14 hours ago
History repeats itself in horrifying way for well-liked man whose mom was killed by drunk driver
A beloved father died in a fireball crash after being struck by a drunk mother, who also killed her children, nearly 70 years after his mother died in a near-identical tragedy.
Michael Sales, 70, of Council Bluffs, Iowa was driving home from his FedEx job around 1:30am when he was rear-ended by Rachel Bickerstaff, 34, who was drunk driving in the neighboring Nebraskan city of Omaha on September 27, 2024.
Bickerstaff hit Sales while doing 142mph, causing his vehicle to burst into flames, killing him, WOWT reported.
Bickerstaff's three unidentified children - five, eighteen months, and eight months - were also killed in the crash.
The mother-of-three, who had a BAC of .216 - nearly three times over the limit - miraculously survived the collision and was booked into jail on a $5million bond.
The sudden death was particularly distressing for Sales' family as his own mother had died at the hands of a drunk driver in the late 1950s, when he was just two years-old.
'He grew up an only child on a farm outside of Crescent, Iowa,' she said.
Laura recalled the moment she first heard the tragic news, telling the court on Wednesday: 'I can't imagine what it must have felt like to pick up the phone and call my sister and to tell us that our hero was gone. I dropped to the floor of my living room screaming. It felt like my soul had left my body.
'That moment shattered everything.'
Now, Laura and her sister Gracelyn are mourning the loss of their beloved dad.
'My dad was my safe place, my best friend, the first person I called when I had news, good or bad; or just to tell him something he'd find funny,' Laura said in court. 'He affectionally called me "brat" and ended every phone call with "I love you, kid."
'He read to me every night when I was a little girl. He held my hand when I was scared and played with me until I fell asleep... He never missed a game, a recital, or a single moment that mattered.'
Gracelyn echoed a similar statement on Facebook, writing: 'My Dad was the best dad I could have ever asked for. He loved my sister and me so much. We miss him terribly. Our lives have been turned upside down.'
The sisters are also mourning the loss of having their father there to celebrate their big wins, such as Gracelyn graduating from physician's assistance school or meeting Laura's boyfriend.
'He'll never walk us girls down the aisle. He'll never hold his future grandchildren,' Laura told the judge.
'Your honor, my dad wasn't ready to die.'
Brickerstaff apologized to the family on Wednesday at her sentencing, telling them: 'I can say over and over how sorry I am, but that would never change the situation. The hurt and pain I caused, I wish I could take it back.
'I would trade my life for all the life lost.'
Brickerstaff was sentenced to up to 140 years in prison. She will be eligible for parole in 70 years under Nebraska law.
The mother-of-three has a prior DUI from 2020 and was on probation at the time of the 2024 incident. She also copped an assault in jail for harming another inmate, WOWT said.
Her attorney said she endured a hard childhood and began drinking and doing meth at the age of 12.
The Sales family started a GoFundMe to help the family, garnering nearly $13,000 of its $20,000 goal.
They remember Michael as being a 'faithful Husker fan,' a football team he loved watching with his children.
