Victims of fatal airplane crash identified

Tim Brody - Editor

The names of the four victims of a recent plane crash southeast of Sioux Lookout have been released.
According to Ontario Provincial Police the deceased have been identified as: Gene Lahrkamp, age 36 of Kincardine, Ontario, Abhinav Handa, age 26 of Richmond, British Columbia, Duncan Bailey, age 37 of Kamloops, British Columbia, and Hankun Hong, age 27 of Richmond, British Columbia. 
Sergeant Brenda Winpenny, Media Relations Officer Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) B.C., said, “Gene Lahrkamp was an individual wanted from the Royal Thai Police for the murder of Jimi Sandhu, on the understanding or the belief of the Thai Police that they had fled back to Canada” Winpenny added, “The Canadian Department of Justice worked with the Thai Police to issue provisional arrest warrants, so that enables then for Canadian authorities to arrest Gene Lahrkamp on the arrest warrant, then for him to be held for the extradition process. So CFSEU then took on the role to investigate into his whereabouts and attempt to arrest him on the provisional arrest warrant.”
Lahrkamp had been listed as the Bolo Program’s second most wanted individual. Since April 2022, the Bolo Program has been featuring Canada’s most wanted through a Top 25. 
Ontario Provincial Police say the airplane the four men were travelling in crashed sometime between April 29 and April 30.
“A search by Joint Rescue Coordination Centre-Trenton, Civil Air Search and Rescue Association and Ministry of Natural Resources commenced after an aircraft was reported overdue. The OPP investigation began at approximately 7:45 a.m. on April 30, 2022 after the wreckage was located,” Ontario Provincial Police shared. The plane wreckage was located between Ignace and Sioux Lookout in the Kukukus Lake area.
Police say Handa was the pilot and was operating the privately owned aircraft.
Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada investigators were onsite on May 2 to gather data and assesses the occurrence.
TSB confirmed the Piper PA-28-140 aircraft departed at 9:09 p.m. CDT from Dryden and was enroute to Marathon. “The aircraft was reported overdue and was subsequently found 20 NM SE of Sioux Lookout. As part of our investigation, we will also look at the wreckage and aircraft systems, weather, maintenance records, and pilot qualifications,” TSB shared, adding, “It is too early to say what the causes and contributing factors of this occurrence might be.”