Latest news with #BaileyKoch
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Mom awoke to husband standing over her with a knife just months before family-of-four were found dead
A mom who was jolted awake in the dead of night as her husband stood over her with a knife was determined to get him the help he needed. But despite desperate efforts since the incident two months ago, Bailey Koch was killed alongside her two sons on Sunday at the family's quiet lakeside home in Nebraska. Jeremy Koch is believed to have stabbed the couple's two teenage sons, Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, as well as his 41-year-old wife before turning the weapon on himself. Only days earlier, Bailey had pleaded publicly for help with her husband's mental health before the unthinkable happened. Just days before the killings, Bailey launched a GoFundMe campaign on May 4 titled 'Jeremy's Battle: Mental Health Support Needed,' in which she described her husband's severe depression and long history of suicide attempts dating back to 2009. The page, which has since stopped receiving donations, included deeply personal details of the family's struggles with mental illness and recounted the chilling account with the knife. 'In March, just a couple months ago, I woke to Jeremy shaking me awake saying, "Something is wrong,"' Bailey wrote. 'He was standing over my bed with a knife ready to end his life. I was able to talk him down and into accepting help. 'He went to our safe place, Richard Young Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska, for inpatient mental health treatment for the fourth time in our marriage and stayed for four nights and five days. They tried to level out meds and keep him safe.' Bailey wrote that her husband's condition worsened significantly in 2024. On May 3, she said Koch had survived at least four suicide attempts. She went on to state how Jeremy had recently been released from inpatient care so that he could attend Hudson's high school graduation, which was scheduled to take place just hours after the family was found dead on Saturday morning. 'Our boys are doing well living their lives, and for that, we are thankful,' Bailey wrote on May 8. 'Please just pray Jeremy is able to somehow be with us on Saturday for our oldest son's high school graduation.' Deputies from the Dawson County Sheriff's Office responded to the family home in the Johnson Lake community at around 9.45am on Saturday morning, May 9, after receiving a report of an unresponsive person. When officers arrived at the house, located in the Plum Creek Canyon area, they found four individuals dead from what the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) later confirmed to be fatal stab wounds. Bailey Koch was a special education teacher at Holdrege Public Schools. Her employer issued a statement shortly after the news broke saying, 'Our hearts are with everyone impacted by a tragic event that has deeply affected us all.' The school district opened its middle school facilities later that afternoon for grieving staff and students. Cozad Community Schools, where both Hudson and Asher were enrolled, also confirmed the deaths and expressed condolences in a Facebook post writing: 'Our thoughts are with all those impacted during this incredibly difficult time.' After ending electroconvulsive therapy treatments earlier this year, Bailey explained how Jeremy had become 'a shell of himself.' 'Mental illness is taking my husband from me, and I'm begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society's mental health crisis,' she wrote. Son, Hudson, had plans to move to California after graduation for a bonsai apprenticeship. His brother, Asher, a freshman, was a standout on his high school's varsity golf team. Bailey's social media posts often expressed pride in her sons and determination to fight for her husband's recovery, but the family's situation had grown increasingly dire in recent months. In her GoFundMe plea, Bailey wrote that Jeremy had become largely incapacitated - unable to eat, drink, or get out of bed without assistance. 'By not eating or drinking, Jeremy is slowly completing suicide,' she wrote. She also detailed the financial collapse of their family business and the loss of both parents' retirement savings in an attempt to pay off mounting debt. But there were also sparks of brightness with Bailey hopeful the family would come together for one of their son's graduations. 'Our boys are doing well living their lives, and for that, we are thankful,' Bailey wrote on May 8. 'Please just pray Jeremy is able to somehow be with us on Saturday for our oldest son's high school graduation.' On the morning of May 10, any hope that remained fell apart. Superintendent Dr Dan Endorf addressed the deaths during the Cozad High School graduation ceremony that same day. 'As you know, our community and our senior class experienced a tragedy within the past few hours,' he told those gathered. 'The bittersweet emotions felt by the senior class on their graduation day, and throughout this entire gymnasium for that matter, cannot be concealed in this moment.' The Nebraska State Patrol continues to lead the homicide investigation. Authorities have not yet released the official timeline of events or confirmed whether any notes or messages were found at the scene. Bailey's parents, Lane and Peg Kugler, issued a public statement on Facebook mourning the loss of their daughter and grandsons, while also criticizing what they called systemic failures in the mental health care system. In her final public messages, Bailey expressed growing frustration with the lack of resources available. 'Mental illness is taking my husband from me and I'm begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society's mental health crisis,' she wrote. She also described being forced to care for her husband at home because local hospitals were unable to admit patients without immediate suicidal ideation. 'Our safe place, Richard Young Hospital, doesn't have enough beds… This is mental healthcare in our world,' she wrote. 'It's all put back on the caregivers.' Multiple community vigils are now being planned in both Holdrege and Cozad. The Dawson County Attorney has also ordered autopsies for all four victims with results expected later in the week. Officials say the investigation remains ongoing but no additional suspects are being sought. No funeral plans have yet been announced.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Mom awoke to husband standing over her with a knife... just months before family-of-four were found dead
