I've been following the Steve Fossett search closely as I'm fascinated by his disappearance. Fossett took off September 3rd and hasn't been seen or heard from since. Crews are now combing a rugged area near Death Valley going on new leads from Air Force experts.

Fossett is as experienced a pilot as there is. He's been missing 23 days and counting. Barring a miracle, Steve Fossett is likely dead.

This begs the question, when does hope expire? When do newspapers run Fossett's obituary? When do we acknowledge a man's death when he's disappeared into thin air?