Las Vegas pilot disappears over Nevada as family pursues answers

On Jan. 2, Michael Martin told the owner of the company where he works that he’d be taking an early lunch but would return by 12:30 p.m. for an important meeting, according to his daughter-in-law, Kathleen Martin.

Martin, 65, who is an experienced, licensed pilot and owns a plane, then took off from North Las Vegas Airport, his daughter-in-law said, and didn’t return.

Kathleen Martin said his plane took off at 10:51 a.m., but his flight transponder stopped transmitting at 11:15 a.m. At 12:06 p.m., she said, his phone last pinged near Tonopah, and at 12:26 p.m., his iPad — which he used as a navigation aid — and his Apple Watch last showed him near Mount Jefferson, about 50 miles from Tonopah.

Martin, who lives in Las Vegas, usually lets someone know when he is flying, Kathleen Martin said, and he likes to loop around Mount Charleston.

She said his family initially believed he’d had a stressful holiday season and was taking a one- or two-day break in a local hotel, but they reported him missing Sunday evening because they couldn’t get in touch with him.

Authorities said that search attempts haven’t been successful.

“We have not been able to find anything yet,” said Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill.

Nye County Director of Emergency Management Scott Lewis said searchers are focusing their efforts on Martin’s flight path and looking for physical evidence, but their efforts are being hampered by high winds.

The search is focused on the area near Mount Jefferson, he said.

Because of the delay between the time Martin went missing and the time Nye County authorities were notified on Monday, he said, searchers were behind from the beginning.

According to Lewis, Martin did not appear to have established a flight plan.

Cathy Martin, Martin’s wife of 40 years, said he had left without explanation years ago for one or two days.

“We had a little tiff Wednesday night, but it wasn’t a huge one,” she said. “I just asked him a question and we discussed it and it was done. He wasn’t upset.”

Martin was an aerospace engineer and works as president of Erickson International, a window film manufacturer in Las Vegas, according to his family and LinkedIn page.

If he survived a crash, he had the skills to take care of himself in the wilderness, his wife said.

Family members described him as a skilled wood and metal worker, a person who makes great dad jokes and a loving grandfather.

“He will give you the shirt off his back,” Cathy Martin said. “He will do anything for anyone.”

He was last seen wearing a long-sleeved blue Oxford shirt, khaki pants and a black fleece vest, according to his daughter-in-law.

Daughter Tiffany Martin said his plane was a Piper from the 1960s. Its tail number is N4151R, the family said.

“Our best case is that he’s found alive, whatever that looks like,” Kathleen Martin said.

“That’s what our thoughts and prayers and goals are for. But at the very, very least, we want to know where he is. We want to know where his plane is. We can’t live in limbo of him being missing forever. We need to be able to bring him home.”

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.