Heartfelt Words for Jeffrey Bush, New Sinkhole 'Vacate' Sign Posted

Jeremy Bush, with his his 2-year-old daughter, Hannah, and her mother, Rachel, spent a sixth day at the scene at 240 Faithway Drive in Seffner, where his brohter, Jeffrey, 36, died in a catastrophic sinkhole Feb. 28.

Jeremy Bush is the one who tried to save his brother's life, jumping into the hole shortly after his brother's cries for help rang out in the pre-midnight hours, shortly after it had sounded, as reported, like a car had crashed into the house.

"He was a great brother, I enoyed being with him," Bush said. "If I didn't enjoy being with him I wouldn't have worked with him all these years and lived with him everywhere I've lived. I love him, and I'll miss him."

Bush said his mother is having a hard time coping with the loss of her son. So, too, are family and friends, including the Wicker family that owned the home. Bush's years-long girlfriend is the granddaughter of Leland Buddy Wicker, the home's owner.

• Meanwhile, "vacate" signs have been posted on the homes on either side of the home that stood at 240 Faithway Drive in Seffner. Less than two miles away, a second sinkhole opened March 4, in the backyards of the homes at 1204 and 1206 Cedar Tree Lane in Seffner. A newer "vacate" sign was visible in the window at 1206 Cedar Tree Lane on March 5. The "vacate" sign notes that it is unlwaful to enter the designated structure, because it is deemed unfit for human habitation.

Wicker said he has four children — Wanda, Norman, Janell and David —  13 grandchildren and 18 great-grandkids, and all but one, the newest born, has spent a great deal of family time in the house. It two-day demolition was ordered for safety reasons and was completed March 4.

"I'm still in disbelief, I honestly never thought I would see it look like this," he said.

What it "looked like" March 5 was what it was, a vacant lot, covered in fresh-packed dirt, with a stately oak tree towering in its midst, the same tree Wicker said he had planted there in 1976, shortly after picking it up from his aunt's home on McIntosh Road.

The carefully orchestrated demolition was undertaken with every intention in mind to return to the Wicker family every family treasure, photo, memento, heirloom and artifact as humanly possible.

And there were quite a number of items recovered, including the family Bible, photographs and wall hangings and "granny's" jewelry box, diary and jewelry. Wicker's wife, Mary Leona Wicker, remembered as both a formidable and loving force, died from cancer in 2005. 

"We got a lot more back than we expected," David Wicker said. "But none of it is worth his life. I'd rather have him [Jeffrey Bush] than the pictures."

"We did everything together," Jeremy Bush said about his brother. "We worked for the same company for 12 to 15 years and when I started with this new company, I got him a job there, too. I did everything for  him, helped him out with everything."

Hillsborough County Deputy Douglas Duvall is the man who pulled Bush to safety shortly after he jumped into the sinkhole in a frantic and futile attempt to save his brother's life.

"I saw [the top of his] bed and that was it," Bush said, about the scene he saw after running into the back, guest bedroom on that fateful night. "I didn't even think about it, I just jumped in and started searching for him. I didn't pay any attention to that [the dangers of the sinkhole]."

In the days that followed, the house stood strong, despite what officials believed could have been a continuing chapter in what has been described as a "catastrophic collapse." Family members saw it as a sign that the first tractorhoe brought in for the demolition bore the same number as the house — 240 — and that the last dumpster brought in to remove the debri bore the number of the house in North Carolina that Leland Buddy Wicker lives in now — 245.

"Everybody believes it was the grandmother holding that house up," Bush said. "It was a little bit of Jeff holding that house up, too."

"Hopefully both families will grow together" even more, Bush added. "If they couldn't get my brother out, if they couldn't return the body, I wanted them [the Wickers] to get their stuff. But for me, it was about my brother."

"He was a great guy," David Wicker said. "Nothing we got out of that house is worth him not being here anymore."

Leland Buddy Wicker added his two cents as well.

"Like I said before, Jim was the type of guy, he'd give you the shirt off of his back," he said. "And he'd to anything for you. I miss Jeff. We'd talk . . . on the back porch . . . and he'd say, 'Is there anything I can do for you? Can I help you do anything?' He was just a fabulous guy."

Added Wicker's daughter, Janell: "[Jeffrey Bush] was a great guy, he really was. His family loved him, his family cared for him, and he was just an all-around great guy."

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BRANDON PATCH SEFFNER SINKHOLE COVERAGE (Through March 6):

• HuffPost Live Looks at Seffner Sinkhole Tragedy: 'Saving Us From Sinkholes'

• Seffner Sinkhole Video: 'In a Flash It Happens and the Whole World's Changed'

• Video: Final Walls Come Down on Seffner Sinkhole at 240 Faithway Drive

• 2nd Seffner Sinkhole Under Investigation as Stabilization Work Continues

• Seffner Sinkhole Homeowner: 'God Has a Plan'
  

• Seffner Sinkhole Victim Officially 'Presumed' Deceased

• Readers React to Seffner Sinkhole Tragedy

• Family Treasures Salvaged from Seffner Sinkhole Demolition
  

• Demolition Under Way at Seffner Sinkhole Site

• More Photos From the Seffner Sinkhole Site

• Seffner Sinkhole Operation Readies for Impending Demolition

• 3rd Home 'Compromised' at Seffner Sinkhole Site; Relief Fund Established

• Video: Deputy Douglas Duvall Recounts Seffner Sinkhole Heroics

• Situation 'Extremely Unsafe' at Seffner Sinkhole Site

• Family Member Recalls Horror of Seffner Sinkhole Tragedy

• Photos From the Scene of Sinkhole in Seffner

• Video: Hillsborough Fire Chief Discusses Seffner Sinkhole

• Hillsborough County Among Top 10 Sinkhole-Prone Florida Counties

• Update: Sinkhole Swallows Seffner Man Sleeping in Bed

• Video of Deputy Who Worked To Save Men From Sinkhole 
  

• Video: Man Could Hear His Brother Screaming

• Video: Fire Chief Answers Questions             

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