WASHINGTON (AFP) — British tycoon Richard Branson, who partnered aviator Steve Fossett on his earlier attempts to circle the globe in a balloon, said on Monday his adventurer friend is likely dead.
Branson said family and friends are coming to come to grips with the notion that Fossett, 63, who disappeared on September 3 while flying a small aircraft alone over the vast Nevada wilderness, is not likely to come home alive.
"I think the chances are that he's no longer with us," Branson said on NBC's Today show. "I think everybody involved has pretty well given up hope, sadly."
Branson also wrote a remembrance of his friend in Time magazine, describing him as "one of the most generous, good-natured and kind people I have ever met but also one of the bravest and most determined adventurers and explorers of all time."
Authorities on October 3 suspended the search for the veteran of several world record-breaking balloon and plane flights around the globe.
Searchers scanned a total of around 20,000 square miles (52,000 square kilometers), an area the size of Croatia, during the first two weeks, but failed to turn up any sign of him.
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