MIAMI, Fla. — A family vacation in the Bahamas has turned into a desperate search after a private plane carrying a Miami couple and their two grandchildren crashed into the water Monday while heading home.
Bahamian authorities received a report that a five-seater PA-34 Piper aircraft traveling toward Opa-locka, Florida, had gone down approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island around 2:20 p.m.
The aircraft had departed from Great Harbor Cay earlier that morning.
On board were Mario Lamar, 80, his wife Lili Lamar, 79, and their grandchildren Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, according to their heartbroken family.
The four had spent Labor Day weekend at the family’s vacation home in Great Harbor Cay before beginning their journey back to Florida. For relatives, the flight was supposed to be a routine trip home.
“They’ve spent their whole life going there. That’s like their second home,” Mario and Lili’s niece Silvia Larrieu told. “They were coming home.”
Family Vacation Ends in Tragedy
The Lamars had a long connection to Great Harbor Cay, where their family has spent years returning for vacations and time together.
According to their relatives, the family had been enjoying the holiday weekend and watching the sunset at their home before preparing to return to Miami. Instead, their journey home ended when the aircraft reportedly plunged into the water west of Andros Island.
Authorities have not yet released details explaining what caused the plane to crash or what happened during the final moments of the flight.
The disappearance has now prompted an international search involving authorities in both the Bahamas and the United States.
Coast Guard Joins Search for Missing Family
The U.S. Coast Guard is assisting Bahamian authorities in the search for the aircraft and the four people aboard.
The agency said it deployed an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft, a specialized search-and-rescue platform, to support the operation.
The search area is located in waters west of Andros Island, where officials reported the aircraft went down. As rescuers work to locate the plane, the family is waiting for information about what happened to their loved ones.
The circumstances remain uncertain, and authorities have not publicly announced whether any survivors or wreckage have been located.
Family Says Pilot Had Decades of Experience
The family has emphasized that Mario Lamar was an experienced pilot who had spent more than four decades flying.
In a statement to ABC News, the family described Mario as well-trained and said he had more than 40 years of flying experience. That experience has made the crash even more difficult for relatives to understand as they wait for answers.
The aircraft was a small private plane designed to carry five people, and Mario was piloting the flight toward Opa-locka when it went down.
Grandchildren Were Recent College Graduates
The two younger passengers were also described as accomplished young adults with their futures ahead of them.
Sofia Sosa, 28, is a recent graduate of Wake Forest University, while her brother Christian Sosa, 22, recently graduated from Loyola Marymount University.
Their presence on the flight has added another heartbreaking dimension to the family’s ordeal. Relatives are now hoping that the ongoing search will provide answers about the four missing family members.
For now, the Lamars and Sosas remain missing as authorities continue searching the waters near the Bahamas.
The family is pleading for help and information as the search continues, holding onto hope while investigators work to determine what happened to the plane on its journey back to Florida.
What do you think about this heartbreaking situation? Share your thoughts and keep the family in your thoughts as the search continues.
