WEST JORDAN, Utah - A West Jordan Family is remembering a mankilled in a motorcycle crash on Bangerter Highway, when police said he hit a wooden pallet.
33-year old Craig Schmidt leaves behind his wife Dayna, and his 12-year old daughter Sophia.
They said Schmidt had gone for a short motorcycle ride, as he sometimes liked to do at night.
"He's been riding for years,” Dayna said. “It was not uncommon for him to go on just a quick little loop."
Riding motorcycles was one of his passions, and the step-mother and daughter said they had just gone for their family first ride of the season the weekend before.
They had also just gone to a punk rock concert together.
"He took me into the mosh pit,” Sophia said, laughing at the memory.
“He was protecting her,” Dayna said, also chuckling. The two have a photo booth strip from that night, filled with pictures of them making silly faces and having a good time.
“It was really fun,” Sophia said. “It was a really great time."
That’s now a special night she’ll now remember when she thinks about her dad.
Sophia said Craig also loved to play guitar and he was teaching her how to play as well. He was even in a band.
"He was a really good dad and I think me and Dayna can both agree that he was a really good husband. He was really talented," Sophia said.
What friends and family will remember most, they said, is Craig’s kind eyes, and his funny, silly personality.
“Every time he smiled, you could just see it in his whole face," Dayna said.
The couple just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary in January, and Dayna said they were hoping to start a family together.
Now, they’re left grieving the husband and father—all from a piece of debris being left on the highway.
West Jordan Police said they were trying to figure out who dropped the pallet, and how it ended up on the road.
They said Schmidt was wearing all the proper gear and a helmet at the time of the crash.
This simple mistake has now changed the lives of Dayna and Sophia forever.
Dayna urged double-checking loads on vehicles and making sure everything is strapped down correctly.
"Make sure-- You don't know what kind of ripples it's going to cause,” she said. “Whose lives it's going to effect, and how."
