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MOAB — Family of Elexa "Lexi" VanArsdol, 17, say she was a kind, caring, gentle soul who always looked out for her four younger siblings.
"She loved them so much. She would do anything for them," Dayna Handzlik, Lexi VanArsdol's aunt, said. "They are all going to need a lot of love and support, but he (her brother) was in the car with her, so he, you know, saw everything."
The teen was driving on U.S. Highway 191 at 400 East Tuesday afternoon when for unknown reasons she drifted into the southbound lane and hit a 3500 Ram pickup towing a gooseneck trailer with another pickup on the trailer. Her brother was a passenger in the car and was not injured.
"It is just kind of unreal, like you just don't plan it," Handzlik said.
The teen's father is a local pastor and since the accident, the family has received overwhelming support from the small Moab community.
"They are really taking care of my family. They are taking care of Kyle and Amanda and all of their kids," Handzlik said. "It has been amazing to see."
Family said the Grand County High School junior loved music and loved Christ.
"Her faith was really big to her, and I think that gives our family a lot of peace because we just feel like we know where she is," Handzlik said.
Live like Lexi did with the way she treated people, with the joy that she had, with the love that she gave to people.
–Dayna Handzlik, Lexi VanArsdol's aunt
Lexi VanArsdol's family is now focusing on the goodness she brought to their lives, saying we can all learn from the way she lived hers.
"Live like Lexi did with the way she treated people, with the joy that she had, with the love that she gave to people," Handzlik said.
Funeral services for Lexi VanArsdol will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Grand County High School auditorium.
