July 18, 1999
Web posted at: 5:32 p.m. EDT (2132 GMT)

In this story: Washington watches, awaits news Martha's Vineyard subdued World sadly notes events 'How could this happen again?' RELATED STORIES, SITES

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Sunday's Daily News summed it up in a single word: "Lost."

While Kennedy-watchers and casual observers around the world offered hope and prayers, the New York tabloids -- which closely followed each turn of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s adult life -- summed up the disappearance of the slain president's son, his wife and her sister in typically bold style.

The Daily News declared Kennedy and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, "presumed dead," while the New York Post heralded "More Tears" for one of America's most prominent families.

The search for Kennedy, his wife and her sister, Lauren Bessette, continued into a second day Sunday. Would-be rescuers expressed hope that the trio still could be found alive as they searched the waters off the Massachusetts resort island of Martha's Vineyard for new clues.

In New York City, where the couple have made their home, passers-by laid flowers at the door of the building in lower Manhattan where they live.

"We used to see him a lot around the neighborhood," one New Yorker said. "He seemed like a normal guy, very athletic. Despite all of that, he seemed like a very normal, nice guy."

Vigils for the missing took place from the resort towns of Cape Cod to St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where the late President John F. Kennedy is buried.

Washington watches, awaits news

Although the younger Kennedy avoided elective politics, official Washington -- which his 4-year-old magazine George helped chronicle -- braced for another mournful episode in the dynasty's rollercoaster history.

Visitors visit the grave of President John F. Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia as the search continues

"If America had a Shakespeare, he would write the Kennedy story," began a story in The Washington Post on Sunday. "He would understand immediately that here is the stuff of human life, out-sized and compelling. Ambition, wealth, compassion, power, sex, love, and death."

U.S. President Bill Clinton was following developments in the search. Clinton has said his high school meeting with President Kennedy inspired his political career, and Clinton cultivated the association during his climb to the White House. But he was not alone in reaching out to the Kennedys.

"This family has had a powerful impact not only upon our country, but upon just about every other country in the world," U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) told the U.S. television network ABC. "They are the most important political family in the world for the last 50 years, and I think we all really feel this sense of loss."

U.S. Vice President Al Gore opened a campaign appearance in Long Beach, California, Saturday with a moment of prayer "that they may be returned to us safely and soon."

Added U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican presidential contender from Utah and friend of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s uncle, Democratic Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts: "This is one of the great political dynasties in the country. Everyone in this family gives public service. It's a family that's given fine public service."

Martha's Vineyard subdued

On Martha's Vineyard, residents used to rubbing elbows with America's elite maintained a subdued tone.

"One of our neighbors is missing, and we hope he returns safely," said resident Mark Harding.

The command center for the search has received dozens of offers of help, ranging from possible witnesses to the crash to psychics offering to assist the recovery effort, said Lt. Craig Jaramillo, a Coast Guard spokesman.

"One said, 'I've never been on the East Coast, but I know they're somewhere in a cove,'" Jaramillo said. The tips will be passed along to the National Transportation Safety Board, he said.

Kennedy and his wife were to drop her sister off in Martha's Vineyard before continuing on to Hyannisport, the Kennedys' longtime family compound, for a cousin's wedding.

In Greenwich, Connecticut, where Carolyn Bessette Kennedy grew up, a young woman described the couple -- and the Kennedy family -- as "the closest thing we have to royalty in this country."

"Suppose you consider JFK Jr. almost a prince," she said. "We all watched him grow up, and you see the video of him saluting at his father's funeral."

World sadly notes events

Around the world, news outlets and political leaders sadly noted the apparent loss of yet another Kennedy, even though the younger Kennedy was not as well known internationally as other family members.

"They had it all: beauty, intelligence, money, culture and charm. The only thing they lacked was the most important -- the luck to enjoy it," the Spanish newspaper El Mundo began.

Pope John Paul II offered prayers, telling aides, "This is only the latest tragedy that family has suffered," spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

Even Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi offered a statement of condolence. The Libyan news agency Jana said he had "expressed my sorrow for the loss of John Kennedy Jr., son of the former president John Kennedy, and his wife."

But Gadhafi needled U.S. authorities for failing to quickly locate the missing aircraft and its passengers, "as the USA claims to know everything, however small," Jana said.

'How could this happen again?'

In Hyannisport, Kennedy was considered among the best-liked of the clan. Residents called the vigil "the center of the whole cape's conversation."

"How could this happen again?" one resident asked. "It was just a shock."

The family remained in seclusion Sunday. The wedding scheduled for Saturday was postponed. Ted Kennedy, the family's surviving patriarch, and other family members sought comfort in a quick sailing excursion, a longtime family sport.

Family associates and political observers said John F. Kennedy Jr. was always seen as a more "normal" Kennedy, one who avoided the vigorous -- and sometimes dangerous -- lives other family members have led.

"I was surprised to learn he was flying an airplane," said author Barbara Gibson, a former employee of the family's late matriarch, Rose Kennedy. John F. Kennedy Jr.'s mother.

"I didn't think it was in keeping with his character. When he was younger, he never seemed to be a daredevil type or competitive like some of the other Kennedys," she said.

Said Boston Globe writer David Nyhan, who has followed the Massachusetts clan's rises and falls since the 1960s, "I think one saving grace about this sad episode is that he was flying his own plane."

"He was at the controls, his decision. You could probably fault him for inexperience as a pilot, but at least it wasn't some creep with a gun."

Correspondents Chris Black, Bill Delaney and John King and Reuters contributed to this report, which was written by Matt Smith.

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