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Missing plane sought along U.S.-Mexico border

  • Story Highlights
  • Plane carried U.S., Mexican heads of International Water and Boundary Commission
  • Officials were examining Rio Grande's levees; plane disappeared Monday
  • Four people were aboard; police official says searchers looking for wreckage
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(CNN) -- Authorities were searching parts of Texas and Mexico for a missing plane that was carrying four people, including three members of an international commission, state and federal officials said Tuesday.

"We don't know if it crashed. We haven't found the crash," said J.D. Wilbourn, police chief of Marfa, Texas, about 100 miles east of the border.

Wilbourn said, however, that local and federal officials were searching for wreckage of the twin-engine Cessna, which left El Paso, Texas, just after 10 a.m. Monday.

Some media reports have said the plane crashed and wreckage was found, but Wilbourn and two senior U.S. State Department officials were unable to confirm that.

On board were the pilot and three members of the International Water and Boundary Commission: U.S. Commissioner Carlos Marin; his Mexican counterpart, Arturo Herrera; and Jake Brisbin Jr., executive director of the Rio Grande Council of Governments.

The officials were flying along the Rio Grande to get aerial views of levees because of evidence the barriers were beginning to topple.

There were conflicting reports about where the plane disappeared. The U.S. State Department said the plane disappeared in Mexico about 15 minutes before it was scheduled to land, the officials said.

However, the search also was on in Texas. U.S. Border Patrol units searched for the wreckage for at least 12 hours, but the search had ended for the day by Tuesday evening, said Kenneth Rodhe of the patrol's Marfa office.

CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report.

All About MexicoRio GrandeU.S. Department of State

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