The siblings, 13-year-old Catie Bott, and her twin sisters, Dara and Jana, 11, died when the seeds led them to suffocate, but sources give to different accounts of what led to the tragedy. The third girl was transported and died at a local hospital.
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The girls’ parents, Roger and Bonita Bott, issued a brief statement on Wednesday saying that “our kids died living life on the farm”.
The family members are active in the church and farming.
“As you can probably imagine, the family needs much more than money at this point – they need support and lots of other things from the community”, said Brand, whose own two children were friends with Catie, 13, and 11-year-old twins Jana and Dara. “It was our life”.
Emergency crews initially said the girls were in the truck while it was being loaded, but the RCMP said they were playing on the truck when they became buried. “It is a family farm”.
Upon reading a statement from the family, the officer almost breaks down.
“They have a very real, very genuine faith in Christ”, he said.
Their parents were in shock and relying on their Christian faith to help them, Hickey said.
“Thank you for all of the overwhelming support we have received from the first responders, neighbors and friends”.
Sgt. Mike Numan, who teared up as he talked to reporters, said he couldn’t answer any questions about the accident.
Investigators are working with the medical examiner’s office to determine what exactly happened. “Front-line responders are routinely called out to sad situations, but things are always harder for everyone when kids are involved”.
“As a father myself, I believe no parent should have to bear the loss of a child, ” Carlier said.
Tammy Alexander is a family friend who had the Bott children over for piano lessons on Tuesday afternoons when they were finished with morning home-school sessions. When their families got together, they all played cards and board games.
“He told me, ‘There’s been an accident, ‘” says Allan on Wednesday afternoon as a steady stream of parishioners files into Withrow Gospel Mission church, their arms laden down with covered casseroles and vegetable trays.
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At a nearby plot of land, nine combines harvest the crops for Roger and Bonita Bott, whose youngest, a boy, now faces a future without his siblings.
