Authorities have identified the body recovered from the deadly floatplane crash in Puget Sound over Labor Day weekend, according to KIRO 7.
The body was identified as 29-year-old Gabrielle Hanna, a Seattle attorney. The U.S. Coast Guard says a good Samaritan recovered her body after a single-engine floatplane crashed in Mutiny Bay near Whidbey Island on September 4. Nine other victims were onboard the aircraft, and their bodies remain missing.
Hanna worked in the Seattle office of Cooley LLP, an international law firm. The company published a statement remembering the lawyer as a "true talent and team player."
Dave von Beck, Hanna's father, described his daughter as a funny and energetic traveler.
“She was a fierce, fierce young woman, in the best of ways,” he told The Seattle Times. “There are no words to describe the pain. Her family loved her very much.”
Officials have ramped up efforts to find the wreckage of the floatplane and the victims, which includes a 22-month-old child. The National Oceanic Aviation Administration joined the search on Thursday (September 8), contributing sonar technology and tracking systems.
When crews locate the wreckage, the next part is carefully removing the bodies.
“That is the most sensitive work to be done and generally if you can have divers do that rather than robotic vehicles, that is preferred,” said David Mearns, an oceanographer specializing in deepwater search and recovery operations.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, says it'll take two years to release a final report on the tragic incident.