US investigators say they have found body parts amid the wreckage of adventurer Steve Fossett's plane in a remote area of eastern California.
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The 63-year-old millionaire disappeared a year ago while on a solo flight from a ranch in Nevada.
A fresh search began on Wednesday after items belonging to Mr Fossett were handed in to police by a hiker.
The wreckage of his plane was found near the town of Mammoth Lakes in California.
Most of the fuselage had disintegrated, with engine parts scattered several hundred feet away. Click here to see a map of the area
Mr Fossett vanished in September last year after taking off 90 miles (145km) away on a solo flight.
Bad weather
Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said the wreckage had been spotted late on Wednesday during an aerial search of a stretch of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Mammoth Lakes.
A ground team later confirmed the identity of the plane, which seemed to have struck the mountainside head-on, Mr Anderson said.
On Thursday, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson paid tribute to his friend and fellow adventurer.
"The most important thing is that the family know what's happened," he said.
"He led an extraordinary, absolutely remarkable life, and now we can remember him for what he was and move on."
The National Transportation Safety Board will be responsible for examining the wreckage.
But a local official said snow was expected over the weekend, which could potentially hamper the investigation.
The wreckage was located two days after identity documents bearing Mr Fossett's name - including a pilot's licence - as well as cash and a sweatshirt were found by hiker Preston Morrow.
Mr Morrow had been returning from a mountain walk when he spotted the items in dirt and pine needles west of Mammoth Lakes.
An employee at a sporting goods store, Mr Morrow said he ahd handed them over to police after unsuccessful attempts to contact the Fossett family.
The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani, in Los Angeles, says the items were found outside the vast area searched after Mr Fossett went missing - and also in a different direction to that in which he was thought to have flown.
Mr Fossett took off from the ranch of hotel magnate Barron Hilton, south of Yerington, Nevada, on 3 September 2007 on a flight that was expected to last three hours.
In 2002, he became the first person to circle the globe solo in a balloon and had about 100 other world records to his name.
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(BBC)
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