I can recall when I first met Martin Schaedel, known widely by his online handle lazerzubb, I think it was at a search conference in Sweden or Germany years ago. He was the youngest person I’d ever seen show up at one (he was maybe 15 at the time), and he was eager to make his mark. And so he did among many in the search and internet marketing community that watched him grow up. Sadly, Martin was apparently killed in a small plane crash in Santa Monica yesterday.

Over the years, Martin was a fixture at various events. He moved beyond search and was involved in venture capital and various types of other enterprises. He seemed to be constantly traveling and enjoying life, always some new adventure.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s department hasn’t officially released his name as being on the plane, but the Los Angeles Times is now reporting what many on Twitter have already been discussing, that it is widely believed he was aboard. The paper also cites two sources that say his parents have been informed. The last twitter to his @martin account talks about flying out of the airport, though a few days before the crash.

You’ll be missed, Martin.

Postscript: Fred Wilson shares thoughts on knowing Martin here.

Postscript 2: Mention now at AllThingsD with a decent picture of Martin (hard to find, like Fred Wilson, I looked in various places too), and there’s discussion now via Techmeme.

Postscript 3: Martin Schaedel 23 has passed away from Morten Lund, who knew Martin well, has a touching personal post and promises to update with news of a memorial service, as details are known. Todd Friesen posts some thoughts here. Over at WebmasterWorld, Brett Tabke’s started a thread at WebmasterWorld about Martin along with some photos he’s found, including one of Tood and Martin and one of me and Martin. Lots of comments already.

Postscript 4: Dave Naylor has a post up with thoughts and some nice photos.

Related Topics: SEM Industry: Community | Top News

About The Author: Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series. He maintains a personal blog called Daggle (and maintains his disclosures page there). He can be found on Facebook, Google + and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan. See more articles by Danny Sullivan

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