California Search Teams Find Possible Fossett Wreckage

The wreckage thought to belong to the adventurer Steve Fossett has been found by search teams in an isolated patch of California.

The discovery came after a hiker found three identification cards, which were said to bear Fossett's name, in a bush west of Mammoth Lakes, in eastern California's Inyo National Forest, on Monday.

This prompted search teams to examine the 10-mile radius more closely in the hope of finding more clues relating to the adventurer's disappearance.

Authorities are still waiting to find out whether the wreckage belongs to Fossett, and have been quick to caution that, as many planes have gone down in the region, the wreckage could be connected to other cases.

Mammoth Lakes is about 90 miles south of a ranch owned by Barron Hilton, which Fossett, 63, left in a single-engine plane from the Nevada desert on September 3 last year. He has not been seen since.

Despite weeks of extensive land and air searches, no wreckage was ever found, and the millionaire adventurer was declared legally dead in February by Illinois judge Jeffery Malak.

The case had gone quiet until this week, when Preston Morrow, 43, who works in a Mammoth Lakes sporting goods store, was walking along a Sierras trail near the Yosemite national park and found a pilot's license and an ID card in Fosset's name, along with $1,000 (£558) in cash.

He handed the items to police yesterday after unsuccessful attempts to contact Fossett's family.

The Federal Aviation Administration is now trying to determine whether the ID cards are authentic.Morrow said he did not know who Fossett was at first but a co-worker recognised the name when he showed them the items he had found. "I was coming back down this really steep terrain, and what caught my eye was these little (ID) cards in the dirt and the pine needles, and some $100 bills.

"I see the ID. I caught the name. I got the ID cards ... and about five or six of the hundred-dollar bills (which) were dirty and muddy," he told Fox News.

"I was wondering, 'why are there some ID cards and money when there was nothing else?' No wallet, no bags, nothing, nothing, nothing.''

He said he returned to the scene with his wife and three friends on Tuesday to search further and did not find any plane wreckage or human remains, but they saw a black Nautica pullover fleece in the same area. However it is not known if the find was related.

Fossett's widow Peggy said in a statement yesterday: "I am hopeful that this search will locate the crash site and my husband's remains. I am grateful to all of those involved in this effort."

Search teams had already flown over Mammoth Lakes but it had not been considered a likely place to find the plane.

Instead the 20,000 square miles search has been concentrated to the north of the town, based on sightings of Fossett's plane, his plans for when he had intended to return and the amount of fuel he had.

Andy Green, the current land speed record holder who was helping Fossett prepare a record-breaking attempt, said: "I really want to know what happened to my friend Steve, but there's still a chance he might be alive somewhere if there isn't evidence of a fatal crash, so I'm a bit torn."

"His widow has found it very hard, as anyone would, when your husband of many years just disappears. For all of them, I'm hopeful that finally we will have some closure on this."

A spokeswoman for the Madera County sheriff, Erica Stuart would not reveal the exact location of the reported aerial sighting or provide any more information.

Fossett, held several aviation and sailing records and among his various accomplishments, he became the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world in 2002.