All six people killed when a small plane crashed in a wooded area near Wisconsin Dells on Tuesday night have been identified: 67-year-old grandmother Mary K. Brion, her daughters Amanda M. Haremza, 45, and Kayla C. Turpin, 39, her 13-year-old grandson Rylan Haremza, pilot and business owner Ronald “Ron” Riek, 63, and Tyler J. Harvey, 36. The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the identities Thursday, two days after the Piper PA-46 Malibu went down following a reported encounter with severe icing.
A family’s joyful surprise trip to watch their granddaughters play volleyball ended in tragedy this week, after the small plane carrying them home crashed in a wooded area near Wisconsin Dells, killing everyone on board.
A Surprise Trip Turns Deadly
Mary Brion, her daughters Amanda Haremza and Kayla Turpin, and Amanda’s 13-year-old son Rylan had flown to Kenosha on Tuesday to surprise Amanda’s daughters at a high school volleyball game, more than five hours away from the family’s home by car. The trip was made possible by a pilot friend of the family’s son-in-law — Ron Riek, a licensed pilot and the owner of Woodville Warehousing and Distributing, who offered to fly them there and back in his six-seat Piper PA-46 Malibu.
“We never had much money, she just wanted to find her joy,” Mary’s husband, David Brion, said of his wife. “This trip they were really excited about.”
Also aboard was Tyler Harvey, 36, of Cadott, a certified flight instructor who worked for Gibson Aviation Services. According to Menomonie Airport Commissioner Dane Johnson, Riek had likely invited Harvey along for the flight.
The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said the crash occurred around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, after authorities received multiple reports of a downed aircraft near Park Lane, a residential area close to Mirror Lake State Park. The plane had been flying from Kenosha to Menomonie. All six people aboard were killed, and no one on the ground was injured.
Icing and a Sharp Descent
According to preliminary findings released by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Piper PA-46 was cruising near Dellwood at 24,000 feet Tuesday night when the pilot reported icing on the wings and requested permission to descend. Air traffic control approved the request, and the aircraft began a right descending turn — one that increased sharply in rate before the plane’s communications and data tracking were lost.
“We know that they had contact with the tower prior to the crash,” Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said.
The FAA has noted that in-flight icing can distort airflow over a plane’s wings, increase drag and compromise handling, sometimes causing a stall at higher speeds and lower angles of attack than normal — conditions that can make recovery extremely difficult. A recording posted by LiveATC.net captured an air traffic controller warning another pilot in the area moments after the crash about a “heavy and extreme cell” near the Dells, directing that aircraft to descend to 14,000 feet and alerting other pilots to report any icing they encountered.
Before the flight, Mary Brion called her husband to let him know a storm was in the area and that they might need to fly around it. “I don’t know if they did or not,” David Brion said.
NTSB investigators located most of the wreckage Wednesday and documented the cabin, cockpit, engines and propellers at the main crash site, with volunteers assisting in a search for additional debris scattered through the surrounding woods. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days. Menomonie Airport Commission Chairman Daniel Johnson noted that the Piper model involved “has a reputation of not doing well in thunderstorms,” pointing to a federal safety study examining seven similar Piper crashes between 1989 and 1991.
Remembering the Victims
Riek, 63, of Woodville, held an airline transport pilot rating — FAA records indicating at least 1,500 hours of flying experience and the skill level required to serve as an airline captain. Friends and colleagues described him as deeply experienced and safety-conscious. “It’s a terrible loss of a man who was a good citizen, an enthusiastic and highly experienced pilot and a respectable man,” Dane Johnson said. Erin McMahon, who works at Woodville Cafe, said Riek would “go far and beyond for his workers.”
Rylan Haremza, 13, of Altoona, was remembered by his grandfather as a “wonderful little kid” who loved hunting, fishing, football and wrestling. His mother, Amanda Haremza, and aunt, Kayla Turpin, both of Eau Claire, were described by family as devoted to their children, regularly making the long drive to watch them compete.
A Community in Mourning Again
The crash marks the second fatal plane crash to hit the Menomonie aviation community in under two years. Riek himself had helped organize a fundraiser in 2025 for the three young children of a couple killed when a different small plane went down in central Illinois after striking power lines.
“This is two fatal crashes in 18 months. We’ve lost a lot of friends,” Dane Johnson said. “This creates a hole in the aviation community.”
Residents near the crash site described a harrowing scene Tuesday night. Randi Kubek, who lives nearby, said she heard the aircraft’s engines sputtering before it went down. “It sounded like the footage that you like see of World War II, Pearl Harbor, you know, planes losing altitude quickly,” she said. “It was just not like any sound I have ever been personally a part of.” She also recalled seeing flashes of light in the sky, though she couldn’t be certain whether they were lightning or the crash itself. Mark Schmitz, who was outside with friends nearby, said he still remembers the sound. “Terrible,” he said. “I remember that sound for quite a while now.”
The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the crash, with a preliminary report expected within the next month.
