LAKEWOOD, Colo. Friends say a woman found in her Green Mountain home on Tuesday was a nurse in St. Louis. Anthony Hospital and the mother of an eight-year-old boy.
“I am devastated, utterly devastated,” Traci Buntenbah said.
Buntenbah said Hilary Engel was a good friend and ‘the most giving person’ she has ever met.
“She did toy rides for kids. She would adopt families at Christmas time. She’s the kind of person who’s always looking for ways to help people and help strangers,” Buntenbah said.
The two moms met four years ago at Rooney Ranch Elementary School in the Green Mountain area, where their sons go to school.
“We had no choice but to be friends,” she said, “because the boys always wanted to play together.”
Buntenbah said Angel is very accepting.
“My kids are hyper,” she said. “I get a little nervous about it. She always told me she would never judge me, no matter what.”
Police said they were called to a home in S. Coors Circle on Dec. 29.
When friends arrived there, they reported that they had killed an adult woman in the house.
Police said it appears Engel died of strangulation.
Engel’s boyfriend, Karl Aaron Bemish (51), was arrested the next day in a hotel in Trinidad.
He is being held on suspicion of committing first-degree murder.
“It really bothers me,” Buntenbah said. “I knew him … he was with my child. He was (was) at my house. It’s devastating.”
She told Denver7 she thinks Bemish is a bit shady, but not angry.
Now her mind is focused on Engel’s eight-year-old son.
“I know he’s fine. I do not have to see him yet, but I know he’s fine. He’s with the family,” she said.
Buntenbah said she wants others to know that Engel was not just a victim.
“She was a wonderful mother and a nurse,” she said. “She saved people’s lives and she did not deserve it at all.”
Buntenbah told Denver7 she received an SMS from Engel on Monday.
“She just checked in,” Buntenbah said. “She said she wanted to hang out. I just happened to tell her that I like her. I’m grateful I did.
Denver7 reaches out to Centura-St. Anthony for comment.
The hospital issued the following statement:
‘We express our condolences to the loved ones of Hilary Engel, who works as a nurse in Centura-St. Anthony Hospital worked. Our condolences are with her family and friends and all the caregivers who are grieving this painful loss.