police Department, which the department
has since closed.
Hollister – As the summer months approach, Washington state search and rescue personnel will resume a limited search for missing Hollister pilot Rocky Stewart – whose plane disappeared over the Cascade mountain range last October. Stewart was a suspect in an investigation of sexual misconduct by the Hollister Police Department, which the department has since closed.
Kittitas County Search and Rescue Sgt. Fred Slyfield said as of now, his team hasn’t received any new tips or leads as to the whereabouts of Stewart’s Czechoslovakian fighter-trainer jet that apparently crashed over the Cascades late last October. The 45-year-old multi-millionaire was flying his jet with his 46-year-old passenger Scott Smith of San Francisco when it went down.
“We are going to do some limited searching of the area for (search and rescue) training this summer, and focus our training missions in that area this year just in case we can possibly come up with some type of lead,” Slyfield said. “Pending any other leads of a substantial nature, we’re going to wait until we come up with something else and go from there.”
After Stewart’s disappearance, it was revealed that he was the suspect of a lengthy investigation by police for sexual misconduct with a minor, although his defense team claimed he was the target of a bizarre extortion plan by several teenage girls from Hollister to bilk him for $2 million. However, the Hollister Police Department closed the investigation, which included several girls alleging Stewart raped them, after receiving confirmation from the Federal Aviation Association that it was a legitimate crash, according to Detective Sgt. James Weathers.
“Even though they didn’t find anything, it’s closed,” Weathers said. “But it can always be re-opened if he turns up alive.”
Stewart’s wife, Patti, who has two daughters with the former Oracle vice president, did not return phone calls about her husband’s disappearance Wednesday. His attorney, Kerry Steigerwalt, who was also unavailable for comment Wednesday, has said the sexual misconduct allegations had no credibility and were nothing but “unfounded gossip.”
The area where the plane supposedly went down was covered in snow, but due to large amounts of rain recently there is a good possibility the snow is melting, according to the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Department.
Slyfield has said there is no doubt Stewart’s plane went down somewhere over the rugged mountain range due to the radar reports his office received from the state’s aeronautics department.
The plane didn’t have rocket-powered ejector seats but was equipped with parachutes. However, both Stewart and Smith would have had to pop the canopy of the plane off, flip it upside down and fall out to escape the crash – which Slyfield said wouldn’t be possible because Stewart didn’t appear to have control of the plane when it went down.
Stewart’s defense team had said a group of Hollister girls known as the “Party Girls” had planned to extort Stewart for $2 million and six of them made allegations that Stewart had raped them. But District Attorney John Sarsfield has said the extortion claims were just beginning to be investigated when Stewart disappeared and that they were unfounded at the time.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
em*******@fr***********.com
