The father of a Miami seafood entrepreneur killed alongside six others when a safari helicopter went down in northern Kenya on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, has spoken publicly about the loss of his son. Roger Duarte Sr. told the Daily Mail, “I’m very devastated right now. I don’t have the words to express my feelings,” and said the family is still waiting for answers: “We don’t know much about what happened. They are investigating the crash.”

His son, Roger Edward Duarte, 42, was one of six tourists aboard a Eurocopter EC130 B4 that crashed into forested slopes near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County, killing everyone on the aircraft including the Kenyan pilot. Ecuador’s top intelligence official and a senior Telemundo executive were also among the dead, officials confirmed.

The helicopter, flown by Lady Lori Helicopters under contract to the luxury safari operator &Beyond, had departed the Loisaba wildlife conservancy and was headed toward the Ewaso Nyiro River when it went down around 9:13 a.m. local time. People in the area reported seeing flames and columns of smoke on the mountainside well before rescuers could get close. Seven people were aboard, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).

David Nkoroi, the Samburu County police commander, identified pilot Josh Outram as one of the dead. The six passengers, he said, were Duarte, Michele Sensi-Contugi, Stephany Maria Hollihan Vasconez, José Alberto Suárez, Henry Parra and Adam Martin Hlavaty. The U.S. State Department, which had initially put the number of American citizens killed at four, later said five of the seven were Americans.

Ecuador Declares National Mourning

Sensi-Contugi, 44, ran Ecuador’s Strategic Intelligence Center (CIES) and was a close political ally of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. The Italian-Ecuadorean businessman took over the agency in January 2024 and spent four months as a minister in Noboa’s government. Traveling with him was his wife, 42-year-old fashion designer Stephany Hollihan, a dual U.S. citizen who created the label Sensi Studio, known for working traditional Ecuadorean textiles and materials into its pieces.

Three days of national mourning were ordered by the president starting Thursday, August 20. Formal condolences over the couple’s deaths came from both Ecuador’s office of the president and the National Assembly.

Telemundo and Miami Grieve Their Own

Suárez, 55, was born in Florida and spent a quarter-century in broadcasting, most recently supervising Telemundo stations serving Orlando, Tampa and the Fort Myers-Naples market. He was widely regarded as one of the driving forces in Spanish-language local television. In a joint statement, three NBCUniversal leaders — César Conde, Valari Staab and José Cancela — described him as "an exceptional colleague" who mentored many in the business.

Duarte’s death landed hard in South Florida, where he had built a name in the seafood business. He was 24 when he founded the stone crab delivery company George Stone Crab, and he also started the My Ceviche restaurant chain. Forbes named him to its 30 Under 30 list in 2012. He leaves behind his wife, Nicole Valls Duarte — whose family is behind the landmark Versailles and La Carreta restaurants — and the couple’s two sons.

U.S. Rep. Carlos Antonio Gimenez offered prayers for the grieving families and said he hoped the memories of those killed would be a blessing.

Difficult Terrain Hampered Recovery Efforts

Emergency teams from the Kenya Red Cross joined a multi-agency search within hours of the crash, but the organization said the work was “hampered by difficult terrain access and an active fire at the crash site.” The isolated, mountainous ground around Mount Ololokwe compounded the problem. Images from the scene captured smoke still drifting off the wooded slope as Red Cross responders made their way toward the wreckage.

Samburu County draws visitors from around the world with its striking scenery, private conservancies and abundant wildlife — the kind of setting that makes helicopter excursions such as this one a popular draw. Fatal helicopter accidents are not rare in Kenya; a crash in Nandi County on February 28 killed six people, including a member of parliament.

The KCAA said the cause of the crash remains unknown. Lady Lori Helicopters said it was devastated and that its "deepest sympathies" lay with the guests, crew, their relatives and everyone touched by the loss. &Beyond said that out of respect for those involved it would release additional details in due course, noting that local authorities are handling the investigation.

The U.S. embassy has been in touch with Kenyan officials and is providing consular help to relatives of the Americans who died, the State Department said.