On Halloween night, Donald and Crystal Howard left their children — ages 13, 10, 8, and 6 — at home while they ran to the store to pick up face paint and more candy for trick-or-treaters. Their SUV careened off the road and hit a tree. They didn't survive the crash. Trooper Nathan Bradley was tasked with informing the next of kin — knowing that he'd have to call Child Protective Services and that the children would have to spend the night in jail until the grandmother arrived, Officer Bradley went out on a limb. "I pulled the deputy coroner to the side and told him that I was split. I wanted to preserve these kids' Halloween and the ones to come. I suggested that I'd care for them until their family was able to."
