Five children have been left orphaned after both their parents were crushed to death when a 175-foot-tall tree fell on top of their car.
Jake Woodruff, 36, and his wife Jessica, 45, were killed when a huge redwood tree uprooted and landed on their vehicle as they headed on a romantic trip to celebrate Jessica's 45th birthday.
The couple were driving through Del Norte County, northern California when the freak accident occurred on Thursday afternoon.
They were heading on a romantic trip together to celebrate the mum's 45th birthday when tragedy struck.
The tragedy has left the couple's five devastated children, Evan, Casey, Megan, Allie, and Chelsea, orphaned.
A GoFundMe set up for the children has so far raised over $116,000 of its $500,000 target.
Organiser Amanda Maffei said the tragedy was "difficult to accept".
Writing on the page, she said: "This was a shocking and unexpected event, and the tragedy of this accident makes it difficult to accept as real.
"These five children are now left without parents and are facing a lifetime of expenses.
"There is no getting around the devastation and trauma the loss of Jessica and Jake has brought.
"As we can all imagine, there is a long road ahead, especially for the children who have been left behind.
"Knowing that this family, and these children have been showed so much support the past few days is beyond incredible."
The page described them as a "tight-knit family" and added the children were coming to terms with what has happened.
California Highway Patrol public information officer Brandy Gonzalez said such an event is rare.
He said: "It's the most unusual incident I've seen in my 19-year career.
"We're very prone to Mother Nature in this area. We do have trees come across lanes sometimes, and we think, 'Luckily it didn't hurt anybody.'
"The timing in this case was just crazy."
