Retired NASCAR star Greg Biffle's wife, Cristina Grossu Biffle, texted her mother an unsettling message just before the fatal plane crash on Thursday that killed the couple and their family, along with three others.
"She texted me from the plane and she said, 'We're in trouble.' And that was it," a crying Cathy Grossu said in an interview.
"So we're devastated. We're brokenhearted."
The private aircraft crashed while attempting to return to Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina minutes after takeoff.
Grossu revealed that the family was headed to Florida for a "birthday trip" when the jet went down.
"To think that they would be killed on a birthday trip, that was just such a fun time for the family," she said.
"And to see the horrific way that it ended, it's just, it is so hard to bear. I cannot believe they're gone."
The crash claimed the lives of seven people in all, including Greg Biffle, 55; Cristina Grossu Biffle, 35; their son Ryder, 5; Greg Biffle's daughter Emma, 14, from his previous marriage; Dennis Dutton and his son Jack Dutton; and Craig Wadsworth.
It was only the day before that Greg Biffle and Cristina Grossu Biffle were visiting her home, Grossu said.
"I don't remember what the last words that I said to my daughter or to Greg or to my precious Ryder. I don't remember," she said.
"I know we hugged, but I don't remember those last words, and that's going to haunt me. But they were happy."
Her grandson, Ryder, and step-granddaughter, Emma, as well as Greg Biffle, "had so much life" and were "doing so many good things" before the crash, Grossu said.
"They embraced every aspect of their life and every moment," she said.
"And it's such a loss. They touched so many people's lives.
"It is so hard to bear. I cannot believe they're gone," Grossu said.
The Biffle, Dutton, and Wadsworth families released a joint statement on Thursday afternoon, acknowledging the magnitude of their loss.
"We are devastated by the loss of our loved ones," the families said. "This tragedy has left all of our families heartbroken beyond words."
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