Angie Phillips was the type of devoted mother who would have been puzzled by Susan Smith, the woman who rolled her car into John D. Long Lake and drowned her two boys.
Phillips was visiting monuments erected to the two boys when the sport-utility vehicle carrying her husband and three children somehow rolled down an embankment and into the lake. Phillips dived into the murky water trying to save them.The entire family of five died, along with the children's 3-year-old playmate Austin Dakota Rood-voets and Carl Sidney White, 29, a friend of the family who also dived into the lake to help with the rescue.
"These people, I have respect for. Susan Smith done what she done on purpose," said Tiffany Ward, one of the hundreds of visitors to the lake this weekend.
The vehicle was found upside down in 20 feet of water about 80 feet from the bank.
Tim Phillips, who had been shining headlights on the headstones erected in memory of the Smith children, was behind the wheel. Divers found the ignition switch in the on position, but the gear shift was in park. The emergency brake was off.
No skid marks were found on the embankment.
Authorities were investigating whether Tim Phillips accidentally knocked the gear shift out of the park position or if there was a mechanical failure. Autopsies may help determine if alcohol played any role.
Tim Phillips had recently had "nothing but trouble with that truck," including transmission problems, his cousin, Darrell Burns, told The New York Times.
Burns said the Phillipses were typical parents, proud of their children, Courtney, 4; Meleana, 1; and Kinsleigh, 4 months.
"You'd go into their house and there'd be a whole wall covered in framed baby pictures," he said.
Cathy Parks said Angie Phillips, who used to baby-sit her daughter, was a very religious and inspirational woman.
"She had the patience of Job," Parks said. "When I needed someone to take care of Chelsea, Angie volunteered. She did it practically for free. Everybody said, `God must have sent her to you.' "
Angie Phillips had recently started classes at the University of South Carolina-Union.
"I remember when she came to sign up, she had one of the children with her," said Terry Young, the school's director of enrollment. "She appeared to be a good person and a dedicated wife and mother."