AERIAL HUNT FOR C-46 TIGHTLY CONCENTRATED IN THREE STATE SECTOR.

Montpelier, Idaho (AP) -- The aerial search by a fleet of private and Air Force planes for a missing C-46 "troop transport" with 40 aboard, was tightly concentrated Thursday in the area where Idaho, Utah and Wyoming join.
A jeep posse was unable to reach the spot on the east side of Bear Lake where a farmer reported he saw three flares Wednesday night.
Sheriff GILBERT ARNALL said planes were checking the area Thursday. If the pilots find nothing, ARNALL said a horseback party will attempt to reach the site, which is inaccessible by jeep.
ARNALL said the farmer, JESSE SCHIDEGGER of Paris, also reported seeing a light move horizontally along the ground. SCHIDEGGER lives eight miles north of Bea Bea Lake which spans the Utah-Idaho border.
The missing plane was en route from Seattle, Wash., to Fort Jackson, S. C., where the Korean veterans were to be released from service.
Three in Crew.
The crew of three included a pilot, co-pilot and stewardess.
The two-engine craft last reported by radio while over Malad City, about 50 miles west of where Air Force officials, Civilian Air Patrol leaders and the aeronautics directors of three states have pooled their ships into a well organized aerial hunt.
Most of the military planes are from Hamilton Field, California, and Lowry Field, in Colorado. The search planes are flying from fields in Montpelier and Pocatello, Idaho, Rock Springs, Wyo., and Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Although broken clouds were reported at 11,000 feet over the Bear Lake region, below that the visibility was excellent.
Cover Of Snow.
The terrain is under a frozen cover of snow, ranging up to 12 inches. Between five and six inches fell Wednesday.
While most of the planes criss-crossed over the Bear Lake region, some drifted eastward to check the possibility that the missing C-46 travelled farther than officials first thought.
If the troop carrying plane, believed missing in the Bear Lake area of Southeastern Idaho met with disaster it would be the 11th crash of military or military-chartered planes around the rim of the Pacific Ocean in little more than two months.

Walla Walla Union Bulletin-Washington 1953-01-08

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The wreckage of the C-46 was found in June 1953 near Fish Creek, Idaho. There were no survivors.

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!