Last Thursday, 6 December, as I was heading out of town for my aunt’s funeral in St. Louis, I stopped at the student health clinic to pick up my allergy meds.
As I was standing in line at the pharmacy, a young man who was obviously suffering from a sever cold or flu and who looked vaguely familiar said to me, “Mark?” I replied, “Yes” and he said, “I’m Mark, too.” I reached out my hand and told him that I was pleased to meet him. He shook my hand and then several seconds later said, “Oh, I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
It was then his turn at the counter so our brief encounter ended and we went our separate ways. Once he introduced himself I realized that he was one of our newer students at GSLIS who I had seen in the department’s computer lab on occasion. As I was heading out of the clinic I told myself that I must make the effort to actually get to know him the next time I see him around the building.
I will never get that chance.
Less than 8 hours later Mark Everett Moss was dead. He will be buried today in the St. Louis area. Yesterday his wife, Sarah Reed, and their daughter, Madeline Reed-Moss, were buried in the St. Louis area.
We will probably never know what truly happened that tragic night, and even if we do we shall not know why. There are still a lot of unanswered questions. No doubt many will remain unanswered. I will certainly never know why this soft-spoken young man chose to introduce himself to me that Thursday afternoon. But I am glad that he did.
My thoughts are with the families of Mark Moss, Sarah Reed and Madeline Reed-Moss during this most difficult time. They are also with his fellow students and professors, friends, and anyone else who knew Mark, and those of Sarah Reed’s students and fellow teachers at Urbana High School.
May you all find whatever peace you may.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends surrounding this tragedy. What an odd, terrible, and unsettling set of events.
Thank you for writing this. In high school was close to Mark and friends with Sarah too in high school (although she was the year behind me) and I can’t make any sense of this at all. I’ve been wondering how he was the time leading up to the horrible events on the night of the 6th, and plagued by so many what-ifs. This helps some. My prayers are with their families too. There are just no words.
How horrific and saddening.
Likewise, when something like this comes out of the blue, I always wonder what the person was like a few hours before. It’s a good reminder not to put off knowing people.
My prayers are with all those in your community, too. I’ve always said that the great wheel of horrific tragedy leaves no one untouched, but unfortunately that doesn’t really make it any easier.
Thank you so much for your comments, Mark. Your chance encounter affirmed that there was much more to Mark Moss. This horrific tragedy, with its pain, loss and relentless unanswerable questions, would eclipse the light that was the rest of Mark’s life. Thank you for your compassion, and for sharing the glimmer of him that you saw that night. You have done more good than you know.
Thank you all for your thoughts for those affected by this loss.
jenny is presciently correct on this one. Do not put off getting to know people. You may not get another chance and one never knows what effect that contact may have had.
As I read your post it occurred to me that you might consider contacting the investigators and letting them know about your encounter. Just in case there may have – as unthinkable as it seems – some kind of drug interaction that maybe brought on a psychotic episode? I hate to say that I hope that was the case, but it would be so much easier to bear than the alternative.
Hi Sarah, I agree and I did go to the counseling session they had at GSLIS to see if I should, in fact, do that. The police had already extensively interviewed Mark’s supervisor and coworkers at the Chemistry Library and they had already let them know he was at the clinic that day.
The Dean of Students was there and she said that there will be an inquest at some point and that many more details will become available. Whether or not the media will cover them is questionable, though, and it may be a couple of months before everything that will be available is so.
She did say that some of the info will be in the News-Gazette once it is released (the inquest I believe) because they always put those in the paper. Waiting for (possible) answers is not an easy nor peaceful thing, though.
Man, it’s horrible. I miss her right now, Mrs.Reed and her daughter Madeline. Mrs.Reed was our librarian at Crownpoint Middle School and she she was the greatest librarian in our school. We have no librarian to cheack out and in books for us student. The books have dust, like it was their forever. ‘,’
Meriel, thank you for your comment. I am very sad to hear that you have no librarian, but am heartened that for awhile, at least, you knew this special person.
The world is a difficult place, but keeping our eyes and hearts open for the special people is what makes it bearable.
Sarah is my sister. Madeline is my niece. No matter what was happening in Mark’s life that day or the days proceeding, he killed two people he should have loved and protected, and hurt every single person in his life along with countless others he didn’t even know. Please, please tell investigators anything you know. Please…