Subject: Homemade helicopter missing near Hammonton: By ANDREW JOHNSON Staff Writer, The Press: Authorities have searched over parts of two days for a homemade helicopter that authorities say was carrying two out-of-state men and went missing in the Makepeace Lake Wildlife Management Area sometime Sunday. At least two dozen New Jersey State Police troopers from throughout southern New Jersey are looking for Thomas Navickas, 61, of Florida, and Christian Gafke, 34, of New Orleans. A woman who identified herself as a family friend at Gafke's Louisiana home said the pair were in southern New Jersey for a wedding and are related. Gafke is a captain in the U.S. Marines Corps and currently on leave, she said. Police had no further information about Navickas' Florida residence. Navickas was believed to be the pilot of the white and yellow Comanche-style helicopter. They pair were supposed to be making a trip from an airfield in Elmer, Salem County, to Hammonton Municipal Airport when they disappeared, according to police. Navickas and Gafke never completed their 24-mile trip, and instead could be last tracked to the preserve, several miles east of their intended target, police said. After looking for the two men all day Monday, authorities called off the search at nightfall. State Police Lt. Gary Rhile, in charge of the rescue, said police are still hoping to find the two men alive. At the same time, Rhile said the search was made exceedingly difficult by the fact that police needed ATVs and bulldozers to reach parts of the preserve. For much of the day, an orange U.S. Coast Guard helicopter hovered above an area just off Weymouth-Elwood Road, looking for a possible crash site. Authorities were looking for visibly damaged trees in the heavily wooded area. There was a brief flurry of activity at 2 p.m. near Creek Road and Weymouth-Elwood Road. That ended up being a false alarm. Rhile said that based on two onboard cell phones, which were tracked to a local cell tower, and an onboard emergency beacon authorities were able to limit their search to approximately a 5-mile radius near the lake. The entire state preserve is just more than 10,200 acres and extends into Mullica Township. Mullica and Hamilton police assisted at the scene Monday, and the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service provided all-terrain vehicles. According to State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones, family members contacted the State Police after they did not hear from the men after an early Sunday morning flight. The family told police the pair were flying to Hammonton Municipal Airport to get gas. The pair took off at 7:30 a.m. from somewhere in Elmer, according to police. Elmer does not have an airport. Hammonton Municipal Airport manager Andy Kondrach guessed that the helicopter might have taken off from several grass strips that exist in the Elmer area. "I have no idea who they are," he said of the two men. Kondrach said that a woman who identified herself as Navickas' daughter called an employee at the Hammonton airport Sunday morning, asking them if they had seen the helicopter. The employee told her he hadn't, Kondrach said. Kondrach said his airport opened at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, so it wouldn't have been a problem for the men to get gas. He said they never radioed his airport. Kondrach speculated the men might have been sight-seeing because it was such a nice day Sunday. The preserve is at least five miles away, and not on line with an Elmer to Hammonton route, he said. Rhile said the search officially started at 5 p.m. Sunday and continued until 2:20 a.m. Monday. He said the search resumed at 7 a.m. Monday. By midafternoon Monday, there was a small army of police that set up shop in a clearing off Weymouth-Elwood Road. Police remained optimistic, despite the circumstances. "We're hoping we find somebody alive at this," Hamilton police Lt. Michael Petuskey said.