CALLOWAY COUNTY, Ky.--- An experienced pilot, the love of his life, and her 9-year-old daughter are missing tonight for the fourth night in a row.  Relatives in the Local 6 area tell us the three took off in a private plane after a Thanksgiving celebration this weekend in Bakersfield, California. 
They stopped for fuel in Fillmore, Utah and they were heading home to Gillette, Wyoming, but never made it.
Meanwhile, an intense search is underway on the ground and from the air.
A representative from the Utah Civil Air Patrol says as of right now this is still considered a rescue mission. The plane, a 'Piper Archer II' is equipped with a device that sends out a signal if the plane crashes, but that signal was never detected.
Family members in Calloway County, Kentucky hope their loved ones are still alive.

This is the season of hope, and right now that's all Tamela Hayton has.

"We're hoping and praying they just kind of landed somewhere and they're just kind of stuck because of weather and can't get out.," Hayton said.

When Hayton's cousin and childhood friend Trista Meyer met the love of her life, pilot Matthew Ahrens, she also discovered a passion for the sky.

"She talks about how much peace she has when she's in the air, she just really enjoys it," Hayton said.

So much, she was working on getting a pilot's license herself.
But after refueling on sunday the three disappeared in a mountainous region of Utah.
A place 16-hundred miles away from extended family, here in Kentucky.

"We feel so powerless we've gotten on Google Earth just to look on there and we know it seems silly but it feels like the only thing we can do," Hayton said.

Rescuers are doing all they can do, searching from sky and ground.

"We can never thank them enough I mean, I'd be out there with them if I could it's people like them that give us hope," Hayton said.

Hayton constantly checks the "Prayers for Trista, Shy and Matt" Facebook page.

As candles are lit at a vigil in Wyoming, Hayton will do the same.

"I'll be lighting the candles and they'll stay lit until they come home," Hayton said.

A spokesperson for the Utah Civil Air Patrol also said rescuers from Utah, Wyoming,  and Colorado are all searching a 500 mile area. Most of them are volunteers.
If you'd like to visit the family's Facebook page, click here.