The bodies of four family members were recovered during a desperate search after a small private aircraft crashed about 15 miles off the coast of the largest Bahamian island Monday, according to relatives.

The Miami-bound PA-34 Piper, a five-seater plane with four people aboard, took off from Great Harbour Cay around 11:15 a.m. Monday and crash-landed near Andros Island, Bahama 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 family previously said that 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.”

The U.S. Coast Guard began a search but had to pause the effort because of weather conditions, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force. The Coast Guard said Monday that it was working with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force to search for crash victims.

It was not immediately clear when the search resumed.

The family stressed Tuesday that it was “asking anyone with a boat, anyone on the water, fishermen, members of the boating community, and other civilians who can safely assist to please help us search.”

After the grim discoveries, the family members thanked “everyone who supported us, searched alongside us, and kept our family in their prayers.”