When Annabel Force lost control while driving on Interstate 10 on her way home from Phoenix, the 19-year-old died. Adding to her family’s shock and grief, someone stole her motorcycle.
Force’s family is asking for the public’s help in finding the black 2022 Yamaha motorcycle that belonged to a young woman who dreamed of becoming an emergency medical technician.
At the time of her death, Force, who lived in Florence, was excited about multiple successes at her job selling kitchen knives, her wife, Sakura Keiser, said.
Keiser described Force as a “contagious ball of energy.”
“You couldn’t help but laugh and smile with her,” Keiser said. “She was a spreader of kindness, always helping people, including homeless people. She kept blankets and tampons in her car for them.”
Keiser and Force lived in Florence with their rescue animals — four dogs and two cats. They met at a prom for homeschooled kids in 2022. Force was wearing a red dress and Keiser was wearing a black and red suit. They got married last year.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety confirmed Force’s accident, death and her missing motorcycle.
A DPS spokesperson wrote in an email that about 7:07 p.m. on June 8, Force was traveling east on I-10. On the transition ramp from eastbound I-10 to southbound I-17 west of downtown Phoenix, “unknown circumstances” caused Force to lose control and strike the median wall, the spokesperson said.
Force fell over the median wall, dropped 80 feet and died. Her motorcycle remained on the ramp and “was stolen before law enforcement arrived,” the report from DPS says.
Keiser said Force had been in Phoenix to see off a friend who was returning to California and was about to go back home to Florence when the accident occurred. When she didn’t return to Florence as expected, Force’s family and friends notified authorities, who had trouble locating Force.
Eventually, authorities found her after searching by helicopter, Keiser said.
Force’s family members, who are raising money to hold a memorial, say they are “desperate for information” about what happened.
They are asking for information from anyone from the public who may have seen the accident or could share information about it, whether it’s dashcam video or something they remember. They would also like to know what happened to Force’s bike, which was a black 2022 Yamaha YZF-R7.
Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com, follow her on X: @stephanieinnes or on Bluesky: @stephanieinnes.bsky.social.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: A motorcyclist in AZ died on the interstate, and her bike went missing