RENO, Nev. - Relying on a new Air Force analysis of radar and satellite images, crews looking for millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett combed the rugged Nevada backcountry on foot and by air.
Dozens of searchers set off Saturday after analysts spotted what may be clues to the whereabouts of Fossett, who has been missing since Sept. 3.
"We have about 50 people on ATVs, horseback, walking - anything they can find to get them into the canyon," said Gary Derks, the state Department of Public Safety official in charge of the search.
Three Civil Air Patrol planes flew over the mountainous area as volunteers scoured the ground. The search was to continue Sunday.
"If he's there, he's going to be hard to see. That's why we're sending in the ground search-and-rescue crews, too," Derks said.
The formal aerial search by the Civil Air Patrol and Nevada National Guard helicopters ended Sept. 19 after pilots spent more than two weeks scouring an area twice the size of New Jersey.
Saturday's search occurred southeast of the ranch in western Nevada where Fossett had taken off, Derks said, declining to elaborate to avoid attracting private pilots. Some have feared for the unwanted freelancers' safety.
"It doesn't make any difference to anybody who finds Mr. Fossett," Derks said. "This is not a race to find him. Whoever finds him will help all of us."
A private search by Fossett's family and friends continued last week.
Fossett, 63, has not been seen since he left on what was supposed to be a short ride in a lightweight acrobatic plane to scout locations to break the land speed record.
The adventurer, who made millions as a commodities broker in Chicago, is the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon. He also has swum the English Channel, completed the Iditarod sled-dog race and scaled some of the world's best-known peaks.
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