HOLLY - A trail of twisted black metal and puffy yellow insulation are all that is left of Rosemary Rosales' home.

The double-wide mobile home, where a young family of four lived and saved for the future, was little more than rubble after a tornado ripped it from its foundation and threw Rosales, her husband and their 3-year-old daughter Noelia into the night air.

Gustavo Puga, 28, and their daughter survived. A 7-year-old son, Gus, was safe with his grandmother a few doors away.

But Rosales landed in the branches of a tree, suffering injuries doctors were unable to repair. She died in a hospital in Colorado Springs.

She was standing in the kitchen while her daughter slept in the living room when the tornado hit a few minutes before 8 p.m. Wednesday.

In an instant, Puga grabbed his wife and daughter, trying desperately to hold onto them as their home was lifted into the air.

The force of the storm ripped Rosales from her husband's grasp, but he clung to Noelia.

Puga landed near a tree, still clutching his daughter.

He had no idea where his wife had landed.

Gus happened to be spending the night with his grandmother, Orelia Puga.

She held tightly to the boy while they huddled in a walk-in closet.

Oscar Puga, Gustavo's brother who lives in Greeley, received a frantic phone call from his mom around 8:20 p.m.

Cell reception was bad and all he could hear was his mother's scream.

He couldn't tell what was wrong, but he jumped in his car and headed to Lamar to pick up his mother.

Orelia Puga had reached her son's home and found an empty foundation and no sign of his family.

Meanwhile, a seriously injured Gustavo Puga frantically searched for his wife.

It wasn't until later that he found her high in a tree, surrounded by the twisted metal and some of the remnants of her home.

"I didn't think it was going to be this bad and that it was all a big scare," said Rosemary's aunt, Victoria Rosales, of Pueblo, during a news conference in Colorado Springs on Thursday morning.

Doctors at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs worked for four hours to stabilize her injuries before returning her to an intensive care room to be with her family before she died.

Although they'd been living as husband and wife for several years, Puga and Rosales had planned to have a wedding ceremony soon.

Puga desperately tried to save Rosemary, telling her over and over again, "You've got to wake up. I was going to marry you," said the woman's sister, Victoria Rosales.

Oscar Puga said his brother, who is a truck driver, had saved $8,000 to buy his own rig.

He asked that if anyone finds the envelope with the money in it to please turn it over.

"It's not about the money, it's about his dream." Oscar Puga said. "If you find it, please give it back."

Quotes

"There was just a little hail coming down and then a lot of wind. It all happened so fast, I didn't hear a siren go off - if it went off."

Resident Manuel Perez

"They're mostly hugging one another, asking, 'Is your house standing, is your family OK?' "

Betty Vipman, who manages JR's Country Store and Video

"There are an amazing number of volunteers helping in this effort, and a remarkable amount of cleanup already happening. It really is a testament to the people who are here from surrounding counties."

Gov. Bill Ritter

"The only time you could see the tornado was when the lightning was flashing, but it was flashing all the time."

Resident Dennis Simmons

"As a resident of a small town, I know how much devastation a storm like this can cause and how the loss of one life will impact the community. Today, Holly residents will be assessing the rubble and mourning the loss of a young mother, and the best way for them to know my staff and I are there to serve them is to be there in person."

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Fort Morgan, about flying to Holly on Thursday and taking part in assistance efforts.

prietob@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5219

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