ARCHER, FL -- There are plenty of reminders of what Matt Copelands's life was. His daughter Cami's bicycle is parked right where she left it this past Friday. It still has training wheels but now he will never have the chance to teach her how to ride without them.
"I can not even tell you what it like losing a child." Copeland said.
Matt sat outside his home in Archer, which is south of Gainesville. He admitted reality has not completely sunk in. His 7-year-old Cami died in a fiery plane crash on Friday near the Zephyrhills airport.
"She was the light of my life, she was a happy beautiful little girl."
He had just taken Cami to a birthday party and then dropped her off at the airport where an airplane was waiting to take Cami and her mother Tina, Matt's ex-wife, to Lakeland.
But more than an hour after takeoff, federal investigators say the pilot, 44-year-old Tom Scott called in engine problems and lost contact just three miles from the Zephyrhills airport. It's just one of many details Matt has to learn to live with.
"I was in shock for more than an hour before I even shed a tear because I just couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe it"
Federal Investigators say the crash resulted in a massive fire and they have lots to piece together.
Matt is relying on his faith to help him, and while there are reminders at every corner, like Cami's beloved dog Belle, favorite photo's of his daughter around the house, and of course the bike she will never ride, he knows his daughter would want him to ride out his life.
"Life goes on. I know she is in a better place. She is with Jesus and he is holding her and I will see her again."
Tina had just gotten remarried a week earlier in Las Vegas. Her new husband Bob Stallings was the owner of the plane that crashed.
