Couple killed in Westside motorcycle crash remembered

Jason Sanders, Ashley Goetzinger leave behind 4 daughters

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family and friends are saying goodbye to a mother and father killed in a motorcycle crash.

Jason Sanders, 31, and Ashley Goetzinger, 29, leave behind four daughters, ranging in age from 8 to 13 years old. They died in a crash Thursday night on the west side at the intersection of Normandy Boulevard and Cassat Avenue.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers said the couple's motorcycle hit a van.

There were smiles, candles, hugs and tears as family and friends gathered together to remember two people they loved so much. People who were closest to Sanders and Goetzinger said they can't believe they're gone.

"I know that they're going to miss their mom and dad terribly. I can already see this is the youngest and her heart is broke," said family friend Kathy Huff. "To see them to have to go through this, it's very heartbreaking."

RELATED: 2 dead in Westside motorcycle wreck

The couple grew up in Jacksonville. They moved to Maryland and just a few months ago they moved back to Jacksonville.

Alyssa Sanders and her siblings are still in pain.

"They still wake up crying," said Alyssa Sanders.

Her grandfather, Thomas Goetzinger, is still in pain as well.

"I lost my daughter and I virtually lost a son," said Thomas Goetzinger. "It's a very hard thing to go through. We're all trying to band together, both sides of the family."

The family is now trying to move forward. They're thinking about how they're going to raise four girls and how they're going to remember their parents, whose lives were taken so suddenly.

Family members said Sanders and Ashley Goetzinger loved motorcycles and that the family's love to ride won't change because of the accident.

"They loved each other, and they've been together all their life and they'll always be together, too," said Sanders' mother, Aaren Sheldon.

Family members said the four girls are being taken care of by their grandmother. They said they need help with expenses to take care of the girl and pay for the funerals.

To make a donation to the family, click here. The family is setting up a VyStar account Monday. News4Jax will have that information as well.

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