Fundraising For Family Whose Home Was Destroyed By Plane

UNION VALE, NY — Friends of the Bocker family are raising money to help with everything needful after the tragic destruction of their home by a small plane.

One set of friends has a Facebook fundraiser going and another has a page set up on GoFundMe.

The plane crashed into 235 South Smith Road at 4:15 p.m. Aug. 17. The pilot died, but two people on the plane survived the crash and subsequent inferno as the plane and house burned.

Three people were at home. Gerard Bocker, 61, died. Hannah Bocker, 21, was critically injured. Sarah Bocker, 30, sustained non-life-threatening injuries. One of their three dogs died, another is still missing.

The aircraft pilot was tentatively identified as Francisco Knipping-Diaz, 61, of Woodmere, Long Island.

His two passengers were Eduardo Tio, 50, also of Woodmere, and Teoflio Antonio Diaz Pratt, 52, of the Dominican Republic, both of whom sustained non-life threatening injuries.

The GoFundMe page, set up by a friend of Hannah and Sarah's brother, Wil Bocker, who lives in California, has raised $2,784 of its $50,000 goal.

The Facebook page, set up by friends of Sarah, has raised $78,450 raised of its $100,000 goal.