All Four Bodies Recovered After Miami Family's Plane Crashes

Relatives recovered all four bodies after a Piper PA-34 carrying a Miami family crashed near the Bahamas during their flight home from a Labor Day trip.

A small plane carrying four members of a Miami family disappeared off the Bahamas on Monday, September 7, 2026, while flying home from Great Harbour Cay in the Berry Islands. Bahamas police identified the aircraft as a PA-34 Piper five-seater with tail number N212ML and said air traffic control lost contact roughly 13 miles west of Andros Island. On board were pilot Mario Lamar Sr., 80, his wife Lili Lamar, 79, and their grandchildren Sofi Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, who were returning from a long holiday weekend at the family's second home. The U.S. Coast Guard said Bahamian authorities requested assistance around 2 p.m. Monday after a report of a downed airplane about 15 miles off Andros Island.

By Tuesday, the family confirmed the worst: all four bodies were recovered from the waters near North Andros Island, the plane's last-known location. The Miami Herald, reported by the Sun Sentinel, said family members themselves found the victims — relatives searching by private vessel located their loved ones and had to bring them aboard their own boats. The family called that moment 'especially devastating' and, out of respect for the deceased, initially declined to release names of individuals as they were found. A family statement to ABC News expressed deep gratitude to everyone who searched alongside them and kept the family in their prayers.

The Coast Guard launched an HC-144 Ocean Sentry surveillance aircraft to assist the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, but poor weather — including heavy thunderstorms in the area at the time of the disappearance — repeatedly postponed and suspended search operations. According to CNN, as reported by WBAL-TV, flight-tracking site FlightRadar24 showed the plane appearing to circle off the Bahamian coast before vanishing from radar, and officials said it was unclear whether weather was a factor in the crash. With official searches stalled, the family hired a private search-and-rescue team and publicly pleaded with fishermen, boaters, and pilots in the area to come forward with anything they had seen.

The crash stunned those who knew the pilot. Relatives described Mario Lamar Sr. as an experienced pilot with more than 40 years of flying experience who routinely made the Bahamas run and kept his plane in pristine, carefully maintained condition. 'The weather seemed fine,' his niece Silvi Larrieu said, adding that the family filed a flight plan and grew alarmed when text messages from the trip stopped being delivered. Coming just one day after an Amazon Prime Air cargo jet overran a Miami runway and killed five, the loss deepened a painful stretch for South Florida's aviation community.

The family asked Bahamian officials, the Coast Guard, and local authorities to deploy every available resource and requested privacy as they grieve. The aircraft's tail number, N212ML, and its route from Great Harbour Cay toward the Miami area give investigators a clear flight path to reconstruct as the inquiry proceeds.

Throughout the ordeal, the Lamar and Sosa families turned to the public. 'Every piece of information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could be important,' they said, asking anyone who witnessed an aircraft in distress, unusual activity on the water or shoreline, or any radio communications to report it immediately. Even as recovery turned to mourning, Larrieu told the Associated Press the family continued to hold hope in the search's early hours: 'We are always going to hold hope. We do believe in miracles.' The families asked the community to keep Mario, Lili, Christian, and Sofi in their thoughts.