Pictured: Georgia family of five killed in small plane crash
A family-of-five, including the parents, their two sons and their grandfather pilot, have been killed in a plane crash in upstate New York. The family, from Georgia, had flown up to the region for a baseball tournament, where their eldest child hit a home run.
The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-46, was being flown by the children's grandfather 76-year-old Roger Beggs, when it came down in a rural, wooded area at around 2pm on Sunday afternoon.
Beggs was killed in the crash alongside his daughter Laura VanEpps, 43, her husband, Ryan, 42, and their two children 12-year-old James and his brother Harrison VanEpps, who was 10.
The plane had just taken off from Alfred S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta when it crashed in Delaware County, near Sidney, about 40 miles northeast of Binghamton. The wreckage of the plane and the remains of the five people on board were found Sunday night in the town of Masonville, the New York State Police said.
Drones, all-terrain vehicles and helicopters were used to search for the remote crash site, which is about 125 miles northwest of New York City. The family had begun their return journey back to Alpharetta, Georgia in the Atlanta suburbs after watching their 12-year-old son, James' baseball team play in a tournament in Cooperstown, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
James hit a grand slam during the youth baseball tournament. In a moving tribute on Monday, players at the Oneonta baseball ground where James had played on Sunday, laid out out their gloves in his initials: J. R. 'As we grapple with this unimaginable loss, let us come together to remember and celebrate the beautiful lives they lived,' the Van Epps family said in a statement posted on Facebook. 'Their kindness, laughter and love will forever be etched in our hearts.'
Such sentiments were echoed by Ryan's father, Jim Van Epps. 'It's just a massive tragedy for our family and the end of five great lives, especially young lives,' Van Epps said of the loss of his son, his daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. Van Epps said that his grandsons were doing well in school and in sports, with 10-year-old Harrison an up-and-coming lacrosse player. 'Ryan and Laura supported their boys in whatever endeavor they wanted to do,' he said.
Laura Van Epps' father Beggs had volunteered to fly the family to upstate New York and came to watch the tournament with them. The plane had been heading back to Cobb County International Airport in Atlanta with a fueling stop in West Virginia when it crashed, state police said. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said on the social media platform X that he and his family were praying for the victims' families. 'As we learn of this tragic news, please join Marty, the girls, and me in praying for the loved ones of the Beggs and VanEpps families,' Kemp wrote.
'We offer our deepest condolences to all who knew and loved them.' 'We were neighbors. We would see each other every day and we'd always say hi to the boys and they would come over sometimes. They just lived across the street, and we would always wave and say hi and they were lovely,' neighbor Caroline Slayton said to Atlanta News First. 'We're all just devastated. They were the kindest family and the sweetest people.' The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
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