FAA: Pilot reported engine problems
The plane this girl was on had left the warm, sunny climes of Key West, Florida, earlier Friday, heading for Mount Vernon, Illinois -- a small city of about 15,000 people abuot 80 miles east of St. Louis.
Until something went wrong. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen explained that air traffic controllers "lost contact with a Piper PA-34 aircraft ... shortly after the pilot reported engine problems, and (said) that he was diverting to the Kentucky Dam State (Park) Airport."
The twin-engine aircraft didn't make it, crashing in Lyon County, about 30 miles east of Paducah, and less than 10 miles from the airport.
Soon after, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board dispatched teams to investigate the crash.
The grieving has already begun. Kentucky State Police identified the dead early Saturday as Marty Gutzler, 49, Kimberly Gutzler, 45, and 9-year-old Piper Gutzler -- a husband, wife and their daughter. Also killed was 14-year-old Sierra Wilder, the survivor's cousin. All were from Nashville, Illinois.
The name of the surviving girl was withheld at the request of the family.
"(First responders) worked tirelessly to find this wreckage and hopefully salvage the lives of those that were on board," Kentucky State Police Lt. Brent White told CNN affiliate KFVS. "But, ultimately, it just wasn't meant to be."
Police: 'It's just really a miracle'
How the youngest person on the plane managed to emerge alive also hit close to home for many like White, who has a 8-year-old girl of his own.
"When I saw ... what appeared to be a 7-year-old child that had walked through this dense forest and through some really touch terrain and some awfully poor conditions tonight and survived this," White said, "it's just really a miracle."
Wilkins believes the girl saw his street lights from the woods, and thankfully found him -- in one of only three homes in his neighborhood that are occupied in winter.
Thinking about what the 7-year-old went through, and what comes next, brings tears to Wilkins' eyes, he said.
"I just feel so sorry for that little girl, I can't understand it," Wilkins said. "... I just can't imagine (going through) that, for someone that young."
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