WATERLOO, Ala. – Authorities say a Tennessee man is dead after a plane crashed near a wildlife management area in Lauderdale County.
69-year-old Jerel Zarestky was killed when the single engine plane he was flying crashed.
The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office says they received a call around 8:30 PM from police in Oakwood, Tennessee, saying the cell phone signal from a pilot headed back to east Tennessee had been located in west Lauderdale County.
Crews then searched near County Road 105 and County Road 3 in the Waterloo area, near the Lauderdale County Wildlife management area.
They say Zarestky was scheduled to arrive around 4:00 PM. An ALEA helicopter found the plane around midnight Wednesday, according to the report.
Zarestky is a white man from the Knoxville, Tennessee, area. Law enforcement said he was alone on his way home from Dallas in a 2-seat private plane.