'Goodbye mama': teen texts in final message to mother as tornado strikes

VILONIA, Ark., May 5 (UPI) -- College senior Jeffrey Hunter spent the last moments of his life frightened and hiding in a bathroom, seeking shelter from the oncoming storm.

In the moments before the fatal tornado descended, Jeff reached out to his mother.

Jeff: Mama, I’m so scared.

Mom: You’ll be okay.

Jeff: Goodbye, mama. It’s heading right for me.

Mom: I love you, Jeff. You will make it.

But he didn’t.

Hunter died along with seven other victims of the twister that that tore through the small town of Vilonia, Ark., on April 27.

His mother kept texting, “Are you okay?” but her only son did not respond.

His body was found amid the rubble minutes later.

"Jeff, now your the brightest star in the sky, and a warm breeze on a sweet summer day," his mother posted on Facebook on Sunday. "You've earned your wings my gentle son we will be together again. Everyone's heart hurts but I believe the healing will begin."