surprised in the sense that anybody could do that under the circumstances. but then i thought about it and said well sailor, that probably makes sense. she s a scrappy kid. reporter: in her small hometown of nashville, the community struggles to recover from such a horrific loss coming so soon after the holidays. a community can never prepare for something like this. reporter: at the church sailor s father attended their pastor says the family meant a lot to this community and to this church. this is a blow us to. reporter: aboard the twin engine plane were sailor s mother and father marty and kimberly gutzler, her nine-year-old sister piper, and 14-year-old cousin sierra wilder. sierra s grieving mother spoke with cnn s anderson cooper. sierra was so kind to everybody. thank god that i got to hug her and kiss her before she left. reporter: a family spokesman says sailor is now being raised by relatives but that no more
the 7-year-old miracle girl who survived a plane crash that killed four other family members is back in illinois this morning. relatives will now raise sailor gutzler who somehow escaped a burning plane in the woods of kentucky before then wandering a mile in the cold to find help. the death of her mother father sister and cousin sending shock waves through her tiny hometown. we will speak in a moment with another man who managed to walk away from a fiery plane crash. but first we wan to bring in cnn s george howell live from nashville, illinois sailor s grieving hometown. good morning, george. good morning. this is certainly a mix of emotions here. in her hometown. on one hand people are grateful that sailor survived this horrific crash. but at the same time this is a community in mourning. at the loss of the gutzler family.
what sailor is going through and what others in her situation have faced and what can overcome overcome. reporter: courage seen in those well beyond her young years. that s what larry wilkins thought when sailor gutzler showed up on his front porch and told him an incredible story. she said my mom and dad are dead. we just had a plane crash. reporter: gutzler and her family took off from key west, florida, early friday. on board, her father who was piloting the twin engine aircraft along with her mother her 9-year-old sister and 14-year-old cousin. the plane ran into trouble and crashed in a wooded area in kentucky. sailor was the only survivor. how was she able to survive the crash and then endure hiking three-quarters of a mile through dark cold woods without shoes or warm clothes, still unknown. little girl was she was amazingly composed for a
is back with her family. unfortunately she is not home. she, her sister piper, her cousin sierra and her parents were on their way home from key west. i heard no noise whatsoever. when she told me plane crash, of course i looked outside to see if there was any smoke or anything like that. no there was not. and so i brought her in the house and propped her feet up and called 911. and got ahold of a police officer and fortunately they were real close to the house. tonight, sailor gutzler s hometown is in shock. george howell is there for us. you re in illinois tonight. how is the community dealing with this? reporter: you know anderson it really is sort of a mix of emotions here in this town. on one hand people are celebrating what many call a miracle, the fact that this
exchanging political favors for gifts. he as you heard him mention, other than thanking his family hoping to win that appeal. but again, if he doesn t, he s headed to federal prison two years. let s take you back to the story out of kentucky. we ve been just marveling over this 7-year-old little girl who managed to survive. the small plane that crashed in the woods of kentucky a couple of days ago. she somehow has the wherewithal to walk away dressed because they ve been down in the keys down in florida. walked through the woods, and finds this one man with the single light on who helps her call the ambulance. and apparently she s okay. she s with family now, and this is sailor gutzler. and one victim of that crash was sailor s cousin sierra wilder. and, of course her family is just absolutely inconsolable. but, her mother spoke to to take away something good from this. and just think, you know we