JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A visitation is happening Wednesday for a local woman killed in an accident in Cancun. Action News sat down with Lauren Dufresne's dad Don. He says to keep the focus on his daughter, the family doesn't want to talk with us on camera just yet. But he tells us this week, it's the hugs, the story telling and the memories that is helping get them through.
"A quiet mind becomes a dangerous weapon." That's what Don Dufresne told Action News Wednesday while he talked about his daddy's girl. So he's thankful for non-stop support, allowing him and the family to laugh at the memories, rather than mourn the loss of a woman he called a rising star in the financial industry.
Last Thursday, Lauren Dufresne was killed while attempting to do a pull-up on a beam above her hotel patio when it fell and crushed her, according to her father. She died one day after her 25th birthday.
"It's still weird to me," said friend Caitlin Smith. "It's still shocking and mind blowing and I can't really wrap my head around it."
Friends called her popular. Encouraging. Brilliant. Her dad says those friends were her world, just like she was his. He says her soul mate, her dog Bailey, is giving them all comfort and allowing Dufrene's spirit to live on.
"It's shocking but I think it's kind of an eye opening thing that life is unpredictable," said friend Ali Senden.
Dufrene's dad says the hardest part has been trying to figure our exactly what went wrong. That's challenging because she died in a different country. He's an attorney so he tells Action News they are looking into whether they have a case against the hotel where it happened.
This is the second tragic death to plague the family. 14 years ago Lauren Dufresne's little sister died in another freak accident. The family tells Action News Dufresne will be buried with her sister at St. Joseph Catholic Church Cemetery.
The visitation is happening Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home of Mandarin.
