Ethel Kennedy, center, wearing cap, walks with family members, while awaiting the outcome of the search for John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s plane Sunday  ALSO: Kennedy Image Gallery

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Kennedy tragedy

July 19, 1999
Web posted at: 3:07 p.m. EDT (1907 GMT)

HYANNISPORT, Massachusetts (CNN) -- A grim vigil is expected to resume Monday at the Kennedy compound.

Late Sunday, the compound went silent, and the street outside, where hundreds of reporters are gathered, became quiet, after authorities broke the news that hope had run out for finding John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and sister-in-law alive after a plane crash. They are now presumed dead.

The family has kept a vigil since news that the plane, piloted by Kennedy, was missing. It vanished from radar on Friday -- authorities were notified overnight on Saturday, and a massive search has been under way since, in the waters near Martha's Vineyard.

During the day on Sunday, as the U.S. Coast Guard scoured the ocean floor, seeking any sign of survivors, or debris from the plane, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walked the beach and looked out over the Atlantic.

Later he and other family members, including his mother, Ethel, his sister Rory and her fiance, Mark Bailey, went sailing on the calm waters of Nantucket Sound.

But Sunday night, members of the Kennedy clan slowly dispersed after the Coast Guard informed them that it was unlikely anyone survived the crash.

Many left the family's compound before the Coast Guard held its press conference, with the news it was switching from a rescue mission for survivors, to a focus on recovering wreckage.

Earlier, several members of the Kennedy clan left the compound, speeding past reporters in their vehicles.

A few lights could be seen in the compound as darkness descended and hope was extinguished.

An American flag flew at the top of its mast during the day, even as officials warned that hope was dwindling.

The white tent that had been erected for the wedding of Robert Kennedy's youngest daughter, Rory -- the event that John Kennedy Jr. had flown to Cape Cod to attend -- still stood, although the wedding was canceled.

Across from the tent, inside Ethel Kennedy's house in the compound, a Mass was held at which she handed out communion wafers and her brother-in-law, Sen. Edward Kennedy, served the communion wine.

The crowd of onlookers who gathered in recent days are expected to return Monday, gathering outside the family compound, where local children sell water and cold soda, lemonade and ice cream to the hordes of reporters waiting for news.

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