Four family members aboard plane missing off the Bahamas found dead, relative says

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Four family members traveling aboard a small airplane that vanished off the coast of the Bahamas were found dead Tuesday after relatives launched their own search effort.

Silvia Larrieu said that family members using private boats found and recovered the bodies. The family is now coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard to bring their loved ones home.

“We are deeply grateful to everyone who supported us, searched alongside us, and kept our family in their prayers,” the family said in a statement. “We respectfully ask for privacy as we mourn this unimaginable loss.”

The plane, which was carrying Larrieu’s uncle, his wife, and their two grandchildren, went missing Monday morning following its departure from Great Harbour Cay, a city located in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas. The flight was bound for Miami Executive Airport in Miami-Dade County, according to police in the Bahamas.

Larrieu noted that her uncle, 80-year-old Mario Lamar, possessed more than 40 years of aviation experience as a pilot and frequently traveled to the Bahamas, where he owned a second residence in Great Harbour Cay.

The plane had departed from Great Harbour Cay, a city located in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas (Getty/iStock)

Also aboard the flight were his wife, Lili, 79, and their two grandchildren, Sofi Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22. They were traveling back home to Miami after spending the holiday weekend away.

Sofi Sosa had sent a text message to her parents in a family group chat stating they were taking off, and an official flight plan logged by her uncle detailed the aircraft’s scheduled landing time, Larrieu said.

Relatives alerted authorities after noticing that subsequent text messages were not being delivered.

“This is awful,” Larrieu said in a brief telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Police in the Bahamas identified the aircraft as a PA-34 Piper five-seater with the tail number N212ML. Air traffic control lost communication with the plane approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island, local police reported. The island lies roughly 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Miami.

Larrieu mentioned that her uncle maintained the plane in pristine condition and was always exceptionally careful.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Nicolina Converso said a Coast Guard aircraft was deployed to assist with search operations Tuesday. Officials in the Bahamas had sought the agency’s help around 2 p.m. Monday following a report of a downed plane. However, initial search operations were postponed because of bad weather, the Royal Bahamas Police Force noted in a statement published on Facebook.

The four fatalities occurred less than two months after another plane crash in North Andros, Bahamas, resulted in 10 deaths.