KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A hit-and-run accident early Saturday morning killed a Western Michigan University student. She was remembered by family and friends at a vigil on campus Monday night.
The impact 21-year-old Kaylee Gansberg had on the WMU community was apparent, with more than 100 students coming out to remember her.
Gansberg's two brothers came from out of state for the vigil, and say she was the classic older sibling.
"There when you need her, there when you don't want her," laughs Alex Gansberg, her younger brother. "She's just, she was amazing."
The large crowd was unsurprising to them, saying she made a positive impact on everyone she knew.
"As annoying as we were as little brothers, she still loved us," says brother Jack Nadolny.
Gansberg was a talented artist, her brothers say. Nadolny remembers when he and Kaylee left for college, they made signs with their schools logos on them.
"Hers was all beautiful and stuff and mine was, like, scribbles and ugly drawings," he recalls. "Clearly she got the artistic touch and I did not get it."
With the accident happening over the weekend, and the family living apart, they still are letting the loss set in.
"It just seems like she's still in college, still living here," says Gansberg. "And so it's really hard to kind of wrap. It's just slowly processing."
But already they're advocating against drunk driving.
Police believe the driver who hit Kaylee was drunk, and the two brothers say they don't want any other family to experience this pain.
"It's really not worth it," says Nadolny. "To be the family of someone who's life gets taken or be the person who takes someone else's life, it's terrible."
The pain of not seeing their sister one last time.
"I really want to see her and just tell her that I love her and make sure that she knows," says Gansberg.
The 22-year-old man alleged to have hit Kaylee is behind bars. He hasn't been arraigned yet as the prosecutor is waiting for blood and autopsy results.
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