CLOSE NTSB investigators say the pilot told air traffic controllers about the weather before the plane dropped off the radar. USA TODAY 
 
 In this image made from a video provided by WAOW-TV debris from a plane crash covers the road on July, 2, 2017, near Phillips, Wis. (Photo: AP) 
 
 MILWAUKEE — National Transportation Safety Board investigators said Sunday there was a discussion between the pilot of a Cessna airplane and air traffic controllers about “local weather phenomenon.” Soon after, the aircraft dropped off radar and crashed, killing six. 
 
 "We're dealing with things that people just don't want to talk about or see," Price County Sheriff Brian Schmidt told local media. 
 
 The Price County Sheriff’s Office said the airplane crashed at 3:21 a.m. CT Saturday near the north Wisconsin city of Phillips. The plane was found near State Highway 111 and U.S. Highway 8 in the town of Harmony. 
 
 Authorities did not release how many people died in the crash until Sunday. 
 
 6 killed in plane crash in northern Wisconsin: https://t.co/63m3LnhZ8mpic.twitter.com/RdCWzSiHwe — FOX6 News (@fox6now) July 2, 2017 
 
 According to WSAW-TV, the plane was a Cessna 421 and investigators said the pilot was certified to fly it. 
 
 The victims were all adults, Price County Sheriff's Lt. Gabe Lind said Sunday. No names have been released. 
 
 However, two of the plane's passengers were identified in a Facebook post from Tioga Elementary School in Bensenville, Ill., a community just southwest of O'Hare International Airport. The post announced the death of physical education teacher Thomas DeMauro and a maintenance director for the district, Charles Tomlitz. 
 
 "Mr. DeMauro and Mr. Tomlitz will be missed by all the Tioga Community," the school's co-principals wrote in the post. 
 
 As of Sunday evening, more than 250 people shared the post and nearly 100 had commented. Parents and former students mourned the loss of the two men. Many remembered the two for their positive outlooks and friendliness. 
 
 The sheriff’s office said the plane had left from the Chicago area and was heading to Canada on a fishing trip. 
 
 The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and the sheriff's office are investigating the crash. 
 
 Lind said the department received help finding the main part of the wreckage from a private citizen with a helicopter. Members of the Prentice, Phillips, Kennan-Georgetow, Catawba-Harmony, Ogema, Fifield and Hawkins fire departments also responded to the crash. 
 
 "There was a lot of people who volunteered to help with the search and rescue," he said. 
 
 WSAW-TV in Wausau reported that others in the community helped another way. 
 
 Sandy Jensen owns Happy Daze bar and restaurant in the Village of Kennan, near the crash site. When firefighters called her restaurant for help, she told WSAW she knew just what to do. 
 
 "Made up 35 burgers, cheeseburgers, and fresh cheese curds we sent over, and some parade candy, because it's the Fourth of July," Jensen said. 
 
 "It's just what people should do," Jensen told WSAW. "That's what the world's all about is people helping people. When people have hard times, we've been in hard times and our community has helped us, and it's just the right thing to do." 
 
 Lind said the sheriff's office might provide additional updates on the crash investigation Monday. 
 
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 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2uf5cV7 ||||| Six people were found dead among the wreckage of a small private airplane that took off from Chicago and crashed into a rural Wisconsin forest, officials said. 
 
 Lt. Gabe Lind of the Price County sheriff’s office said his office first got a call at 3:21 a.m. Saturday when the Air Marine Operations Center “lost contact with an aircraft in the area.” 
 
 “It had dropped in altitude and they lost radio contact,” he said. 
 
 National Transportation Safety Board investigators said there was a discussion between the pilot of the plane and air traffic controllers about “local weather phenomenon,” but further details weren’t released. 
 
 Lind said the initial response to the loss of contact was to send two deputies to the plane’s last known location, in Harmony Township. 
 
