"He kissed me goodbye before he left for work," says Nikki Johnson, Ryan Gooding's fiancée.
Nikki Johnson could never have imagined that would be the last time she would ever see Gooding.
"I got a text from his employer and they said... 'I don't normally do this but it's so unlike him to not respond. We're freaking out,'" says Johnson.
Johnson started to panic since she hadn't heard from him either. She had read about Thursday's fiery crash off I-10 and Chandler Boulevard that killed five people, but didn't want to believe her fiancé was involved.
"I called everybody I could think of to help me. 'Let's find him. We've got to figure out, is he stranded on the side of the road? What's going on?'"
After waiting 12 hours, the family decided to file a missing persons report. Johnson gave officers a description of Gooding's car and license plate number.
"Then I saw on my phone that the freeway had opened up at 6:00 and I thought, maybe I’m going I'm going to hear that garage door, you know. So I laid right here and I waited for that garage door and the garage door didn't open. I got visited by the troopers shortly thereafter, at the same time my parents came here for support. I just knew when I saw his face,” says Johnson.
Johnson says she collapsed to the floor and then had to tell their 9-year-old son what happened.
"He hugs me and all night he was like, 'Don’t worry, mom. I’ll be your new Ryan. I’m here, mom. We’re going to get through this,’” says Johnson.
Gooding was a medical marijuana cultivator, spending his whole career growing plants with genetics.
"Just remember that he is unlike anyone you would have ever met,” responds Johnson.
Johnson says they were set to get married this summer.
"He was so excited. He wouldn’t take that engagement ring off. He said to me every day, ‘I can’t believe you want to marry me. How did I get you?" says Johnson.
Johnson is now looking at her ring as a reminder of their endless love for one another.
An online fundraiser has been started to help Ryan Gooding's family.
