Victims of crash laid to rest

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Hundreds gathered Saturday to remember two of the teens who died in a tragic head-on collision last Sunday.

Mourners paid their respects at memorial services for Alyssa Trouw and Rose Simmons.

Simmons, 15, was remembered as a lover of nature, Earth, animals and people.

"I miss her a lot. I miss her more than I ever thought I could miss anything," Rose's father John Simmons said. "I think Rose at 15 was living what a lot of us wish we could live, and she was living, instead of from her mind, she was living from her heart."

Her family chose to have the service at the Santa Fe Mountain Center because it was one of her favorite places.

"She loved coming here. It was a great place for her. She was at home here," Simmons said.

The father of Avree Koffman, the only survivor of the crash, said he wants the public to honor Rose's memory by caring for the planet.

"Rose and Averee did a study and they found that people idle and waste gas, and they did a little film that asks if we idle for more than 10 seconds, we shut our cars off," Dan Koffman said. "So if you want to do something for Rose and Averee, I ask that you do that."

A morning service for Alyssa Trouw, 16, drew crowds, hugs and heavy hearts.

Rose petals lined the sidewalk leading up to Santa Fe Preparatory School where the service was held.

Saturday would have been her 17th birthday.

"As a teacher you feel this loss, you get close to kids and it's a personal loss, the loss of the future, the future that you can see these kids heading towards and you know it's gone," Trouw's teacher Rudy Penczer said.

There will be a memorial service for another crash victim, Julian Martinez, Saturday in Santa Fe.

The service will be held 4:00 p.m. Sunday at Warehouse 21 in Santa Fe. The public is welcome to attend.