A blacksmith's loss: Father, friends mourn brothers killed in horrific semi crash

Robb Gunter was working at his blacksmith shop when he got the news that every parent dreads: their child was dead.

But he and his wife, Bunty Gunter, didn’t just lose one child, they lost two.

Last Thursday, Brad Gunter, 42, was working at a blacksmith shop off Corvin Court in Moriarty that he owned with his brother Chad Gunter, 47.

Moments after Chad arrived from the brothers’ Cedar Crest restaurant, Ribs BBQ, to help out, a Kenworth flatbed truck traveled off Interstate 40 near mile marker 193 in a southeast direction. Torrance County Sheriff David Frazee said the truck then hit a rut, causing it to go south and then east, leaving ruts on the grass, before it “beelined” toward the Gunters’ blacksmith shop.

The brothers died that day.

“My boys were so close,” Robb Gunter said, adding that had one survived the crash and not the other, it would have been unbearable for the surviving brother.

Gunter said when he heard the devastating news, his initial reaction was of “horror” before going home and crying with family.

One week later, he is still looking for answers.

“We’re trying to make sense out of it,” Gunter said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

The Torrance County Sheriff’s Office is also trying to figure out what happened.

Undersheriff Stephanie Reynolds said Wednesday morning the sheriff’s office is working to acquire a search warrant to get the truck driver’s medical records from the hospital to determine whether something medically wrong caused him to crash. The sheriff’s office is also hoping to get a warrant to see whether the driver was driving under the influence.

‘To be out there with Daddy’

Brad and Chad Gunter were blacksmiths since they were 5 years old, when they began working on hooks and other small items. They were so talented that they worked a blacksmith exhibit at the New Mexico State Fair.

They had a legendary blacksmith to learn from in their dad, who founded the Forgery School of Blacksmithing in 1986.

“No one ever pushed them,” Robb Gunter said. “They just wanted to be out there with Daddy.”

Eventually, the brothers would go on and become nationally known for their work, which includes chandeliers and fireplaces at a multi-million dollar house in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“They both passed me in skill,” Gunter said.

They conducted a blacksmithing school, which they continued to do until last week. Even Chad’s 8- and 10-year-old sons started to learn the trade that their dad and grandfather mastered.

Whether they continue on with the family legacy is up to them. “I will never push them,” Gunter said of the younger generation.

Blacksmithing, however, is far from their minds as they cope with the loss of Chad and Brad.

A show of support

Robb Gunter and his grandsons are not alone in their grief.

The East Mountains community has stepped up to the plate as it mourns Brad and Chad.

Outside Ribs BBQ, people have placed flowers and set up LED-lit candles with small messages honoring Brad and Chad.

Family friend Crystal Franco set up an online donation portal, givesendgo.com/Gunter_RibsBBQ, benefiting the Gunter family and Ribs BBQ staff.

The goal initially was to raise $100,000.

As of Wednesday evening, $114,000 had been donated, which Franco said is “absolutely incredible.”

Others have stepped up as well, including Steel Skinz Tattoo, which has placed collection jars for the Gunter family in businesses in the East Mountains.

“They’re my friends, and I want to help them in any way I can,” Steel Skinz owner Garrett Whitney said.

Gunter has been overwhelmed by the support.

“I had no concept on the lives they had touched and the people they influenced and blessed,” he said. “I’m just flabbergasted at the response.”

A public memorial service for Brad and Chad Gunter will take place at 2 p.m. Nov. 28 at the Legacy Church, East Mountain Campus, 379 NM Highway 344 in Edgewood.

In the meantime, the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office continues its investigation into the crash.

The 49-year-old truck driver was taken to the hospital with head and shoulder injuries but has since been released.

Reynolds, the undersheriff, said earlier last week that the driver “was extremely dazed and confused” and did not know what happened at the time of the crash.

Frazee said he is hoping to get the warrant for the medical records this week. Then it will take a couple of weeks “once we get (a) search warrant executed to get info we needed.”

Meanwhile, the Gunter family will continue picking up the pieces.

Robb Gunter said he will return to the blacksmith shop after the memorial to go through everything.

“No one else can,” he said, “because they don’t know what it is.”

The work will be difficult, but Robb has faith God will help him and his family and friends battle through the tragedy.

“The Lord Jesus Christ has given us strength when we needed it here,” he said.

Pictures from the scene: Trucker crash kills two NM blacksmiths