Makenzie Koch and Kyle Bettencourt of Weatherford walked away shaken after their truck rolled on Highway 121 near Grapevine late one night, with their two golden retrievers, River and Riggins, nearly lost on the roadside. Passersby and an off-duty paramedic jumped in to pull the family and pets to safety after a red SUV allegedly struck them and left the scene. This piece follows what happened, how neighbors and rescuers reacted, and the small, lucky details the couple now points to as signs they made it through.
They were driving home at about 9:30 pm after a family gathering at Lake Grapevine when the crash happened. Bettencourt says a sudden impact sent their white Ford into the median and it rolled into a grassy area. The couple managed to unbuckle and get out, but their attention immediately went to River and Riggins, who bolted into the grass and toward traffic.
“We were in the middle lane, just driving along and the next thing you know, I could feel kind of the back driver’s side tire of my car just get smacked…,” said Bettencourt. His words underline how fast and disorienting the hit-and-run felt, and why other drivers had only seconds to respond. In the chaos that followed, two nearby vehicles stopped to help and call 911.
One of the Good Samaritans was an off-duty paramedic who moved quickly to pull Riggins off the highway and then checked both people for injuries. Paramedic training and calm hands matter in a moment like that, and the couple credits that intervention with preventing worse outcomes. Both Koch and Bettencourt later rode in an ambulance to a hospital and walked away with only bumps and bruises.
“And it just truly felt like they truly were angels at that moment,” said Koch, describing the sudden arrival of help. She wanted to thank the paramedic personally and used social media to track him down after she realized she hadn’t been able to in the aftermath. The man prefers to remain anonymous, and he told them he was just relieved everyone was okay.
Grapevine police say two hit-and-run incidents were reported in the same stretch of road that night, and the couple believes the vehicle that struck them was a red SUV. “All we know so far is it’s a red SUV that hit us and then they sort of lost control and hit another car,” said Bettencourt. With that description, officers are following leads, but the immediate focus for the family has been gratitude for who stopped.
Among the small miracles they count: personal items that survived the crash. Koch noticed purple beads from her grandmother somehow remained intact and with them after they climbed out of the wreck. Those tokens have become part of how they explain getting through something that had every chance to be far worse.
The dogs, River and Riggins, were checked at the scene and seemed unhurt, which to the owners felt almost unbelievable given how the truck landed. Seeing both pets safe helped calm the shock and made it easier for the couple to focus on swapping information and answering officers. The community response — drivers pulling over, someone calling for help, a paramedic stepping in — turned a dangerous night into a story they can retell without anger swallowing it.
Koch described a string of what she called “God moments” leading up to the crash, small choices and random shifts that now look like lucky breaks in hindsight. Minutes before the impact, she had moved heavy items to the back and rolled up the rear windows, decisions that could have made a real difference. Those details are the kind people fixate on after an accident, looking for reason and comfort.
The couple hopes the driver who left the scene is found, but for now they’re focused on recovery and thanks. They plan to keep the purple beads and the memory of the strangers who stopped as reminders that people still look out for each other on busy roads. For Makenzie, Kyle, River and Riggins, the night will be one they remember for the fear, the help, and the odd little proofs of luck that followed.
