BOTHELL – A year ago family and friends of Nicole Pietz gathered at Evergreen Community Church to pray for her safe return home.
Saturday, they gathered at the church again, this time to remember the Lynnwood woman and the joy she brought to their lives.
They also called for justice.
“Please, I beg you to keep her story out there. Keep it out there until an arrest and conviction are made. Nici deserves that,” her mother Gael Schneider said.
Pietz, 32, was reported missing from her Lynnwood home Jan. 29, 2006. Her body was found about a week later in a wooded area in Burien. She had been strangled.
No one has been arrested. King County sheriff’s detectives say they are actively investigating the case. They have declined to say if they have a suspect.
Her mother said her family is frustrated that there hasn’t been an arrest and has hired a private investigator. The family also is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the killer.
On Saturday, family and friends said little about the killing. Instead they shared memories of Pietz and the legacy of love she left behind.
“Her eyes twinkled at you. She was the type of person you could tell cared about everyone she met,” friend David Tilzer told more than 100 people who attended the memorial.
Jerilyn Quintos, Pietz’s manager at Cingular Wireless, read from a list that co-workers put together about how Pietz had touched their lives. They remembered her smile, humor, dedication and optimism. They remembered how she found the best in people, how she could be goofy and silly and how she cared for people with her whole heart.
Marilyn Murphy, a family friend who knew Pietz from when she was small, recalled a sweet young girl who loved her Wonder Woman swimsuit about as much as she loved being called by the superhero’s name.
Murphy remembered how in kindergarten Pietz was set on “becoming the teacher’s pet and having fluffy hair.” After a little coaching by Murphy, a former teacher, and three hair permanents, Pietz accomplished her kindergarten goals.
To celebrate her graduation from kindergarten, Murphy took her to dinner, where she toasted her favorite 5-year-old. Through tears, she repeated the words again on Saturday.
“Here’s to Wonder Woman.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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