Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton has arrested two adults from the Helena area after an abandoned aircraft was found on Highway 93 near Lick Creek, south of Hamilton.

Holton said a local resident helped to locate and identify three persons who were on the plane on Sunday and who were apprehended at a Hamilton area motel.

The pilot, 32 year-old Kasey Gessner, told Sheriff Holton that he was forced to make an emergency landing on Highway 93 due to mechanical problems at abput 4:00 a.m. on Sunday. The plane was reported stolen from a Helena aviation company. Gessner was arrested and charged with felony theft.

A woman passenger, 30 year-old Brittaney Rae Treib was also arrested on various drug charges.

Arrangements are being made to retrieve the Cessna aircraft and return it to to Helena.

Gessner and Treib are both incarcerated at the Ravalli County Detention Center.

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