A newlywed couple is among the 16 victims of a deadly a hot air balloon crash near Lockhart, Texas.

Sunday and Matt Rowan were married six months ago, Brent Jones, the father of Sunday's 5-year-old son, told CNN.

The hot air balloon ride, which turned deadly after the balloon crashed into power lines on Saturday, was a birthday gift from Sunday to her husband, Jones said.

"Sunday was messaging her mom before getting on the balloon. Soon after takeoff, she stopped all communication," he said. "It's hard, but I want everyone to understand how great our lives were together and how amazing these two people are."



Matt Rowan's brother told NBC News that the victim had recently begun a new job as an army hospital burns trial unit chief.

"He was doing some amazing work and research. He felt like a lot of the stuff he was doing would have benefits for soldier and other service members who had been injured by burns," Joshua Rowan said.

A volleyball teammate of Matt Rowan's had received a text from him on Friday saying he would be late for a tournament because of the air balloon ride, which he said had "been rescheduled a dozen times." The last text Matt sent to his teammates was a picture from the ride above the ground.

CNN reports the pilot of the hot air balloon was identified as Alfred "Skip" Nicholas, according to Alan Lirette, the ground crew supervisor for Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides.

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