Hunt and her husband raised quarterhorses and have seven grown children. The couple had been working, a room at a time, on remodeling their house. When Breinholt asked her why it was so big, she said it was so her children can always come back for Christmas, which was a big deal to Hunt.

"She's one of those people who go completely out at Christmas," Wallace said, with a whole room dedicated to her decorations and Christmas village.

But family was always what meant the most to her. "Every year, she made sure she had the deer hunt off because it was a huge family thing for them. Whenever requests for time off came, she put that down. She was all about family," Breinholt said.

Troopers on Monday were still investigating whether to cite the driver of the vehicle that hit Hunt.

Meanwhile, the driver of the pickup was found asleep by authorities at a home in Beryl Junction.

Florencio Bernal-Michua, 32, was charged Monday with negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor; failure to remain at the scene of an accident, operating a vehicle without insurance, both class B misdemeanors; failure to report an accident and no driver's license, both class C misdemeanors.

He is also being held in the Iron County Jail on an immigration detainer, suspected of being in the country illegally.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com