Sheriff: Three dead amid wreckage of small plane found hours after it went missing early Monday

CLAXTON, Ga. (AP) — Three men died in the crash of a small airplane in southeast Georgia early Monday, a sheriff's office reported Monday.

The Evans County Sheriffs Office said the plane was reported missing around 12:30 a.m. Monday. Sheriff's deputies, assisted by the Georgia State Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration, searched the area around the Claxton-Evans County Airport, roughly 50 miles west of Savannah.

The plane was found around 5:30 a.m. with three adult males aboard. None survived, according to a sheriff's news release.

The National Transportation Board reported that the plane was a Piper PA-30.