Caracas, Jun 28 (IANS/EFE): The Venezuelan government announced Thursday that the wreckage of a small plane that went missing in January with the oldest son of Italian fashion designer Ottavio Missoni aboard has been found.

"The missing aircraft disappeared last Jan 4 ... on the Los Roques - Maiquetia route," Interior Ministry spokesman Jorge Galindo said on Twitter.

Vittorio Missoni, his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni; and two other Italian nationals were on board, as well as the pilot and co-pilot, when the twin-engine aircraft went missing over Caribbean waters.

Vittorio, 58, was the oldest son of Ottavio Missoni, founder of a high-end fashion house and a luxury hotel chain bearing the family name.

Italian media described Vittorio, the fashion house's marketing director, as the Missoni brand's global ambassador.

The Missoni couple and their friends had been on vacation in the Los Roques archipelago starting Dec 28 and had been scheduled to return to Italy on the night of Jan 4.

The location of the aircraft came one week after Venezuelan authorities found another small plane that had disappeared Jan 4, 2008, with 14 people on board, including eight Italians. That flight had gone missing when the plane was en route from Caracas to Los Roques.

Los Roques, some 200 km north of Caracas, is one of Venezuela's main tourist destinations.