Family mourns soldier from Provo killed by accused drunk driver while on duty in Alaska
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- This undated photo shows Pfc. Arturo Alejandro Gomez in his military uniform.
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- This undated photo shows the Vranes family — from left, Chrissy Vranes, Scott Vranes, Jennifer Vranes and Arturo Gomez — during a trip to visit Gomez while he was serving in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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- This undated photo shows Arturo Gomez with Nick Wheatley.
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- This undated photo shows Arturo Gomez during a pinning ceremony.
A family is mourning the loss of a soldier from Provo who died earlier this week while on duty in Alaska.
Just before 5 a.m Tuesday, Jennifer Vranes said she and her husband were awakened by terrible news that Pfc. Arturo Alejandro Gomez, 29, had been killed by an alleged drunk driver while stationed as a gate guard.
According to police in Fairbanks, Alaska, around 5 p.m. Monday, Gomez was at his post at Fort Wainwright when a woman reportedly was driving through ditches and over medians near the base at a high rate of speed. The woman, identified by police as 31-year-old Brianna Lapp, allegedly hit two vehicles and a traffic sign before crashing into a fence and ultimately striking Gomez.
Witnesses told Fairbanks police that Gomez tried to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit. The responding authorities found Gomez on the ground behind Lapp’s SUV, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The news left the Vraneses devastated.
Jennifer Vranes said Gomez and her son bonded while they were in high school together. “(They) were both in the same choir, and all the choir students were given a Secret Santa name, and he had received Arturo’s name,” she explained. “He thought, I need to get to know this kid, and that’s just where their friendship began.”
That was around 2012, shortly after the family took Gomez in, as if he were one of their children.
“We would have loved to have actually adopted him, but he was older, and I think he felt kind of funny about a name change, but we had offered it. That would have been around his senior year of high school,” Vranes told the Daily Herald.
After graduating from high school and attending Ensign College in Salt Lake City for a time, Gomez went on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He returned to Utah and moved to Provo while taking classes at Brigham Young University.
Gomez’s duties in Alaska only lasted a short time. He was an infantryman assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division who joined the Army in July 2023 and trained at Fort Moore, Georgia, before reporting to Alaska in February, officials said in a press statement.
The Vranes family recently flew to Alaska to visit him before their daughter reported to the Missionary Training Center ahead of her mission. “She wanted to see each of her siblings before she left — all of her siblings live out of state. My husband and I and our daughter flew up to Fairbanks to visit with him,” Vranes said.
Unbeknownst to them, it would be the last time they’d see Gomez alive. The tragedy has now rocked each one of them to their core. “Our daughter, in the MTC, has really, really struggled. She was just very close to Gomez, and they (her children) all were. But they (her daughter and Gomez) were especially close because they lived in the vicinity the longest,” Vranes said.
Vranes said Gomez will be remembered for his extraordinary spirit. She describes him as humorous, kind and warm hearted, as well as an avid music lover. “When we would be on trips or meeting our at family gatherings, he would pull up a song to go on with whatever we’re talking about at the time. He just had a great knowledge of music,” she said.
As the family grieves the unexpected loss, they also are currently in the process of organizing funeral services for the fallen soldier.
Vranes says he will be dearly missed. “He was an amazing soul, and we know that we’ll be able to see him again someday,” she said.
As for the driver, authorities in Alaska said that at the time of the collision, Lapp had a blood-alcohol level that was almost three times the legal limit.
She now faces second-degree murder charges.
