CONIFER, Colo. (KDVR) — The Conifer community is now grieving after Michael and Debbie Carman, the couple behind a popular food truck, were killed in a wrong-way crash on Monday morning on Highway 285.
The Carmans started the business back in 2018, and while there is no concrete date on when they plan to reopen, FOX31 was told their son, Austin, wants to continue the business to honor his parents' legacy.
Drive down Conifer Road and you'll find The Abide Ride Burrito Food Truck surrounded by flowers, and a note that reads: "Debbie and Mike, we will always love you and keep you in our hearts."
The Abide Ride Burrito Food Truck is on Conifer Road after a deadly crash killed the owners. (KDVR)“Both of them kind of came together and bought this food truck in 2018," said Sam Norman. "Debbie, it’s her entire legacy. She wanted to do this, and the way she would talk to people every single day.”
A note left at a food truck memorial. (KDVR)Flowers left beside a food truck with beloved owners who were killed in a crash. (KDVR)Norman is best friends with the couple's only son, Austin. He says the couple was on their way to Denver early Monday morning, around 5:30 a.m., to get orange juice for the food truck, when a wrong-way driver crashed into their vehicle.
Norman said, “Mike was unfortunately pronounced at the hospital. With Austin by her side for the past two days, Debbie unfortunately passed away from her injuries as well.”
He says the couple meant a lot to this community.
SkyFOX flew over the deadly wrong-way crash on US 285. (KDVR) Free on Your TV • New FOX31+ App for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV“Debbie really just took anybody in who. I was lucky enough to have a good childhood but Debbie accepted me as Austin’s brother day one," Norman said. "You could come through the first day and say my kid is sick and she’s never met you. You come back a month later, she’s going to ask how your kid is doing. She remembered everybody and with the amount of support that we have here, they really touched a lot of people.”
He says Michael was a hard worker.
“I don’t even know how you sum up his character. He has been a general contractor as long as I've known him. If you're tiling: done, or a house: built. Every part of it, even electricity. He would try to handle it himself. He was on the job site before the sun would come up and came home at 9 p.m. He would still come home and be present for his family. He took a lot on. He would renovate other people’s houses while building his house," said Norman.
The couple was passionate about feeding others and making connections in the community.
“A lot of people stopped here on their way to work in the morning and we never knew how much it affected a lot of people," Norman said.
Norman recalls spending weekends at the couple's home with Austin.
“We would wake up to just mountains of French toast. She would make biscuits and gravy, and at night it would be sloppy joes or tacos."
Now standing in an empty parking lot where lines would normally be, Norman says he sees it as potential.
Norman is best friends with the couple's only son, Austin. (KDVR)"For the future, who knows what it holds, but we can make something special out of it. So that's kind of the goa,l how can we make Debbie and Mike proud now?" he said.
19 employees to receive $155K in wages, benefits that Commerce City company failed to payThe couple put their heart and soul into this place, and Norman says that seeing the support from the community restored his faith in humanity.
“I can’t even put into words how thankful we are," he said. "I don’t know what we can do to pay everybody back for what they did, but we hope to find a way.”
It's going to be a long road to recovery for the family, as Austin now has to plan two funerals and pay his mother's ICU bills. Friends of the family have set up a GoFundMe to help Austin during this difficult time.
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