Who was on Flight QZ8501? Mothers, brothers, a veteran pilot, a fiancé …

A man who was about to be married. Missionaries, a biology teacher and an energy executive. Families on vacation. Pilots with years of experience.

The lives of 162 people intersected December 28 on what was supposed to be a roughly two-hour AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore.

Now their families are dealing with the likelihood all lives were lost, after Indonesian officials announced they’d found debris from Flight QZ8501 and some passengers’ bodies.

Many family members were seen in tears as airline CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted his condolences: “My heart is filled with sadness… words cannot express how sorry I am.”

My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences … http://t.co/OJGobL93cR

As they wait for confirmation of the fate of their loved ones, details are emerging about the lives of the 138 adults, 16 children and one infant on board. Here’s what we know so far:

Nikolas Theo Santoso and Elbert Soesilo

Wednesday was supposed to be the first day of a new semester at IPH School in Surabaya, Indonesia.

But instead of children’s laughter, the school grounds were filled with sobs of grief as the Christian school held a memorial service for Nikolas Theo Santoso and Elbert Soesilo, who were on board the AirAsia flight.

Teachers comforted students mourning the loss of their two friends, saying they are now with God.

Ten-year-old Nikolas, known as an outspoken and cheerful student to his peers and teachers, always liked to ask questions in class and tell stories.

“We will miss him, our classroom will be quiet without him,” says Fony Sanjaya, Nikolas’ teacher.

An empty space now stands where 11-year-old Elbert’s desk used to be in the middle of the classroom.

Sanjaya described Elbert as a polite, active boy who “never forgot to say thank you,” and loved playing soccer and basketball.

Before the school broke off for the holidays in December, she asked both boys what the new year would mean for both of them.

She recalls Nikolas vowing to work hard at school and Elbert saying he “wants to be a better person” in 2015.

In his spare time, he was a member of a motorcycle club, according to media reports. Pictures on Facebook show the captain posing with a motorcycle.

A post on a social media account thought to belong to the pilot’s daughter, Angela Anggi Ranastianis, reads: “Dad, please come home, I still need you. Please return, Dad. Dad, come home Dad. You have to come home.”

Irianto’s wife, Rr. Widiya Sukati Putri, said she wanted to know where he was.

“I hope as his wife, he will be back well and alive. The children still need a father, I still also need guidance from a husband,” she said. “He’s a good husband in my eyes and he’s a faithful husband, a great husband. I can’t name all his qualities.”

The family, which lives in Indonesia, had recently suffered a loss. The captain’s younger brother died of diabetes just days ago.

“I want my son to come back, alive and well,” his father, Suwarto, told the BBC. “But if that’s not meant to be, if God doesn’t want that, it’s in the hands of fate.”

First Pilot Remi Emmanuel Plesel

The plane’s 46-year-old co-pilot originally hailed from the French Caribbean island of Martinique.

“Since his childhood, he wanted to be an airplane pilot,” said his mother, Rolande Plesel, according to Le Parisien.

His mother told media there that she had gotten a call from his girlfriend on Sunday with news of the missing flight.

He studied in Paris, according to French media, and had worked as an engineer for the Total oil company, but left to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot, Martinique 1ère reported.

The first officer had a total of 2,275 flying hours with AirAsia Indonesia. He was the president of a French pilot association.

He’d been working as a pilot in Indonesia for three years, Le Parisien said, and he called his family in Martinique before each flight.

On Saturday, he called them on his iPad, looking at all the family’s Christmas decorations from afar.

CNN’s Gary Tuchman, Andrew Stevens, David Molko, Elizabeth Joseph, Jethro Mullen, Justin Lear, Rosa Flores, Lucy Isman, Wilfred Chan, Dorrine Mendoza, Joe Johns, Tony Marco and Michael Holmes and journalist Naomi Ng contributed to this report.

CNN