PHOENIX -- A small plane that vanished more than two years ago near Sedona has finally been found.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office confirmed wreckage found in Loy Canyon, about 12 miles northwest of Sedona, is that of a Cessna, registered under tail number N2700Q.

Remains found at the crash site are believed to be that of pilot Bill Westover and passenger Marcy Randolph.

"A cosmic alignment,” said Phil Randolph, Marcy Randolph’s father, describing how the search finally came to fruition. “All these good folks and all this work came together, and we found that plane."

Randolph began a private search effort after his daughter went missing in September 2006. He enlisted hundreds of pilots and other volunteers who helped search from the air and on the ground.

Friends of the Westover family also joined forces, helping with the search.

"We created flyers for all of the pilots in northern Arizona and mailed them out. We got mailing lists from Arizona Game and Fish and sent postcards to hikers. We wanted to keep this in the public's eye," said Jayne McElfresh, a Westover family friend.

Family and friends used GPS tracking and developed their own mapping system to keep track of areas searched.

Randolph even got his pilot’s license recertified so he could search from the air more often.

Randolph said the big break came when volunteer Chris Killian discovered hikers had reported a small forest fire the day the plane went missing. The hikers had taken a photo of the fire before it extinguished itself.

The families got a hold of the picture, overlayed satellite images and aerial photos, and pinpointed the exact location of the fire. It was in Loy Canyon, about twelve miles from the plane's last known position.

“When we got the picture from the hikers, we knew we had it. We knew we had it then. Everything matched," said Randolph.

Randolph and McElfresh hiked nearly five miles in rugged terrain to get to the spot. They carried binoculars and copies of the photos in their backpacks.

“As we were hiking, we would continue to watch the treelines and take photographs and try to match rock formation," said McElfresh.

They found the spot where the plane went down. The next day, the original hikers who reported the fire, whose interest in the case had been piqued, hiked a different route to confirm the wreckage was indeed there.

"(I have) almost a sense of euphoric relief, and a sense that it was worth it,” said Randoph. “(I made a) pledge to her. We miss her, and it was closure."

The families said hundreds of volunteers deserve thanks.

They also said they are thankful for all the effort that went into the official search. But they said they believe mistakes were made and hope future searches will be conducted differently.

"Why didn't the 911 operators know there was a missing aircraft? Why didn't the fire departments know there was a missing aircraft? Why didn't the forest service know there was a missing aircraft? They didn’t know that that aircraft was flying in their airspace, and that has to change," said McElfresh.

"There's always a chance to make the system better, so two families don't have to live in angst for two years and seven months over something that could've been followed up,” said Randolph. “The key to this was sharing information.”

"Had those agencies been speaking to each other, there is a good chance we wouldn't be sitting here today because that aircraft would've been found in 2006," said McElfresh.