A state Senator from North Dakota, his wife and their two young children died when the small plane they were traveling in crashed soon after a refueling stop in Utah, a Senate leader said Monday.

Senator Doug Larsen’s death was confirmed Monday in an email that Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue sent to his fellow senators and was obtained by The Associated Press.

The plane crashed Sunday evening shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the desert recreation town of Moab, according to a Grand County Sheriff’s Department statement posted on Facebook.

The sheriff’s office said the senator who was also the pilot of the plane and all four people on board the plane were killed in the crash.

“Senator Doug Larsen, his wife Amy, and their two young children died in a plane crash last evening in Utah,” Hogue wrote in his email. “They were visiting family in Scottsdale and returning home. They stopped to refuel in Utah.”

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said by email, noting that an investigator had arrived on Monday to examine the aircraft, request traffic communication and check for witnesses. Mr. Larsen’s flight history and medical records will also be checked, he said.

Public records show that Mr. Larsen was last registered in June to fly the single-engine plane, a Piper Cherokee PA-28-140.

Credit: AP