Three members of the Michigan-based family featured on TLC’s reality show Meet the Putmans were recently killed in a car crash, and five other members were injured.
In a statement shared on Saturday, the family said its patriarch Bill “Papa” Putman, his wife, Barb – who goes by Neenee – and their daughter-in-law Megan were killed in a “tragic car accident” that was evidently reported the previous night.
“They have gone home to be with the Lord,” the statement added.
The family added that members identified as Uncle Blake, Lulu, Alena, Noah and Gia were also injured in the crash and remained hospitalized.
“We are asking for complete healing and strength for each of them,” they said. The statement also solicited prayers for the “whole family as we walk through this deep loss”.
“Your support means more than words can express,” the statement said. “Please continue to lift us up, that our hearts remain fixed on the truth that Jesus conquered death so we could have eternal life.”
Without identifying the Putmans, the Tuscola county sheriff’s office in Michigan said in a statement that three people were killed and five others were injured in one of two vehicles that crashed with each other at about 9pm on Friday. Two people in the other vehicle were also hurt.
Police say that a 55-year-old man from Florida was driving a semi-truck southbound with a female passenger “when it failed to stop at a stop sign”.
The truck then collided with a Jeep carrying eight people traveling eastbound.
Three were pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said. And the agency said the remaining five passengers were transported to nearby hospitals, some in critical condition.
The sheriff’s office added that the semi-truck driver and his passenger sustained minor injuries and were also transported to the hospital.
The driver was subsequently arrested and was being referred to prosecutors for formal charges, the sheriff’s office said.
On Saturday, authorities said that the crash remained an active investigation and therefore the names of those involved would not be released.
“We are asking the public to please pay more attention when driving,” the office said. “We are having far too many crashes that are destroying people’s lives.”
On Sunday, the family shared updates on Noah and Gia. Noah, they said, was “still sedated” but was responding to them with movement. Gia, they said, underwent a craniotomy and her “brain pressure has gone down significantly”.
“Keep lifting Noah and Gia up as they heal,” the family wrote.
Meet the Putmans aired in 2017 on TLC for six episodes. The reality show documented the lives of Bill and Barb’s multi-generational family of 25 who all lived under one roof in Tuscola county.
