While One Fawcett Fights, Another Fossett is Turned Off

Self-made business tycoon Steve Fossett, whose thirst for adrenaline drove him to fly around the world solo in a balloon, climb mountains and aim for speed records, has been declared dead, 5 months after his small plane vanished. He was 63.

"Steve's lived his life to the full, and he hasn't wasted a minute of his life," his rival-turned-comrade, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, said after Fossett's single-engine plane disappeared on Sept. 3. "Everything he's done, he's taken a calculated risk with."

Fossett was last seen after taking off in a single-engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nev., heading toward Bishop, Calif. Cook County Judge Jeffrey Malak's declaration Friday at the request of Fossett's wife, Peggy V. Fossett, ended the legal limbo of his estate, said her attorney, Michael LoVallo. The judge heard testimony from Peggy Fossett, a family friend and a search-and-rescue expert before deciding there was sufficient evidence to declare him dead.

Fossett's death is the latest in a series of deaths in absentia that includes the likes of Jimmy Hoffa, Amelia Earhart and D.B. Cooper. Fossett's family first requested the pronouncement late last year, releasing them from the uncertainty of his return.

[AP]