Three bodies, of two adults and one child, were found Tuesday morning on the Iditarod route near Anchorage, Alaska.

48-year-old Carolyn Sorvoja and her 10-year-old daughter Rosemarie were flying with pilot Ted Smith. The Sorvojas were on their way up to volunteer on the route of the annual Iditarod Dog Sled Race, but never made it.

Search parties went out late Monday night when the plane was reported missing. The wreckage was found at 10:22am Tuesday morning on the popular dog sled race route. The three bodies were recovered and flown back to Anchorage where autopsies will be preformed.

It is not known exactly what caused the plane to crash, but the Alaskan National Guard and Alaskan State Troopers are looking into the incident.

Kalei Brooks, a spokes woman for the Alaskan Nation Guard spoke with The Associated Press.  She said, "Smith was an experienced pilot who was well-equipped for the flight."

Authorities are also looking into why the pilot's personal locator and emergency locator never sent off a distress signal.  

The air space above the Iditarod Dog Sled Race trail is busy during the race, because volunteers help to bring supplies to the competing racers. Other planes carry people watching the race so they may get an aerial view.

The first Iditarod Dog Sled Race took place in 1973. A couple, Joe Redington and Dorothy Page, founded it. They wanted to preserve the history of the dog sled and help to keep the huskies breed alive.

Before the invention of the snowmobile, dog sled was the method used to get food, and other supplies transported between towns in Northern Alaska.

The 1995 movie Balto, tells the true story of a serum run to Nome Alaska, in which a sled dog named Balto helped save sick children who were suffering from a diphtheria epidemic in 1925.