'I was hoping that he could be found': Family mourns Oviedo man who died during training mission near Japan

OVIEDO, Fla. - A family is mourning following the death of a service member who died in a plane crash in Japan.

33-year-old Tech Sgt. Zachary Lavoy died during a training mission last month. 

"I was hoping that he was spared. I mean I didn’t feel it in my heart that he was gone, I was hoping that he could be found at any minute," says Gabriela Lavoy, mother of Zachary Lavoy. 

Zach was one of the eight victims. 

"He was passionate about his job, about helping people…he wanted to find ways of treating people that had trauma." says Lavoy. 

And now, it’s Gabriela going through trauma and heartbreak. 

"I opened the door and they were in an Air Force uniform and I was like why are they here…and I brought them in my house and they said he was missing," says Lavoy. 

The aircraft, Lavoy was on crashed into an island near Japan on November 29th. 

"It was unbelievable. I didn’t think anything could hurt my son. You think your kids are invincible. I didn’t think anything could happen to him. I always thought he would be found alive," says Lavoy. 

The search started off as a rescue mission but after days of looking…the search turned into a recovery. 

"Zachary had a great faith. He would send me some devotionals and sometimes I would vent and he would say just pray for them Mom, let it go." 

Gabriela says Zach used to live in Oviedo and joined the military 10 years ago. As a Florida native, she says her son was planning to return to the Sunshine State one day. 

"He loved Florida, he always wanted to go back there. He thought when he finished his contract one day he would want to go back." 

The family has also created a GoFundMe.