Four family members confirmed dead in Bahamas plane crash, relatives say

The bodies of four family members were recovered after a small private aircraft crashed Monday about 15 miles off the coast of the largest Bahamian island, according to relatives. The Miami-bound PA-34 Piper, a five-seat plane with four people aboard, took off from Great Harbour Cay around 11:15 a.m. Monday and crash-landed near Andros Island, Bahamas police previously said. “It is with profound sadness that we confirm all four of our family members have been found deceased,” the family said in a statement Tuesday, noting that relatives “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,” the statement continued. The Royal Bahamas Police Force released a statement confirming “human remains were recovered and are now in police custody.” The remains were expected to be transferred to New Providence, the main commercial section of the small Caribbean nation. The family previously said the plane was piloted by 80-year-old Mario Lamar and that his 79-year-old wife, Lili Lamar, and two of their grandchildren — 28-year-old Sofia Sosa and 22-year-old Christian Sosa — were also on board. Silvia Larrieu, Lamar’s niece, told NBC News affiliate WTVJ in South Florida that her uncle had an apartment in the Bahamas and had spent “a wonderful long weekend together” with the grandchildren who were passengers on the plane and two other grandchildren. She called Lamar “a lifelong, very experienced pilot” and said the family was “departing business as usual, like he’s done his entire life.” FlightAware, a flight-tracking platform, showed the aircraft “flying into the edge of a storm” before it quickly reversed course, Larrieu told the station. Larrieu’s cousin, the mother of the two adult grandchildren on board, called authorities when she didn’t hear from her kids after they were supposed to have landed. Earlier Tuesday, the family pleaded for assistance in the search. “We are heartbroken and desperate. As of this moment, we are not aware of authorities actively searching the waters for our remaining missing family members,” the family added. “We are begging for help.” After the grim discoveries, the family members thanked “everyone who supported us, searched alongside us, and kept our family in their prayers.” Mario Lamar was an attorney for over 50 years and had a law office in Miami, according to a state database. Guilaine Sosa, his daughter and the mother of his grandchildren who died, practiced with him at the firm, public records show. Christian Sosa graduated with a marketing degree this year from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and was a sports photographer who had recently done seasonal freelance work for the Los Angeles Rams, according to his LinkedIn profile. “Getting to shoot in the NFL was surreal,” Sosa said in a post that also had a portrait of the team’s photography staff. “It’s the job my younger self dreamed about when I spent summers in Miami shooting training camps as a fan.” He also maintained an Instagram account with landscape and nature shots from the Grand Canyon and other national parks. Matt Stefl, one of Sosa’s professors at Loyola, praised the young man and told NBC News he was “absolutely gutted” by the news. “The world lost a good one,” he said. Stefl visited the United Nations in May with Sosa and other students for a collegiate program where the group pitched a marketing campaign. The educator remained in touch with Sosa throughout the summer “about career prospects and life in general.” “Christian was an amazing young man who lit up every room that he walked into,” Stefl said. Sofia Sosa graduated from Florida International University with a master’s degree in physician assistant studies in December 2023, according to a school spokesperson. Her Facebook profile had her listed as a student at the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in 2021. Her page, which shows the nickname “Sofi,” had not been updated since 2023 but included photos of her throughout the years enjoying life from tropical settings. She also promoted a fundraiser for a childhood cancer charity.