While attempting to beat her land speed record of 398mph on August 27, automotive legend Jessi Combs crashed her vehicle in the Alvard Desert, which is roughly 90 miles south of Burns, Oregon – a place she so often drove.
According to ABC 7, “The Harney County Sheriff’s Office said it was called to a scene of a fatal crash. [She] was identified as the sole fatality connected to the accident.”
Combs was trained in fabrication and hot-rod building at WyoTech, making a career in hosting, building, and being a technical expert on shows like Xtreme 4×4, Overhaulin’, Truck U, and Two Guys Garage. She then starred in Velocity channel’s All Girls Garage and was a host and builder on Discovery Channel’s popular show Mythbusters.
She also competed in a variety of racing events. She became the first woman to place at Ultra4’s King of the Hammers, and performed very well in every race she entered including the Baja 1000, Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, and was the very first woman to race in The Race of Gentlemen.
The first person on the scene was actually a man previously reported as a member of her team, but in reality, he was her boyfriend. Terry Madden shared a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday about it.
“So I don’t know how to say any of this but it all needs said,” he wrote. “I have never loved or been loved by anyone as much as this amazing woman @thejessicombs she was truly my unicorn and I enjoyed every single minute that I had with her. She was the most amazing spirit that I have ever or will ever know. Unfortunately we lost her yesterday in a horrific accident, I was the first one there and trust me we did everything humanly possible to save her!!”
He accompanied what he wrote with a memorial video.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1tUB2lHGKX/?utm_source=ig_embed
The New York Post reported that police officers are attempting to recover laptop computers which were in the vehicle to try to determine what went wrong. Lt. Brian Needham of the Harney County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t able to say if her vehicle hit something, but did say, “there was a fire involved.”
Now, almost two weeks after Combs’ passing, Madden and her family and friends are putting the final touches on plans for a celebration of life.
After what he described as a “really rough day” of planning to say goodbye with friends, they tried to smile for a photo in the parking garage. When he looked at the photo, there was a light orb just above his left shoulder.
He wrote in the post, “I’ve never been extremely faithful have always had questions, but the signs thru all this have been overwhelming. She just couldn’t be left out of this picture.
Madden continued, “Love the fact that you will always be looking over my shoulder.”
See the picture Madden is referring to below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2KEsSGnZo3/
