Remains Of Young Man Lost In Plane Crash Finally Found

AMAGANSETT, NY — A tragedy that rocked the Hamptons last June has finally come to its heartbreaking end — the remains of William Maerov, 22, who was a passenger on a plane that crashed off the coast of Amagansett last year, have been found.

He was the only passenger whose remains were missing for more than six months.

According to East Hampton Town Police Capt. Chris Anderson, "partial skeletal remains" were found on an ocean beach in Amagansett sometime in early January. Police later received confirmation from the Suffolk County Medical Examiners Office that the remains were those of Maerov, who had remained missing until now.

The heartbreak follows the crash that took the lives of famed builder Ben Krupinski, his wife Bonnie, their grandson Maerov, and pilot Jon Dollard of Hampton Bays.

In February, Laura Krupinksi, the couple's daughter and William's mother, died at her home in Southampton. She was just 52 years old. Southampton Town Police confirmed Krupinski's death and said the results of an autopsy were pending.

In an interview with Patch, Laura Krupinski's uncle, Kevin Ackley, a longtime East Hampton resident and Ben Krupinski's half brother, who now lives in Florida, remembered his niece. "Laura was a kind, loving, giving person her whole life," he said. "She loved her kids."

Laura Krupinski and her former husband Lance Maerov also have a daughter, Charlotte.

After an exhaustive search last year, the wreckage of the Piper PA31 Navajo that crashed off the coast of Amagansett in June was located approximately one mile off Atlantic Avenue Beach — with the bodies of the Krupinskis and their pilot recovered after the tragedy.

A funeral service for the Krupinskis and their grandson took place in East Hampton.

A four-plane wreath drop flyover "in honor of Ben, Bonnie, Will and Jon, lost on June 2, 2018," was organized by the East Hampton Aviation Association; famed "builder to the stars" Ben Krupinski and his wife, as well as his grandson and Dollard have been mourned by countless on the East End.