Brandon Rumbaugh begged Italian professor Donatella Melucci to translate a card for him - something short and poetic that he could give to his girlfriend on Valentine's Day.
She agreed hesitantly, reluctant to translate a personal message for one of her students. Melucci cannot remember the words, only the smile on Rumbaugh's face when the translation was finished.
When Rumbaugh and his girlfriend, 19-year-old Lisa Gurrieri, were found shot to death in the back of a pickup truck on Oct. 19, acquaintances of the couple mourned the loss of a duo they said were destined for marriage and a life of love.
"Lisa couldn't stop talking about him," said Monica Dane, Gurr-ieri's co-worker at Salt River Project. "She just glowed every time she talked to him or about him."
Gurrieri and Rumbaugh, a pre-business sophomore, lived together in Scottsdale. They drove north from Phoenix on Oct. 17, planning an overnight camping trip to celebrate their one-year anniversary together, authorities said.
When the couple didn't return as planned the next day, family and friends immediately began searching.
Their bodies were found 30 miles north of Phoenix on Bumblebee Road, two miles off Interstate 17. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds to the head, said Yavapai County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Susan Quail.
Police still are investigating the deaths.
"Brandon's death just devastated me," Melucci said. "For days I hoped I was having a nightmare and I would wake up sooner or later and see him on campus, as happy as he always was."
Melucci, Rumbaugh's elementary Italian professor during the spring 2003 semester, and Susanna Pastorino, his Italian professor this semester, remember him as funny, honest and charming.
"Brandon was always very active in class," Pastorino said. "He used to make jokes all the time. There were times I had to stop teaching the class because I was laughing so hard."
Both praised Rumbaugh's ability to lighten the classroom atmosphere.
"He used to lift the class spirit with a fun observation even when they were worried about a quiz or assignment," Pastorino said.
"Brandon loved to make the class laugh - making jokes about himself," Melucci added. "He was never offensive and always honest."
Rumbaugh, a 2001 graduate of Coronado High School, was active on the high school dance team and employed as a personal trainer at a Mesa gym.
"I can still hear his voice and see his face," Melucci said. "I'm sure a lot of people will miss Brandon - but at least we were lucky to know him and share time with him."
Reach the reporter at kelly.vaughn@asu.edu.
