Families Find Strength in Face of Loss

MIAMI —  The passengers aboard ValuJet Flight 592 were on business and on vacation, from urban areas such as Miami and from towns such as Powder Springs, Ga. Many were headed home or to Mother’s Day reunions with family. All thought their next stop would be Atlanta.

Now, as federal officials tackle the difficult task of retrieving the bodies from a watery Everglades grave, the friends and relatives of the 109 people aboard the doomed jetliner can only hope for closure.

“We’re hoping they’re taken care of now. That’s the only thing we can hope and pray for,” said Roger McNitt. His brother Neil, 42; sister-in-law, Judy, 34; and their three young children died in Saturday’s crash.

The McNitts, of Powder Springs, an Atlanta suburb, were returning home from a cruise.

In Miami, local businessman Stewart Thomas mourned the loss of his daughter, Betsy Favero, 44. She perished with her husband, Franco, a builder, and their 14-year-old daughter, Laura, who played on her school’s eighth-grade soccer team.

The family had been in Miami visiting relatives and friends and was going home to Duluth, Ga., Thomas said.

“I’m cooperating with the press because I want to give testimonial to a young, very happy, hard-working family of which I’m proud,” he said.

The couple are survived by their son David, 22. “David is doing well, as well as you can expect,” Thomas said. “You have to live through this.”

Ailven and Jarvis Shotwell, 28 and 36, respectively, had attended the graduation of their youngest brother, Willie, from the University of Miami on Friday. Ailven, who lived in Miami, decided to accompany Jarvis to his College Park, Ga., home for a visit.

“After so much joy,” said Willie, a 23-year-old with a degree in communications, “we’re trying to hold up and deal with it the best we can.”

His mother, Theresa, is grateful that on Mother’s Day she still had her own mother, and said it could have been worse. “I could have lost all my children,” she said.

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Jarvis, who had a carpet-cleaning business, is survived by his wife and two children. Ailven was single.

Other victims included a Miami mail carrier, Charles Fluitt, who was going to meet his son in Tennessee; F. Conway Hamilton, 85, and his wife, Laurie, 78, who planned to attend the graduation of their granddaughter from Emory University; and San Diego Chargers running back Rodney Culver and his wife, Karen, who were returning home to their two children in Woodstock, Ga.

The Chargers picked up the 26-year-old Culver on waivers from the Indianapolis Colts before the 1994 season. He began last year as the backup to Natrone Means but missed seven games with a sprained ankle. He finished with 155 yards on 47 carries.

Culver lettered four years at Notre Dame University before turning pro, and was a three-time all-state football player at Detroit DePorres High School in Michigan.

“He’s definitely a star,” DePorres Coach Gregory Carter told Associated Press.

Carter, who was an assistant coach when Culver played at the school, said Culver was “a role model for all our students. He was a great person.”

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List of Crash Victims

Here is the list of the 109 people aboard ValuJet Flight 592 from Miami to Atlanta, according to the airline:

Saeeda Alihassan, Atlanta

James Allaway, Miami

Isabel Anderson, Cookeville, Tenn.

Leslie Archibald, Opa-Locka, Fla.

Rizwan Arshad, Philadelphia

Giuseppe Bafunno, Blackwood, N.J.

Marlo Balandran, Kansas City, Mo.

Thomas Balandran, Kansas City, Mo.

Jen Barreiro, Bloomington, Ind.

Herbert Bell, Elkwood, Va.

Peggy Bell, Elkwood, Va.

Terri Bell, Miami

Anthony Brown, Rose Hill, N.C.

Frances Brown, Baltimore

Lynn Brown, Rose Hill, N.C.

Joe Burnett, Shawnee Mission, Kan.

Cecelia Cabrera, Miami

Ronald Carpenter, Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Lisa Carrolton, Conyers, Ga.

Ninon Corneille, Lynn, Mass.

Edna Crye, Richmond, Ind.

Ken Crye, Richmond, Ind.

