Young Couple Died in ‘Tragic Accident’ 15 Feet from Dorm. They’re Being Buried in Wedding Bands, Parents Say

Shortly after their 20-year-old daughter marked one year with her boyfriend last year, the two students were found dead inside a car parked near her college dorm. In the wake of what authorities have ruled an accident, the young woman’s parents are grieving a couple they say had already begun mapping out a life together.

“They definitely had true love,” mom Christy Mich says.

Mary Mich and Luke Reimer were found dead in a car on the campus of Franciscan University in Ohio on Jan 19, police say.

“Toxicology results confirmed both subjects died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning,” the department said. “This was ruled accidental in nature and appears to be caused by a problem with the vehicle’s exhaust.”

In a letter to the campus community, school President Father Dave Pivonka said what happened appeared to be a “tragic accident” that brought “profound sorrow to our entire Franciscan University community.”

“It’s a silent killer. You don’t smell it, you don’t see it,” says Mary’s dad, Chris, a 54-year-old sales strategy producer at QVC and HSN from Downingtown, Penn.

Christy, a 51-year-old dance teacher, says Luke — a 20-year-old business major who played defense on the school’s men’s lacrosse team — was found resting on Mary inside the car, which was parked about 15 feet from her dorm at Saint Agnes Hall.

“Resting his head on her is exactly what Mary would want,” she adds. “She would want to comfort him.”

Luke first noticed Mary in the cafeteria at their Catholic university in October 2024 when he was spending time with his friend Liam, the roommate of Mary’s twin sister’s boyfriend. Luke turned to his friend and said Mary was the “most beautiful girl on campus,” her mom recalls.

“Mary would say, ‘Mom, I kid you not, I was wearing a sweatshirt, jammy pants and slippers and my hair in a messy bun,’” Christy says.

Faith played a central role in Mary’s life. She was a junior studying theology and catechetics at Franciscan, her family says. A straight-A student, she also had an artistic side — singing, playing some piano and ukulele, and dancing for 15 years at the Oxford Center of Dance in Pennsylvania.

One of six kids, Mary also had a soft spot for children. Over the summer, she volunteered at an orphanage in Ecuador.

As the relationship deepened, Chris says Luke made a point of bonding with the family — including playing video games with Mary’s brothers.

He also tried hard to win over Mary’s dad in his own way: at an anime convention, Luke waited in line for three hours to get a framed photo from one of Chris’ favorite shows, Cowboy Bebop, signed by the cast.

“That will always be the best gift I’ve ever received in my entire life because it was given out of so much love and so much connection,” Chris says. “It’s so funny that he desperately wanted my approval — because he had it.”

Though they were young, both families say the couple had big hopes for what came next.

Luke had been thinking about launching a business aimed at making lacrosse supplies more affordable, while Mary was weighing how to apply her studies to teaching children.

She also dreamed of being a wife and a mother — and while Luke hadn’t officially proposed, Christy says they were already talking seriously about a wedding.

After their deaths, Mary’s parents say both families quickly aligned on how they wanted to honor them.

“Mr. Reimer said, ‘Can they wear rings?’ And we’re like, ‘Great,’” Chris recalls. “And Christy and I said, ‘Can we treat it as a wedding?’”

So they did.

Mary was dressed in the red dress she wore on Christmas Eve and buried in a white casket meant to represent a wedding dress, Chris says. Luke’s casket was black, symbolizing a tuxedo at his own service.

The flowers that day were the ones Mary had already chosen for her wedding, and the service included a Bible passage often read at weddings — the one about love being patient and kind.

Although they won’t be laid to rest together, both will wear their “blessed” wedding bands, and a lock of each other’s hair will be buried over their hearts, Chris says. (Mary was interred last month; Luke will be interred next week.)

Now, Christy says she holds onto the belief that their connection endures.

“Their story and their message is so important,” she says. “And that gives me a level of peace, as my mother says, ‘a peace that surpasses understanding.’”

She adds, “We have our moments where we are a wreck, and then we have our moments where I can talk like a human being. And I’m going to see my Mary again someday. And she’s with Luke, the love of her life.”