Virginia Sacco Missing Person Case

May 24, 2018

Sep 12, 2023

Virginia

Sacco

69

36

65 inches

145 lbs

White / Caucasian

Female

On July 30, 1993, 36-year-old Virginia Ann Sacco, a female resident of Alaska, was last seen in Dry Bay. On that day, she and a companion, Gary Love, embarked on what was meant to be a routine supply run. The two departed from the East River at Dry Bay, taking off in a Cessna 170 aircraft with the tail number N8190A. Their destination was the nearby town of Yakutat, where they intended to purchase supplies before flying back to the East River. The short trip was one undertaken by many in the remote Alaskan wilderness, a necessary part of life in a region where travel by air is often the only option. The expectation was a simple flight out and a swift return. The initial hours after their scheduled return time passed without alarm, but as time stretched on with no sign of the Cessna or its occupants, concern began to mount. By the following day, July 31, 1993, Virginia and Gary were officially reported as overdue, triggering an immediate search and rescue operation. Search teams were dispatched to scour the flight route and the surrounding area between Dry Bay and Yakutat, a vast and unforgiving landscape of dense forests, rugged mountains, and icy coastal waters. The hope was to find the plane intact or to locate the two individuals awaiting rescue. The extensive search of the flight path and the general vicinity yielded grim evidence suggesting a tragic end to their journey. Searchers located a landing gear and a wheel assembly confirmed to be from the Cessna 170. This wreckage was found floating approximately four miles offshore from Dry Bay, indicating the plane had gone down in the water. Further discoveries were made along the nearby beach, where a survival pack and a shaving kit belonging to the aircraft's occupants had washed ashore. Despite these findings, which confirmed the plane had crashed, no further traces of Virginia Sacco or Gary Love were ever located. The case remains a sorrowful mystery, marking the day a simple supply run ended in a disappearance over the Alaskan coast. An overview of the case reflects that Virginia and her companion departed for a short flight and never returned, with a subsequent search only recovering pieces of the aircraft and a few personal effects from the water and shoreline, leaving their final moments unknown.

Jul 30, 1993

Dry Bay

Alaska

Yakutat Borough

No

37324

Alaska State Troopers

Anchorage

Alaska

Anchorage Borough

99507

Malia Miller

Missing Persons Clearinghouse Manager

5700 East Tudor Road, Alaska

9072695511

State

Law Enforcement

930049710

1993-07-31

Alaska State Troopers

Brown

Hazel

Hazel

No

07/12/2026