Colorado legislator dies in plane crash in Canada

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Posted at 12:27 p.m. PDT Friday, October 13, 2000

Colorado legislator dies in plane crash in Canada MIDWAY, British Columbia (AP) -- A light plane bringing visitors back from a hunting lodge crashed in western Canada, killing three people including a Colorado state legislator who was piloting the aircraft.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials said the U.S.-registered plane crashed Thursday evening, about 185 miles east of Vancouver. The fourth person on board, a woman, was listed in critical but stable condition early Friday.

The pilot, Colorado Rep. Gary McPherson, 37, was in Canada for a family reunion. A 58-year-old woman from Gladstone, Ore., and a 63-year-old man from Gadsby, Alberta, also were killed, police said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash or where the plane was heading.

McPherson's wife, Shelley, who did not make the trip, works for Colorado Gov. Bill Owens.

``Gary was one of my closest friends,'' Owens said Friday. ``He served Colorado exceptionally well and was very devoted to his family and state. I will miss him greatly, as will his family and his many friends all over Colorado.''

Owens canceled his schedule to meet with his staff and hold a brief prayer before going to be with McPherson's family.

McPherson, a Republican, had been a Colorado state representative since 1994.

http://www.mercurycenter.com/breaking/docs/015399.htm

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 13, 2000


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