Arizona couple killed in fiery I-10 crash, family says

TONOPAH, Ariz. — Four people were killed and several others were injured in a fiery chain-reaction crash involving 12 vehicles on Interstate 10 last Saturday.

A Peoria family is identifying two of those victims as Melinda Kobold and her boyfriend, Dustin Cluff.

“You see tragic events every day… but you never think that would be you,” Joseph Kobold, Melinda Kobold’s brother, said.

Joseph Kobold learned that unimaginable feeling when two Arizona state troopers showed up on his doorstep to tell him that tragic news.

“It’s indescribable. I haven’t stopped shaking since the news broke to me,” Joseph Kobold said.

He said Melinda Kobold and Cluff were on their way home from Glamis, California, where just hours before, they had survived an off-roading accident.

“A total freak thing, not preventable or whatever. They walked away from it, flipped the car back over and went back to camp and were totally fine,” Joseph Kobold said.

Melinda Kobold and Cluff were driving in an RV when they were part of a chain reaction of crashes just 14 miles west of Tonopah. Their RV caught fire.

Investigators don’t yet know what caused the crash, but low visibility from high winds and blowing dust could be a factor.

“Obviously, the freak weather wasn’t something that anybody would have been able to predict or prevent,” Joseph Kobold said.

Joseph Kobold said Melinda Kobold was an incredible mother to two boys and an amazing daughter and sister.

“Focusing on family is the biggest thing. She was a phenomenal mother. Her two boys loved her to death,” Joseph Kobold said.

He will always remember her caring heart and willingness to help anyone in need.

“We miss the hell out of her and may they both rest in peace,” Joseph Kobold said.

A GoFundMe page was created to help the Kobold family, specifically her two sons, during this difficult time. Click here to donate.