NORTH COAST, Calif. – The four people who died in a Friday crash in Humboldt County involving a REACH medical transport plane have been identified.
The Humboldt County Coroner's Office on Monday said the four crash victims were Crescent City residents Larry Mills, 54; Deborah Kroon, 49; Michelle Tarwater, 30; and April Rodriquez, 35.
REACH Air Medical Services said Mills was the plane's pilot, while Kroon was the flight nurse and Tarwater was a certified flight paramedic. Rodriguez was a patient they were taking to Oakland.
The four died early Friday morning while en route from the REACH Air Medical Services and Cal-Ore Life Flight base at Crescent City Airport to Oakland International Airport aboard a twin-engine Piper PA31.
Early into the flight, Mills declared an emergency due to smoke in the cockpit and said he was going to return to Crescent City. Communication was lost with the plane minutes later when it disappeared off radar northeast of Arcata, REACH said.
A search that took place over the course of Friday found the crash site north of McKinleyville at around 10 a.m. By Friday night, the bodies of all four had been recovered, authorities said.
Mills was a devoted father and husband with more than 20 years of flying experience. He'd been a volunteer first responder for 12 years and had been with Cal-Ore since April.
Kroon came to the United States from New Zealand and had spent 25 years as a critical care nurse, working in hospitals across the country. She had joined Cal-Ore in October 2014.
Tarwater, who had been with Cal-Ore since 2011, was the first in the region to receive National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians-Paramedic certification.
“Due to privacy concerns for the family, the company cannot share any information about the patient at this time,” REACH said in its statement.
The cause of the crash remained unknown on Monday.
The National Transportation Safety Board was on scene investigating the accident, with a preliminary report expected in 10 to 14 days.
“We all have the same questions, but until we have factual reports from the NTSB, there is nothing more we can share,” said REACH President Sean Russell.
REACH said a memorial procession and service for Mills, Kroon and Tarwater will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 3.
The procession will begin at noon that day and will lead from the Crescent City Fire Department to Brookings, Ore.
The services will be held at the band shell in Azalea Park in Brookings. Seating will begin at 1 p.m. due to the anticipated large turnout, with the service at 3 p.m. Additional details are available at http://reachair.com/news-events/ .
On Monday, state Sen. Mike McGuire tweeted a picture from the floor of the State Senate when a motion was passed to adjourn in honor of the four crash victims.
REACH has bases throughout Northern California, including one in Lakeport.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Remembering 3 brave members of the Cal-Ore flight crew - along w/ patient - who passed away in the #Humboldt crash. pic.twitter.com/7FamGpymc3
— Mike McGuire (@ilike_mike) August 2, 2016