Six people including father and son from suburban Bensenville killed in plane crash

BENSENVILLE, Illinois (Fox 32 News) -- A plane crash killed in Wisconsin killed six people early Saturday morning, including a much loved teacher and maintenance director who worked at the Bensenville School District, and those men's sons.

So far, four victims have been identified as PE teacher Tom DeMauro; his adult son Kyle DeMauro; maintenance director Chuck Tomlitz; and Tomlitz's son. The identities of the other victims have not been released.

They were all en route to Canada in a Cessna 421 early Saturday morning when it went down in Price County in northern Wisconsin. They had made this fishing trip before.

“It's a great loss. Everybody's very stunned and don't know what to do,” said Helen Grigfby, who lives across the street from the DeMauros. “Talk to him two or three times a week and he's always really upbeat. Everybody, everybody in the neighborhood loves this guy. He's just a great guy."

The loss is stunning not only neighbors and friends, but also those connected to Tioga Elementary School where DeMauro was a beloved PE teacher and basketball coach.

“Discussion between the pilot and the air traffic controllers about local weather phenomena in the area, and then right after that discussion the aircraft dropped off of radar,” said investigators at the crash site.

The plane quickly lost altitude and lost contact with the air marine operations center.  Investigators say it could take months before they know for certain what happened.

Others on board include Chuck Tomlitz, a maintenance director for Bensenville School District 2 and his son.  The pilot, whose name has not officially been released, is also a Bensenville resident, and he'd invited a friend along, whose name has also not yet been released.

Principals informed parents on their Facebook page, saying "Mr. DeMauro and Mr. Tomlitz will be missed by all the Tioga community."

The DeMauro family is tonight expressing their gratitude for the outpouring of support they've received from the community.

The district provided a link to a GoFundMe campaign to help the Tomlitz and DeMauro families.