As the sun set in Walker County Monday evening, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board began removing mangled parts of an airplane from a crash site deep in the woods near the Manchester community.

The plane, a Beechcraft BE55, crashed Sunday morning, killing pilot Bobby Crump along with his wife, Jan, and only son, Matt.  Matt Crump's girlfriend, Lauren Brue, was also killed.

Sections of the plane were to be taken to the Walker County Airport Monday evening.  NTSB investigator Brian Rayner said the plane would be taken to Atlanta Tuesday for further examination.

The plane, Rayner said, took off Sunday and climbed to altitudes between 1800 and 2300 feet above sea level.  The plane apparently flew a circle, presumably around the Crumps' farm, and then spiraled to the ground, landing on its belly.

"In this area of dense woods, the only damage to the trees was immediately above where the wreckage sits now," Rayner said, indicating the small plane was unable to coast and simply fell to the ground.

No one on board survived.

Sources said the plane was last flown on Saturday with no apparent problems.

By Monday morning, online memorials were popping up in tribute to the four lives that were lost.  Lauren Brue's Facebook page featured an online video tribute assembled by friends.  The tribute featured photos of Brue and Matt Crump at Univeristy of Alabama football games and other social events.

Crump's cousin, also named Matt Crump, said he learned of the crash Sunday when he received a text message on his cell phone during church.

"I'll always remember Matt as one of the nicest kids I ever knew," the cousin said.  "No one could ever say anything bad about him," he added, noting Crump was a hard worker who devoted his time to helping others.  In addition to his studies in Tuscaloosa, the 21-year-old Crump was also a volunteer firefighter near Jasper.

His girlfriend, Brue, was from West Des Moines, Iowa, where her family learned the news Sunday.  Brue had reportedly just visited her family and had returned to Alabama the day before the crash.

A website for alumni of Minor High School included classmate-written tributes to Jan Carmichael Crump, who graduated from Minor more than 30 years ago.

Several members of the Crump family are well-known for owning various car dealerships around Jasper.  Bobby Crump owned Crump Nissan until 2006, when he sold the business to enter partial retirement.

The dealership is now renamed Precision Nissan.  Salesmen and other staff recalled fond memories of their former boss Monday afternoon.

"It was like losing family, because in this business, you spend 10 to 12 hours a day with somebody five or six days a week," Chris Hadder said.  "That's more time than you spend a lot of times with your immediate family."

Hadder worked for Crump for 15 years and often accompanied him to the Gulf Shores condo where the family was headed Sunday.

"His whole family was just an exceptional, tight-knit family," Hadder said.  "It's been a very somber day here."

He recalled times when Crump invited his son and friends to the dealership after business hours to play video games in the showroom.  Hadder also recounted his last conversation with Bobby Crump, who stopped by the dealership at closing time two weeks ago to ask how Hadder was doing and how business was going.

Friends of Crump said he was passionate about flying.  They said he replaced the engines on his plane a couple years ago.

Rayner said the engines were still relatively intact and would be examined.  He also said there was no sign of a fire or explosion, and preliminary results indicated the plane had plenty of fuel.  The NTSB is expected to consider several factors, including weight distribution and weather conditions, during its review, which could last one year.

The bodies of the crash victims were taken to Montgomery for forensics review, according to sources.

Memorial arrangements were not yet announced.