Family, friends remember hard-working young mom, caring boyfriend who died in icy crash
Family and friends are mourning after a couple died in a crash earlier this month when their vehicle slid off I-235 in southwest Wichita during the blizzard.
Nathaniel Boyd, 24, of Wichita and Whitney Allmond, 26, of Clearwater, had been dating and were in the process of moving in together, family said.
Boyd had picked up Allmond from work, and they were driving along I-235 about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 5, when the SUV slid and rolled down an embankment. They were found dead nearly 18 hours later about 6:20 p.m. by the Kansas Highway Patrol.
The accident happened during the first winter storm of the season in Wichita. A blizzard warning was active and snow and ice made driving especially hazardous.
Caring mother of two
Allmond would have celebrated her 27th birthday on Wednesday, three days after the fatal crash, her stepfather, Larry Canup Jr., said in a phone call.
Canup had been in Allmond’s life since she was 9 and said she was a hard-working mom of a 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl.
“You know raising two little babies, she was working two jobs,” Canup said. “Her kids were always with her.”
Growing up, Allmond was involved in Venturing, a co-ed program of the Boy Scouts. She had two brothers and they all would go camping.
“She got involved in that [Venturing] quite heavily and became a leader in that when she was younger, and just really loved to be there and support people.”
That caring, supportive attitude poured over into family and friends.
“I can think of a lot of times just in the last few years where she’d hear about a friend who was struggling and had children,” Canup said. “She would find a way to organize to have baby clothes sent to them or make sure they have food. ... She always wanted to make sure people were OK.”
Canup said Allmond lived with him and her mother, Jennifer, for a number of years and moved into her own apartment roughly a year and a half ago. She and Boyd had been together since June and July and would go back and forth staying at each other’s places.
“Just last week she was moving in with her new boyfriend, so she hadn’t even been gone a week,” Canup said. “The apartment that she was living in still has a bunch of her stuff in it. She wasn’t fully moved out, so we have to take care of that.”
Now, Canup and his wife plan to raise their grandchildren.
Canup recalled a fond memory of his daughter, who always loved to be “dolled up.”
“She always wanted to dress all real pretty. ... That was her way of having fun, you know, because she couldn’t go out and spend money and do crazy things because she had babies,” Canup said. “She just stayed home and made herself look real pretty, and then do the same thing for the kids.”
Allmond was focused on providing for her kids, but wanted to possibly pursue cosmetology in the future.
“She did have some dreams that some she shared and some she didn’t, but her focus was on the here and now doing what she needed to take care of her babies.”
A funeral and burial is still being planned out by Allmond’s family. A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for expenses. To access the fundraiser, click here.
“We plan to use what is raised to pay for funeral expenses, and whatever is left will be given to her two children for extra support,” the fundraiser said. “Grandma and Grandpa will be raising the babies and will need a lot of help to make sure the babies have what they need.”
‘Like a third brother to me’
Cheyenne Goodson described Nathaniel Boyd as a third brother. Goodson’s younger brother and Boyd were best friends and she described the pair as “two peas in a pod.”
“Nate is the most caring person,” Goodson said in an emailed statement. “Nate was a very good man and he wouldn’t let anything happen to his sister, my brother, his girlfriend and her kids.”
Multiple attempts to reach Boyd’s mother were unsuccessful.
Canup said they didn’t know Boyd too well, but said that he cared for Allmond and her two children.
“From what I understand, he was really good with the babies,” Canup said. “So that’s all that matters to me.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for Boyd’s funeral expenses. To access the fundraiser, click here.
