Plane carrying SF nurse, friend vanishes over Lost Coast Search turns up no trace of the single-engine Piper Arrow

The small plane piloted by Justin Winfrey and carrying his friend, San Francisco nurse Kayla Rodriguez, reportedly landed Thursday evening at the Shelter Cove Airport (shown) in Shelter Cove, on Northern California's Lost Coast. The pair was seen on surveillance video dining at a restaurant in the town. Witnesses later reported seeing a plane take off in the dark. The plane remains missing. less The small plane piloted by Justin Winfrey and carrying his friend, San Francisco nurse Kayla Rodriguez, reportedly landed Thursday evening at the Shelter Cove Airport (shown) in Shelter Cove, on Northern ... more Photo: Michael Maloney Photo: Michael Maloney Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Plane carrying SF nurse, friend vanishes over Lost Coast 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco nurse and her friend are missing after their plane disappeared over California's Lost Coast during a short trip last week.

Authorities are searching for 27-year-old Kayla Rodriguez, a delivery nurse at CPMC Mission Bernal Campus, and her friend and landlord, 43-year-old Justin Winfrey. About 6 p.m. Thursday, the pair reportedly left Novato's Gnoss Field in Winfrey's plane for an evening getaway.

California Lostnmissing, a volunteer organization that tries to find missing persons, said on Facebook that Rodriguez's family stated the pair was supposed to be going to a "haunted house somewhere up north," but did not file a flight plan.

Jessica Morelos, a longtime friend of Rodriguez, told ABC 7 that Rodriguez and Winfrey loved adventure travel, so the mid-week flight was not unusual.

Morelos explained that after the pair went missing, the nurse's worried family and friends traced them to the Gyppo Ale Mill in Shelter Cove, a small town along the Lost Coast in Humboldt County. Surveillance video shows Rodriguez and Winfrey inside the restaurant and eventually leaving it at approximately 8:30 p.m., according to the family.

Supposedly they told their server that they were going to return to San Francisco that night. But Shelter Cove Airport, which is within walking distance to Gyppo Ale Mill, does not operate at night and does not have lights.

ABC 7 reported that witnesses said they saw a plane leave after dark that night.

The plane dropped off radar halfway between Shelter Cove and Fort Bragg at 9:21 p.m., according to Rodriguez's father. But the Coast Guard says the aircraft disappeared about an hour earlier, which contradicts the time frame in the restaurant surveillance video.

Kayla Rodriguez & Justin Winfrey have been missing since Thurs evening. Family has been informed by the Coast Guard that their effort will need to be focused towards the fires. The last known whereabouts of the plane is between Rockport and Wheeler north of Ft Bragg pic.twitter.com/KC2UFnqHqh — Tomi the original🤷🏻‍♀️🌊 (@Tomi_R_B) October 28, 2019

Winfrey's plane is a red-and-white, single-engine Piper Arrow with a tail number of 4958J.

A Coast Guard plane and helicopter searched the coast north of Fort Bragg, between Wheeler and Rockport, on Saturday. High winds, severe turbulence and poor visibility postponed the search Sunday. On Monday, two California Wing crews of the Civil Air Patrol resumed looking for the plane.

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So far no debris or any other indication of the plane's location has been spotted.

While Northern California has experienced unprecedented high wind events over the last five days, including two red flag warnings, winds were calm Thursday night in Humboldt County.

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Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate