A search-and-rescue operation for a missing private plane ended early Sunday with the grim discovery of three bodies in the aircraft’s wreckage in a wooded area near a Maryland residential neighborhood, officials said.

The pilot and two passengers aboard the single-engine Piper Cherokee were pronounced dead after rescuers located the wreckage in the woods near Bowie, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

The bodies of three adult men have been recovered, according to a statement from the Maryland State Police.

The names of those who perished were being withheld by authorities pending notification of relatives.

“Investigators believe the aircraft belongs to a local flight school in Montgomery County. Police believe the aircraft may have been participating in a training flight,” according to the statement from the state police.

The aircraft had taken off around 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday from Ocean City, New Jersey, and was en route to Montgomery County Air Park in Maryland when it crashed, according to the state police.

About 15 minutes after the plane took off, an iPhone crash alert was received by Prince George’s County Public Safety Communications, indicating a crash had occurred near where routes 50 and 301 connect in the Bowie area.

A ground and aerial search, involving several agencies, was immediately launched, officials said.

The wooded area where the crash occurred is in “close proximity to a residential area” in Bowie, according to the state police.

No injuries were reported on the ground.

The cause of the crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.

ABC News’ Cate Bouvet contributed to this report.