A mysterious "angel priest" appeared at a car crash scene in eastern Missouri on Sunday and prayed at the scene before vanishing without a trace.
The Catholic priest does not appear in any of the nearly 70 photos taken at the car crash scene, and rescue workers do not know the identity of the holy man who disappeared shortly after offering his blessing.
Raymond Reed, the fire chief of New London, told USA Today: "I think it's a miracle. I would say whether it was an angel that was sent to us in the form of a priest or a priest that became our angel, I don't know. Either way, I'm good with it."
Rescue workers arrived at the scene to see car crash victim Katie Lentz, 19, who was still conscious. However, her vital signs were quickly dropping as they attempted to remove her from the car. They had no choice but to attempt to flip the car over to get her out. But a move that could be life-threatening and the woman asked for someone to pray with her.
According to rescue workers, a mysterious priest suddenly appeared and said, "I will." He then prayed with Lentz and the rescue workers, sprinkling the victim with oil.
Afterwards, the car was turned over and Lentz was freed from the wreckage.
However, when Reed and the other rescue workers tried to find the priest to thank him for his prayer, he had disappeared from the scene. "We all go back to thank this priest and he's gone," Reed said. He added, "I have 69 photographs that were taken from minutes after that accident happened — bystanders, the extrication, our final cleanup — and he's not in them. All we want to do is thank him."
Reed also explained that there is only one Catholic church out of three towns in the area and that it wasn't their priest. He also told news crews, "we very plainly heard that we shoudl remain calm, that our tools would now work, and that we would ge ther out of that vehicle."
Lentz's mother Carla Church Lentz, told USA Today: "I do believe he certainly could have been an angel dressed in priest's attire because the Bible tells us there are angels among us." She also said that her daughter is recovering from her numerous injuries ranging from broken bones ruptured spleen and bruised lung. "She sustained a lot of injuries, however, her face is beautiful, her teeth are perfect, she is sunshine, and everyone who's contacted us - those emergency personnel, the Missouri State Patrol, the deputies, the firemen - they are all saying the same thing, she never cried, she never screamed, she would just say, 'pray for me and pray out loud.' "
The victim's friend Travis Wiseman said, "Where did this guy come from. We're looking for the priest and so far, no one has seen him. Whether it was a priest as an angel or an actual angel, he was an angel to all those and to Katie."
