DINGMAN TOWNSHIP – A small plane is still stuck in a tree in Gold Key Estates.  Who the pilot was and how he managed to put it in the tree, relatively intact, and then get down from his 30-foot perch, remains a mystery. 

The Piper Cherokee, registered in Bedminster NJ,  to Robert Stephanoff, of Piscataway.  It is not known if he was flying the plane, which reportedly was en route from the Philadelphia area to Hancock NY. 

The plane was discovered, about 11 Tuesday morning, by a woman boating on the lake.

According to unconfirmed reports, the plane may have put down, as early as late Monday afternoon, with the pilot able to get down from the tree and leave the area.  A phone call made to 911, at about the time, possibly from a cell phone.  The call did not go to Pike County’s 911 center.

There apparently are casualties, either on the plane or on the ground.