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GEORGETOWN, Colo., July 1 (UPI) -- The three people killed when their small plane crashed in Colorado have been identified as an Ohio couple and their 6-year-old son, a coroner said Tuesday. The Clear Creek County Coroner's Office identified the victims as James Kerker, 43, Amy Kerker, 39, and their son, Lucas, of Raymond, Ohio.
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The family had taken off from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport 16 miles northwest of Denver just after 8 a.m. Monday and was headed to Moab, Utah, when their Piper PA 28-235 crashed near the Loveland Ski Area.
Rico Argentati of Centennial, Colo., told the Denver Post he saw the plane flying west to the Continental Divide at a "pretty good rate of speed" before it turned east. He said he was at about 12,000 feet above sea level when he saw the plane vanish into the trees.
"This is a really sad thing to watch," Argentati said. "I knew what was going to happen. You could just tell."
Other witnesses told the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office they could tell the plane was in trouble and the pilot attempting to return to an airport. The crash, which set off a small fire in the woods near the Loveland slopes, was reported just before 9 a.m.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
