Relatives recovered the bodies after a private search near Andros Island, where the Miami-bound Piper lost contact Monday.
MIAMI, Fla. — All four family members aboard a small plane that disappeared while flying from the Bahamas to South Florida were found dead Tuesday, according to a relative who said family members searching by boat recovered the bodies.
The four were identified by relatives as pilot Mario Lamar, 80; his wife, Lili Lamar, 79; and their grandchildren, Sofi Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22. They were traveling aboard a five-seat Piper PA-34, tail number N212ML, from Great Harbour Cay in the Bahamas to Miami Executive Airport when air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft about 13 miles west of Andros Island, Bahamian police said.
The family had spent the long holiday weekend at Lamar’s second home on Great Harbour Cay and was returning to Miami on Monday. Bahamian authorities later received a report that an aircraft may have gone down in waters off Red Bays in North Andros. Police began coordinating efforts to locate the plane and the people aboard it.
The Royal Bahamian Defense Force requested assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard at about 2 p.m. Monday after receiving a report of a downed aircraft with four people aboard. The Coast Guard sent an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft to support the Bahamian search. Poor weather forced search operations to be suspended for a period, according to authorities, before Coast Guard assistance resumed Tuesday.
Relatives also organized their own search as they waited for news. Silvia Larrieu, Mario and Lili Lamar’s niece, told The Associated Press that family members went out by boat and recovered the bodies Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the family had reported that one person had been found dead while the search continued for the other three. Larrieu later said all four had been recovered.
The flight was a familiar one for the family, Larrieu said. Mario Lamar had more than 40 years of flying experience and routinely traveled between South Florida and the Bahamas. Relatives said he carefully maintained his aircraft and had made the trip many times over the years. The family had long used Great Harbour Cay as a vacation destination and second home.
Before Monday’s flight, Sofi Sosa sent her parents a message in a family group chat saying the four were leaving the Bahamas, Larrieu said. A flight plan provided an expected arrival time in South Florida. Family members became alarmed after later messages were not delivered and the plane failed to arrive as expected, prompting them to contact authorities.
Flight-tracking information reviewed by news organizations showed unusual movement before the aircraft disappeared from tracking systems near Andros Island. Stormy conditions were also reported in the area. Authorities, however, have not said that weather caused the aircraft to go down, and no official cause of the incident had been announced Tuesday.
The disappearance prompted assistance from Bahamian police, the Royal Bahamian Defense Force, local search organizations and the U.S. Coast Guard. During the search, relatives publicly appealed for help from pilots, boaters and others in the area as bad weather complicated official efforts.
The family’s report that all four people were found dead ended the search for survivors but left unanswered questions about what caused the aircraft to disappear. Authorities had not publicly announced a cause by Tuesday, and available reports did not establish whether the aircraft itself had been recovered or what further investigative steps would follow.
Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.