A man has been left devastated after his mum and two children died on their way home from his wedding.
Peter Grubb was celebrating his wedding night in Maine, USA when it turned to tragedy.
His mother Sharon Bukulmez, 61, was tasked with driving her two grandchildren — Kinsley and Sawyer Grubb, aged five and three — the short distance from the wedding venue to their family’s Airbnb.
They were last seen about 8.30pm leaving the wedding.
Mr Grubb told local outlet WMTW 8 that he became concerned when they didn’t arrive at their accommodation and started a search for them while other family members contacted police.
He said he spent hours searching the beach on the night.
Using phone data, investigators were able to trace Bukulmez to the water near a boat ramp in Roque Bluffs.
Around 7am the following day, police found the car submerged in the water.
Mr Grubb said he was told by investigators that his mother died trying to help his children escape the sinking vehicle.
An investigation into the cause and manner of their deaths is under investigation.
The heartbroken father said he had “a slight sense of peace” knowing his children understood how loved they were.
“They were the best pair of kids a father could ask for,” Mr Grubb said.
He described Bukulmez as a caring woman who worked at a hospital.
A Mount Desert Island Hospital spokesperson told WMTW 8 they were “deeply saddened” by the 61-year-old’s death.
The tragedy at the boat ramp comes 13 years after two people were killed in similar circumstances in the same spot.
The 2013 incident prompted new signage on the ramp but local representative Tiffany Strout wrote on Facebook that she would be willing to work to “make the signage more visible to better alert those driving in the area that the ramp leads to water”.
She said she was “so heartbroken” by the deaths of Bukulmez and her grandchildren.
A GoFundMe has been established for the family and in one day has raised more than $US74,000 ($A104,145).
Organiser Bo Greene described Kinsley and Sawyer as children who “lit up the lives of their parents”.
“Pete and Becca are incredibly hard working parents, trying to create the best life for their young family,” the description read.
“The profound devastation they must be feeling is nothing that we can understand or make sense of and the collective hearts of all of us are breaking for them.”
The organiser continued, writing that Bukulmez was “the kindest person I’ve ever known” and that she would “quite literally give you the shirt off her back”.
“She listened, she cared, she gave - all the time,” they wrote.
“Where she beamed brightest, however, was in the love of and care for her two grandchildren.
“There was absolutely nothing she wouldn’t do for them. Her absence will leave a palpable hole in this community forever.”
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