{"id":21920,"date":"2025-10-23T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=21920"},"modified":"2025-10-23T17:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:04:02","slug":"grief-beyond-measure-bailey-family-mourns-fatal-helicopter-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/23\/grief-beyond-measure-bailey-family-mourns-fatal-helicopter-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Grief Beyond Measure\u2019: Bailey Family Mourns Fatal Helicopter Crash."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CARTER COUNTY, Mont. (FN) \u2014 Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is mourning the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren following a helicopter crash in southeastern Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bailey, 59, confirmed Thursday that his son, Zachary Bailey; Zachary\u2019s wife, Kelsey; and two of their children, Vada Rose, 12, and Samuel, 7, were killed in the crash late Wednesday. A third grandchild, Finn, 10, was not aboard the aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crash occurred near the borders of Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming. The National Transportation Safety Board and local authorities are investigating the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bailey\u2019s son Zachary, daughter-in-law Kelsey and two of their three children were killed in the wreck. Ten-year-old Finn (left) was not on board.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDarren and Cindy are heartbroken by this unimaginable loss,\u201d Bailey\u2019s campaign said in a statement. \u201cThey are finding comfort in their faith, their family, and the prayers of so many who love and care for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered condolences Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMK and I are devastated to learn of the tragic passing of Darren and Cindy Bailey\u2019s son Zachary, daughter-in-law Kelsey, and their two young children,\u201d Pritzker said, referring to his wife. \u201cOur prayers and deep condolences are with the Baileys in this time of grief. May the memories of their loved ones be a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergency responders from Carter County and federal aviation officials arrived at the crash site shortly after the incident. No additional injuries were reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bailey, a former state senator, was the Republican nominee for governor in 2022 and is running again in the 2026 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community members and faith leaders across Illinois expressed support for the Bailey family, with many sharing messages of sympathy on social media and at local gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CARTER COUNTY, Mont. (FN) \u2014 Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is mourning the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren following a helicopter crash in southeastern Montana. Bailey, 59, confirmed Thursday that his son, Zachary Bailey; Zachary\u2019s wife, Kelsey; and two of their children, Vada Rose, 12, and Samuel, 7, were killed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Motana-Helicopter-crash-involving-the-Baileys-family.webp?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21924,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21920\/revisions\/21924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}