Teen Spends Final Moments Calling for Help, Then Mom Found Letter (Exclusive)

Aaliyah Martin, an 18-year-old wrestler, had been at college in Iowa for just over three weeks when she died in a two-vehicle collision that also took her friend’s life. In her final moments, the teen managed to call for help from her smart watch as she was pinned under her Jeep. 

“It’s really hard because we are all very close,” says Martin’s aunt, Tasha Sanchez, who calls the young woman her “bonus daughter.”

Processing the fatal crash has been especially difficult for Aaliyah’s mom, Shantell Martin, and their large family. (Aaliyah is survived by her mom, her dad, Kevin Rucker, her two siblings, Shantell’s fiancé, Chase Steinke, and his two children.)

“She was her best friend,” says Sanchez, a 39-year-old teacher from California, of Shantell’s current emotional state. “When I talk to her on the phone, she just says some minute she’s okay and the next, she’s in a complete upheaval.”

The crash is an abrupt end to what was supposed to be an exciting new phase. When Aaliyah began her freshman year at William Penn University in Oskaloosa in August, it was the culmination of years of hard work.

Aaliyah secured an athletic scholarship after going to the state championships while wrestling for high schools in Wyoming and New Mexico, securing second place twice. Wrestling was her passion, but she dreamed of becoming a nurse after college. 

Aaliyah had already made friendships during her three weeks on campus.

That Saturday evening, she was riding with three others — Sydney E. Andersen, Martin Contreras, and Andrew Buttler, all 18 — who were also students at William Penn University.

That weekend, the group went to Andersen’s house so she could do her little sister’s hair for her high school’s homecoming. The four students were on their way to a football game when the crash took place on Saturday, Sept. 13, outside of Montezuma, Iowa.

Although it was Aaliyah’s car, she wasn’t driving because she’d injured her eye in an ATV accident during her first week of college, according to her aunt.

Instead, she was riding in the back of the vehicle with Andersen, while Contreras rode in the front passenger seat as Buttler drove.

The Jeep Wrangler was going east on Ewart Road when Buttler didn’t stop at the intersection of Highway 63, according to the Iowa State Patrol crash report.

The vehicle collided with a Jeep Renegade driven by George J. Wegner, 51, sending both vehicles into a nearby cornfield.

Aaliyah and Andersen were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report. Neither were wearing a seatbelt.

Buttler and Contreras were injured and transported to a nearby hospital. Wegner and his passenger, Jessica L. Atta, 48, were also taken to a hospital for medical treatment, the Ottumwa Courier reported.

Though Aaliyah was trapped under the vehicle, she managed to call for assistance from her smart watch, Sanchez says. 

“She was still coherent and she was trapped under the Jeep by her leg,” Aaliyah’s aunt recalls, “So, she was still able to have a conversation.” 

Emergency responders were able to extricate Aliyah from under the Jeep and transport her to an ambulance before she died. Shantell didn’t receive a call about the accident until four hours later.

“They had listed my niece as a Jane Doe, they couldn’t identify her and didn’t know who she was, which is still crazy to me,” says Sanchez. “Aaliyah’s the one who called 911 from her watch and gave her name and her birthday when she called 911.” 

Since the crash, Aaliyah’s family has reached out to Contreras.

“I can’t imagine the mental and emotional toll that it’s taking on him,” says Sanchez, who adds that they have been unable to contact the 18-year-old driver. 

“She just wants him to know things happen and nobody blames you,” says Sanchez, speaking on her sister’s behalf. “It’s not your fault; it was just an accident.”

The following week, Sanchez was by her grieving sister’s side as they made plans to transport Aaliyah’s body to her home state of Wyoming for the celebration of life on Saturday, Sept. 27. A GoFundMe page has been created to help with funeral costs.

The siblings were together when Shantell found a letter Aaliyah had written to her future self that was tucked inside her nursing uniform in her dorm room. 

“Her goals were to become the top of her weight class [for wrestling] in college,” says Sanchez of the emotional discovery. “With nursing, she just wrote that she wanted to be a nurse so she could always help people.” 

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Aaliyah’s professors left notes for her mom in her dorm room, remembering the teen as a “bright light” who was always eager to learn.

As the teen’s family mourns, they remember her open heart and “infectious” spirit. 

Says Sanchez, “You couldn’t help but love her.”