The search for a private jet from Columbus believed to have crashed in Lake Erie was suspended Sunday because of darkness. A bag found along the lakeshore is being investigated for any connection to the plane.

The search for afor a private jet from Columbus believed to have crashed in Lake Erie was suspended Sunday because of darkness.

Search and recovery operations for the Cessna Citation 525 jet will resume at first light Monday morning, Cleveland city and U.S. Coast Guard authorities said. Weather conditions on the lake Monday will be a high of 48 degrees and a chance of light rain after 3 p.m. according to the National Weather Service.

Cleveland police are continuing to investigate whether a bag found in a harbor along the lakeshore is connected to the jet piloted by John T. Fleming of Columbus when it disappeared off radar Thursday shortly after taking off from Burke Lakefront Airport. Police said they have received multiple reports of debris washing ashore east of the airport.

The bag was discovered near the Shoreby Club Harbor in Bratenahl, about 6 miles from the airport.

Radar contact with the Cessna carrying six people from central Ohio was lost about 11:30 p.m., shortly after takeoff.

Divers started searching the lake early Sunday. The Coast Guard, Cleveland Division of Fire and a private dive team launched five boats and a police helicopter to begin the search near the last known location of the plane.

Four of the boats are part of a grid search using sonar to track underwater images for signs of the plane. A fifth is scouring the Lake Erie shore for debris that might have washed ashore. Several boats have dive teams.

The plane was owned and piloted by Fleming, 46, CEO of Superior Beverage Group in Columbus. He and others were returning late Thursday after attending a Cleveland Cavaliers game. Their plane was supposed to make a 30-minute flight from Cleveland to the Ohio State University airport.

Fleming's wife, Suzanne, 46, their two sons, 15-year-old John "Jack" Fleming and 14-year-old Andrew Fleming, neighbor Brian Casey and his 19-year-old daughter, Megan, also were on board the plane. The families lived just north of Dublin.

The city of Cleveland is now leading the operation after the U.S. Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard and local agencies searched the air, water and 1,400 square miles of shoreline for any evidence of wreckage. Nothing was found.

The plane disappeared from radar about 2 miles from the Lake Erie shore where it took off. No signal from the plane's emergency locator transmitter was found during the search.

Now, the search is focused on preserving evidence for federal investigators to try to determine what might have caused the plane to crash. Those investigations often take months to complete.

John T. Fleming's pilot's license was updated in January 2015, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The record doesn't show how long he has been a pilot.

He is licensed to fly single-engine and multi-engine planes, as well as helicopters. Federal records indicate Fleming's two-engine jet was built in 2012 and seats 11.

Investigators were asking the public to contact Cleveland Police at 216-621-1234 or Burke Lakefront Airport at 216-781-6411 if they have information helpful to the search and recovery.

erinehart@dispatch.com

@esrinehart