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.
‘We can’t replace my dad, we can’t replace those little girls,’ Michael’s daughter, Laura Sales, told DailyMail.com on Thursday.
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.
Laura recalled the moment she first heard the tragic news, telling the court on Wednesday: ‘It was probably the worst phone call of my life. I didn’t believe it at first.’
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 the Iowa father going 142mph, causing his vehicle to burst into flames, killing him. Bickerstaff’s three unidentified children – five, eighteen-months, and eight months – were also killed in the crash
The sudden death was even more gruesome for the Sales family as Michael’s mother also died at the hands of a drunk driver when he was two years old (pictured: Michael as a baby and his mother and father)
Laura had been traveling back from New York for a work trip and had a gut feeling something was wrong. When she answered the phone call from her mother, she found out she was right.
‘It felt like my soul had left my body. That moment shattered everything,’ she wrote in her victim impact statement.
‘It was so violent,’ she told DailyMail.com of the crash. ‘I said in my statement that he wasn’t ready to die and he truly wasn’t. That’s the hard part.’
‘There were so many things he still wanted to do. He wanted to travel more. Go fishing more. He looked forward to finally enjoying a well-earned retirement,’ she said in her impact statement on Wednesday.
‘What happened to my dad was not an accident. It was a choice. A choice to drive drunk. A choice that killed four people—three of them the defendant’s own children. A choice that showed total disregard for the lives of others.
‘And now, we live with the consequences of that choice. Every day. My sister. My mom. Me. And every single person who loved my dad – and there were so many.’
Now, Laura and her sister Gracelyn are mourning the loss of their beloved dad and taking it day-by-date.
‘It’s one day at a time,’ Laura, who called herself a daddy’s girl, told DailyMail.com.
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
‘I dropped to the floor of my living room screaming. It felt like my soul had left my body,’ Laura (left) said of the moment she found out about her father’s death
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’
‘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.
Father’s Day last weekend was hard on the two sisters and their mothers and they know July 4th will also dampen their spirits as he ‘loved’ the holiday, Laura told DailyMail.com.
Laura remembers all the sports games they used to attend and watch together, all the moments in the car when he would drive her to events, and she loved to talked to him about politics and books and her daily life.
Michael loved to fish and read, she told DailyMail.com, and he looked forward to getting to see his daughter’s big life events.
‘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
The Sales family started a GoFundMe to help the family, garnering nearly $13,000 of its $20,000 goal.
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.
‘Overall, we feel justice was serviced,’ Laura told DailyMail.com.
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.