 “They found a debris field right there on the state highway,” Lind said of those deputies. They quickly sent out a request for assistance, he said, because it was clear the debris was strewn over a large area, including into thick woods and swamp. 
 
 Along with volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel from surrounding towns, Lind put in a call to the local airport because there was to be an air show during the weekend and Lind wondered if the plane was bound for the event, he said. It wasn’t, they learned, but the airport manager still reached out to one of the pilots who was going to display his helicopter, and that pilot volunteered to take up the helicopter to help locate the crash site. 
 
 “He was actually able to locate the main area of the wreckage that was in the forest, about 4- to 500 yards away,” Lind said. 
 
 It saved rescue team members time because they had been walking shoulder to shoulder, slowly pushing through the vegetation and swampland, he said. The pilot didn’t ask for anything in return for putting his helicopter in the air to help police with the vantage point, Lind said. 
 
 “I couldn’t even tell you his name if I wanted to, but he jumped at the chance, and it was very instrumental in locating the wreckage quickly,” Lind said. 
 
 Once the fuselage was located, it was clear there were no survivors. Depending on the year it was made, the Cessna 421 can seat six or seven people, he said. There were six adults in the fuselage, but authorities would not disclose the genders of the deceased, and their names were not immediately available. 
 
 Price County Sheriff Brian S. Schmidt said the plane took off from the Chicago area and was heading to Canada for a fishing trip when it quickly dropped altitude for an unknown reason. The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration continue to investigate, he said. It wasn’t known if the passengers were from Chicago. 
 
 The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, citing a Facebook post on the site of Tioga Elementary School in Bensenville, said two of the dead are physical education teacher Thomas DeMauro and a maintenance director for the district, Charles Tomlitz. 
 
 "Mr. DeMauro and Mr. Tomlitz will be missed by all the Tioga Community," the school's co-principals wrote in the post. 
 
 “At first obviously it was a rescue operation, and then when we found and got to the main part of the plane, obviously we saw that there were no survivors, and then it became a recovery operation,” Lind said. 
 
 The crash was near the small towns of Phillips, Kennan and Catawba, north of Minneapolis and about 365 miles from Chicago. 
 
 Sandy Jensen, who owns the Happy Daze bar in Kennan, said she first heard about the plane crash from a phone call, then Facebook; she also was told the airplane was occupied by a group of men who were heading to Canada for a fishing trip. 
 
 Jensen jumped into action when she heard there were hungry volunteers who’d been up all night, facing some pretty harsh mental and physical conditions. She wanted to do what she could. 
 
 So she filled the grill at her bar with burgers, topped them with cheese, wrapped them up and threw in a bucket of cheese curds. She met a volunteer at the end of the road and handed over the food; she even included some candy from the Fourth of July parade, she said. 
 
 “Hopefully everybody got taken care of to get them through a little longer that night,” she said. 
 
 Jensen said it is shocking to hear about such a tragedy in her own backyard. 
 
 “The families -- I just feel awful for them,” Jensen said, adding that she’s “real soft.” 
 
 “I can’t help out everybody but I try to do what I can do, just because. That’s just how I am. The world would be a whole lot better place if everybody would just help each other and not hurt each other.” 
 
 The Associated Press contributed. ||||| Authorities say a small airplane crash that killed six people in northern Wisconsin fell apart in the air. National Transportation Safety Board Eric Weiss said Monday the debris from the plane crash suggests there was an "in-flight break up." NTSB investigators say there was a discussion between the pilot of the plane and air traffic controllers about "local weather phenomenon" shortly before the crash at 3:21 a.m. Saturday. 
 
 3:20 p.m. 
 
 According to the Price County Sheriff's Office, the on-site investigation into the plane crash is over. The wreckage has been removed from the area and taken to another location for further investigation. 
 
 The National Transportation Safety Board will likely release a preliminary report about the investigation within 10 days. Final reports, including what caused the crash, will likely be released within 12 to 18 months. 
 
