Four Florida family members were discovered dead after their plane went down in the ocean near the Bahamas, a relative confirmed on Tuesday.

Authorities, including the U.S. Coast Guard, searched for a plane they believe “crash-landed” off the coast after flying from Great Harbour Cay on Monday, Fox News reported.

Family were able to identify the deceased, including 80-year-old Pilot Mario Lamar, his wife Lili, 79, and their two grandchildren, 28-year-old Sofia Sosa and 22-year-old Christian Sosa. The family was traveling on a PA-34 Piper five-seater plane heading to Opa-locka, Florida.

“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,” Silvia Larrieu, Mario Lamar’s niece, said in a statement obtained by the outlet. “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,” she continued. “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.”

Larrieu told the Miami Herald the family was traveling home to Florida after visiting a vacation property over the holiday weekend. She said, “They’ve spent their whole life going there.”

“Data from the website FlightAware showed the plane descended from 10,000 feet to 3,700 feet in about three minutes before vanishing from radar,” according to the report.

She also told the publication Lamar was a pilot with years of experience and always kept his plane in “pristine” condition.

U.S. Coast Guard Southeast announced on Monday it was helping authorities in the Bahamas after reports of a downed aircraft “with four souls on board approx 15 mi off Andros Island.” The Coast Guard sent a HC-144 Ocean Sentry plane to assist with the search.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force said it received a report around 2:20 p.m. “that an aircraft may have gone down in the waters off Red Bays.” Police said air traffic control “confirmed that a PA-34 Piper five-seater aircraft, bearing tail number N212ML, departed Great Harbour Cay at approximately 11:12 a.m., en route to Opa-locka, Florida.”

“Air traffic control subsequently lost contact with the aircraft approximately 13 miles west of Andros Island,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said.

“The Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) advised that the United States Coast Guard had attempted to search the area for the missing aircraft,” police added. “However, due to inclement weather, the search was postponed until conditions became favorable.”