{"id":61269,"date":"2018-03-24T04:42:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T04:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=61269"},"modified":"2018-03-24T04:42:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T04:42:00","slug":"half-my-family-is-gone-mom-mourns-iowa-family-found-dead-at-mexico-resort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/half-my-family-is-gone-mom-mourns-iowa-family-found-dead-at-mexico-resort.html","title":{"rendered":"Half my family is gone’: Mom mourns Iowa family found dead at Mexico resort"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half my family is gone’: Mom mourns Iowa family found dead at Mexico resort<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The only place here large enough to hold the shock and grief engulfing this town will be Southwestern Community College, perhaps in the gymnasium.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s where mourners will gather for the funeral of a local family of four \u2014 parents Kevin and Amy Sharp and their children, Sterling and Adrianna \u2014 who went missing during their Mexican spring break vacation and were found dead Friday in their resort condo in Akumal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foul play isn’t suspected, but that hasn’t eased the pain of beloved relatives, friends and neighbors rocked by the tragedy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amy Sharp’s close family gathered on a chilly Friday afternoon at the home of Beth Fry, Amy\u2019s mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLife is not going to be the same without her,\u201d Fry said, overcome with grief as she stood in the bitter wind. \u201cHalf my family is gone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But then the mother regained her composure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re determined. We have love and support and family and friends and we will get through this. One way or another, we will.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She leaned on her older daughter, Renee Hoyt. Amy Sharp’s cousin, Jana Weland, stood beside them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other relatives circled around in the garage \u2014 nursing beers, numb in grief, sharing funny memories and trying to cheer each other up.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was surreal, they said, as if they were watching some TV crime drama rather than their own lives as friends and family walked up with sagging plastic bags full of donated food and other items.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin Sharp had been a salesman for the family beer distributor, Southwest Distributing Co.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amy Sharp worked from home as a dental-claims specialist for Principal Financial in Des Moines.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daughter, 7-year-old Adrianna, \u201cwas our fashion stylist,\u201d said her aunt, Hoyt.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur diva girl,\u201d added her grandmother, Fry. \u201cShe ruled that family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sterling, 12, was comparatively quiet. But he was an avid athlete and sportsman \u2014 baseball, swimming, fishing, hunting, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHis dad and him are a team,\u201d Fry said, slipping into present tense.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sharps, both of whom took classes at Southwestern, by all accounts were two of the biggest Spartans fans in town. They welcomed basketball players into their home for Christmas dinner and other holidays.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Spartans men\u2019s basketball coach Todd Lorensen prepared to play that night in Danville, Illinois, competing in the NJCAA Division II championship playoffs, his mind drifted to the Sharps.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u201cI consider them friends,\u201d he messaged. \u201cThey were to be here watching us play. … This family is an instrumental part of our Southwestern family, and we are all grieving their loss.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sharps also were rabid Iowa Hawkeyes fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

They loved just about every sport imaginable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey traveled six days a week for those kids\u2019 sports,\u201d Hoyt said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey lived life on the fly, let me tell you,\u201d Fry said, managing a smile.<\/span><\/p>\n

This would have been the family’s second trip to Danville to cheer the Spartans.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was their absence for the weekend that turned increasing worry in Creston into sheer panic, triggering Thursday night’s intense manhunt via the U.S. State Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

This tragedy touches nearly all of Creston.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever seen family trees that the branches go every which way?\u201d Hoyt said, waving her hands above her to illustrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

That was the Frys, Sharps and Baileys here. In that way, this family of four represents a loss for \u201cmost of the community, one way or another,\u201d Fry said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not to mention that Fry herself is a popular waitress at Mario’s, the local bar and grill. Another relative runs a hair salon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hoyt not only was Amy’s sister but also was a high school classmate of Kevin\u2019s. And her husband, Glen, was the guy who helped him catch the racing bug.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin Sharp served in Glen\u2019s pit crew for stock car races on the dirt track in Corning.<\/span><\/p>\n

The family thought there was no way that Kevin Sharpwould actually begin racing himself. He was too much the businessman. Not a gearhead in the least.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t even know a wrench,\u201d Hoyt laughed.<\/span><\/p>\n

But he got behind the wheel, loved it and went on to win trophies. He handed out his distributing company’s hats to winners, which turned out to be the most coveted trophies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharp wasn\u2019t going to race more than a couple times this year because of the family’s devotion to baseball and other sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin and Amy Sharp had been married more than 16 years. They tied the knot in Vegas.<\/span><\/p>\n

They met when Kevin began hanging around the Fry house for Sunday afternoon backyard volleyball games. Then he tagged along for a Fry trip to a Cardinals game in St. Louis.<\/span><\/p>\n

What had been planned as a modest family vacation became a raucous road trip with a rental van full of Amy\u2019s invited friends \u2014 including Kevin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe loaded (the van) up and had the time of our life,\u201d Fry said. \u201cHer and Kevin kind of got together that weekend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s how the family lived: constantly on the fly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sterling and Adrianna didn\u2019t even know they were going to Mexico until they were at the airport and getting on the plane \u2014 one more example of the family’s sense of adventure.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now, the travel has become a somber homecoming, as relatives streamed back to Creston. The horrible day Friday played out exactly a month before Amy Sharp\u2019s 39th birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her stepbrother in the Navy was flying in from Virginia Beach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin Sharp’s parents also had been on vacation and were en route.<\/span><\/p>\n

Powers Funeral Home is making the arrangements for the funeral late next week at Southwestern.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation-now\/2018\/03\/23\/half-my-family-gone-mom-mourns-iowa-family-found-dead-mexico-resort\/455125002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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