What should have been a weekend of celebration in central Nebraska turned into one of the most heartbreaking moments the community has ever faced.
On May 10, authorities discovered four members of the Koch family in their lakeside home near Holdrege. The victims were identified as Jeremy and Bailey Koch, both in their early forties, and their two teenage sons, Hudson and Asher. Investigators later confirmed that the case appeared to be a tragic domestic incident, the result of long-term struggles with mental health.For many in the area, the news was almost impossible to process. Friends and neighbors described the Kochs as a close, loving family who were active in school and community events. Bailey, a respected special-education teacher at Holdrege Public Schools, was known for her compassion and dedication to her students. Her husband, Jeremy, had quietly battled serious mental-health challenges for years — something Bailey had spoken about publicly in the hope of raising awareness.
In her final social-media posts, Bailey wrote about her husband’s ongoing treatment and the toll it had taken on their family. She shared her hope that his condition would improve and encouraged others to pay attention to the importance of mental-health care. “May is Mental Health Awareness Month,” she wrote, “so here we are… making you aware.”
Those who knew Bailey say she had been doing everything she could to help her husband get the care he needed. She started a fundraising campaign to cover medical expenses and never stopped advocating for him, even when progress seemed out of reach. “She was incredibly strong,” said a colleague. “Her love for her family was limitless.”
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