A nurse from North Carolina who moved to Buffalo to care for her father froze to death while trapped in her car during the historic winter blizzard on Christmas Eve.
Anndel Taylor’s heartbreaking messages and video recording her last moments alive spent being terrified as the snow and ice continued to pile up around her car have made national and international headlines.
Anndel Taylor, 22, died in her car after being trapped by Buffalo blizzard while driving home from work. She was found after 18 hours. She sent her family this final video from inside the car. pic.twitter.com/w8GBwR9UOm
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 27, 2022
A video uploaded to TikTok by one of Taylor’s sisters, Tomeshia Brown, has already been viewed over three million times. She shared an hours-long group chat that concluded with images of the snow-covered car Taylor was found in on Christmas Eve on one of the coldest holidays in modern U.S. history.
The tragedy is made even more poignant because the woman passed away just short of her 23rd birthday, CNN and ABC 11 report.
@tommie_shuh https://gofund.me/a2b26868 ANNDEL TAYLOR please keep my girl name alive and bring her home to Charlotte ! She will NEVER BE FORGOTTEN 👼🏾💫 Sit pretty baby and roll a FAT one 💋💞
While most Americans were home with their loved ones on the night before Christmas, Taylor was being buried in her snow-covered coffin of a car unable to get help until it was too late.
The final texts she sent to her three sisters in North Carolina revealed her plight in real-time on Friday, with a video showing her vehicle being covered in snow and ice.
“Stuck in a f—ing blizzard,” Taylor penned to her sisters.
Unable to discern the severity of the situation in the beginning, Sylva Brown, one of the sisters, replied with “Lmao” and compared her sister’s situation to when “SpongeBob had to deliver them pizzas.”
But several hours later, Taylor told her sisters that she was still stuck on a trip that normally takes only eight minutes.
💔👏🏾👼🏾👏🏾💔 #AnndelTaylor was trapped in her car during NY's massive snowstorm, sent a series of text messages to her family, chillingly detailing her final moments before she died.Heartbreaking texts before she died,My condolences 💐 to her family and friends #ripanndeltaylor 💔 pic.twitter.com/AJEMfE9OG5
— Mccanttammy (@mccanttammy) December 28, 2022
At that point, Taylor said her car’s muffler was “damn near on the ground already” and there was “snow up to the tires.”
“I’m mad irritated,” Taylor added in the text.
Taylor held out hope that police and emergency crews would find her car which was hidden beneath the snow.
“They sending a cop to me,” she said, adding she didn’t know “how long that’s gonna take.”
A few hours later, the sisters texted Taylor back, asking, “you still out there Pookie?” to which she replied “unfortunately.”
“All might be out,” Taylor said of the emergency response. “UNPREPARED!!! In a state known for …” blizzards and massive snowfalls.
Taylor then told her sisters that she planned to sleep in her car while awaiting rescue.
“I’m livid bro; my door damn near covered,” Taylor wrote in an increased state of panic.
When the crews finally arrived, Taylor was already deceased. One of the sisters, who was not identified, said Taylor “still got presents under the tree” for Christmas.
The family has started a GoFundMe to help pay for the funeral and burial arrangements, which can be accessed here. https://www.gofundme.com/f/tragedy-in-buffalo-ny-blizzard-2022.
Take a look at the report from ABC 11 in Buffalo.
