NASCAR Driver's Wife Sent Final Text Before Fatal Plane Crash

Cristina Biffle's final text message to her mother was brief and alarming: "We're in trouble." The message came from the private plane that crashed Thursday, killing NASCAR champion Greg Biffle, 55; his wife, Cristina Grossu Biffle; their 5-year-old son, Ryder; and Greg's 14-year-old daughter, Emma, along with Dennis Dutton and his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth, according to Cristina's mother, Cathy Grossu. The group had been flying to Florida for what Grossu described to People magazine as a "birthday trip." Greg would have turned 56 next week, TMZ reports.

Grossu says she received the text and then nothing more. "She texted me from the plane and she said, 'We're in trouble.' And that was it," she said, adding that she is "brokenhearted" and struggling with not remembering her final words to her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. The family had been at her house the day before. "I know we hugged, but I don't remember those last words and that's going to haunt me," she said. The cause of the crash, which occurred not long after takeoff after the plane attempted to return to the airport from which it had just departed. NBC News reports two pilots were on board at the time: Greg Biffle, to whom the plane was registered, and Dennis Dutton. It's not clear who was flying the plane.

Relatives and friends described Cristina as devoted to her children and to charitable efforts, including arranging Santa letters to be sent to families in need. On the eve of the trip, Grossu said, her daughter asked her to pick up 17 remaining letters so she could finish and mail them before boarding the plane. A friend, Erica Zangwill, called Cristina "one in a million" who "loved helping other people before herself." In a statement, Rep. Richard Hudson, a friend of the Biffles, said he was "devastated by the loss" and praised Greg as both a NASCAR star and a person known for helping others; the New York Post reports his humanitarian efforts included helping with disaster relief in North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Families of all three parties released a joint statement saying they were "heartbroken beyond words" by the crash.