MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Are Gwen Shamblin Lara and Joe Lara OK? Jet carrying diet guru and her husband crashes into lake killing 1

The Cessna C501 crashed into Percy Priest Lake in Smyrna, Tennessee, shortly after take-off and was bound for Palm Beach International Airport

UPDATE: Gwen Shamblin Lara, founder of the Remnant Fellowship Church, her actor husband Joe Lara and five others were killed in a plane crash on May 29.

Read the original story below:

A small plane carrying Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara, her husband and five other Remnant Fellowship Church members crashed into a Tennessee lake on May 29, killing at least one. Around 11 am, a Cessna C501 slammed into the water in Percy Priest Lake in Smyrna, Tennessee, killing at least one person who is yet to be identified, according to WTVF. According to the outlet, the plane is registered to Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband Joe Lara's company JL&GL Productions LP. Joe Lara, Gwen's husband, played Tarzan in the 1980s and '90s. 

Earlier in March, Yaacov Nahom and Grant Hustad were killed when their single-engine plane crashed in Pembroke Pines, Florida. In July last year, a small airplane crashed into a backyard in a residential Utah neighborhood.

READ MORE

Who was Nicholas Hunter Hamilton? Nevada pilot, 43, killed after military jet crashes in Las Vegas

Baby turns sole survivor of plane crash that killed parents as heroic mom shields him in her arms

Shamblin Lara, who founded the church in 1999, is the author of the national bestseller 'The Weigh Down Diet', a Christian-based diet. Her condition after the accident is unknown. Her website refers to her as a "pioneer of faith-based weight loss". The plane took off from the Smyrna Rutherford County Airport just before it crashed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. It was said to be on its way to Palm Beach International Airport. According to Tennessee Highway Patrol, the plane crashed into the water near the Fate Sanders boat ramp.

According to the website Flight Aware, the plane was built in 1982 and is a fixed-wing plane with two engines and eight seats. It was unclear who was flying the plane at the time. Dive teams are still searching the lake for debris and survivors, according to Nashville Public Radio.

Her daughter, Elizabeth Hannah, sent an internal text to church families informing them that the plane 'had to go down for a controlled, quick landing,' according to WTVF. "More information to come, but be in prayer – and be at peace. GOD IS IN CONTROL, and we will not stop moving forward with WHAT GOD WANTS with this church," Hannah wrote, according to the Daily Mail.

Because no details have been confirmed, the Remnant Fellowship told Daily Mail that "authorities have not been unable to communicate with the families of those involved." "The Shamblins, Hannahs and Laras appreciate your concern, support and prayers," the church said in the statement, adding: "As has been reported by the media, some family members may have been involved in a plane accident this morning."

People took to Twitter to talk about the incident. "At least one dead after small plane carrying Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara crashes into lake https://trib.al/MIKxID9," said a tweet. "NEW: The @FAANews confirms 7 people were on board the Cessna that crashed into Percy Priest Lake. @NC5 has confirmed the plane belonged to Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara and she and other Remnant Fellowship leaders were on board. At least one person is confirmed dead," said another. "oh holy f**k gwen shamblin lara might have actually gone to hell happy Saturday," a sick troll quipped.