LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Forty-eight hours after a UPS cargo plane crashed in Louisville, killing 13 people, the community gathered Thursday night for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims and support families still waiting for answers.
Many people stood in silence outside Teamsters Local 89 as the vigil began, marking the same time of day smoke filled Louisville’s sky on Tuesday when Flight 2976 went down shortly after takeoff.
UPS employees, people who knew victims, families and everyday residents came together to pray, embrace and share the light of their candles.
“We started praying, praying for them and everything to keep all the families and I'm still praying that they will find the other people,” said Rose Miller, who frequents Grade A Auto Parts — the salvage yard struck directly by the plane.
“I had to come, cause some of them might be the ones I truly talk to all the time and I don't want to miss this moment,” said Terry Beard, a recent UPS retiree. “I'm like Lord just grab them and hold on to them.”
A row of 13 crosses stood for the 13 victims known so far. Tears fell as the names of the first three UPS identified were read aloud: Captain Richard Wartenberg, First Officer Lee Truitt and International Relief Officer Captain Dana Diamond.
At Grade A Auto Parts, owner Sean Garber said he’s waiting for word on three of his employees as the coroner continues working to identify victims who have been found.
“I'm heartbroken for the people showed up for work Tuesday and didn't go home. That's not what they signed up for,” Garber said. Two of the missing employees are women in their 30s, each with two children, and the third was a “gentleman I've known since 1996," Garber said.
“Our customers knew them and loved them,” he said.
As candles burned lower and flickered in the wind, a chaplain closed the vigil by reading a psalm: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
As planes flew overhead, the crowd stood in shared grief — an emotional reminder of how fragile life is.
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