Body of missing Italian fashion designer Missoni recovered from plane near Venezuelan coast The bodies of Italian fashion designer, Vittorio Missoni, his wife and three other people have been recovered from a plane that went missing off the coast of Venezuela. It was flying from the resort island of Los Roques to the capital Caracas in January 2013 when it disappeared. The small aircraft was found in June by an American oceanographic ship with specialist equipment. The bodies were apparently found with their seatbelts still fastened. Those on board were named as Missoni, his wife Maurizia Castiglioni, their friends Guido Foresti and Elda Scalvenzi, and the co-pilot. The body of the pilot, Germán Marchant, has reportedly not been found. An operation is now underway to lift the plane out of the ocean to establish the cause of the crash. Missoni, who was 58, was the son of Ottavio Missoni, who started a small Italian knitwear shop in 1953 and turned it into a hugely successful fashion house. Ottavio Missoni died in May, at the age of 92, before his son's body was discovered.