text: FORT WORTH -- Forrest Sanco and Donna Grant, both 56, are friends from high school who recently reconnected and fell in love. 
   
   Their plan was to fly themselves to the Bahamas, then fly back to Fort Worth as a married couple. 
   
   "They had lots of plans and lots to look forward to, so we're just devastated," says Grant's daughter-in-law Erin Simmons. 
   
   No one has seen or heard from the couple since Sept. 26. Instagram posts that day show them enjoying the Bahamian sunrise. But Simmons told WFAA that Forrest was supposed to fly them to another island, North Eleuthera, later that afternoon -- then to their final destination of Rum Cay, 121 miles away. 
   
   They made it to the first island, but not the second. 
   
   "They landed around 1:30," in North Eleuthera, Simmons says. "They purchased 13 gallons of fuel. Around 2:30 they flew out to Rum Cay, as far as we know was their destination. That's the last we've heard of them." 
   
   Jason Fox is Forrest's long-time friend and a fellow pilot. He knew service would be spotty and didn't think much of it when he stopped hearing from Forrest, who'd been corresponding with him via e-mail the entire trip. 
   
   But no one realized the couple was missing until they didn't return to Fort Worth. 
   
   "My biggest concern is the time and the fact we didn't really know he was missing until too much time had passed," Fox says. 
   
   We now know weather that day called for afternoon storms and repairs had been done to the plane during the trip. We're told Donna and Forrest originally took off from a small airfield in Cresson, southwest of Fort Worth. 
   
   The plane they were flying, a Cessna 150, had recently been purchased by Forrest. 
   
   Family is now relying on GoFundMe donations to hire private search crews. Debris spotted by one of their pilots turned out to be unrelated. 
   
   "We have to try to stay positive as we can and keep going," Simmons says, hoping Donna and Forrest come home soon. 
   
   © 2017 WFAA-TV ||||| By RICARDO WELLS 
   
   Tribune Staff Reporter 
   
   rwells@tribunemedia.net 
   
   AUTHORITIES have ruled out an area of debris near Cat Island which they thought could be remnants of the plane carrying missing American honeymooners Forrest and Donna Sanco. 
   
   Search and rescue documents obtained by The Tribune yesterday indicate debris and a life raft spotted on the eastern side of Cat Island is now “not believed” to be associated with the Sanco investigation. Authorities are working to determine what exactly happened to Forrest and Donna Sanco while en route to Rum Cay on September 26, one day after the pair flew their private aircraft from Houston, Texas; through Florida and then Freeport, Grand Bahama where the couple reportedly cleared customs and spent the night. 
   
   Bahamas Air and Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) Operations Manager Chris Lloyd on Tuesday confirmed that Mr Sanco officially closed his flight plan at 4:58pm on September 26, signalling to air traffic controllers that he was nearing his destination. 
   
   However, according to his family members and caretakers in Rum Cay, the pair never arrived. The Sanco couple were renting a holiday home from Pat and Earl Lambert. 
   
   No reports were made about the missing couple until Friday, October 6 – roughly 10 days after the couple was originally scheduled to turn up. 
   
   The Tribune understands it was at this time reports of the missing couple were disseminated to the United States Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF). 
   
   United States Coast Guard has stressed the RBDF is leading all efforts on the matter. 
   
   Forrest Sanco’s niece, 23-year-old LeeAnn Burger initially tried to raise $10,000 through a Go Fund Me campaign to hire private crews and pilots to find the couple. That target was passed in just a few days and has so far brought in more than $12,000. 
   
   On the gofundme site last night LeeAnn said: “ Due to lack of resources with the Bahamian government and coast guard we have been forced to hire our own private search crews and pilots. This has been costly and could continue to be as we need to search until we find something. 
   
   “Everything we raise will go to our efforts to bring them home whatever it takes! Whether it be continuing to hire private crews, medical expenses, or costs involved in trying to get them back home to us. 
   
   “If there are any funds left over at the conclusion the funds will be split between a fund for Forrest’s daughter Riley and a donation to the Maritime Search and Rescue fund in the hopes no other family will have to bear this burden.” 
   
   Meanwhile the search for the Sancos continues. ||||| A Texas couple who took their private plane to go on a trip of a lifetime in the Bahamas — where they also planned to elope — have now been missing for over two weeks. 
   
