This week New York news is filled with reports on a small plane carrying four locals that has disappeared near the Bahamas.

That plane, the Daily News revealed yesterday, was ferrying the children of a New York designer who’s gained recognition for his work on the world’s first subterranean park on the Lower East Side. The park, called the Lowline, was conceived by James Ramsey, founding principal of Raad Studio, a New York firm that Ramsey founded in 2004. Still in its concept phase, the Lowline—which may be installed underneath the Delancy Street/Essex Street subway station—received preliminary approval from the city last year.

“I lost what I loved more than anything,” Ramsey told the Daily News. “I keep hoping it’s not real and I’ll wake up. Wouldn’t wish this pain on the worst person in the world.”

Ramsey’s ex-partner, Jennifer Blumin, was flying in the aircraft with her boyfriend, Nathan Ulrich, along with her and Ramsey’s two young sons. Ulrich, the pilot, was guiding the group to Florida from Puerto Rico when the plane he was flying disappeared from the radar almost 40 miles east of Eleuthera, Bahamas. Blumin, an events space planner, is the CEO of Skylight Studios, a Tribeca business that turns distinctive spaces into venues for concerts, runway shows, and design fairs.

After finding debris that may match the aircraft, the Coast Guard is continuing its search; so far, the agency has combed over 8,200 square miles.