This harrowing scene played out live on camera.
Countless viewers witnessed it with their own eyes.
Fortunately, as the rescue plane went down, the pilot and co-pilot managed to parachute to safety. The aircraft itself also crashed into the sea.
News of the heart-stopping scene instantly spread from across the country to around the world.
The helicopter exploded. It was obvious to anyone watching that no one on board could have survived.
Ethan Ellsworth watched the screen, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot as tears streamed down his face.
Zeke Marshall was even more frantic, shouting like a madman, "My sister! My sister isn't dead, right? Right?!"
But no one answered him. Everyone knew she couldn't possibly be alive.
With the plane crash, the search and rescue operation was halted, and the case came to a close.
Because the kidnappers were all dead, there was no one left to hold criminally responsible.
All that remained was the salvage operation.
