Kickback Jack’s employees remembered (+video)

May 25--ASHEBORO -- They lit luminaries, candles and sparklers.

They released purple balloons.

They cried, and they laughed.

They sang, and they prayed.

About 100 people gathered in front of Kickback Jack's Tuesday evening to remember Melissa Reynolds and Dustin Wheeler, who had died a day earlier in a car crash in northwestern Randolph County.

Wheeler, 31, and Reynolds, 37, both of Plainfield Road, Sophia, were westbound at about 2:45 a.m. Monday on Plainfield Road, less than .2 of a mile from home, in a 2000 Acura that Wheeler was driving, according to a report from the N.C. Highway Patrol. The car swerved, traveled left of center and ran off the road. It struck an embankment, went airborne and struck several trees before coming to rest in a tree. Trooper Jed Frye said speed was a factor in the wreck.

Melissa and Dustin -- girlfriend and boyfriend -- were employees of the sports bar on Dixie Drive in Asheboro. She was a server; he worked in the kitchen.

More than 50 luminaries lined the sidewalk in front of Kickback Jack's Tuesday night; another 25, smaller bags decorated by co-workers were arranged on a rail by the front patio.

"The world is a little less beautiful today" read the message on one.

Liz Vernon, a manager, used a wireless microphone to speak to the crowd that spilled from the sidewalk into the parking lot. Patrons inside could also hear her words.

"We've lost wonderful people on Monday morning, people that you can't find every day, those real kind of people," she said. "... Melissa and Dustin were real people. If Melissa was standing here, she would have tears rolling down both sides of her face that this many people thought so much of her and Dustin -- that so many people came out to pay respects."

Melissa's mother, Phyllis Knowles, and other family members, including Melissa's teenage daughters, Tyler Stephenson, Brianna Reynolds and Lacey Reynolds, were at the ceremony.

"You don't know what it means to our family," Knowles said, "especially her daughters, to see so many people ... She was a treasure, and we're going to miss her as soon as we realize it's real. Because it's not real yet."

Sparklers and candles glowed in the dark, and the crowd joined in as guitarist Bob Trice of Rockwell played and sang "Wagon Wheel," one of Melissa's favorites.

After the balloon release, Vernon shared a prayer, reminding those in attendance not to take anything for granted, to hug their families a little tighter, and to be kind to strangers.

Knowles asked to speak once more.

"Hug your family," she said. "Hug your family every day because you don't know when the last time will be."

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Melissa Reynolds did not have life insurance. A gofundme page has been set up to raise money for her funeral expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/25rsk4ac. The goal is $5,000. Extra money raised will go to her daughters.

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