SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Friends are now sharing their memories of Duane Coulter after Washington State Police identified him as the motorcyclist killed on I-90 Jan. 20.
Many of those stories describe a man who went out of his way to do something nice for strangers.
Coulter's family said he was a stepfather and a loving grandpa. He helped with anything to do with car mechanics. A lot of things to a lot of people.
"A lot of things with this," sighs Jennifer Barnhart. "It's a lot."
That includes Jennifer, who'd be the first to admit she's not one of those with a deep relationship with Coulter.
"Um, I did not know him," she said.
He was a virtual stranger to her. Just another person in her Facebook friend list.
"Duane had posted a picture of a Pee Chee-like shirt," she recalls of one Facebook interaction. "I said, 'That reminds me so much of my dad.' And then, I think it was right after New Years, he messaged me and asked what size sweatshirt I wear."
Duane bought her the sweatshirt and delivered it to her on a lunch break.
"There's no reason he would do this for me, like at all, except he was a kind person," Barnhart said.
She says he later showed up to watch her perform karaoke. That was the night of Jan. 20.
Washington State Patrol says around midnight that night, Coulter was riding his motorcycle up the Sprague on-ramp to I-90 when he lost control, was thrown from the bike, and was hit by a car that didn't stop.
Law enforcement is asking witnesses to come forward.
Barnhart realized, when a mutual friend told her about Coulter's crash, she'd driven by the scene on the freeway.
She said, in total, their two interactions were maybe 15 minutes-worth. Though the kindness of this stranger, in giving her a sweatshirt that reminds her of her dad who also recently passed, is what she'll remember.
"It wasn't just a stupid sweatshirt," she says. "It was paying attention to the people around you, which how often do people even do that anymore."
KREM 2 News also spoke with Coulter's stepson, who provided this statement:
"We want whoever was responsible for this to please find it in their hearts to come forward for closure and why they didn’t have the decency to stop and see if there was anything they could have done to assist […] if anybody who may have seen what happened the family encourages you to come forward and help us out in any way that they possibly can. Please check all camera footage from neighboring businesses along with dash cams."
If you have any information, call WSP at (509) 904-5092.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: Search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.