‘A beautiful soul’; Springfield mother preserving memory of daughter lost to fatal crash

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — It's been less than three weeks since Amy Oberbeck got the worst news of her life. Her daughter, Gnila, was killed in a car crash on May 19. "My oldest daughter got a hold of me and said Gnila was in an accident and she was critical and I had to get to Cox South. Gnila never made it to Cox South. "I threw on my flashers. I figured if I got pulled over, the police could at least escort me. I went 90 miles an hour to get to my daughter," Oberbeck said. "[When] the Highway Patrol told me to pull over and that they would meet me, I. I knew hadn't made it." Gnila Oberbeck was pronounced dead on the scene. The Highway Patrol says Gnila Oberbeck was the passenger in a car that hydroplaned on Highway 14, miles west of Nixa, before the car was hit on the passenger side. The crash happened May 19, and the Highway Patrol has confirmed to OzarksFirst that they are still investigating the crash. "I'm not going to let her be forgotten. She deserves to be remembered and be held in a high regard because she really was just an incredible soul," Oberbeck said. Oberbeck describes her daughter as a beautiful soul. "She had just gone to prom and she had just graduated. She was looking at becoming a sonographer. She was going to take classes to further her education. So she was a wild spirit, and I mean that in the best way. She was just incredibly inquisitive and adventurous and kind, and she loved absolutely everybody. She was a great kid," Oberbeck said. Gnila was the second of Amy's four kids, and Amy says her second-born truly embodied the reputation of any second-born child. "She was the unpredictable one. She was the one that, if she disappeared for a couple of hours, she was probably at the creek or riding the four wheeler," Oberbeck said. "She really, really was the very best part of me. She deserved to grow old. She deserved that, and to have her own family." Oberbeck says her daughter was riding with a man Oberbeck says her daughter only knew a short amount of time, and is urging parents to keep tabs of those in their children's lives, no matter how old they get. "Talk to your kids, have a conversation. Just because they're a friend of a friend or somebody who smiles at you, a simple ride home isn't always that simple ride home because you may not make it home," Oberbeck said. Oberbeck says she's feels guilt over the crash. "Very much so. I've spent 18 years, protecting her, providing for her, loving her. She would have been an incredible mom one day. Yeah, I feel guilty," Oberbeck said. "I didn't protect her from this. I didn't know." Oberbeck adds that she's seen an overwhelming amount of support for her and her family. "I've gotten so many messages and a lot of love from a lot of people. Gnila's visitation had a line of people for 3.5 hours just wanting to hug and talk and it was it was incredible," Oberbeck said.