 2:45 p.m. 
 
 According to the FAA accident report, there was one pilot and five passengers on board the plane that crashed in Price County early Saturday morning. 
 
 Kevin James King, 70, of Bensenville, IL is the only certified pilot among the 6 people on board the plane. 
 
 King is a certified commercial pilot, rated to fly single engine and multi-engine airplanes, as well as instrument airplanes. 
 
 The plane involved in the crash is an FAA registered Cessna 421 C, described as a multi-engine airplane, weighing less than 12,500 pounds. 
 
 According to the FAA, the plane is owned by "Sky King Flying Service" based in Wilmington, Delaware. The plane was registered in 2011 and the registration is set to expire on November 30, 2017. 
 
 11:00 a.m. 
 
 The Price County Sheriff Department has identified the six victims of a deadly plane crash that happened early Saturday morning. Their names and ages are listed below. 
 
 Kevin James King, 70, of Bensenville, IL 
 
 James Francis, 63, of Norco, CA 
 
 Kyle Demauro, 21, of Bensenville, IL 
 
 Thomas Demauro, 56, of Bensenville, IL 
 
 Charles Tomlitz, 69, of Addison, IL 
 
 George Tomlitz, 45, from Brookfield, IL 
 
 Price County Sheriff Brian Schmidt says his department continues to investigate the crash, with the help of the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Federal Aviation Administration. 
 
 10:00 p.m. 
 
 The family of two victims who died in the Price County plane crash are mourning the loss of Tom and Kyle DeMauro. Here's a written statement from the DeMauro family: 
 
 The DeMauro family would like to express our gratitude for the outpouring of support after the traffic loss of Tom and Kyle. We would also like to express our heartfelt condolences to the other families affected by this tragedy. Tom was our beloved son, husband, father, brother, uncle, friend, teacher and coach. Kyle was our dear son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend; a compassionate young man who had a promising future. We deeply mourn their loss and both will be dearly missed. We would especially like to extend our gratitude to the first responders and community of Price County, Wisconsin and our family and friends in Bensenville as we struggle to process this unfortunate loss. 
 
 Services for Tom and Kyle have not yet been determined and will be announced. 
 
 ---- 
 
 6:00 p.m. 
 
 At least two elementary school educators from suburban Bensenville, Illinois are among the victims in a deadly plane crash overnight Saturday, according to our affiliate in Chicago. 
 
 The two men are identified on the Tioga Elementary School Facebook page as Chuck Tomlitz, the district maintenance director and Thomas DeMauro, a psychical education teacher. 
 
 On the Facebook page, Tioga’s co-principals left a message that said, in part, “Mr. DeMauro and Mr. Tomlitz will be missed by all the Tioga Community.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 The accident remains under investigation by the Price County Sheriff’s office, National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration. 
 
 ----- 
 
 5:00 p.m. 
 
 During a press conference Sunday, investigators revealed six people were killed in the Price County plane crash. At this point, they're not releasing names, ages or their relationships. The Price County Sheriff did confirm they're all adults. 
 
 Early Saturday morning, the sheriff's office received a call from the Air Marine Operations Center that an aircraft dropped altitude quickly and radio contact was lost. The sheriff's office said the plane had left from Chicago and was heading to Canada on a fishing trip. 
 
 National Transportation Safety Board investigators said there was a discussion between the pilot of the plane and air traffic controllers about "local weather phenomenon." At about 1:53 a.m., the aircraft dropped off radar. 
 
 Wreckage from the plane was found in the area of State Highway 111 and U.S. Highway 8 in the Township of Harmony. 
 
 "We're dealing with things that people just don't want to talk about or see," Price County Sheriff Brian Schmidt said. 
 
 Several departments responded to help with the scene. But a surprising amount of help has also come from around the community. Schmidt said crews turned to someone from the Price County airport who owned a private helicopter. Crews were then able to view the plane wreckage from above. 
 
