Cessna 172 N1GH

   As the search for Purcell and his Aerostar was underway, another plane
and its pilot vanished. On April 30, 1978, George Hotelling took off at 9:17 a.m. from Dillon, South Carolina, headed for Daytona Beach, Florida.

   Later that day, a fishing smack reported seeing a plane flying overhead fighting      power loss: Its engine was missing and sputtering. Yet despite this
         predicament, no Mayday was received nor did the pilot attempt
         to ditch nearby even though the vessel was plainly visible on
             the ocean.

                   The plane continued on its way, and was never seen again.

                   The results of a long search involving hundreds of sorties
                   and search hours by over 1,000 personnel were perhaps
                   best summed up by the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery
                   Service report: “. . .As of this report all leads have been
               exhausted, mission suspended. 10,000 square miles searched
                 this mission to date. A total of one person was involved and
                   remains missing.”