Hailey and Shelby Trumble died in a car crash in upstate New York on August 1. The sisters had spent the day at an amusement park but didn't return home on time. Their father, Brian Trumble, tried to contact them several times and ultimately discovered they had been involved in a fatal collision by using GPS to track their location.
Trumble confirmed to People that he learned of his daughters' location at the crash site by using the Find My Friends app. When he got to the crash scene, police confirmed his worst fear. His daughters were dead, and life would never be the same.
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The girls were apparently unfamiliar with the area where the crash occurred.
Trumble told People that police explained that his daughters had been using the GPS on Hailey's phone to get home. They were traveling from Seabreeze Amusement Park in Rochester, New York, back home to Granby, but they never made it. He said his daughters weren't used to the "hilly, windy road," and they were likely driving too fast when the accident occurred.
The Chevy Cobalt they were driving apparently caused a head-on collision.
Per a news release from the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, the girls were "traveling East bound on Ira Hill Road in the Town of Ira near the intersection of Farnam Road when the vehicle crested a hill and crossed into the opposite lane, striking a second vehicle."
Shelby, 17, and Hailey, 19, were pronounced dead, and the driver of the second vehicle was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries.
Trumble's girlfriend alerted him to the crash.
After sending multiple unanswered texts, Trumble said he tracked the girls' location to Cato, and his girlfriend said, "Oh my God, I heard something happened on Ferris Road." He got to the site, and the police delivered the devastating news.
"I just sat on my bumper, and I couldn't stand up," the dad told People, adding that emergency responders were helpful. "They were great."
The fact that his daughters died together brings him solace.
Trumble told People that losing his girls at the same time was devastating, but he is glad they are together forever.
"It does oddly bring some sort of a comfort," he said. "I mean, I wish none of this happened, but it does give me some kind of comfort that they're together."
Both teens were organ donors, and the family plans to have their remains cremated.
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A celebration of life is planned for the girls.
It will take place on August 10, at Traub Funeral Home in Central Square, the father confirmed to People.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised $42,000, surpassing its original $10,000 goal.
The father said he will never forget his sweet daughters. "They touched so many people," the father told People. "Everybody that met 'em just loved them. They're just super sweet and kind and really smart, very smart. They were pretty much just figuring out what they were wanting to do."
