VHF ATC Coverage?
If this is another tragic case of disorientation/loss of control in IMC by a pilot not trained and able to fly on instruments, it would be difficult to understand how comms contact with ATC could have helped IMHO. Speaking personally I have encountered some of the foulest weather imaginable in this area and do not recall probs with ATC contact ever in the last 30-odd years. Condolences bm