Wreckage and human remains have been found close to where a plane carrying a German businessman and his family went down in the Baltic Sea.
The $1million Cessna 551 was reportedly carrying Cologne-based entrepreneur Karl-Peter Griesemann, his wife, daughter and her boyfriend when it plunged into the waves off the coast of Latvia on Sunday afternoon.
The Latvian Navy confirmed it has recovered "several body parts that may belong to the missing persons".
Speaking with Norwegian TV, the navy added it had also retrieved wreckage, including seats, from the crash site.
And earlier today, footage emerged showing the moment a fighter jet escorted the plane before its fatal dive.
Griesemann is thought to have been at the helm of the Austria-registered plane when it left Jerez in southern Spain two days ago.
The jet flew from Spain, turning at Paris and Cologne before flying straight out into the Baltic Sea.
Off the coast of Latvia the aircraft tumbled out of the air, spiralling before crashing into the waves, according to flight tracking data.
"I can confirm that it was the private jet of our owner, Karl-Peter Griesemann," said a spokesperson for Quick Air, an air charter company based in Cologne. Griesemann and three others were on board the plane, the spokesperson added.
Cologne newspaper Express reported that Griesemann was the pilot and that he was accompanied by his wife Juliane, daughter and trained pilot Lisa, 26, and her boyfriend Paul.
Around 7.30pm last night the Cessna was seen rapidly losing speed and altitude on a global flight tracker.
It alerted controllers in France, and two warplanes were sent up to monitor the jet.
Sweden's rescue service - which sent rescue boats, planes and and a helicopter to the crash site - shared the location of the wreckage.
A spokesperson said: "We've learned that the plane has crashed (in the ocean) north-west of the town of Ventspils in Latvia."
"It has disappeared from the radar."
The country's coast guards later confirmed the wreckage had been found.
Swedish rescuers were joined at the site by aircraft from several countries and a passenger ferry.
A wreck, a concentrated patch of waste and an oil-like slick had been spotted near the crash site, Latvian search and rescue head Peteris Subbota told Latvian television, adding no passengers had been found.
German and Danish warplanes were sent up to observe the aircraft as it flew over northern Europe on Sunday afternoon but were unable to spot anybody on board.
Griesemann has been a prominent figure in Cologne, the largest city in western Germany, playing a role in the deeply Catholic city's annual carnival celebrations.
Yesterday a plane hijacker was arrested after threatening to crash his aircraft into a supermarket in Mississippi.
