People in Brookings are reeling after the sudden death of a father and daughter from Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Grant Holmstrom, 54, was found dead inside his home just after 2:00 a.m. Sunday. A short time later, police discovered his daughter, 21 year old Janna Holmstrom was also dead.

Brookings police say the Carbon Monoxide leak at the Holmstrom home happened because the furnace exhaust was so old that it corroded and pulled away from the chimney, filling the house with gas. Now many in the community say they're surprised by the deadly result.

Christian Donley added a few words of remembrance to Janna Holmstrom's page on Facebook.com on Monday.

"I will see you again one day in the playground in the sky," Donley said, reading from his own message. "I love you Janna. Always and forever, Christian."

The tributes from friends have flooded in, recalling Janna's love for horses, quick smile and even her job at Taco John's.

"It was always exciting coming into Taco John's and seeing her," said Nicky Brandsrud, Janna's friend and former roommate. "She'd make everybody smile."

Brandsrud says one of the hardest parts is knowing Janna was celebrating her 21st birthday less than a week ago.

"She had always told me that she wanted to turn 21 and stay 21 forever," Brandsrud said.

"It's not one of those, I was out drinking and driving crashes," Donley said. "She was at home in bed."

Police captain Jeff Miller says the officers who responded were also surprised. Grant Holmstrom's wife came home to find him unconscious and called 911 to report a possible heart attack. But after 10 minutes in the house, the officers began to feel their fingers tingle and other symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

"Between finding another person and discovering what was happening to themselves, it caused them to back out of the house," Miller said.

Now, as that house sits empty, Donley says it could happen to anyone.

"It was just a regular family, an honest family that goes to work, goes to church lives a normal life," Donley said. "And honestly, there's no way you could have seen this coming and that's the sad part."

Both friends of the family and Brookings police say they hope people learn two things from this tragedy. The first is, buy a carbon monoxide detector. Second, they hope everyone gets their furnace checked out every fall.

Prayer Service For Grant and Janna Holmstrom:
7:00pm, Wednesday, November 12, 2008, Rudes Funeral Home, Brookings, SD

Funeral Service For Grant and Janna Holmstrom:
1:30pm, Thursday, November 13, 2008, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Vienna, SD