Small Plane Carrying Florida Family of Four Missing After Disappearing Over Bahamas Waters

POLICY WIRE — Miami, USA — A small aircraft carrying four members of a Florida family vanished Monday during a flight from Great Harbour Cay in the Bahamas to Miami-Dade County, prompting a joint search operation by Bahamian authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The plane, identified as a PA-34 Piper five-seater with tail number N212ML, departed from the Berry Islands and was en route to Miami Executive Airport when it lost contact approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island.

Bahamas police confirmed that officers on Andros are leading coordination efforts to locate the aircraft, believed to have crash-landed off the coast of Red Bays in North Andros.

Among those on board were pilot Mario Lamar, 80, his wife Lili Lamar, 79, and their grandchildren Sofia Sosa, 28, and Christian Sosa, 22, according to a family member who spoke with the Miami Herald.

Silvia Larrieu, niece of Mario and Lili Lamar, issued an emotional public appeal for help: ‘Please help. 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.’

Bahamian officials contacted the U.S. Coast Guard around 2 p.m. local time requesting assistance in locating the downed aircraft.

In response, watchstanders at the Southeast District command center dispatched an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft to support the search mission alongside local teams.

However, ongoing adverse weather conditions forced authorities to suspend search operations temporarily, with no immediate timeline provided for resumption.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)