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A plane from southern Alberta with four people on board that was reported missing in the United States has been found with no survivors.

John Kaupp says his brother, father and two family friends left Alberta on Wednesday in a Piper Lance and were forced to land in Grand Junction, Colo., because of bad weather.

The plane then took off on Thursday morning for Albuquerque, but did not arrive at its destination.

On Friday afternoon, search and rescue officials detected a signal from an emergency transmitter in an area near the Colorado-Utah state line.

Later in the day the Kaupp family posted a message on social media that the aircraft had been found with no survivors.

Jamie Metzger, the daughter of Bill Kaupp, one of the men on board, said family and friends were contacted by RCMP and sheriffs in the U.S.

"We are heartbroken," she said. "We have lost four amazing men."

Metzger said they were waiting to hear more details.

The Kaupp family thanked friends and family for their condolences and best wishes.

"In the future I will talk about how great the four people that we lost were to everyone that knew them, but for now we are going to grieve," the family said in a post on Facebook.

Media reports say the others on board included Clint Kaupp, Tim Mueller and Ron Mckenzie.

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