Preach "The King Has Come" 3-Part Series this week!
Preach Christmas week

Sermon Illustrations

Four police officers who helped rescue a baby from an overturned car in a Utah river in March 2015 claim that they heard an unexplained voice calling from the car.

The accident occurred after a car driven by Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, 25, ran off the road and into the Spanish Fork River. Her 18-month-old, Lily, was found in her car seat upside down just above frigid river water and had been there for a least 12 hours.

First responders on the scene, including police officer Tyler Beddoes, told CBS affiliate KUTV that "someone said, 'Help me!' from inside that car."

"It wasn't just in our heads," officer Jared Warner confirmed. "To me, it was plain as day. I remember hearing a voice that didn't sound like a child, just saying, "Help me!'"

Firefighters said they heard it too.

All were emphatic the voice came from the vehicle. It looked as though no one could have survived, but the voice "prompted us to lift the car between the three officers and firemen," Police Lt. Matt Johnson said.

Johnson confirmed the voice could not have come from 25-year-old Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck, who was dead and most likely killed on impact.

The baby was in a car seat in the backseat on the passenger side. The water was so cold that the rescue crew members could only stay in for short periods of time. After a firefighter jumped into the river to cut the infant free, the first responders formed a relay and handed her from one person to the next until she was on shore and able to get care.

Authorities don't know how the girl survived hanging upside-down for 14 hours in freezing temperatures with no food or water and skimpy clothing, let alone how to explain the voice that all the rescuers heard.

Little Lily has since made a full recovery and is back with her family. "It's a miracle," Beddoes told the station's news crew. "She was needed for sure elsewhere."

Related Sermon Illustrations

Related Sermons