Search crews Tuesday located the wreckage a pilot who went missing east of Giddings after taking off from the Brenham airport Sunday afternoon.

The Civil Air Patrol said Mark Ritter, 71, was found dead in the general area where the transponder from his experimental plane, an RV-10, last gave a signal. That area -- 10 miles east of Giddings to two miles south of 290 in an arc to Lockhart -- is where crews concentrated their search Monday.

Officials say a helicopter carrying team members with the Civil Air Patrol spotted the wreckage, which was near Goehring Road, south of Ledbetter. Ground crews later confirmed the pilot's identity from onboard documents.

It's unclear whether Ritter died before the plane went down or in the crash. Emergency crews were on the scene and family members have been notified.

An investigation into how the plane crashed will be launched.

Search crews had been hoping Ritter had landed safely in a field, because his plane's emergency locator transmitter had not gone off -- which it would have in the event of either a crash or bumpy landing.