Former classmates remember BYU-Idaho students killed in plane crash

The two BYU-Idaho students who died in a plane crash in December were remembered Saturday in Rexburg.

Amber Smith was flying with her fiance, Jonathan Norton, from Oregon to Montana on a plane piloted by her father when it crashed near Yellow Pine, Idaho on Dec. 1. Search teams spent more than a month searching before the plane was discovered with no survivors on Jan. 10.

Early Saturday afternoon, former classmates and friends of the couple released balloons at Porter Park in their honor.

“It’s different when you have one empty seat, but when you have two right next to each other, it made it a little bit more difficult,” said Kathryn Harris, who sat in front of Smith and Norton in a business law class.

“They were a very cute couple. Sat in the back next to each other. They were very kind to everyone,” Harris said.

Sam Chiba attended high school with Smith in California. When they were both accepted to BYU-Idaho, he said their friendship grew.

“My buddies and I, we liked to hang out with her in her apartment from time to time. More towards fall of last year, I guess,” said Chiba.

Another memorial was held Saturday morning in Smith’s native California.