Four dead after small plane en route to Fort Pierce from the Bahamas crashes

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Posted: 03/25/2012

By: Ashleigh Walters

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- Bahamas investigators are looking into what caused a small plane to crash, killing two couples that police say were headed for an airport in Fort Pierce Sunday afternoon.

Bahamas police say the crash happened at Treasure Cay's airport on Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Police say the single-engine, six-seat Piper plane was traveling to Fort Pierce when it crashed shortly after takeoff.

Two married couples who shared a vacation home on the Island were killed, according to police.

The Bahamas Press reports that one of the couples who died was Dennis and Janie Sartoris.

The Sartoris' own the DCS Dental Lab in Jacksonville. Employees describe the couple as family-oriented and lively, a "caring, open-hearted, amazing couple" and "outstanding contributors to the community, and the dental profession."

WJXT in Jacksonville reports the other couple who died in the crash were Gregory and Janice Schwartzenberger.