Debris found from plane missing in Bahamas; the search continues

MIAMI >> Authorities believe they have found debris from a U.S.-bound plane near an island in the Bahamas but have not given up searching for the four people on board, who include two young children and a prominent New York businesswoman, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.

Material recovered from the sea east of the island of Eleuthera was determined to have come from a twinengine MU-2B aircraft, the type that air traffic control lost contact with as it trav- eled from Puerto Rico to Florida on Monday, said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelly, a Coast Guard spokesman.

“The debris does match up with that style of aircraft and we have notified the family,” Kelly said.

A search for the people on board was ongoing and expected to continue, he said.

The people on board the plane were identified as Nathan Ulrich, 52, of Lee, New Hampshire, and Jennifer Blumin of New York, 40, along with her 3- and 4-year-old sons.

Blumin is the founder and CEO of Skylight Group, which provides event space around New York City, specializing in the fashion industry.

The company released a statement confirming that she and members of her family were on the plane. “Her family is working with investigators and we politely ask that you respect their privacy at this time,” it said.

Ulrich served as a Coast Guard Auxiliary pilot out of Air Station Cape Cod from 2005 to 2014 and is coowner of a company that manufactures kick scoot- ers and folding bicycles, according to neighbors. A brother, Karl, released a family statement that read, in part, “‘’Nathan is our beloved son, brother and uncle and we wish for resolution as the Coast Guard search continues.”

The Coast Guard said it had covered more than 5,260 square miles in a search that was centered about 15 miles east of Eleuthera.

Their plane was at about 24,000 feet when air traffic control in Miami lost contact with it for unknown reasons.