Craig’s Story

Thursday afternoon, January 4, 2007, we received a call from our daughter-in-law, Deserae, telling us that Craig’s plane was missing. Craig and his flying partner had left Indiana that morning. They were to have landed at Batesville, Ark to fuel up. They never made it.

Craig and Deserae were living in McKinney, Texas so Stewart and I packed up and left for Texas. Des’s parents (Perry and Kathy) were on their way too. Through phone conversations in the car, Stewart and Perry decided to head to Arkansas. Perry came back from Des’s and met us at Sherman, Texas (about 30 min from McKinney). Stewart got in with Perry. I went on to Des’s house. Izzie, 7 months, thought it was wonderful having “Mimi” (Kathy) and “BamMa” (me) there to play with her.

We were so thankful for the weather. The temperature had been in the 60s and would continue. One comfort came from the full moon. We could look at the moon and know that the same moon was also looking over Craig.

Stewart and Perry drove to Edmond, OK and spent the night with Jon Hansen. Friday morning, all three went to Wiley Post Airport. As soon as the fog cleared, the highway patrol pilot flew them to Batesville, Arkansas.

In the meantime, Des and I were pacing the floor wanting to be in Arkansas. Kathy said she’d stay with Izzie, so Des and I left for Batesville, Arkansas Friday morning. We took highway 75 through Texas and into eastern Oklahoma.

We saw so many signs of Craig along the way. He loved flags and we saw them in so many unusual places...up on the hill, made out of rocks, and in the field. We passed “Craig Trailers”. We could feel Craig with us.

We kept in constant contact with our daughter, Christy. She had also been following the progress on the TV and the internet.

Meanwhile, Stewart, Jon, Perry, Major Larry Alexander (OHP) and the pilots, Jerry Green and John Girten, had landed at Batesville, Ark. That is when Stewart got the news that they had found the plane, and there were no survivors.

Des and I were about 30 minutes from Jay, OK. Stewart called and asked us to pull over. He told us the news. Des and I parked on the side of the road feeling the impact of the message we just received. We drove on to Jay, where a highway patrolman picked us up and took us to the Grove airport. Craig’s flight company was waiting for us with a plane to take us to Batesville, Ark. The plane we flew in was just like the one Craig was flying. He had also flown this plane. It was very hard for us to get in the plane, but we were okay.

The flight was smooth as we sat in the backseat of the plane. As I was holding Des’s left hand, I looked down at her ring and it just hit me, “Des is a widow”.

It had been foggy and cloudy all day, but after about 30 minutes of being in the air, the sky cleared up and the sun was shining. We smiled and felt Craig with us and God’s comfort. When we landed we said, “That was for Craig” and we knew he’d be proud of us.

At the airport, Stewart, Jon, Perry, Larry, the pilots, and David Jones, an Arkansas State Trooper were there. Also our niece Melinda and Brandon Barton had driven up. Brandon was prepared to hike through the hills in search of the plane. The lounge of the airport was filled with submarine sandwiches and KFC, with lots of pop and water.

Motel arrangements had been made for us all at the Comfort Inn Suites in Batesville, AR Our friends, Bob and Sheila Suvino, drove from Fayetteville, AR and spent the night too.

Friday morning they had discovered the plane. The plane was found about one mile south from the Batesville airport. The plane had hit the tree tops, flipped over and landed upside down. Weather may have played a factor.

Jon went to the crash site with the team. When he got to the plane, he cut Craig’s seatbelt off and pulled him gently out of the plane. Jon held him and talked to him. That was such a comfort to us. Jon said he only had a few cuts and scratches on him. The impact killed them instantly.

Saturday we all went to the crash site. They had made a mile-long trail to get to the plane. We walked all around the plane and debris. We saw Craig’s lunch box, coat, water bottle and phone cord. We walked down towards the slope and in the distance we saw a white church steeple.

We could feel Craig telling us everything was okay. Des and I noticed the pretty rocks. We both picked up rocks to take with us. We got one for Christy and the kids. As we left the site, we continued to feel a peace of God’s comfort and Craig’s presence. Before we left, we all got in a circle, held hands and prayed.

We received a lot of calls on our cell phones, and we also kept checking our answering machine at home. What we heard over and over was, “We are praying for you”. We felt such a comfort and truly felt the prayers. That’s the best message someone can receive at a time like this.

The Arkansas trooper, David Jones, was off on Saturday, but he spent the day with us taking us where we needed to go. We went to the Criminal Investigation Division of the Independence County Sheriffs’ office where they released Craig’s belongings to Des. His lunch box contained two apples, a fruit cup, pretzels, and a yogurt (our inspiration for healthy eating); also his coat, planner book (with Izzie’s picture on the front), watch, wallet, chapstick and dental floss, etc. We were touched by the moment he handed her Craig's wedding ring, the one she had given him on their wedding day, and the symbol of their union. She quietly slipped it onto her own finger. With this ring...till death do us part. They told us they had looked through his suitcase. They said, “His clothes are okay and so is his PlayStation and games.” We had to laugh at that. Des said anytime he went somewhere for night (on a flight trip), he always brought his PS2 along because he never had time to play it at home.