IN BRIEF

PRISON IN NORTH LAS VEGAS

56-year-old inmate dies at hospital

A 56-year-old woman who had been serving a sentence of 10 years to life at the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Center in North Las Vegas died Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

Linda Scott was pronounced dead at 3:29 p.m. at North Vista Hospital, said Suzanne Pardee, spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Scott, who had been convicted of second-degree murder in Washoe County, would have been eligible for parole in 2012, according to the prison system's Web site.

Pardee said Scott's death was not a suicide and was under investigation. Pardee would not provide any more details Thursday night.

RURAL CALIFORNIA.

Man, teen die in crash of single-engine plane

A 73-year-old man and his teenage stepson were killed when a single engine Piper aircraft crashed in a remote mountain region of Kern County, Calif., sheriff's officials said Thursday.

Pilot Richard Smith and stepson Kyle Runciman, 16, both of Fresno, were found dead at the site of the crash in the Tehachapi Mountains, according to a statement released by the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

The two had taken off Wednesday from Fresno and were flying to Lancaster when the plane crashed about 115 miles north of Los Angeles, Sgt. Ed Komin said.

Authorities were alerted Wednesday when the small plane's homing device went off. No details were available on what caused the plane to go down near Tehachapi, in a remote pine forest at an elevation of about 5,500 feet.