Can you please get my babies out? We're working on >> my babies. My world. >> There's another belt. He's got a belt on. >> Three of them, guys. >> I have three babies in here. I'm trying to jack this right here. Door open. >> Wake up. >> Try. It'll break loose. Get it. >> Do whatever we do. Just break it loose. >> The car wreck and the babies are in the car. You need You need to wake up. After a horrific car crash involving multiple children, even amid the chaos, it is the father's reaction that raises eyebrows. The crash is so gruesome that the officers immediately sense that beneath the shock, this is more than just a crash. >> How do I get off the car? >> I don't know about there. Okay, calm down for me. It all starts on Friday, May 24th, 2024 in Coto County, Ohio, when officers are alerted to a collision on State Road 104 and rush to the scene expecting [music] a standard response. What isn't known at the time is that this call will quickly turn into one of the most difficult rescue operations they've [music] ever faced. I've got other units responding. 1884 break all traffic right now. >> The crash site is already horrific with the car completely crushed. But as responders look within, a far more disturbing discovery is made. One that turns the scene from devastating to [music] truly tragic. >> I've got three kids in the back. Small. We're trying to cut the doors off. One may be a signal 30. I need help from fire department. Anything I can get signal five. >> I I would start cutting everything. >> I mean, we can just try to drag him out. >> I would drag him out. Okay. You want me to cut the seat belt out? Let me cut Can we cut whatever we got cut out? >> Okay. Well, then >> let me cut off. >> Can I Can I get in here and try to find something? >> Inside the car, four people are found. three children and one adult woman. At this point, none of them has been identified. The rear of the vehicle, where the children are seated, [music] is nearly folded into the front. Rescue efforts are made immediately, but the damage is severe, [music] and freeing them from the wreckage feels heartbreakingly out of reach. And just then, [music] another voice is heard cutting through the chaos. >> Can you please get my babies out? >> We're working on appreciate everything you're doing. My baby's my world. >> I got the seat belt cut right there. >> The voice is soon traced to 24year-old Gay J. Smith, [music] identified as the driver. Through him, the woman is identified as his partner, Courtney Copus. By this point, Courtney [music] is barely breathing. The children remain trapped in a position so severe that their condition can't [music] yet be determined. With no clear answers and no room for error, every second now matters. [music] Officers work under intense pressure, knowing that a single wrong move could make an already critical situation even worse. >> Do we have anybody with a soul or anything? >> We have more. We have Valley coming. We have come down. >> They're coming. >> They're coming. That squad don't help. >> Thank you for getting my son out. >> There you go. Over here. Over here. Over here. >> We got one. >> There's the other door. >> There's more in the back. We got a female. >> Though they managed to get one of the children out, it quickly becomes clear [music] that it's already too late. The first life is lost at the scene. Furthermore, without the proper tools, reaching [music] all the victims proves difficult. With each passing minute, the situation intensifies. Meanwhile, Gage's reaction starts to draw attention, adding a [music] new and unexpected tension to an already critical rescue. >> We don't care what happened, man. Let's just get the babies out. There's another >> There's another belt. He's got a belt on. >> Guys, I have three babies in here. >> I wish I would have never gave you that. Babe, are you breathing? >> Breathe for me. Okay. If >> someone can get in there and get a hold of him and yank him out. I'm really worried about my little girl. He's going to have to gra this right here. Get the door open. >> Wake up. >> Try if it'll break loose. Get it. >> I need whatever we can do. Just break it loose. >> The car rack and the babies are in the car. We need you need to wake up. >> I will get in there if I got you, man. With everything I got in me to put that back. Hey, back up. Back up. >> What about her head? >> Back up. >> She has seizures. >> I understand that. >> All right, back up. >> All right. Thank you. Please. Thank you. >> I don't know if we can. >> I don't know either. >> I don't know if we can get >> Can we lift her out? >> Whatever we got to do. If we can get her out enough, we can move this. >> I need this jack out of my way. We need to get her out. >> Can we get just lift her out? Whatever we got to do to get her out. A sense of helplessness and frustration hangs over the scene. Under crushing pressure and after juggling every possible option, officers finally find a way to pull Courtney [music] from the wreckage. You >> ready? >> She She ain't She ain't buckled in no more, right? >> She ain't buckled in. Just get her out. How are we going to get her out? >> Keep crying. >> Can you direct the squad in here? >> I need to get hold of their mom and dad right now. >> You know what? >> I need to get >> Bring the squad in. I'm >> They're coming around. >> I'm a bad >> I'm a bad >> I'm a bad dad. >> Come on, lady. >> Come on. >> Get in here, baby. >> We need her out. >> I can't get her from this angle. >> What is it? >> I can't get her from this angle. >> I'm not going to be able to lift her out of here. Right here, boss. I I need at least one more person. She's going to have to give us a little bit of help. >> Open the door. Let us get her in there. >> Finally, a small ray of hope appears. Courtney is removed from the wrecked car and rushed to be evaluated. But the danger is far from over. The most critical [music] part of the rescue still remains as two of the children are still trapped inside. >> I pulled a board as far as much as I can get it. >> You want me to get in there? Pull out. >> Oh my god. >> We don't have anything to get. >> What the happened? Please. >> Oh my god. Please get my baby. >> No, I just want this. >> They're buying everything. >> I know they are. I know they are. >> As officers [music] move closer to the trapped children, a far more disturbing picture begins to emerge. What is seen up close makes it clear their condition is far worse than anyone had previously assumed. We got one more. Her head's pinned over here. >> Her head's pinned over here. >> I need a saw. >> Only she's pinned. I can't >> think. >> I wonder if the