Coast Guard suspends search for eight believed lost in plane crash

The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday suspended its search for passengers believed to have been on a plane that crashed on the coast of North Carolina earlier this week, including four teenagers.

“Our deepest sympathies are with the Down East community,” Capt. Matt Baer said, according to NBC News.

Eight people are believed to have been aboard the plane that crashed on Sunday. One body was recovered the same day of the crash, and further remains were found on Tuesday, according to the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office, NBC reported. Three 15-year-olds — Noah Lee Styron, Michael Daily Shepard and Jonathan Kole McInnis — and 16-year-old Jacob Nolan Taylor are believed to have been among the passengers.

Stephanie Ann McInnis Fulcher, 42; Douglas Hunter Parks, 45; Jeffrey Worthington Rawls, 28; and Ernest Durwood Rawls, 67, who the sheriff’s office identified as the plane’s pilot, were also reported to have been aboard, according to NBC. The party was reportedly returning from a hunting trip in North Carolina’s Hyde County when the plane crashed.

The incident is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

As NBC reported, the Carteret County Public School System noted on Tuesday that its schools had been impacted by the crash.

“It has been confirmed that four students from East Carteret High School are among those who passed away in the crash,” the school system said in a statement. “School counselors, school psychologists, and school crisis team members have responded from across the school system to serve and support the students, staff, and families in the impacted schools.”