“I love you. I’ll be home soon.” Those were the final words 21-year-old Lauryn Akey sent to her family before everything changed forever. She had just left a friend’s wedding and was driving home like countless young people do every weekend — full of plans, dreams, and a future waiting for her. Lauryn was studying exercise science and hoped to become a nurse, a career built around helping others. But somewhere along that dark stretch of highway, investigators say a wrong-way driver allegedly under the influence was heading straight toward her.

“I Love You, I’ll Be Home Soon”: Florida Student’s Final Text Sent Moments Before Wrong-Way Crash Took Her Life

The message was simple, loving, and routine — the kind of text families receive every day without imagining it could become the last words they would ever hear from someone they love.

“I love you.”

“I’ll be home soon.”

Just minutes after sending that message during the early morning hours of May 17, 21-year-old Lauryn Akey was killed in a devastating wrong-way collision on Interstate 75 in Florida. Investigators say the crash was caused by an alleged drunk driver traveling directly into oncoming traffic.

For Lauryn’s family, the heartbreak is impossible to measure. One moment, they believed their daughter was safely driving home after celebrating a friend’s wedding. The next, their lives were shattered by a tragedy authorities say never should have happened.

According to investigators, Lauryn had been driving home from a wedding in Charlotte County when she stopped for gas sometime after midnight. During that stop, she texted her family to let them know she was on her way home.

It would become the final communication they ever received from her.

Lauryn, a student at the University of South Florida, had her entire future ahead of her. Friends and loved ones described her as bright, compassionate, and driven. She was pursuing a degree in exercise science and hoped to become a nurse after graduation.

Her mother later said Lauryn was expected to graduate next year.

“She would have done amazing things,” her mother, Melinda Mucho, told FOX13 News after the crash.

“Her life was just getting started.”

But while Lauryn was driving northbound on Interstate 75, investigators say another driver was moving directly toward her in the wrong direction.

Authorities identified that driver as 53-year-old Dennis Olson.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, Olson was allegedly driving a Ford F-150 south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 during the early morning hours when the fatal collision occurred.

Investigators later learned the crash involving Lauryn was not the first dangerous encounter caused by Olson that night.

Before the deadly impact, authorities say Olson had already sideswiped another vehicle after entering the wrong side of the interstate. That vehicle, a Kia Optima, reportedly carried a woman and two children from Arcadia.

One of those children later required surgery due to injuries suffered in the collision.

Despite that earlier crash, investigators say Olson continued driving the wrong direction on the highway.

Minutes later, he collided head-on with Lauryn’s Honda CR-V.

The impact was catastrophic.

According to investigators, the force of the crash threw Lauryn from her vehicle. Emergency responders arrived at the scene around 1 a.m., but the injuries were too severe. Lauryn was pronounced dead at the scene.

For first responders and witnesses, the scene was devastating.

Witnesses told authorities Olson appeared disoriented after the collision and was allegedly slurring his speech. According to investigators, state troopers later conducted testing that revealed Olson’s blood alcohol concentration measured 0.222 — nearly three times the legal limit.

Authorities said Olson later told investigators he had only consumed one glass of wine before the crash.

He reportedly claimed he had been returning home from the Sip & Sizzle restaurant in Fort Myers and admitted he had been having what he described as a “bad night.”

For Lauryn’s family, those details only deepened the pain.

The young woman whose future centered around helping others through healthcare had allegedly lost her life because of choices made by someone else behind the wheel.

As news of the crash spread, friends, classmates, and loved ones began sharing memories of Lauryn online. Many described her as someone who brought warmth and kindness everywhere she went.

Photos shared on social media showed a young woman smiling beside friends, traveling, enjoying time outdoors, and embracing life with energy and optimism.

Those closest to her struggled to comprehend how quickly everything had changed.

Her boyfriend, Garrett Day, later shared an emotional tribute online honoring the woman he loved. The tribute included videos of the couple fishing together, laughing while playing video games, and traveling side by side through happy moments they believed would continue for years.

In the heartbreaking post, he wrote:

“Rest in paradise my love.”

He also included the hashtags #lovelikelauryn and #dontdrinkanddrive.

The hashtag #lovelikelauryn quickly became a way for family and friends to honor Lauryn’s memory and the compassion she showed to people throughout her life.

Her mother created the hashtag as a reminder of the kindness, love, and positivity Lauryn carried with her every day.

For many people following the case, the tragedy became more than another headline about impaired driving. It became the story of a young woman with dreams, relationships, goals, and a future that was suddenly taken away in a matter of seconds.

Investigators later revealed that Olson also reportedly had a prior impaired-driving conviction in Minnesota involving another wrong-way driving incident.

That detail sparked outrage among many community members who questioned how another alleged wrong-way crash involving alcohol could happen after a previous offense.

Authorities eventually charged Olson with vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter in connection with Lauryn’s death.

He is currently being held without bond in Charlotte County.

Court records indicate his next scheduled court appearance is set for June 15.

Meanwhile, Lauryn’s loved ones continue facing the unimaginable reality left behind by the crash.

A college degree she worked toward will never be completed.

The nursing career she dreamed of pursuing will never begin.

The future milestones her family once imagined — graduation celebrations, career achievements, marriage, children, and countless ordinary moments — were stolen in an instant on a dark stretch of interstate highway.

For her parents, the pain is made even heavier by the final text message Lauryn sent before the collision.

A simple promise to come home safely.

A message filled with love and normalcy.

No one reading it could have imagined it would become her goodbye.

As the criminal case moves forward, Lauryn’s family continues using her memory to raise awareness about the devastating consequences of impaired driving. Through tributes, hashtags, and shared memories, loved ones hope her story encourages others to think carefully before getting behind the wheel while under the influence.

The crash also stands as another painful reminder of the destruction wrong-way driving incidents can cause in only seconds.

Investigators say Lauryn was doing everything right that night. She was driving home after spending time with friends and staying connected with her family along the way.

But according to authorities, another driver’s decisions changed everything forever.

For those who loved Lauryn, the grief now lives in the smallest details — old videos, saved text messages, photographs, and memories of a young woman whose life was filled with promise.

The final message she sent her family still echoes through the tragedy.

“I love you.”

“I’ll be home soon.”

Words that should have marked the end of an ordinary drive home instead became the heartbreaking final chapter of a life that had only just begun.