Passenger’s smartwatch leads searchers to fatal plane crash, Montana cops say

A smartwatch helped lead searchers to a plane crash that killed all three people aboard, Montana sheriff’s officials reported.

Dispatchers received a report of a missing airplane from the U.S. Department of Transportation Aero Division at 1:41 p.m. Friday, July 18, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said in a July 21 news release.

The plane vanished after departing from the West Yellowstone Airport with three people on board just before midnight Thursday, July 17, sheriff’s officials said.

Two search planes used the last location of the smartwatch of one of the people on board to find the crashed plane in “dense timber” near West Yellowstone, deputies said. All three people on board were killed.

Rodney Conover, 60, and Madison Conover, 23, both of Tennessee, and Kurt Enoch Robey, 55, of Utah, died in the crash, deputies said.

“We are heartbroken over his loss, but grateful that he was doing what he loved: flying,” said a GoFundMe established to aid Robey’s family.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

West Yellowstone is about a 180-mile drive south from Helena.

This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Passenger’s smartwatch leads searchers to fatal plane crash, Montana cops say."