Missoni CEO among six on missing plane

Rescue crews used boats and aircraft Saturday to search for a small plane that disappeared in Venezuela carrying the CEO of Italy's iconic Missoni fashion house and five other people.

Twenty-four hours after the BN-2 Islander aircraft disappeared from radar screens on its short flight from Venezuela's resort island of Los Roques to Caracas, no sign of the plane had been found, officials said.

"We have no other news" about the plane carrying Vittorio Missoni, the head of the company; his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni; two of their Italian friends; and two Venezuelan crew members, said Paolo Marchetti, a Missoni company official. He spoke to reporters as he left company headquarters in the northern Italian town of Sumirago.

"We're holding onto a glimmer of hope," said Oswaldo Scalvenzi, a relative of Elda Scalvenzi, one of the Missoni friends aboard the twin-engine propeller plane.

The Missoni fashion house, with its trademark zigzag and other geometric patterns on sweaters, scarves and other knitwear, is one of Italy's most famous fashion brands abroad.

Vittorio Missoni is the eldest son of the company's founder, Ottavio, who at 91 still follows the business. -- AP