KELOWNA, B.C. – Military and civilian searchers have ended the search for the pilot and three passengers of a Piper PA-24 Comanche aircraft, after an exhaustive eight day search.

The aircraft and the bodies of four occupants were found near the top of a slope of Apex Mountain in the B.C. interior. The plane disappeared Tuesday, August 17 during a flight from Penticton to Victoria, B.C.

Two Cormorant helicopters, three Buffalo and one Aurora aircraft from 19 Wing Comox, one CC-130 Hercules from 17 Wing Winnipeg along with 15 Provincial Emergency Program and Civilian Air Search and Rescue Association aircraft were involved in the search which covered 18,000 square kilometers over land and water.

The case has been handed over to the RCMP and the National Transportation Safety Board of Canada.