A mom who was jolted awake in the dead of night as her husband stood over her with a knife was determined to get him the help he needed. But despite desperate efforts since the incident two months ago, tragically Bailey Koch was killed alongside her two sons on Sunday at the family's quiet lakeside home in Nebraska. Authorities say the man she married and the father of her children carried out an act of almost unfathomable brutality. Jeremy Koch is believed to have stabbed the couple's two teenage sons, Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, as well as his 41-year-old wife before turning the weapon on himself. Only days earlier, Bailey, a doting wife and mother had pleaded publicly for help with her husband's mental health before the unthinkable happened. Just days before the killings, Bailey launched a GoFundMe campaign on May 4 titled 'Jeremy's Battle: Mental Health Support Needed,' in which she described her husband's severe depression and long history of suicide attempts dating back to 2009. The page, which has since stopped receiving donations, included deeply personal details of the family's struggles with mental illness and recounted the chilling account with the knife. 'In March, just a couple months ago, I woke to Jeremy shaking me awake saying, 'Something is wrong,' Bailey wrote. 'He was standing over my bed with a knife ready to end his life. I was able to talk him down and into accepting help. 'He went to our safe place, Richard Young Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska, for inpatient mental health treatment for the fourth time in our marriage and stayed for four nights and five days. They tried to level out meds and keep him safe.' Bailey wrote that her husband's condition worsened significantly in 2024. On May 3, she said Koch had survived at least four suicide attempts. She went on to state how Jeremy had recently been released from inpatient care so that he could attend Hudson's high school graduation, which was scheduled to take place just hours after the family was found dead on Saturday morning. 'Our boys are doing well living their lives, and for that, we are thankful,' Bailey wrote on May 8. 'Please just pray Jeremy is able to somehow be with us on Saturday for our oldest son's high school graduation.' Deputies from the Dawson County Sheriff's Office responded to the family home in the Johnson Lake community at around 9:45am on Saturday morning, May 9, after receiving a report of an unresponsive person. When officers arrived at the house, located in the Plum Creek Canyon area, they found four individuals dead from what the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) later confirmed to be fatal stab wounds. Bailey Koch was a special education teacher at Holdrege Public Schools. Her employer issued a statement shortly after the news broke saying, 'Our hearts are with everyone impacted by a tragic event that has deeply affected us all.' The school district opened its middle school facilities later that afternoon for grieving staff and students. Cozad Community Schools, where both Hudson and Asher were enrolled, also confirmed the deaths and expressed condolences in a Facebook post writing, 'Our thoughts are with all those impacted during this incredibly difficult time.' After ending electroconvulsive therapy treatments earlier this year, Bailey explained how Jeremy had become 'a shell of himself.' 'Mental illness is taking my husband from me, and I'm begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society's mental health crisis,' she wrote. Son, Hudson, had plans to move to California after graduation for a bonsai apprenticeship. His brother, Asher, a freshman, was a standout on his high school's varsity golf team. Bailey's social media posts often expressed pride in her sons and determination to fight for her husband's recovery, but the family's situation had grown increasingly dire in recent months. In her GoFundMe plea, Bailey wrote that Jeremy had become largely incapacitated - unable to eat, drink, or get out of bed without assistance. 'By not eating or drinking, Jeremy is slowly completing suicide,' she wrote. She also detailed the financial collapse of their family business and the loss of both parents' retirement savings in an attempt to pay off mounting debt. But there were also sparks of brightness with Bailey hopeful the family would come together for one of their son's graduations. 'Our boys are doing well living their lives, and for that, we are thankful,' Bailey wrote on May 8. 'Please just pray Jeremy is able to somehow be with us on Saturday for our oldest son's high school graduation.' On the morning of May 10, any hope that remained fell apart. Superintendent Dr. Dan Endorf addressed the deaths during the Cozad High School graduation ceremony that same day. 'As you know, our community and our senior class experienced a tragedy within the past few hours,' he told those gathered. 'The bittersweet emotions felt by the senior class on their graduation day, and throughout this entire gymnasium for that matter, cannot be concealed in this moment.' The Nebraska State Patrol continues to lead the homicide investigation. Authorities have not yet released the official timeline of events or confirmed whether any notes or messages were found at the scene. Bailey's parents, Lane and Peg Kugler, issued a public statement on Facebook mourning the loss of their daughter and grandsons, while also criticizing what they called systemic failures in the mental health care system. In her final public messages, Bailey expressed growing frustration with the lack of resources available. 'Mental illness is taking my husband from me and I'm begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society's mental health crisis,' she wrote. She also described being forced to care for her husband at home because local hospitals were unable to admit patients without immediate suicidal ideation. 'Our safe place, Richard Young Hospital, doesn't have enough beds… This is mental healthcare in our world,' she wrote. 'It's all put back on the caregivers.' Multiple community vigils are now being planned in both Holdrege and Cozad. The Dawson County Attorney has also ordered autopsies for all four victims with results expected later in the week. Officials say the investigation remains ongoing but no additional suspects are being sought. No funeral plans have yet been announced.