seat will move. >> Come out position. If you got a saw, we need a saw. >> We need a saw to cut the seat. >> Every possible method is tried, but nothing seems to work. As time slips away, investigators begin piecing together what led to the crash. They uncovered that the vehicle isn't registered to gauge, but to a third party who had reported it as a salvage vehicle. Reconstruction shows the car was traveling over 80 mph in a 55 zone, passing on a blind curve. Inside, crushed pain pills in a THC vape pen point to drug impairment, reframing the crash as the result of an unlicensed, impaired driver in an unsafe vehicle. And through it all, officers and rescue crews continue working relentlessly, forcing the car open by any means necessary, knowing lives still hang in the balance. >> Will that seat move forward? That oil cruiser for a lever. >> Here, right here. Thank you so much for coming. >> Oh my god. 52. Put the filter forward. >> Watch your eyes. You think you can pull it? What is that? Is that a U- hook? No, I need a U-HP. Watch stepping back. >> Eventually, more firefighters with power tools arrive. And finally, the car can be forced open. For a brief moment, it feels like a breakthrough. But whether it's enough to save the children remains unclear, [music] and the truth that follows is far more devastating than anyone is prepared for. Not right there. Not right there. Hey, there's a Her hand is right there. >> Her hand is right there. Put that thing in here enough to grab her arm. >> Where's her arm? Hold on. She's She's stuck in with She's still on. >> I got I need I need to attack those wide get that back door. >> Those need They still need to keep going. >> There's a pinpoint on her. Get that back. We got to go back out of here. I think the right problem. >> Where's your foot? >> I'm in the door. >> We cut it. We cut it. >> I cut it. It's free. >> We need another medic unit. >> I don't know what we got. We need another medic unit. >> Do we have an medic unit? >> But hope is shattered in a moment. Officers find out that none of the children survived. They're later identified as Madison Copus, Xavier Smith, and Navy Copus. What began as a rescue ends in unbearable loss. With the outcome raising serious concerns and the evidence already recovered, the crash itself feels suspicious. As officers survey the scene, troubling details begin to surface. Near the point of impact, 34 m of intermittent skid marks suggest a loss of traction just before the crash. A paramedic [music] notes that Gage wasn't wearing a seat belt and at least two of the children were improperly [music] restrained. Even more disturbing evidence follows. a medication box with its serial number wiped off, a syringe without needles, and a plastic bag containing white powder. Gage's behavior already seems intoxicated, but now combined with this chilling evidence, the scene is no longer treated as just a crash site. It is now unmistakably a crime scene. Officers finally decide it's time to speak with Gage himself. And almost immediately, [music] he begins to panic, revealing fear, confusion, and something far more unsettling beneath the surface. >> He's a driver of the car. >> There's my Is my woman okay? >> I don't know. I just We just rolled up here, >> man. I'm not even going to lie to you guys. Like, I do not have my license. I'm going to be 100% truthful with you. Like, my babies are those are everything I got, man. Hear me? They're everything I got. Can you please try to help or something? >> I got you. >> Tell you what, man. >> I literally just got this car. You know what I mean? >> Yeah. Well, have you have a seat in the back of my car real quick? >> That's fine, man. I ain't got a I ain't got a problem with that. >> All right. Okay. You have back back there until we get everything settled down. Okay. >> Yes, sir. >> Yes, sir. I I don't know. I know how I got off the car. >> There you go. >> How do I get off the car? >> I don't know about seen here, man. Cool. Okay. Calm down for me. >> Thank you. Yes, sir. >> Please do everything you can. Please. Absolutely. >> Hey, listen. And Nicking uh Oh my god. He works at the bureau. His name's Nick Hopus. That's who the her ex-husband is and that's the kid's father. And I just want you to know all that tripping me out. >> Realizing the Gage is not in any state to be interviewed. Officers have him sit inside their car, hoping to keep him contained while they turn their attention elsewhere. Next, they turn to the trucker whose vehicle collided with Gage's car, who was still nearby and may hold key details about the moments leading up to the crash. We have all your information. Okay. Are you injured? >> Uh my shoulder hurts, my elbow hurts. So >> seat belt pretty pretty well up. >> Okay. Uh is anybody else in there with you? >> Not in the truck now. >> Nobody in the camper either? >> No, no one's in the camper. You want me to open it up for you? >> Single occupant. >> Yeah, let's go ahead and open it up just to >> that way I can cover cover all my ground. >> You're good. So, there is a bedroom right here. Okay. You giving you granting me permission? >> Go right on ahead. I ain't hiding nothing, sir. Uh, bedroom in there. And in the back here, refrigerator. Then the next door, you can see on your left is a bathroom. Then behind in there is a uh bunk house, which you can look. >> After a brief conversation with the trucker and a quick look inside his camper, nothing suspicious is found on his side. But this time, another devastating piece of news arrives. Courtney succumbs to her injuries while receiving treatment. Just like that, another life is lost, leaving a family shattered. Officers have pieced together the sequence of events, and a clear picture has emerged. But it's a grim one, leaving a trail of loss and tragedy in its wake. Okay. So, this guy right here, he got passed. >> Yeah, he's getting passed. Got fish on and actually started skidding and rotated around. >> Alongside the forensic evidence, officers recover a phone from inside the car. on it. Gage had been searching whether it's possible to drive high on pain pills. Earlier messages hint at drug trafficking, painting a disturbing picture of recklessness and intent. It was simple. An evil dad ends up taking the life of his entire family due to his own negligence and rash actions. Ultimately, Gage is found guilty of murder with knowing intent. Four counts of murder along with 33 additional offenses, including aggravated drug trafficking and child abuse. He is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole only after 60 years. A lifetime to reckon with the consequences of his actions.