   On Sept. 26, Forrest Sanco and Donna Grant of Fort Worth, Texas, took off from Fort Pierce, Florida, and landed in Freeport, Bahamas, but they never made it to their final destination in Rum Cay, where they had rented a house and planned to tie the knot. 
   
   The couple, both 56, who went to high school together, reconnected a year ago on Facebook and instantly knew they were meant to be. 
   
   “They had a whirlwind romance,” Sanco’s neice, Lee-Ann Burger, 23, tells PEOPLE. “He told us that he knew she was the one after their first date.” 
   
   “In true Sanco fashion,” says Burger, he bought a Cessna 150, reinstated his pilot’s license and planned the trip. Because the trip was going to be a romantic adventure for the couple, their families didn’t expect to hear from them often, which is why they didn’t expect anything was wrong until a week had gone by and they hadn’t heard from them. 
   
   “My husband got a call from Forrest’s friend asking if he had heard from him,” Burger says. “He was watching his cat and he hadn’t come to pick him up.” 
   
   It was then that they called Sanco’s employer who said he was supposed to return to work days ago. They knew something must be wrong, Burger recalls, but it was only when they found out that Sanco hadn’t talked to his 10-year-old daughter in several days that they began to panic. 
   
   His ex-wife, which whom he shares joint custody, told Burger that they assumed his silence was just because he was enjoying his vacation. 
   
   Forrest Sanco and Donna Grant LeeAnn Burger 
   
   “I immediately went on social media and found a Facebook page for the Rum Cay community,” says Burger. “A guy named Craig responded and said it was his house they were renting but they never showed up.” 
   
   Craig, who also has a plane, discussed Sanco’s flight plan with him — which gave the family clues as to where they could be. Their last known location was in Freeport, Bahamas, and Sanco’s last post to Instagram was on Sept. 26. 
   
   “We found out they cleared customs in Freeport on the 26th and we were able to find fuel receipts in North Eleuthera,” she says, “but after that, we can’t track them anywhere.” 
   
   “We were able to find a couple local guys with airplanes who have basically been conducting searches for us,” says Burger, who says that due to lack of resources with the Bahamian government and coast guard, the family has had to hire their own private search crews and pilots. 
   
   Reports of the missing couple were disseminated to the United States Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), according to Burger. United States Coast Guard has stressed the RBDF is leading all efforts on the matter, according to the Bahamas Tribune. 
   
   “We have been faced with nothing but resistance. It’s beyond frustrating,” Burger says. 
   
   The family has created a GoFundMe page to help with the steep costs. Although every lead has resulted in a dead end, they’re determined to continue the search. 
   
   “We’re trying to remain hopeful, but we’re also realistic,” says Burger. “I think at this point we’re searching for answers. The ideal situation would obviously be us finding them roasting marshmallows on a deserted island.”
target: – Family got worried when Forrest Sanco didn't come to pick up his cat. Their worry grew when they learned he hadn't shown up to work. They reported Sanco and his girlfriend, Donna Grant, missing Oct. 6—10 days after the couple had flown to the Bahamas on a private plane to elope, People reports. "They had lots of plans and lots to look forward to," Grant's daughter-in-law, Erin Simmons, tells WFAA. Sanco and Grant, of Forth Worth, Texas, went to high school together and fell in love after reconnecting on Facebook last year. Sanco, who had a pilot's license, flew the couple to the Bahamas for a vacation and to get married, arriving in Freeport on Sept. 26. Sanco's last Instagram post shows a Bahamas sunrise. It's the final message family and friends received from the couple. After spending the night in Freeport, Sanco and Grant were supposed to fly on to Rum Cay, where they had rented a house, the Bahamas Tribune reports. Simmons says they made a planned stop on the island of North Eleuthera, where they purchased fuel, and departed for the 121-mile flight to Rum Cay. The owner of their rental house in Rum Cay says they never arrived. Weather reports had called for storms, and Sanco's plane had received unspecified repairs during the trip. Family hadn't expected to hear much from the couple during their vacation and didn't report them missing until they failed to return home. "We're trying to remain hopeful, but we're also realistic," Sanco's niece, Lee-Ann Burger, tells People. "I think at this point we're searching for answers." She says the family has hired private search crews to look for the couple.