USA Today
12-05-2025
- USA Today
'Heartbreaking': Family of 4 found dead before son's graduation in apparent murder-suicide
'Heartbreaking': Family of 4 found dead before son's graduation in apparent murder-suicide Show Caption Hide Caption Mental health: 9-8-8 set to become national crisis hotline An easy-to-remember three-digit number aims to transform the nation's approach to crisis care by providing mental healthcare emergency service. Claire Hardwick, USA TODAY This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at Authorities in Nebraska are investigating what state troopers are calling a "heartbreaking" weekend murder-suicide after a couple and their two teenage sons were found slain inside the family's home. Among those who were found dead were Jeremy Koch, 42, his wife, Bailey Koch, 41, who jointly ran a social media page documenting their journey with mental health struggles. Troopers said the couple's two sons, Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, were killed. The Dawson County Sheriff's Office responded to a home near Johnson Lake and found the four residents dead at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. The home is in the central part of the state about 70 miles west of Lincoln, the state capital. After a preliminary investigation, authorities determined the father fatally stabbed his sons and wife before killing himself. A knife was found at the scene, troopers wrote. The official causes of death for each family member were pending autopsy results, troopers wrote in the Saturday release. USA TODAY has reached out to Dawson County Attorney Darlene Shafer, the prosecutor who troopers said ordered the autopsies, as well as Dawson County Sheriff Mark Montgomery, whose agency is assisting troopers with the case. Community grieves deaths According to local media outlet and Bailey Koch's Facebook page, she taught special education at Holdrege Public Schools. "Our hearts are with everyone impacted (by) a tragic event that has deeply affected us all," the district posted in a statement on Facebook. Throngs of people responded to the post offering condolences to the family. "They were amazing people," said Leticia Gleason, who told USA TODAY she attended high school with Bailey Koch. Gleason called the teen Koch brothers "two beautiful boys" and their mother "the sweetest person... She most definitely had the ability to see the positive in any situation, which kept her going. She was truly one in a million, a star that shone brighter than most." The couple's teen sons attended Cozad High School where loved ones said the eldest brother was prepared to graduate Saturday. Footage of the school's commencement ceremony was posted on YouTube in which Superintendent Dan Endorf told the audience the senior class "experienced a tragedy within the past few hours." "The bittersweet emotions felt by the senior class on their graduation day, and by this entire gymnasium for that matter, cannot be concealed in this moment," Endorf said. My mom died by suicide. How I learned to talk about it. Couple's mental health journey was documented on Facebook Bailey and Jeremy Koch were the focus of a social media page documenting their journey with mental health struggles. The page, which had amassed more than 23,000 followers by May 12, had most recently shown Jeremy Koch seeking treatment for mental health. "High school sweethearts now together over 25 years, our love story consists of fighting suicidal thoughts and attempts publicly so you know you're not alone," the Anchoring Hope for Mental Health: Jeremy & Bailey Koch Facebook page reads. "We fight with you. And our God is stronger than this battle." Bailey's father, Lane Kugler, who said he found the family dead in their beds, told USA TODAY his son-and-law had struggled with his mental health for most of his life. "I am so angry. And you should be too," Kugler, of Lexington, Nebraska, wrote in a lengthy Facebook post on Sunday. Kugler said his son-in-law fought "mental illness for many, many years." "Bailey fought so hard to help him and she and her sons lived in fear of the possibility of losing her husband and their father to mental illness," the post continues. "They never knew when he would be in a manic state (super high) or horribly depressed (super low), unable to function normally." Kugler told USA TODAY on May 12 he wrote the lengthy post on Facebook "in hopes of trying to get people fired up about the broken metal health care crisis." Mental health school visit: Cowboys' Dak Prescott talks suicide prevention 'More need to know they're not alone' A May 8 post on her personal Facebook page included a photo of Bailey Koch sitting at her husband's hospital bedside. "Whether my husband lives with mental health or dies by mental illness, we will never be quiet," she wrote. "More need to know they're not alone." In a subsequent May 9 post, the day before the family was found dead, Bailey Koch wrote paperwork to approve treatments for her husband's "mental health battle will be submitted today." "Please pray for insurance approval and that we can get started ASAP," she wrote. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund.
