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Christian Diet Guru Gwen Shamblin Presumed Dead In Plane Crash On Percy Priest Lake

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Launching search boat
Courtesy Rutherford County Fire and Rescuevia Twitter
Rutherford County Fire and Rescue launches a boat in the search for debris and survivors following the crash of a private jet in Percy Priest Lake.
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Updated 10:00 p.m.

Emergency officials have named all seven people aboard a private jet that crash-landed into Percy Priest Lake on Saturday at 11 a.m. All are presumed to be deceased, according to a statement released by Rutherford County Fire Rescue around 10 p.m.

The victims include Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband Joe, along with their son-in-law Brandon Hannah. Jennifer and David Martin and Jessica and Jonathan Walters were also on the plane. All seven are from Brentwood and help lead the Remnant Fellowship church started by Gwen.

Dive teams have been in the water and plan to resume in the morning. They say they have shifted from a rescue to a recovery effort.

So far, they have not found much of the eight-seater plane. The twin-engine jet had just taken off from the Smyrna airport, bound for Palm Beach International Airport, according to emergency officials.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been on the scene investigating the crash of the Cessna Citation 501 but released no initial cause for the sudden descent into the lake.

Documents filed with the Federal Aviation Administration show the plane is owned in a partnership led by Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband. According to a trailer for a YouTube series about her life, Joe Lara, whom she married in 2018, is a pilot and regularly flies them around the country.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Blake Farmer, Host, This Is Nashville

Blake Farmer is the host of “This Is Nashville,” the flagship weekday show of Nashville Public Radio. Previously, Blake spent 16 years at WPLN News, serving as host, editor and news director. Before a two-year radio hiatus with a Nashville-based healthcare company, Blake was one of the country’s most prolific healthcare audio journalists. He produced stories for both local and national programs, extending the reach of his reporting through a partnership with KFF Health News. Outside of work, Blake can be found running or biking on roads that other Nashvillians consider too busy for such activities. So far, he has always made it home to his wife of 20 years and two children.

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