- Attorney Stephen Barnes of the law firm Cellino & Barnes died Friday in a
plane crash in Corfu,New York , the Buffalo News reported. - Sources told the publication that Barnes was piloting the plane and that a female relative on board also died.
- The plane was traveling to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport from Manchester, New Hampshire, before crashing.
- Barnes was part of the famed New York law firm Cellino & Barnes, which was well known for the catchy jingle used in its commercials, until the firm split earlier this year.
Attorney Stephen Barnes of the prominent law firm Cellino & Barnes reportedly died Friday after a small airplane he was piloting crashed in New York's Genesee County.
The Buffalo News reported that Barnes owned the plane that crashed and a female relative onboard also died. Genesee County Sheriff William Sheron said the airplane was "pretty much disintegrated."
"There's not much left at all," he told the Buffalo
The Genesee County Sheriff's Department's received a report about a small plane crash just before 1 p.m. on Friday, according to the paper. The single-engine, propeller-powered plane was traveling to Buffalo Niagara International Airport from Manchester, New Hampshire, before crashing into a wooded area in the town of Corfu, New York.
Along with Ross Cellino Jr., Barnes was one of founding members of Cellino & Barnes, which had offices across New York State in Buffalo, Rochester, and New York City, as well as Melville and Garden City in Long Island. It's best known for the ear-worm "Cellino and Barnes" jingle used in commercials and its easy-to-remember telephone number, 1-800-888-8888.
Earlier this year, Cellino and Barnes finalized the end of their partnership and went on to open their own separate firms.