AMD CH2000 Alarus, N651AM: Accident occurred August 30, 2012 in Nephi, Utah

The owner of a Salt Lake County funeral service business was charged Tuesday with allegedly stealing a wedding ring worth $1,500 from a dead body. David Louis Jacobsen, 59, the owner of Jacobsen’s Removal and Embalming Service, in West Jordan, is charged in 3rd District Court with one third-degree felony count of theft. Jacobsen allegedly lifted the gold ring from the body of Peter John Mrowiec, who was one of two men who died in a plane crash near the Nephi airport on Aug. 30. 

According to charging documents, Cheryl Mrowiec reported that the ring was not given to her after her husband’s body was returned from the Utah Medical Examiner’s Office.

Investigators looking through records for the mortuary that cremated Mrowiec’s body found that the business had hired Jacobsen to transport the body from the Medical Examiner’s Office to the mortuary, and that Jacobsen had confirmed that the ring was among the personal items inventoried by the medical examiners. However, once the mortuary received Mrowiec’s body, the ring was nowhere to be found.

Jacobsen told police that while he did sign off on the inventory of personal belongings, he did not personally inspect the bodies before transporting them, according to charging documents. Jacobsen said he did not recall seeing a ring and denied stealing it, suggesting that it may have been sent to the family of the other plane crash victim by mistake. But the wife of the second victim told police she did not receive Mrowiec’s ring.

Mrowiec, 58, a Canadian citizen, and Robert Lamb, 45, a Utah County pilot and flight instructor, were the only two people inside an Alarus CH 2000 when it crashed and burst into flames about a mile from the Nephi Municipal Airport just after it took off.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board states that a thunderstorm with strong winds, heavy rain and lightning was present at the time of the crash. An official cause of the crash has not been released.

Mrowiec had traveled to Utah to buy the plane and retained Lamb to fly it and help familiarize him with the craft.

NTSB Identification: WPR12FA378 
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, August 30, 2012 in Nephi, UT
Aircraft: AIRCRAFT MFG & DEVELOPMENT CO CH 2000, registration: N651AM
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On August 30, 2012, about 1615 mountain daylight time, an Aircraft MFG & Development Company, CH 2000, N651AM, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain while in the traffic pattern at the Nephi Municipal Airport (U14) near Nephi, Utah. The aircraft was registered to private individuals and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The certified flight instructor and private pilot receiving instruction were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the instructional flight. The local flight originated from the Provo Municipal Airport near Provo, Utah, about 1500.

According to witnesses located adjacent to the accident site, the airplane was observed on a southerly heading south of U14 before it turned left to a northerly heading at an altitude of about 150 feet above ground level. Multiple witnesses reported that the airplane seemed to be traveling at a slow speed when it suddenly pitched downwards and descended into the ground. One witness stated that prior to the sound of impact the engine seemed to be at a high power setting. Witnesses further stated that at the time of the accident, a thunderstorm with strong wind, heavy rain and lighting were present in the area.

Examination of the accident site by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) revealed the airplane impacted an open field about 1.7 miles southeast of U14. Wreckage debris was found within about 50 feet of the main wreckage. All major structural components were located within the wreckage debris area. The wreckage was relocated to a secure location for further examination.