Four members of a Florida family who vanished during a flight near the Bahamas have been found dead, relatives confirmed, bringing a desperate search effort to a heartbreaking end.
Mario Lamar, 80, was flying a Piper PA-34 Seneca on Monday morning with his wife, Lili Lamar, 79, and two grandchildren, Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, on board when the aircraft disappeared from radar off the Bahamian coast.
By Tuesday afternoon, the bodies of all four passengers had been recovered. Family members were among those who joined the search, working alongside others who responded after the plane went missing.
In a statement shared with the Daily Mail, the family said: “It is with profound sadness that we confirm all four of our family members have been found deceased.”
“The search and recovery mission was conducted alongside family members and civilians who answered our call for help,” the statement continued. “Our relatives ultimately located our loved ones and had to bring them aboard their own vessels.”
‘We are now in communication and working with the U.S. Coast Guard to bring our loved ones home safely and with dignity.
‘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 Sosa, 28, received her master’s degree from Florida International University in December 2023, and graduated from Wake Forest University in 2020, according to LinkedIn
Christian Sosa, 22, previously worked as a freelance photographer for the Los Angeles Rams and graduated from Loyola Marymount University this year, according to LinkedIn
Sofia, a neonatal physician assistant, texted the family chat to say the group was flying home shortly before they disappeared, NBC Miami reported.
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 at approximately 11.12am, and was en route to Opa Locka, Florida.
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.
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, where authorities are now focusing their search efforts.
But rough weather briefly blocked Bahamian forces from initiating the search for the family.
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Guilaine Sosa, 56, last heard from her daughter when she texted the family group chat that she was on her way home
Sofia was flying from the Bahamas to Florida with her grandparents and younger brother on Monday when the family’s aircraft disappeared off the radar shortly after 11am
The US Coast Guard has also confirmed it was helping with the search.
‘The @USCG is assisting the @TheRBDF following a report of a downed aircraft with four souls onboard approximately 15 mi off Andros Island, Bahamas,’ US Coast Guard Southeast wrote on X.
‘A @USCG HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane is supporting the search. The case is ongoing.’
In a desperate effort, Mario and Lili’s 52-year-old son, Mario, who is a managing director and financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, according to LinkedIn, decided to fly to the island to get a boat and help with the search.
‘Please help,’ Larrieu, pleaded, according to the Miami Herald.
‘I ask anybody out there, if you can help with search and rescue efforts, we would greatly appreciate it. We need to bring them home.’
Larrieu said her uncle was a trained pilot with 40 years of experience and always kept his plane in ‘pristine’ condition, with all required safety gear on board.
‘They’ve spent their whole life going there. That’s like their second home,’ Larrieu, said.
Grandmother, Lili Lamar, 79, was on board, and grandfather, Mario Lamar, 80, was piloting the aircraft
Public records show Sofia and Christian’s parents live in a $2.1 million home in Miami and their mother is an attorney
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.