COMMERCE CITY, Colo.-- Sitting outside the Commerce City City Hall sits a police vehicle draped in flowers and messages for the detective lost in a horrible accident Friday.
“He was exceptional officer a devoted father and a great man,” Commerce City Police Chief Clint Nichols said.
Detective Curt Holland, 37, spent four years on the force. He had a wife and family.
“As you can imagine, they’re grieving. He has two young children. We’re doing everything we can to support them,” Nichols said.
His loss has left heavy hearts in the department.
“Whoa... um... They’re doing OK. You really don’t get a feel for how someone truly means to this organization until they’re not here. And I can tell you that there was really love for him. He meant a lot to a lot of different people, me (sic) included,” Nichols added.
But the detective wasn't the only life lost that day as 31-year-old Francesca Dominguez also didn't make it home.
“I want her home, I wish she was home, in her room,” her mother, Judith Dominguez, said.
She was off to get supplies that night after work. She wasn't answering her phone, so her father went looking, knowing there had been an accident.
“I couldn’t see her car. I sat down and I heard Franny say, 'you’re here,'” her father, Daniel Dominguez, said.
Her family misses her dearly.
“We’ll get through. We have to. The rest of our lives were going to live for her because she deserved to grow old,” Judith Dominguez said.
But her father has a message for everyone out there.
“Just tell your loved ones, take a second to tell you love ones that you love them and have a good day,” he said.
And on their way out, they stopped by the memorial outside to share one last message to Detective Holland.
“We really really thank you for all your service as you did. May your family be blessed and may your family know our family hurts just as much as theirs and we send our condolences, thank you,” Daniel Dominguez said.
