A Florida couple and their two grandchildren were found dead Tuesday after the small plane piloted by the grandfather disappeared near the Bermuda Triangle while returning to Miami. The victims were identified as pilot Mario Lamar, 80; his wife, Lili Lamar, 79; and their grandchildren, Sofi Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force. The five-seat Piper PA-34 left Great Harbour Cay in the Bahamas around 11:15 a.m.
Monday, bound for Miami Executive Airport with the four family members aboard, the family said in a statement to ABC News. The plane crashed near Andros Island, the Bahamas’ largest island, within the area known as the Bermuda Triangle, which has long been associated with mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft. Relatives searching for the missing plane located the wreckage and recovered the bodies.
Relatives “located our loved ones and had to bring them aboard their own vessels,” they added. Lamar had more than 40 years of flying experience and regularly traveled between South Florida and the Bahamas, where he and his wife owned a home in Great Harbour Cay, family members told Fox 35 Orlando. The family had spent Labor Day weekend there before the return home.
Before takeoff, Sofi Sosa texted her parents in a family chat that they were leaving, and a flight plan her uncle filed showed the time the plane was expected to land in South Florida, Lamar’s niece, Silvia Larrieu, told the . But the plane never reached Miami. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane around 11:04 a.m., about 13 miles west of Andros Island, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
When the family realized the plane was overdue and could no longer reach those aboard, they alerted authorities and began searching. The Royal Bahamas Police Force requested help from the U.S. Coast Guard Monday afternoon after receiving a report that the plane may have crashed near Red Bays on North Andros, a Coast Guard spokesperson told ABC News.
Poor weather initially hampered the operation. On Tuesday, relatives searching by boat located the wreckage and recovered the four bodies while working with the Coast Guard. Family members told the media that Lamar was a cautious pilot who meticulously maintained his aircraft.
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