4 family members killed in Bahamas plane crash amid rough weather were returning to Florida after spending Labor Day weekend at retreat home. Victims id as pilot, Mario Lamar, 80, wife, Lili Lamar, 70 and their two grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28 and Christian Sosa, 22.
Four members of a Florida family who disappeared while returning from the Bahamas have been found dead, their relatives have confirmed.
According to authorities the single engine craft crashed as the plane, piloted by Mario Lamar, 80, was returning to Miami, Florida, Monday morning.
The other 3 victims were identified as Mario’s wife, Lili Lamar, 79, along with two of their grandchildren, 28-year-old Sofia Sosa and 22-year-old Christian Sosa.
Rush to find missing private plane after going off radar
The private plane which had gone off the radar, Monday morning was recovered, Tuesday afternoon, ABC News reported.
‘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,’ Silvia Larrieu, Mario and Lili’s niece, said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
‘We are deeply grateful to everyone who supported us, searched alongside us, and kept our family in their prayers. We respectfully ask for privacy as we mourn this unimaginable loss.’
Sofia and Christian Sosa’s father rushed to the Bahamas after hearing about the crash and began searching the waterway, along with his two other sons and an uncle, searched the waterway for hours until all four of their relatives’ bodies were found by Tuesday morning.
Following the tragic discovery, Larrieu said the family is working in tandem with the Coast Guard to ‘bring our loved ones home safely and with dignity.’
Sofia, a neonatal physician assistant, texted the family chat to say the group was flying home shortly before they disappeared, NBC Miami reported.
Florida family were returning from Bahamas second home
Hours later, when messages to Sofia from her lawyer mother, 56-year-old Guilaine Sosa, went unreturned, the family looked up their five-seat Piper PA-34 Seneca on the flight-tracking service FlightAware.
The plane departed Great Harbour Cay, the Bahamas at approximately 11.12am, and was en route to Opa Locka, Florida.
The family had spent Labor Day weekend watching the sunset at their home on the tropical island and had set off Monday morning to return to Florida.
‘They’ve spent their whole life going there. That’s like their second home,’ Larrieu told the the Miami Herald. ‘They were coming home.’
Data showed the plane was last seen on radar as its speed rapidly fluctuated before its altitude dropped from around 10,000 feet to 3,700 feet in just three minutes.
The plane’s path also showed it looped in a circle before it dropped off the radar over the waters off Red Bays off the Bahamas coast.
FlightAware’s recording of the plane’s partial path toward Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport also shows it crossed rough weather near the north end of Andros Island.
Air Traffic Control reported it lost contact with the aircraft about 13 miles west of Andros Island.
Mario Lamar trained pilot: but what went wrong?
According to family members, Mario Lamar was a trained pilot with 40 years of experience and always kept his plane in ‘pristine’ condition, with all required safety gear on board.
Public records show Sofia and Christian’s parents live in a $2.1 million home in Miami, and the grandparents they were traveling with live nearby in a $4.5 million home.
Sofia received her master’s degree from Florida International University in December 2023 and graduated from Wake Forest University in 2020, according to LinkedIn.
Christian previously worked as a freelance photographer for the Los Angeles Rams and graduated from Loyola Marymount University this year, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Their mother, Guilaine, is an attorney in Florida who received her law degree from the University of Miami School of Law and runs her own firm, according to the Florida Bar.
Authorities have yet to indicate whether they believe human error, mechanical error leading to the plane crashing, potentially in adverse weather conditions.
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