“Dust devils” are believed to have caused the death of a skydiving teacher in California in an accident that also left a student in the hospital.
Skydive Perris instructor Devrey LaRiccia Chase, 28, and her student were on a routine skydive when they collided with the “dust devils” causing them to crash down into the ground in Perris, Calif., KTLA 5 News reported. The tragic incident occurred on Aug. 2.
The pair were transported to the hospital for their injuries, where Chase was later pronounced dead, per the outlet.
Dust devils are vortices containing dust and debris that form in very hot conditions resembling small tornadoes that can reach heights of several thousand feet, according to the National Weather Service.
Devrey’s husband Freddy Chase, who is a popular skydiver with 418,000 followers on Instagram, wrote on his Instagram Stories on Monday, Aug. 5 that “there was no malfunction” prior to the incident.
Freddy Chase/Instagram
He explained that his wife was on her final jump of the day and was “turning her canopy to come land safely in the grass, like she has done hundreds of times” when she noticed the dust devils.
“At 40 ft Devrey avoided one of them, but caught a second one,” he continued. “With dust devil’s going over grass they become invisible because you can’t see any dust in the direction they’re going. It then sent her canopy in an uncontrolled spin to the ground.”
Freddy added that his wife “was not in pain” and that she was “unconscious but breathing” immediately after the fall and before she was taken to hospital.
Speaking to KTLA 5 News, he said that he and his wife shared a “passion for skydiving” and that she filmed the majority of his popular video content of him taking parachute jumps.
Chase moved to California with her husband from Maine eight years ago, according to the outlet.
Freddy Chase/Instagram
Freddy wrote in tribute to his late wife on Instagram: “I don’t even really know how to write this … there isn’t words I can put down. But I’m going to try … Devrey Jane lariccia Chase, my soul, my love, my other half, my baby, my ride or die, my everything, my wife … You were too perfect for this world.”
“… You were an angel amongst us … having spent the 5 precious years with you was a gift, you made me a better man,” Freddy continued, while sharing photos of the pair together. “… Having to say goodbye to you for now will forever be the hardest thing I will ever do in my life.”
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A GoFundMe page has been set up by the family of Chase to raise money for her transport back to Maine.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the tragic passing of our beloved daughter and sister. Devrey LaRiccia. Due to the circumstances, we need assistance to help Devrey get home to Maine and to the final resting place that all who knew and loved her know she deserves,” the page reads.
PEOPLE has contacted Skydive Perris for further comment.
