KENNER, La. — A Kenner woman who attended Mt. Carmel Academy and two of her sorority sisters at LSU are among seven people who died in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas Thursday night.
LSU and Phi Mu sorority identified the victims as Jillian Clark, Kameron Cline and Brittney Searson as three of the seven victims. All graduated in May 2019.
The three were on the helicopter that included billionaire Chris Cline, who made his fortune in coal mining and three others. Chris Cline owned the helicopter, authorities said.
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“The LSU community is mourning the loss of three recent graduates, along with all of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident," LSU President F. King Alexander said in a statement. "Kameron, Jillian and Brittney were all May 2019 graduates and had such bright futures ahead of them. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of everyone affected. This is a sad day for all of us."
Mt. Carmel Volleyball Coach April Hagadone said Clark served as a setter on two teams that won state championships. She said the school's principal sent out an email about the tragedy, which asked for prayers for the family.
“She was a leader, a beautiful girl inside and out,” said Hagadone. “It’s a shock to the community and devastating to her family and friends and the Mt. Carmel community… She was such a sweet girl.”
Bahamas Police Superintendent Shanta Knowles told The Associated Press on Friday that the search began off the islands of Big Grand Cay, which Cline owned, when police received a report from Florida that a group including Cline had failed to arrive as expected Thursday in Fort Lauderdale.
A Royal Bahamas Police Force statement said authorities and local residents found the crash site two miles off Big Grand Cay, group of private islands Cline owned.
The bodies of the four women and three men have been taken to the capital in Nassau to be officially identified, Knowles said. The helicopter was still in the water, and based on preliminary information, she did not believe there had been a distress call before it went down.