WATCH: Missing 1971 Plane Found in Lake, Family Members Speak Out

LAKE CHAMPLAIN, Vt. (KMID/KPEJ) – Fifty-three years after a private plane carrying five men disappeared, experts recently found the wreckage they believe to be the long-lost plane in Lake Champlain.

The business jet reportedly disappeared shortly after departing from Burlington Airport for Providence, Rhode Island on January 27, 1971.

Reportedly, at least 17 searches were made for the plan, but all were unsuccessful; Until last month, underwater researcher Garry Kozack and a team found the wreckage of a plane with the same custom paint job near the area where the plane disappeared.

Family members of previously lost passengers would have been grateful that the plane had been found, but the discovery opened wounds and prompted more questions.

Barbara Nikitas, a woman who lost her uncle in the mysterious plane crash, said: “To have this found now is very… it's a feeling of peace at the same time, it's… it's a very sad. I mean, we know what happened. We saw some photos. We're… we're struggling, I think, with that now. You know, the fantasy of maybe seeing them sipping cocktails somewhere is gone. And it was, you know, we were joking about it. It's like, “Oh, maybe they're stranded on an island somewhere.” They sip cocktails. And you know, these are stupid fantasies that you have. And we have always known the reality. But now the reality is here, it's difficult and it's very sad.

Frank Wilder, whose father was killed in the mysterious plane crash, said he felt a “sense of relief because to go 53 years and not know, you know, the plane was in the lake or maybe… being on the side of a mountain that way or somewhere was painful. And I…again, I feel relieved to know where the plane is now, but unfortunately it has opened up other questions and we have to work on them now.