NTSB: Singer Jenni Rivera died in Mexico plane crash
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is confirming that famed Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash in northern Mexico.
It is the first official confirmation of Rivera's death, although she has been widely presumed dead since the wreckage of her plane was found Sunday.
The NTSB is sending a team to assist Mexican authorities with the investigation. NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway says Mexican aviation authorities had confirmed Rivera's death to the NTSB.
As word that the plane carrying singer Jenni Rivera had crashed, grieving fans in California set up a vigil outside her Lakewood home.
Mexican authorities say air traffic controllers lost contact with the small plane over a mountainous area in northern Mexico on Sunday. And when the wreckage was found, there were no survivors.
Seven people were on board, including Rivera, who grew up in Southern California and became a Spanish-language musical powerhouse. Rivera's death has stunned her neighborhood and her family.
Investigators are working to determine a cause for the crash. Rivera's publicist, lawyer and makeup artists were also on board the plane.
CNN and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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