Family and Friends Identify Plane Crash Victims

Residents in Marion, Ind. are mourning after friends and family identified Ray Harris, 46, and his two daughters Ramie Harris, 21, and Shey Harris, 20, as three of the victims in Saturday morning’s small plane crash outside of . Friends and family also identified the fourth victim as Chris Backus, 22, of Eau Claire, Wis. 

The small plane, flown by Ray Harris, went down about 10:30 a.m. in a soybean field west of Route 14 near North Ridgefield Road.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane was registered to Marion Pilots Club, Inc. Ronnie Carmin, treasurer of the club. The non-profit organization owned the plane and shared it among its 10 members. Officials said it was a 2001 Cirrus SR20 model with tail number N223CD. Carmin said Ray Harris was scheduled to fly it Saturday.

According to Facebook, Ray Harris owned a car dealership in Marion, while his daughter Ramie attended Wheaton College for psychology and his other daughter Shey excelled in dance at Anderson University near Indianapolis.

The four were headed to drop Ramie off at Wheaton College at the time of the crash.

The plane was operating under visual flight rules, which means the weather conditions were clear enough to allow the pilot to operate the plane by looking through the windows of the cockpit.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it doesn’t know yet what caused the crash.

Harris was in contact with Chicago Approach Air Traffic Control before the crash, but NTSB said it hasn’t reviewed the tapes yet. After the crash, the aircraft was moved to a secure location where investigators continue their documentation.

NTSB said a preliminary report should be released within the next 10 business days.