 "We're fortunate to have someone with a helicopter, and we were able to locate the compartment of a fuselage and the passenger compartment of an airplane," Sheriff Schmidt explained. 
 
 And while some assistance may have come in the form of an aircraft, other kinds of help came in a different form. Sandy Jensen owns Happy Daze bar and restaurant in the Village of Kennan, just outside of where crews are trying to figure out what happened in the crash. She said when some firefighters called her restaurant for help, she knew just what to do. 
 
 "Made up 35 burgers, cheeseburgers, and fresh cheese curds we sent over, and some parade candy, because it's the Fourth of July," Jensen explained. 
 
 "They went above and beyond," Schmidt added. 
 
 Jensen said she was simply doing the right thing. 
 
 "It's just what people should do," Jensen explained. "That's what the world's all about is people helping people. When people have hard times, we've been in hard times and our community has helped us, and it's just the right thing to do." 
 
 The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are assisting with the investigation. Right now, they don't know what caused the crash, as the investigation is in the 'fact-finding' stage. The NTSB will be inspecting the wreckage as it lays in the field Sunday and likely Monday. 
 
 The plane was a Cessna 421 and investigators said the pilot was certified to fly it. 
 
 The NTSB is asking that if you heard anything or have come across any wreckage that you give them a call. 
 
 Stay tuned to NewsChannel 7 and wsaw.com for more information as it becomes available. ||||| In this image made from a video provided by WAOW debris covers the road on Sunday, July, 2, 2017, near Phillips, Wis., after several people were killed in an airplane crash on Saturday. The Price County... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image made from a video provided by WAOW debris covers the road on Sunday, July, 2, 2017, near Phillips, Wis., after several people were killed in an airplane crash on Saturday. The Price County... (Associated Press) 
 
 PHILLIPS, Wis. (AP) — Authorities say six people aboard a Cessna airplane were killed when it crashed in northern Wisconsin. 
 
 The Price County Sheriff's Office says the airplane crashed at 3:21 a.m. Saturday near the city of Phillips. 
 
 All the crash victims were adults, but no names have been released. 
 
 The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, citing a Facebook post on the site of Tioga Elementary School in Bensenville, Illinois, said two of the dead are physical education teacher Thomas DeMauro and a maintenance director for the district, Charles Tomlitz. 
 
 "Mr. DeMauro and Mr. Tomlitz will be missed by all the Tioga Community," the school's co-principals wrote in the post. 
 
 The sheriff's office says the plane had left from Chicago and was heading to Canada on a fishing trip. 
 
 National Transportation Safety Board investigators say there was a discussion between the pilot of the plane and air traffic controllers about "local weather phenomenon." Soon after, the aircraft dropped off radar. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Information from: WSAW-TV, http://www.wsaw.com
– The pilot of a Cessna 421 and all five passengers were killed early Saturday when the aircraft crashed in a forest in northern Wisconsin, authorities say. National Transportation Safety Board investigators say the pilot mentioned a "weather phenomenon" to air traffic controllers shortly before the plane dropped off the radar near the town of Phillips, USA Today reports. The Price County Sheriff's Office says the plane was carrying a group of men heading from Chicago to Canada for a fishing trip, the AP reports. The Tioga Elementary School in Bensenville, Ill., has identified two of the victims as physical education teacher Thomas DeMauro and maintenance director Charles Tomlitz. Price County Sheriff's Lt. Gabe Lind says a volunteer who owned a helicopter helped rescue workers locate the wreckage, reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Volunteers spent the night searching an area that included thick woods and swamp, the Chicago Tribune reports. Sheriff Brian Schmidt says local bar owner Sandy Jensen went "above and beyond" when she heard about the hungry volunteers and sent over dozens of cheeseburgers, along with candy from the Fourth of July parade. "That's what the world's all about is people helping people," she tells WSAW. (On Friday, a Cessna crashed on a California freeway.)