A pilot has been found dead in the wreckage of his small plane after missing a family gathering on Thanksgiving.

The Antrim County sheriff's office says deputies and state police found the body of 68-year-old Roger Crawford Friday morning in Mancelona, about 140 miles north of Grand Rapids.

Sheriff's officials described Crawford as an experienced pilot "with many years of commercial flight time."

Relatives contacted deputies Thursday night and reported Crawford had not shown up at a family gathering in Frankfort.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro says Crawford's Cessna 310B two-engine propeller plane was flying from Gaylord to Cadillac.