Friend Of Greg Biffle Shares Heartbreaking Christmas Card He Received From The Family Days After Their Death

One last Christmas message from his friend.

We’re still waiting on answers surrounding the plane crash that killed retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and six others last week. The private Cessna Citation II with tail number N257BW crashed just minutes after taking off from the airport. According to flight tracking data, the plane took off at around 10:06 AM eastern time, but just minutes later made a turn back towards the airport in an apparent attempt to land.

Along with Biffle, the victims included his wife, Cristina Grossu; their 5-year old son Ryder; his 14-year old daughter from a previous marriage, Emma; Dennis Dutton and his son, Jack; and Craig Wadsworth. At this point it hasn’t been announced who was flying the plane, as three passengers onboard (including Biffle) were licensed pilots.

While the accident is still under investigation, Biffle’s mother-in-law, Cathy Grossu, revealed the heartbreaking text she received from her daughter just minutes before the crash:

“She said something like ‘We’re in trouble, emergency landing.’ And I texted back, ‘What’s wrong with the plane?’”

Cathy says that she never heard back from her daughter, but she knew something was wrong when she got an alert from her iPhone:

“Then the next thing was (the SOS alert) that you get from your automatic Apple phones when you have an accident or something. And so I knew that something was wrong.”

Just a heartbreaking situation, especially this close to the holidays.

The plane was headed to Sarasota, Florida to visit Biffle’s friend and fellow racer Cleetus McFarland, who was hosting his Christmas Tree Drags race at Bradenton Motorsports Park on December 20, before heading to the Bahamas later in the evening.

But in the days ahead of the crash, the Biffle family were apparently hard at work preparing for Christmas – and had apparently just sent out their Christmas cards.

Ron Herbert, a longtime friend of Biffle, took to social media over the weekend to share the now-heartbreaking Christmas card that he received in the mail just two days after the plane crash.

The photo on the card features Biffle along with Cristina, Emma and Ryder – all of whom were killed in the tragic crash. And it included a holiday message from the family:

“We hope that you are able to slow down and enjoy the magic and joy that this season has to offer. We hope you have a great New Year! Sending love, Greg, Cristina, Emma & Ryder.”

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There’s no doubt that it was painful for friends and family to get the card in the mailbox so soon after the tragedy, but as many in the comments pointed out, it was one last holiday greeting from their late friend:

“It’s like they knew close friends and family would need one last warm hug from them.”

Rips your heart out.

The NTSB said yesterday that a preliminary report on the crash will be released within 30 days, but they expect that it will be 12 to 18 months before the final report on their investigation is complete, so it will probably be a while before we know exactly what went wrong with the flight.The post Friend Of Greg Biffle Shares Heartbreaking Christmas Card He Received From The Family Days After Their Death first appeared on Whiskey Riff.