SPOKANE, Wash. —
Rick Williams is just 11 months older than his sister Sandy.
"We've been partners in crime since we were born," Williams said. "Being in a military family, we moved every three years. So, it was Sandy and I against the world.”
He said the self-starter and civil rights activist Spokane knew her as is someone she’s always been since she was young.
“Once she got an idea, she worked it through and she made it happen," Williams said. "She took the time and the energy and had the fire and the passion to see it to fruition. So, she's always been like that.”
The two were always passionate about social justice, even to the point where they joked about how no city was big enough for the both of them.
But, he said she always told him how much Spokane needed her. Now that she’s gone, he’s seeing her impact on others firsthand.
“I knew some of it, but I didn't know the magnitude," Williams said. "And more importantly, and this is so consistent with Sandy, the specifics of she did this, she did this, knew a lot of that, but that's not what she was about. What's really been touching our hearts is how people said she made them feel, how people have said that she made them feel heard, how she was the one that stood by them.”
On top of being a civil rights activist, Sandy also was her mother's primary care givers. When their father passed, Rick said Sandy stepped up to take care of their mom, living in Spokane Valley.
When people encouraged Sandy to take much needed breaks from her social justice and daily life agendas, he would fly in from California to take her place and support their mom.
So, when Sandy said she was going to western Washington to celebrate her 61st birthday with her partner Patricia, he flew in to stay with their mom just like any other time. Only on Sunday, she never came back to resume her place beside her mother and as one of Spokane's strongest leaders.
“We just went to bed numb that night,” Williams said.
Williams said his family always stayed in touch whenever someone was traveling.
"We send a little text," Williams explained. "Just say 'I'm on my way there' and 'I'm getting ready to board the plane.' 'I've landed.' Just a little touch base. Takes a second, just let everyone know we're safe. And mom usually writes back, 'Thank the Lord you landed,' or 'be safe, have a good trip.'"
Williams said he spoke with Sandy as she told him he was getting on the seaplane. He said he could hear Patricia in the background having a good time.
He said she was supposed to leave Friday Harbor and land at the Renton airport 50 minutes after they got off the phone.
He said when the time came for her to check in, she never did.
"I sent her a text saying, 'Hey, did you land?' And if you have an iPhone, the text is blue if it hits another iPhone, and it came back green," Williams said.
He said he continued to text and call, but messages continued to go undelivered and calls went straight to voicemail.
Williams and his mother were waiting for Sandy to land at the Renton airport before catching a flight out of Sea-Tac. She was expected to arrive in Spokane around 7:30 p.m. that night.
"We were closing down the house and mom says 'we'll leave these blinds open because I want to see when Sandy comes,'" Williams recalls. "'I want to see when the car comes around the corner.' We're just excited to see her so we left those blinds open."
Then, a phone call came in from one of Sandy's friends that changed the Williams family. Williams recounts the phone call.
"'There's been a plane crash,' Williams said. "And we both, my mom and I, we just stopped," Williams took a moment and continued. "I went online, I saw that there had been a plane crash. I immediately called Alaska Airlines."
Williams was able to confirm with Alaska Airlines, Sandy did not check in for her flight to Spokane that evening. A few hours later, Williams and his mother were on a video call with the coast guard and other families affected by the accident, learning their loved one had crashed while on board the seaplane.
Williams said the coast guard and NTSB have been staying positive in the search to find the plane. He said he is trying to use the search crews' positivity to stay positive himself.
He said while she may not be coming back, the community outpour of love and support shows her legacy will go on.
“We're just overwhelmed," Williams explained. "My mom and I, we sit night after night after it gets quiet and just kind of look at each other. And we're just very proud, we're very proud of this. She has made a good legacy. I think mom and my dad, Thomas Williams and Wilhelmenia Williams, they're quite proud of their children. I think that Sandy's legacy will be the one that will be remembered.”
Rick also spoke to the relationship between Sandy and her partner Patricia Hicks.
The two spent their final moments together on the seaplane.
Williams said the two were together for several years and they were always going on adventures with one another.
“They as partners together were enjoying life and doing well,” Williams said.
He said his family and Patricia’s are staying strong and leaning on one another as they wait for daily updates on the crash.
Williams said the coast guard and NTSB have been doing daily check-ins with affected family members since the crash happened Sunday.
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