I am 100% on board with you. It's ridiculous.
From what I've found out it seems the pilot completely loss situational awareness and nosedived into the hills after losing his bearings. A $4,000 Garmin terrain avoidance device could have made the difference too.
from what I’ve read, and it was a glancing look out of aviation curiosity, the pilot took off under visual flight rules, the fog moved in and local faa changed it to instrument flight rules, this pilot wasn’t certified under instrument, and we get the normal outcome when an under experienced pilot gets in over his head