Seattle School Librarian Murdered

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Laura B. Weiss -- School Library Journal, 8/3/2006

A Seattle, WA, school librarian and her daughter, both avid hikers, were found shot to death on July 11 along a trail they were hiking in a nearby national forest.

A group of other hikers discovered the bodies of Mary Cooper, 56, and her 27-year-old daughter roughly five hours after the duo had left their home for a day hike. The two were found shot along the Pinnacle Lake Trail in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. On July 20, hundreds of family and friends gathered along the hiking trail to honor the two hikers.

Three days after the murders, several dozen school children brought flowers to the Alternative Elementary II School and lingered in the media center to remember the woman students called "Mary in the Library," according to press reports.

"As you all can easily imagine, it's with breaking hearts that we as a school family, along with the Stodden family, mourn the loss of Mary Cooper," said Principal John Miner, the Seattle Times reported on July 15. "The school people will always have a place in their heart [for Cooper]," agreed fifth grader Joe Adamo, who added, "Really, if you've had somebody in your life like that, you just shouldn't let them go."

Dave Hayes of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office told the Times that several law-enforcement agencies were searching for clues and a motive for the slayings.