Plane crash in San Luis Valley, two Canadians died

Sunday, December 28, 2008 -- A plane carrying two people, Gerrit Maureau and Sheila Malm, crashed in the south-central Colorado mountains Saturday evening, and by late Sunday the terrain and weather were so hazardous that rescue crews temporarily halted efforts to reach the wreckage. They are planning to go back to the site when conditions are safe -- more than likely spring time.

A team from El Paso County Search and Rescue led the search for the crash site of a twin-engine Beechcraft airplane in Costilla County south of Culebra Peak, a 14,047 mountain. Other agencies were helping with the effort, including sheriff 's offices and search and rescue crews from Costilla, Custer and Las Animas counties.

Friends and colleagues of Gerrit Maureau and Sheila Malm reacted with shock Monday to confirmation from U.S. authorities that Maureau's 58 Beechcraft Baron had crashed in the mountains of south Colorado.

Maureau and Malm were flying to New Mexico to spend Christmas with friends.