SEATTLE Mary Cooper was “beyond all others,” and touched many lives at the Seattle elementary school where she spent 15 years working as a librarian, colleagues said today.
John Miner, principal of Alternative Elementary II School at Decatur Elementary School, met briefly this morning with reporters to remember the Seattle woman who was slain Tuesday along with her daughter, Susanna Stodden. The pair had been hiking on Mt. Pilchuck in Snohomish County.
The tight-knit school community is grieving the loss of “a sister, a co-worker,” Miner said during a press conference in the library where Cooper had worked.
“This loss will go on and on and it will be relived many times,” he added.
The bodies of Cooper, 56, and daughter, Stodden, 27, were discovered Tuesday afternoon on the Pinnacle Lake trail east of Verlot. Witnesses have told police they last saw the pair alive at the trialhead earlier that morning.
“It is so tragic that a loving mother and daughter cant go for a walk in the woods unharmed,” Miner said.
Students and their families continued today to leave flowers and notes outside the school, remembering the slain women.
One note, written in crayon and pencil, was signed by a child named Bridget.
“Mary was the best librarian,” the note said. “She was very nice. I loved her. She always made me feel good. She helped me when I needed her. I will always think of you, Mary.
“I am so sad. You are the best, Mary,” the note concluded.
Next to the note was a drawing of a crying girl. With it was a single word message:
“Me.”
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