According to police in Venice, Florida, a plane crash over the weekend in the Gulf of Mexico left two individuals dead, including a kid, and one person missing.
After receiving a request from the Federal Aviation Administration regarding a Piper Cherokee that had failed to return to its origin airport in St. Petersburg, about 60 miles north of Venice, officers began a search on Sunday morning after 10 a.m. EST, according to the Venice Police Department.
According to a statement from the FAA, the jet left Venice Municipal Airport around 7:30 on Saturday night and was thought to be carrying three passengers.
Police stated in a statement Sunday night that “recreational boaters located a deceased female floating in the Gulf, approximately 2.5 miles west of Venice Beach,” when they began their search the following morning.
The wreckage of the missing Piper Cherokee was discovered several hours later, at around 2 p.m., about a third of a mile offshore, straight west of the Venice Municipal Airport.
Divers from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office discovered the body of a dead child within the plane’s passenger section, according to the authorities.
According to investigators, there was also thought to have been a male pilot or passenger on board during the flight. They said that he had not yet been located.
Police withheld the missing person’s and the child’s and woman’s identities who were discovered deceased.
“This is a very active search and investigation,” said the Venice Police Department.
Police stated that although they had information on the man who was thought to be missing, they would hold off on sharing it until their family members could be notified and permission had been granted from other concerned agencies, such as the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
They stated that searches will go on until dusk and then resume “as conditions allow.”
