Members of the Missouri Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, continue their air and ground search for a second day looking for an overdue aircraft possibly near the Doniphan/Poplar Bluff area, according to a press release sent out late this morning.

Only one CAP aircraft (from St. Louis) and one ground team (from Rolla) were able to search Tuesday morning before inclement weather cancelled planned operations.

“A concentrated effort is planned for today using aircrew and ground teams from across the state,” the Civil Air Patrol reports. “Four aircraft (from Branson, Malden, and the St. Louis area) and three ground teams (from the Lebanon and Rolla areas) are assisting.”

“We’re making a maximum effort today around our highest priority sites based on radar tracking and interviews with possible witnesses,” said incoming new mission incident commander Lt. Col. Carolyn Rice. “The weather may still be a deciding factor but it will be better than yesterday.”

“It is important to point out that this search is in very difficult terrain. It’s heavily wooded hills with limited road access,” noted Lt. Col. David Miller, public information officer for the search efforts. “Our all-volunteer CAP members are doing an outstanding job despite the many challenges of this search.”

The Missouri Wing of the Civil Air Patrol is an official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. The Patrol is credited saving 113 lives in fiscal year 2010. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies.