PHOENIX - Perry Richardson lost two of his five daughters in a fiery wrong-way crash Friday on I-17 near Greenway Road.
He explained how he received the bad news.
"He said, 'Do you have two daughters named Karli and Kelsey?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'They've been in a wreck,' and I said, 'Are they OK?' He said,'I'm afraid not.'"
It's a phone call no one ever wants to receive, and its a situation the Richardson family was thrust into shortly after a 911 caller said they spotted that car going south in the northbound lanes of I-17.
The driver was Keaton Allison, 22, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Investigators had not ruled out drugs or alcohol as factors.
The Richardson sisters were heading north to the Grand Canyon shortly after 2 a.m. before their lives were taken.
As best friends, the family said the two spent a lot of time together.
"And when they weren't together, they missed each other," said Perry Richardson, their father.
Karli and Kelsey wanted to catch the sunrise from the rim.
Karli was a student a Grand Canyon University, and she was set to graduate this semester.
Kelsey was an aspiring doctor who wanted "to work with doctors without borders," her father said.
Their grandmother LaNelle Richardson said she only finds comfort in knowing they believed in God.
"I guess Jesus needed two beautiful girls in heaven," she said. "But my heart hurts. My heart hurts for their mother."
The family now waits for the bodies of two young women--whom they describe as ambitious, hard working, kind and adventurous--to be taken back home to North Carolina.
"The way I understand it, they really didn't have no chance," said Perry Richardson. "I know they're in heaven. I know they are. There's no doubt about it."
There is a service planned for Karli Richardson Wednesday at 8 p.m. on the Grand Canyon University campus.
A service will also be held for Keaton Allison Tuesday. The location has not been chosen.