The husband of a sports reporter killed in a Louisiana plane crash Saturday told Sports Illustrated about the last message he received from her.
Carley McCord was one of five killed in after a small plane bound for Atlanta crashed in the city of Lafayette, LA. Her husband was Steven Ensminger Jr., son of LSU offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger.
Ensminger told Sports Illustrated that he missed a call and a text from his wife the morning of the crash. "I don't have my phone and she sends me a message saying she loved me," he said. "It is by far the most pain, angst and terror and just darkest time of my life and I honestly don't know how long it will last because I still don't believe it. I don't want to believe it."
In addition to McCord: the plane's pilot, Ian E. Biggs, 51; Robert Vaughn Crisp II, 59; Gretchen D. Vincent, 51; and Michael Walker Vincent, 15 were identified as the other victims of the crash. Meanwhile, 37-year-old Stephen Wade Berzas remains hospitalized in critical condition, according to NBC station KLAF.
Lafayette Fire Department spokesman Alton Trahan said the plane caught fire after it crashed and that the flames engulfed a car nearby.
McCord's family has set up a memorial scholarship in her name at her alma mater, Northwestern State University, according to the New Orleans Advocate.
The scholarship will go to a woman pursuing a career in sports journalism at NSU. The family will review applications and choose a recipient every year.
"Carley would be so excited about this scholarship," Kaleigh McCord-Pedersen, McCord's sister, said. "She would have been ecstatic. She was so, so enthusiastic about women in sports. It was such a big deal for her that women got the opportunity to have the career in sports that men can have."
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