Karen Culver, Woodstock, Ga.

Rodney Culver, Woodstock, Ga.

Mansor Darbor, Atlanta

Bradley Ehrlichman

Betsy Favero, Duluth, Ga.

Franco Favero, Duluth, Ga.

Laura Favero, Duluth, Ga.

Charles Fluitt, Miami

Elizabeth Gabriel, Mooresville, N.C.

Deana Gabr, Conyers, Ga.

Pamela Gabr, Conyers, Ga.

Carlos Gonzalez, Alpharetta, Ga.

Angie Green, Nashville

Mark Griner, Marietta, Ga.

Steve Guiler, Buford, Ga.

Conway Hamilton, Miami

Laurie Hamilton, Miami

Carol Hanchey, Conyers, Ga.

John Hanchey, Conyers, Ga.

Elaine Hayman, Columbus, Ohio

Robert Hayman, Columbus, Ohio

Susan Heffernan, Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Michael Howard, Hialeah, Fla.

Walter Hyatt, Nashville

Dan Jarvis, Gastonia, N.C.

Linda Jarvis, Gastonia, N.C.

Kathleen Kessler, Atlanta

Ison Kim, Shawnee Mission, Kan.

Rafael Lameda, Cookeville, Tenn.

Aliyagi Landry, Hollywood, Fla.

Dana Lane, Alpharetta, Ga.

Roger Lane, Alpharetta, Ga.

Ray Lathem, Alpharetta, Ga.

Andrew Leonard, Cloverdale, Ind.

Jeremy Leonard, Cloverdale, Ind.

Tabitha Leonard, Cloverdale, Ind.

Devlin Loughney, United Kingdom

Roger Loughney, United Kingdom

Philmore Marks, Miami

Betty McLemore, Tybee Island, Ga.

Clark McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.

Judy McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.

Laura McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.

Lindsey McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.

Neil McNitt, Powder Springs, Ga.

Judy Medeiros, Rex, Ga.

Robert Medeiros, Rex, Ga.

Ella Mitchell, Miami

Andrew Nevil, Raleigh, N.C.

Lucille Newbold, Atlanta

Maxwell Newbold, Atlanta

Whilhelmina Oliver, Athens, Ga.

Lisa Pearson, Kansas City, Mo.

Laurese Perkins, Miami

David Quinones

Elida Ramirez, Dunwoody, Ga.

Donna Rennolds, Whittaker, Mich.

Kim Rennolds, Ypsilanti, Mich.

Howard Rietz, Mount Juliet, Tenn.

Terri Rugg, Richmond, Ind.

Dennis Sabo, Auburn, Ala.

Ana Sanchez, Metairie, La.

Karin Shier, Savannah, Ga.

Vi Shier, Fayetteville, Ga.

Ailven Shotwell, College Park, Ga.

Jarvis Shotwell, College Park, Ga.

Joyce Simonton, Macon, Ga.

Paul Smith, Montgomery, Ala.

Joulaun Snowden

Hugh Stanley, Gainesville, Ga.

Louise Stanley, Gainesville, Ga.

Fred Steinbrener, Acworth, Ga.

Jerrold Thompson, Kansas City, Mo.

Roosevelt Tillman, Lynchburg, Va.

Lila Viloleta, Alpharetta, Ga.

Delmarie Walker, Erie, Pa.

James Weimer, Cloverdale, Ind.

Janice Weimer, Cloverdale, Ind.

George Wilson, Fayetteville, Ga.

Teresa Wilson, Tybee Island, Ga.

Ruth Wolfe, Gainesville, Ga.

Robert Woodus, Pine Bluff, Ark.

Capt. Candalyn Kubeck, Bedford, Texas

First Officer Richard Hazen, Mineola, Texas

Flight Attendant Lori Cushing, Austin, Texas

Flight Attendant Jennifer Stearns, Farmers Branch, Texas

Flight Attendant Mandy Summers, Irving, Texas

Source: Associated Press