WHITSETT, N.C. — As America celebrated the Fourth of July, Debby Flores mourned the loss of her best friend and roommate.
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"I've known Joey all his life," Flores said. "Joey was just a loving, caring and kind soul."
Highway Patrol said Joey Barley, 52, veered off Mount Hope Church Road in Whitsett, hit a tree and died on Saturday around 7:30 p.m.
Troopers said speed and not wearing a seatbelt were the primary contributing factors to the single-vehicle crash.
"I’m going to miss him every day," Flores said tearfully. "Him coming home, our conversations, our laughing, you know he was my best friend and he’ll never be replaced in my heart."
Flores said the reason he was driving that night was to search for his dog.
Barley's dog Baldwin got spooked after hearing fireworks, and ran off.
"Baldwin is 12, Joey had raised him from birth," Flores explained. "A dog's sense of hearing is 100 times greater than ours and people don’t seem to understand or respect the loudness."
Barley never found Baldwin that night before he lost his life.
Days later, destiny played a part in bringing Baldwin home.
Really, a woman named Destiny.
"It was a wonderful girl," Flores said of the stranger who found her through the power of social media. "She was so, so sweet and she brought him back and it was a really happy moment just to get Baldwin back at that time."
Flores said maybe the two were destined to meet. An old friend, smiling down from heaven introducing her to a new friend.
"Now it’s like I met a new friend. She just lives right down the road and she’s offered to help me with the horse and stuff like that," Flores said. "God sends things our way. Only he knows."
Flores said Barley's legacy is his passion for horses and animals.
"Joey never had children, these are our children," Flores said of all the animals on their property. "He was a trainer and avid jumper, he taught students, he trained horses he just did everything with them."