Late last night a story broke that hits every emotional note imaginable. A 7-year-old is the soul survivor in a Kentucky plane crash that took the lives of both of her parents, her older sister and her cousin as well. Kentucky State Police identified the dead early Saturday (Jan. 3) as Marty Gutzler, 48, Kimberly Gutzler, 46, and 9-year-old Piper Gutzler. Also killed was 14-year-old Sierra Wilder, the survivor's cousin. All were from Nashville, Illinois.
According to a report by CNN, the young girl's fight for survival was nothing short of amazing as she knocked on Larry Wilkins door after walking away from the wreckage.
"She told me that her mom and dad were dead," Wilkins said. "And that she had been in a plane crash."
The girl's sister and cousin also died when their Piper PA-34 aircraft went down Friday evening in western Kentucky. Even with the plane upside down, the 7-year-old made it out, trekked three-quarters of a mile in the dark through what Wilkins described as "very, very rough territory" — mired with fallen trees, creeks, ditches and blackberry briars.
"The girl was barefoot except for one sock and was dressed for Florida — shorts, no coat — not for slogging through the January cold of Kentucky," says CNN. "Wilkins got her on his couch and called 911, alerting authorities that a plane had gone down and there was at least one survivor."
Investigators are beginning to piece together what happened and air traffic controllers say that they lost contact with a Piper PA-34 aircraft not long after the pilot reported engine problems. Gutzler reportedly tried to divert to Kentucky Dam State Airport but crashed about ten miles before it. The young girl is reportedly being treated in the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
