Community mourns Thurston County couple who deputies say were kidnapped, killed in their home

THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — A Thurston County community is remembering the lives of a couple who were allegedly kidnapped and killed at their home last week.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested an Olympia man in connection with their murders.

Deputies are still searching for the bodies of Davido and Karen Koep. They say the evidence they’ve collected leads them to believe they were killed.

They were reported missing last Monday at their home by deputies during a welfare check.

“It’s just unfathomable really that anyone would harm any of them. It’s just so hard for me to believe,” said Lucas Anderson, a friend of Karen.

On Sunday, dozens of people gathered at Karen’s chiropractic office. People laid flowers and lit candles to try and keep the Koeps’ memory alive.

“Karen and Davido adored their children. Their family was very, very important to them,” said Sharon Cannizzo, during the prayer vigil on Sunday. Cannizo is David’s sister.

“From the day they met, their souls bounded, left this earth together,” she added.

They were parents, soulmates, and friends to many people throughout Thurston County.

“They were very much in love, I could tell. But I could also tell by the way she loved her children that they were very much in love with each other,” Anderson explained.

When the Koeps went missing, their car was also gone. It has since been found. Deputies determined their disappearance as suspicious.

“It was really tough when I got the word that she was believed to be a victim of homicide,” said Thurston County Undersheriff Dave Pearsall.

Pearsall was a patient of Karen’s for 20 years.

“She’s somebody that you would, you didn’t consider her your doctor as much as you did her friend,” Pearsall said.

Deputies say they’ve already arrested a suspect, but there are still many unanswered questions.

“He deserves anything that is coming to him because these two people I know were very much loved because Karen always talked about Davido and her children. They meant so much to her. I’m glad at least Davido and her are together if we can’t be with them,” said a community member during the vigil.

Family and friends say they still haven’t felt much closure.

“We do want justice and we do pray that police are able to figure out a way to carry that out,” said Anderson.

Deputies say the suspect is in his 40s and he knew the couple.

He’s facing two murder charges and a kidnapping charge.

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