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Small town dad kills family of 4 in Mother's Day weekend murder-suicide hours before son's graduation: police
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The wife of a Nebraska man who is suspected of killing his entire family of four in a murder-suicide pleaded for support for her husband's mental health online just days before she and her two sons were murdered, according to a report. Jeremy Koch, 42, stabbed and killed his wife Bailey, 41, and sons Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, before killing himself in their rural Dawson County home, Nebraska State Patrol confirmed Saturday. Hudson was scheduled to graduate from high school on Saturday, just hours after the family was found dead, according to News Channel Nebraska. The outlet reported on a now-removed GoFundMe page Bailey began earlier this month called "Jeremy's Battle: Mental Health Support Needed." "May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so here we are... making you aware," Bailey reportedly wrote. She said Jeremy first attempted suicide in 2009 and had tried to take his life multiple times. Last year, according to Bailey, Jeremy's depression reached a fever pitch. "Jeremy cannot get out of bed unless forced," she wrote. "By not eating or drinking, Jeremy is slowly completing suicide." She reportedly wrote that the family's income, which came from a local landscaping business Jeremy owned, had dried up. In March, Bailey said she woke up to Jeremy standing over her with a knife but talked him down and convinced him to get inpatient mental health care. That was the fourth time Jeremy had been hospitalized for his mental health struggles, according to the report. She said a round of electroconvulsive therapy did not help her husband. "It didn't work. Jeremy became a shell of himself." "I have no pride left," she wrote at the time. "Mental illness is taking my husband from me, and I'm begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society's mental health crisis." However, Bailey reportedly said on the GoFundMe that Jeremy had been released from the hospital last week to attend Hudson's graduation. Bailey worked as a special education teacher at Holdrege Public Schools. "Our Holdrege school community is grieving after a tragic event that has deeply affected us all," the district reportedly said Saturday. "Our hearts are with everyone impacted."
New York Post
12-05-2025
- New York Post
Nebraska dad fatally stabs wife, 2 kids and himself in apparent murder-suicide hours before son's high school graduation
A Nebraska father stabbed his entire family to death and then turned the knife on himself the same day as his oldest son's high school graduation, authorities said – and just three days after he was released from a mental health hospital. Jeremy Koch, 42, killed his 41-year-old wife, Bailey, and sons Hudson, 18, and Asher, 16, in a sickening stabbing spree Saturday before taking his own life in a rural part of Dawson County, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. The gruesome scene of the apparent murder-suicide was discovered by Bailey's parents around 9:45 a.m. All four family members suffered from fatal knife wounds, police said. All four family members were killed in the apparent murder-suicide. Bailey Koch/Facebook 'I found our two grandsons, Hudson 18, and Asher 16, and our daughter Bailey, and our son-in-law Jeremy, dead laying in their beds,' Lane and Peggy Kugler, the father and mother of Bailey and grandparents of the two boys, said in a Facebook post, according to News Channel Nebraska. 'What I saw will haunt me the rest of my life.' The tragedy comes amid Jeremy's longtime struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts, which was chronicled by Bailey, a teacher, on a dedicated Facebook page. She wrote on the 'Anchoring Hope for Mental Health' page Wednesday that Jeremy had wrapped up a five-day stint receiving mental health care at a hospital with a photo of the couple smiling in a car. 'What a difference five days, some hydration and nutrition, med adjustments, therapies, and a safety plan can make!!!' Bailey Koch eerily wrote. 'Thank you for praying and for your unwavering support as I take Hottie Hubby HOME in time for our son's high school graduation! We still need lots of prayers as we try and carry on with life and find our new 'normal.'' Still, in the days leading up to the suspected murder-suicide, the father of two continued to struggle, according to his wife's recent social media posts. Hudson was set to receive his diploma at Cozad High School's graduation — which went on without the teen Saturday afternoon, just hours after the horrific slaughter. The couple chronicled Jeremy Koch's mental health struggles online. Bailey Koch/Facebook 'Cozad Schools was made aware of a tragic situation that will deeply affect our Cozad community,' the school district wrote. 'Our thoughts are with all those impacted during this incredibly difficult time.' Bailey Koch was remembered as a 'passionate educator, caring colleague and bright presence in the school community,' by Holdrege Public Schools, where she worked, according to NTV. Jeremy and Bailey were high school sweethearts and together for at least 25 years, according to the Facebook page. In a since-deleted GoFundMe page, Bailey said her husband this month had survived numerous suicide attempts that included a car crash that nearly killed him. 'When he awoke,' she wrote, according to News Channel Nebraska, 'he was destroyed his attempt hadn't worked.' If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to
