A North Datoka state senator, his wife and the couple’s two young children were killed in a single-engine plane crash Sunday night after a refueling stop, officials said.
The plane state senator Doug Larsen and his family were traveling in crashed shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield, about 15 miles north of tourist hotspot Moab, Utah, according to a Facebook post by the Grand County Sheriff’s Department. They were returning home after visiting relatives in Scottsdale, Ariz. All four passengers were killed.
“I’m not sure where the bereavement starts with such a tragedy, but I think it starts with prayers for the grandparents, surviving stepchild of Senator Larsen, and extended family of Doug and Amy,” North Dakota Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue wrote in the email to senate colleagues obtained by the Associated Press Monday. “Hold your family close today.”
Larsen, a Republican, was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 2020, where he chaired a panel that dealt with industry and business legislation. He and his wife, Amy, were both business owners. He was also a lieutenant colonel in the North Dakota National Guard.
As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the crash was still unknown and is currently under investigation, according to a post on X by the National Transportation Safety Board.
