Lawrence pipefitter among 12 killed in Butler crash: ‘Devoted to God and skydiving’

If Facebook is any indication, Marcus Miller, a professional pipefitter and resident of Lawrence, Kansas, lived an adventurous life.

There was the motorcycle, the weightlifting, and dozens of photos on his profile page and those of others of skydiving: smiling through his dark beard and mustache high above a mountain range, near palm trees and over flatlands.

In one, thousands of feet above a coastline, he is dangling from what appears to be a helicopter’s landing skid.

“I’m really going to miss Marcus Miller,” a friend wrote Monday following Miller’s death. “We shared a lot of great trips and memories together.”

On Sunday, at about 11:30 a.m., Miller was one of 12 individuals — 11 skydivers and the pilot— who died when the aircraft they were flying in crashed moments after takeoff from Butler Memorial Airport in Bates County, about one hour south of Kansas City.

The aircraft, reported to be a Pacific Aerospace 750XL, a single-engine turboprop plane often referred to as a P750 and operated by Skydive Kansas City, reportedly rose only about 100 feet before it banked and crashed, killing all aboard.

The crash is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Nine of 12 remembered on social media

Authorities have not officially released the name of victims. But the names of nine other of those so far identified through tributes by family members, friends and others on social media so far include Jen Sharp, an internationally recognized skydiver and instructor, Matthew Cole Swope, Michael Shanahan, Dustin McKinney, Dane Cordes, Nick Nash, William Fischer, Blake Thacker and David Hershberger.

Miller, on his Facebook page, does not note his age. He identifies himself as a “union journeyman, skydiver, dad joke aficionado.”

“RIP Marcus Miller,” friend Kasen Sansonetti, wrote on his own Facebook page, “you certainly died doing what you loved, man.”

Sansonetti said that he and Miller had known each other for about six years, introduced through mutual friends and had attended music festivals together. Although the two had not been as close recently, Sansonetti in an interview with The Star, described Miller as a reliable friend, “a real dude, consistent in how he treated people.”

“By his descriptions, you know, he kind of had a rough time there for a bit, as we all do with life,” Sansonetti said. “But, I mean, he like completely turned his life around and devoted it to God and skydiving.”

Although single, Miller appeared to be in a happy relationship and, from the photos on his own Facebook page, happy in his adventures.

In photos, he is often captured with a beaming smile — at the base of a mountain topped by cascading waterfalls, bowling at the Royal Crest Lanes in Lawrence. Having numerous tattoos, Miller holds up his left arm, revealing a saying inked on his forearm: “Open your mind before your mouth.”

Other skydiving photos show his red helmet, affixed with a GoPro camera, bearing a motto that he also wears on a T-shirt On the right cheek, it says “Live Epic.” On the left: “Die Epic.”

When a skydiver dies, it is common among those in the sport not to “rest in peace,” but rather to write BSBD, the initials for Blue Skies, Black Death — representing both the joys of the sport and its inherent danger.

“In honor of the 11 skydivers and the pilot we lost today,” a friend of Miller’s death Sunday. “BSBD.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 3:58 PM.