THE father of a college student who died alongside his girlfriend in a car has shared heartbreaking details about how he learned of their deaths as he mourns the life the couple could have shared.

Two 20-year-olds, Luke Reimer of Florida and Mary Mich of Pennsylvania, were found dead inside of a car on the Franciscan University campus in Ohio in January.

Officers with the Steubenville Police Department found the couple after they responded to a welfare check near the university.

“Our initial investigation did not show any signs of foul play,” a department spokesperson previously told The U.S. Sun.

Officials later confirmed the pair died of carbon monoxide poisoning just 15 feet from Mary’s dorm.

“My number one goal right now is that they are not forgotten whatsoever,” Ken Reimer, Luke’s father, told People in a report published on Tuesday.

Ken said he texted Luke on the morning of the day he died, but was not alarmed by his lack of response at first because it was a long holiday weekend.

Luke’s roommate later called Ken in the afternoon, asking if he had heard from him.

“I said, ‘I texted him, but he hasn’t responded.’ He said, ‘Well, there’s something going on at campus. I don’t know what it is, but I’m a little bit worried,’” Ken recalled.

Ken then called Luke’s lacrosse coach and asked him to go check out Agnes Hall, one of the dorms on campus, as he could see his son’s location on his phone.

At first, Coach Pete didn’t see anything, but then he spotted cops after he turned the corner.

“I heard him say something like, ‘Hey, what’s going on here?’ And they’re like, ‘Wait, sir, you can’t be in here right now,’” he told People.

“I mean, I was fricking terrified.

“I tried calling Luke’s phone again and tried texting him again. And 15 minutes later, Coach Pete called and said that Luke and Mary had passed away.”

Ken revealed the loss has been difficult for him and Luke’s younger sister Emma, whom he said “were absolutely best friends.”

Luke’s twin sister Madeline passed away as a baby, so Ken said he “affectionately say[s] I now have four children, two on earth, and two in heaven.”

The police report seen by The U.S. Sun revealed there was a leak in the vehicle’s exhaust system near the turbo/engine manifold, which allowed fumes to escape.

Friends of the couple told police that there had been ongoing gas issues and that just days before their deaths, Luke and Mary “passed out” while sitting in the parked car and woke up later.

“These two kids, they didn’t drink, they didn’t smoke, they didn’t do drugs,” Ken told People.

“They went to church together. They didn’t curse. They didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ken told the outlet that he is seeing two counselors to help with his grief.

“I’m not going to stop missing Luke overnight. I’m not going to stop missing Mary overnight,” he said.

“I’m not going to stop thinking about the grandchildren that they were going to have and the life that they were going to have.”

Ken said it was obvious that his son had found his “soulmate.”

“It was a great example of two people that found each other at the right times,” he said.

“Although they were probably very polar opposite people.”

Ken described Mary as “much more of the artsy, dancing, singing, straight-A student” while his son was more focused on lacrosse and ensuring his grades were high enough to keep him on the field.

“Somehow those two together were just something very, very special.”

Tributes for Luke and Mary have taken place at the university, including a rose garden being put up where they died and Luke’s jersey number being retired.

“Those [tributes] were all great and probably above and beyond what any school would do,” Ken said.

“The problem is that I don’t want any of that. I want my son.”

SOURCE: THE SUN