Wife of Missing Steve Fossett Asks Court to Declare him Dead

The wife of missing millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett asked the court today to legally declare him dead. Attorney Michael A. LoVallo filed the motion today in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of the Fossett family. 63 year old Steve Fossett went missing on September 3, 2007 after he took off in his single engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nevada. The request to declare Steve Fossett dead is the first step in the process of resolving the multi-millionaires estate surpassing eight figures in liquid assets and other holdings.

The request was a step toward resolving the legal status of Fossett’s estate, which according to court papers is “vast, surpassing eight figures in liquid assets, various entities and real estate,” LoVallo said.

Fossett, 63, disappeared Sept. 3 after taking off in a single-engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nev., heading toward Bishop, Calif.

Fossett was on a pleasure flight and not looking for a dry lake to use as a surface on which to set the world land speed record, as was initially reported, according to the petition filed on behalf of Peggy V. Fossett.

He did not have a parachute, nor did he take a watch that had a transponder and could have sent out a distress signal, the petition said. There was a transponder aboard but no signal was received. (Yahoo News)