The Piper PA-34 lost contact west of Andros Island during a route its experienced pilot had flown many times.
MIAMI — A holiday weekend trip to the Bahamas ended in tragedy for a South Florida family after the small plane carrying two grandparents and two grandchildren disappeared on its way to Miami and all four were later found dead, according to relatives.
Mario Lamar, 80, was piloting the Piper PA-34 from Great Harbour Cay in the Bahamas to Miami Executive Airport on Monday. His wife, Lili Lamar, 79, and their grandchildren, Sofi Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, were also aboard. Relatives searching by boat recovered the four bodies Tuesday.
The flight had begun as a familiar trip home for the family. Larrieu, Lamar’s niece, said Lamar had more than 40 years of flying experience and routinely traveled to Great Harbour Cay, where he had a second home. The group had spent the long weekend there before leaving for South Florida.
Bahamas police identified the aircraft as a five-seat Piper PA-34 bearing registration N212ML. The plane departed Great Harbour Cay and was headed west toward Miami-Dade County when air traffic control lost contact about 13 miles west of Andros Island, police said.
The disappearance prompted a search involving agencies in two countries. Bahamian officials asked the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance Monday afternoon after receiving a report of a downed aircraft. The Coast Guard sent an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft to help Bahamian authorities search the area.
Poor weather became an immediate obstacle. Bahamas police said search activity was suspended Monday because of the conditions. By Tuesday, the Coast Guard was assisting again as the family also organized private efforts to locate the aircraft and its occupants.
Before the full recovery was announced, relatives said a family member aboard a civilian boat had located one of the people from the plane. The family continued searching and later said relatives on boats had recovered all four. The identities of the victims had been provided publicly by their family.
The loss of contact occurred over open water near Andros, one of the largest islands in the Bahamas and about 150 miles southeast of Miami. Police said the aircraft was believed to have gone down off Red Bays in North Andros. Officials have not announced a determination about what caused the aircraft to disappear.
Lamar’s experience and familiarity with the route were among the details relatives emphasized while the search was underway. Larrieu said he routinely flew to the Bahamas and carefully maintained the aircraft. Those statements describe the family’s experience with Lamar as a pilot but do not establish why the plane went down.
The flight’s disappearance and the recovery of the occupants leave investigators with questions about the aircraft’s final minutes. No official finding on a mechanical problem, weather-related cause, pilot action or other explanation had been released Tuesday.
Authorities had not announced a final cause of the crash or released a timetable for completing an investigation. With the four people aboard now recovered, any further findings will depend on the aviation investigation and evidence authorities are able to obtain from the aircraft and the flight.
Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.