Story Created:
Dec 11, 2012 at 1:59 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Dec 11, 2012 at 7:18 PM EDT
VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) - Lowndes County authorities have identified and recovered the body of a Jesup business owner whose small plane crashed in southern Georgia.
Chris Prine, Lowndes County Sheriff, says Rick Poppell, died when his plane crashed Monday night in the Lake Park area. Officials say Poppell, 52, owned Poppell's Produce, in Jesup.
Poppell left the Valdosta Regional Airport at 8:30 p.m. Monday and told officials by radio he was having some type of problem, authorities said.
The FAA had issued an alert for a missing single-engine Diamond Aircraft DA 40 in the Valdosta-Lake Park area.
Poppell was the only person on board, his body was recovered Tuesday morning. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Lake Park is about 13 miles southeast of Valdosta and just north of the Georgia-Florida line.
