The last image most of Hailey Owens’ classmates will have of her is of a smiling, laughing girl dancing at Friday’s Valentine party.
After the treats and the passing out of holiday cards, Hailey’s fourth-grade teacher put on some music. And the parent helpers — including Hailey’s mother — got to see the kids go at it.
“They got to shake their groove thing, and Hailey was in the midst of it all,” said Gary Tew, principal of Westport Elementary School in Springfield. “That’s what the kids are going to remember about her. And her mom got to see her in that light, too.”
Days after that party, and after news hit Tuesday night that 10-year-old Hailey had been abducted near her home, students learned that their outgoing friend — the girl known to help kindergartners hang up their coats in the morning — had been murdered.
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Early Wednesday morning, investigators discovered Hailey’s body in Wood’s house. According to court documents, she had been shot at the base of her skull, and there appeared to be ligature marks on her arms.
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Monday was a holiday and Hailey had been off sick on Tuesday, so her classmates had not seen her since the Valentine’s Day party. And though she had been at Westport for only a little more than a year, she had made a big impression on students and teachers.
“She was a really caring person,” Tew said. “If a new student came into the classroom, Hailey would be the one to say, ‘Hey, come over to my team.’ She would take care of others.”
News of Wood’s arrest shocked family and friends. He apparently never married and did not have children. A friend who met Wood at his parents’ home said he was nice and polite.
A co-worker at Pleasant View said Wood, in addition to coaching football, supervised students each day in the in-school suspension room. Nothing stood out as different about Wood except for his long hair, which contrasted with the appearance of other school employees, the co-worker said.
School spokeswoman Teresa Bledsoe said Wood was initially hired as a temporary employee who worked as a substitute teacher before he was hired full time in 2006. He has coached football since 1998 and was also an assistant boys’ basketball coach.
But Wood didn’t socialize with his neighbors, according to Dena Atchley, who lives five houses away from him.
Atchley saw him drive his truck to work every morning, passing her teenage daughter who was walking to her bus stop. Wood never approached her daughter or spoke to Atchley.
His arrest unsettled neighbors, Atchley said.
Missouri court records indicate Wood pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance in 1990. He was also convicted in 2001 for the illegal taking of wildlife.
Wood’s father, Jim Wood of Ash Grove, Mo., said he spoke with his son Tuesday night but would not say whether it was before the arrest or give details about their conversation.
“I can tell you it is just a tragedy,” Jim Wood said. “We’re stunned, for everybody who knows him.”