A married couple and their two grandchildren on board a plane that vanished in the Bahamas were found dead Sept. 8 after relatives launched their own search effort, a family spokesperson said.
The Royal Bahamian Defense Force confirmed the bodies of all four family members had been recovered and, in a news release said efforts remained underway to locate the Piper PA-34 Seneca that crashed one day earlier some 15 miles off Andros Island.
United States Coast Guard teams have been assisting Bahamian authorities in the search for the family, USCG Southeast District Lt. Nicolina Converso told USA TODAY.
Mario Lamar, 80, was piloting the aircraft with his wife, Lili Lamar, 79, granddaughter, Sofia Sosa, 28, and grandson Christian Sosa, 22, aboard when
the plane went down. The family spent Labor Day weekend in the Bahamas and were on their way back home to Miami, relatives said.
Silvia Larrieu, a niece of the Lamars, told the Miami Herald the father of the two grandchildren went to the area to search for the family.
“The search and recovery mission was conducted alongside family members and civilians who answered our call for help. Our relatives ultimately located our loved ones and had to bring them aboard their own vessels,” Larrieu said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who supported us, searched alongside us, and kept our family in their prayers."
"Following reports that human remains had been recovered, an RBDF team based in Bimini made contact with the vessel transporting the remains as part of the ongoing operation," according to the release from the Royal Bahamian Defense Force. "The Royal Bahamas Police Force has since confirmed that the recovered remains are in police custody and are making arrangements to be transported to New Providence."
The RBDF also said military divers were conducting search operations off the northwestern shoreline of Andros Island along with an underwater drone team in an effort to locate the missing plane.
What happened to plane that crashed in Bahamas with 4 relatives?
Larrieu said the family had a home on Great Harbour Cay where they spent Labor Day weekend.
The aircraft was scheduled to land at Miami Executive Airport in Southwest Miami-Dade after taking off from Great Harbour Cay.
Flight Aware data shows the aircraft loop away from severe weather it approached in its path and rapidly shifted up and down, before the altitude dropped from about 10,000 feet to 3,700 feet in three minutes.
The plane was last spotted on radar around 11 a.m. local time, data shows.
Bahamian officials, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, said teams had to pause the search on Sept. 7 due to bad weather but that efforts resumed the following day.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund. Michelle Spitzer is a reporter with Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bodies of 4 killed in Bahamas plane crash found by their relatives
