A GoFundMe has been launched for the young daughter of a couple killed when their vehicle was swept away in flood waters in Hoover.
The bodies of Myles Jared Butler and Latin Marie Hill, both 23, were recovered Thursday morning after their vehicle disappeared during Wednesday night flash flooding in the 1100 block of Riverchase Parkway West.
The couple leaves behind 1-year-old daughter Ava. Donations to the GoFundMe can be made here.https://ed37819e545e82fc9c630de67554c3f1.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
“We are raising money to help support the Butler family with memorial expenses and for their sweet daughter Ava as she continues to grow without her beloved parents,’’ according to the GoFundMe. “Dee Butler, Myles’ mom, has been a huge part of Homewood sports and has given so much of her time to our Youth sports, we would love to show support back to her and help her through this tragic loss.”
Homewood Athletics released this statement about Butler: “Homewood Athletics is sad to share the news of the death of a former member of our Boys Basketball family, Myles Butler. Myles lost his life in the storms that swept through Jefferson County last night. He graduated in 2016 and was a member of the 2016 Homewood High School State Championship Basketball team. Coaches and teammates have fond memories of Myles as a loving and caring teammate, always with a smile on his face. Our deepest sympathies are with the Butler family at this time.”
Butler worked in child care at the YMCA.
Butler and Latin were driving Wednesday night when their vehicle drove into “raging” flood waters. It was about 8:30 p.m. when the vehicle hydroplaned and briefly landed on a guardrail, trapping the man and woman inside.
Hoover firefighters responded to the scene but were unable to reach the victims because of the swift water and the location of the vehicle.
Within minutes, authorities said, the vehicle flipped over the guardrail into the creek below. At least one witness told first responders they saw the vehicle float past their house and then sink in the lake.
The vehicle was found about 9 a.m. Thursday with their bodies of inside, according to officials. The discovery was made about 75 to 100 yards from where it washed off the road and was submerged in about eight to 10 feet of water.
“It’s very heartbreaking for our first responders to respond there and to try to do everything you can to save those people and unfortunately not be able to,’’ said Hoover police Capt. Keith Czeskleba. “It’s very tragic for our first responders to have to go through something like that. It’s really tough, and we’ve got things in place to help them out in the future.”
“We just could not get to them in time before the water took their car out of sight,’’ Czeskleba said.