PEMBROKE, N.Y. — ​Genesee County officials say they have found human remains at the site of Friday's plane crash that killed Western New York attorney Steve Barnes and his niece Elizabeth Barnes. During a press conference Sunday, county officials said that while they're still investigating, the focus now is to help the family move forward.

Crews could be seen working tirelessly searching through rubble and debris to locate parts of the aircraft, but that's not all they found.

"I'm not going to comment on what type of remains we found, like size and things like that, but we have found human remains," Jeffrey McIntire, who serves as the coroner for Genesee County, said.

County officials say the weather has made it difficult to navigate the area. They say the area where the plane crashed is so deep into the ground that it's difficult to put pieces together.

"It's very muddy back there, so its hard differentiating between human remains and remains of the aircraft," McIntire said.

Investigators say they're confident Barnes and his niece were the only two on the plane when it crashed. They say the Socata TBM 700 Aircraft left Manchester New Hampshire Friday morning and was on its way to Buffalo. The county coroner says while they’re still investigating, the focus now is helping the family move forward.

"Honestly, I am just here to make sure that the Barnes family gets the closure they need," McIntire added.

The National Transportation Safety Board says "it appears that the airplane impacted the ground nose first in a swampy area and is highly fragmented and submerged in mud and water."

In a statement, they indicated that they did not send a crew out because of COVID-19. Western New York Representatives Brian Higgins and Chris Jacobs are calling on the NTSB to send investigators to the scene.

"They should be here in Buffalo with what they referred to as a Go Team that's made up of anywhere between three and twelve experts to determine probable cause," Higgins said.

Meanwhile, Genesee County officials say at this point they don't see a need for assistance from the NTSB.

"I don't believe its necessary at this time, it would just be another body back there that's deciding whats being taken out and what needs to go for analysis," Sheriff William Sheron said.

"The FAA is going to have the same authority to make calls as the NTSB anyways," McIntire said.

Investigators say it may take up to a year to determine the cause of the crash.

NTSB Media Relations Officer Terry Williams offered a summary of the ongoing crash investigation in a statement released to Spectrum News.

"The NTSB is investigating the fatal single engine turboprop airplane that crashed on Oct. 2^nd in Pembroke, New York, beginning with the on-scene examination, which is one piece of a complete and thorough investigation.  While we are still gathering information, we can confirm that the airplane impacted the ground nose first in a swampy area and is highly fragmented and submerged in mud and water. Wreckage recovery crews are using pumps to remove water and heavy equipment to dig the wreckage out of the mud. The recovery is expected to continue into tomorrow. At that point, the wreckage will be recovered to a salvage facility where NTSB will assemble a team of experts to examine the wreckage. During the detail exam at the salvage facility, we will conduct follow-up testing of components, as needed. As with all of our accident investigations, we will obtain air traffic control data, meteorological data, and pilot records, to include medical history.  We have received excellent support on scene by local authorities and FAA in the region."