LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Like Amelia Earhart's disappearance over the Pacific Ocean 70 years ago, the riddle of Steve Fossett's whereabouts is threatening to become one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.
Nearly two weeks after Fossett's light plane vanished above a vast expanse of rugged Nevada wilderness, an army of rescuers and volunteers are still no closer to locating the millionaire aviator.
And as the frustrating search acres continues to yield no clues, rescue officials say there is a chance that Fossett may never be found.
"That is always a possibility," Lyon County undersheriff Joe Sanford admitted grimly to reporters at Minden Air Base this week.
Fossett has not been heard from since September 3, when he took off on a solo flight from a private airstrip south of Reno, and failed to return as scheduled three hours later.
Since then, a mini air-force of helicopters and planes have taken to the skies in an effort to locate the 63-year-old, a veteran of several world record breaking balloon and plane flights around the globe.
Sanford said a total of around 20,000 square miles (52,000 square kilometers) had been searched by Friday, with no success.
Rescuers have also been backed by an army of online volunteers who have been poring over satellite imagery from Internet giants Google and Amazon in an effort to locate Fossett's plane.
Yet despite spotting wreckage from seven previously unrecorded crash sites, there has been no trace of Fossett's single-engined Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon.
While the hunt for Fossett is no longer leading national television bulletins, rescuers say they will continue to search for the iconic adventurer until instructed otherwise.
"We're still at the mindset that we are going to continue to look for him because we have a duty to unless we're told to stop," said Chuck Allen, a trooper with the Nevada State Police.
"It's still going to be status quo search and rescue until we're told by the family to discontinue or until a higher authority decides that all of resources have been exhausted. I don't think we're at that level yet."
The search has been hindered by Fossett's failure to file a flight plan. That has left rescuers searching for a "needle in a haystack."
The trail of false leads has also given rise to conspiracy theories, although Allen is skeptical that there is any explanation for Fossett's disappearance other than the obvious one: that his plane landed or crashed in a remote, inaccessible area.
Asked if police had investigated the possibility that Fossett had chosen to disappear, Allen said: "I don't know who's working those angles, but our mindset is that we are dealing with a search and rescue operation.
"As far as we're concerned we've got a missing plane, and we don't know why it's missing."
Fossett has survived numerous near-misses and harrowing crash landings over the years, including a 9,000-meter (29,000-foot) plummet into the Coral Sea off Australia because of a storm-shredded balloon.
Initially, rescuers said Fossett's proven ability to endure gruelling conditions made them confident he could be found alive.
As the search has progressed however, officials concede that the chances of Fossett's survival have diminished.
"With every day that goes forward, particularly if he has been injured in a crash, obviously it is a concern," Allen said. "Fall is just around the corner and temperatures are going to start dropping at night-time and so forth."
A recent case involving a 76-year-old Oregon who survived two weeks stranded in the wilderness before being rescued gave searchers hope, Allen said.
"With Steve's record as a survivalist, I certainly wouldn't want to be the person that says 'That's it, we're done, stop looking.'" Allen said.
"If there's any hope at all that he's alive, we have to keep at it."
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