A father who tracked his two teenage daughters’ phones to the scene of a horrific car crash, where he discovered they had both died, has revealed their heartbreaking final moments and how he plans to pay tribute to them.
Brian Trumble, 45, told DailyMail.com that he called his daughters Hailey, 19, and Shelby, 17, several times after they failed to return home from Seabreeze Amusement Park in Rochester, New York, on August 1.
After tracking them through the Find My Friends app, Brian drove a few miles to their location and saw that police had already cordoned off the crime scene.
He described falling onto the bumper of his car and “not being able to get back up” when emergency workers told him that one of the girls involved in the crash had died.
Brian later learned that a firefighter had stayed with his other daughter “to the end.”
In an interview with DailyMail.com, the heartbroken father revealed that he plans to scatter Hailey and Shelby’s cremated ashes so they can “always be together.”
In an interview with DailyMail.com, Hailey and Shelby’s father Brian described how he fell onto the bumper of his car and “couldn’t get back up” when emergency workers told him one of the girls had died in the crash.
On Thursday night, Brian Trumble, 45, tragically discovered that his daughters Hailey, 19, and Shelby, 17, (pictured) died in a horrific car crash in upstate New York after tracking their cell phones
Brian, a farmer, told DailyMail.com that police at the scene eventually told him to go home and wait for news, so he thought his daughters had already left.
The sisters were driving a Chevy Cobalt eastbound on Ira Hill Road when their car “went over a hill and into the opposite lane, striking a second vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said Monday.
“Hailey and Shelby Trumble both died from injuries they sustained in the crash,” he said.
Just before the girls left for the amusement park that day, Brian gave them $100, telling them he loved them and that they should “have fun and behave.”
Brian believes his daughters were unfamiliar with the “hilly, windy road” when the accident occurred.
The other driver, identified as Robin Latham, 59, was taken to Syracuse University Hospital with serious injuries and is in stable condition.
The girls, who have a 21-year-old brother and two stepsisters, had recently graduated from high school.
Hailey graduated in 2023 and Shelby, who completed a BOCES cosmetology degree in Oswego, graduated in 2024.
He recalled that his last personal conversation was earlier that morning, when he gave them $100 and told them he loved them and to “have fun and behave,” People reported.
He and the girls’ mother, Tina, described their daughters as “simple country girls” who loved animals and the outdoors. (Pictured: Hailey, Shelby and their mother in 2017)
Brian believes his daughters were unfamiliar with the “hilly, windy road” when the accident occurred
Her father told DailyMail.com that Hailey was due to start a new job at a daycare centre on the Monday following the accident and that she had ‘a quality where little children were drawn to her.’
Meanwhile, his youngest daughter, Shelby, worked at a local farm stand selling vegetables.
“She loved it. She was my quiet child and joker,” he said.
He and the girls’ mother, Tina, described their daughters as “simple country girls” who loved animals and the outdoors.
Their love for animals began at a young age, when they spent time on their grandparents’ farm, caring for cows and pigs.
The family also had cats and dogs and once even adopted a pet raccoon, Tina said.
As teenagers, the close-knit sisters would also go to a pasture near their home to watch horses, always bringing along carrots and apples to feed the horses, she said.
The sisters were also volunteers with the CNY Cat Coalition and had just rescued two kittens, Smokey and Bandit, who had been thrown out of a car window a few days before their deaths.
The girls loved fishing growing up. Mother Tina told how when Shelby was in elementary school, she would get off the bus and run straight to the pond.
In honor of the sisters, a memorial with large white crosses has been erected at the site of the accident
The girls recently graduated from high school, Hailey in 2023 and Shelby in 2024 – completing an Oswego BOCES Cosmetology program
Hailey’s cat needed to be amputated and she expected to see that after their trip to Seabreeze on Thursday.
“Our condolences go out to the Trumble family and everyone who loved Hailey and Shelby,” the CNY Cat Coalition said in a Facebook post about the deceased sisters.
“As one of their final acts of kindness, these incredible sisters rescued a pair of abandoned kitten sisters, Bandit and Smokey. They took them in through the Cat Coalition and were planning to adopt them.”
Brian explained that Shelby and Hailey were both “very protective” of him, even using the Find My Friends app to track him down during his late shifts at the farm.
Although Brian and Tina both raised their daughters, he recalls, “I raised them myself for a number of years… they always took good care of me.”
He added that the girls were both organ donors. “Hopefully they helped countless people,” Brian said.
a GoFundMe A page has been set up to help the family pay for the sister’s funeral.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser surpassed its $10,000 goal, reaching a total of $43,000.
As teenagers, the close-knit sisters would walk to a pasture near their home to watch horses
Brian plans to scatter Hailey and Shelby’s cremated ashes so they can ‘always be together’
The cause of the fatal collision is still unclear. An investigation is underway.
A memorial to the sisters was erected at the side of the road, featuring two large white crosses with the letters ‘H’ and ‘S’ on them.
“It’s way too early to say exactly what happened, what caused the crash and what factors played into it,” said Sheriff Brian Schneck. told CNY Central.
“But we’re investigating every piece of evidence we can find.”
He added that authorities have found no evidence that either driver was drunk at the time of the accident.
Brian praised the police and fire departments for all their help, calling them “incredible people” for being there for his daughters.
“I wish I could have helped my daughters,” he said.
“Tell your children you love them, hug them every day.”