The former New Yorker who died in the Bahamas Thanksgiving helicopter crash was Lance Valdez, a distinguished tax lawyer and father of three.
Friends say Lance, the Mexican-national founder of Pioneer Capital, lived at an Upper East Side townhouse with wife Dasha and their three children before they moved to the Bahamas a few years ago.
They bought a home in the exclusive enclave Lyford Cay, where residents include Sean Connery, fashion mogul Peter Nygard and hedge funder Louis Bacon. Valdez, 48, was traveling with mega-developer Jeff Soffer, the owner of Miami’s Fontainebleau Hotel, and three other Americans to Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club on Great Guana Cay on Thursday when their helicopter was hit by an unexpected gust of wind as it landed, sending it into a tailspin.
Soffer, the billionaire ex-boyfriend of Elle Macpherson, was recovering last night in a Miami hospital after being flown back to the US by media mogul and racing-team owner Roger Penske, while the pilot is believed to be in serious condition in a Bahamas medical facility.
Contrary to reports, sources tell us Valdez was not the owner of the doomed helicopter, which had been leased from an unknown company.
Friends paid tribute to Valdez yesterday, including longtime pal Jamie Dingman, an American investor, who told Page Six, “The tragedy has left those of us that knew Lance with a space in our hearts that may never be filled.
“Lance lived his life with passion, intelligence and love. One needs only to look at what Lance held closest to his heart in order to see their friend again. His three beautiful children and his incredible wife, Dasha, these are who Lance held above all. Our love and prayers go to all his family, I can’t express to you how much he was loved. Lance, you will be missed.”
A team from the Civil Aviation Department yesterday traveled to Abaco to probe the crash, while police are referring all inquiries to the US Embassy in Nassau. Soffer’s reps have so far not commented.