A friend from high school

This is about the death of a friend I went to high school with





Authorities Investigate Death of Sault Woman
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Category: Life

Authorities investigate death of Sault woman

Story created Jun 04, 2008 - 12:29:51 EDT.

Police consider death of 27-year-old Amy Ignatowski a homicide

By SCOTT BRAND

SAULT STE. MARIE - Texas authorities are investigating the death of a Sault Ste. Marie resident after 27-year-old Amy Ignatowski was found dead in her Corpus Christi apartment.

According to reports published in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, police are investigating the weekend death as a homicide. Ignatowski, a petty officer 3rd class in the U.S. Coast Guard, had been out Friday evening celebrating with friends with the group breaking up around 2 a.m. Saturday. A friend taking care of Ignatowski's dog discovered her lifeless body at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times also reports police have a strong indication as to the cause of death, but they are withholding that information because its release might jeopardize the investigation. The Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office has not ruled on a cause or manner of death in its preliminary report. Evidence in the form of facial abrasions on the deceased suggests the woman may have been beaten, but police do not believe the injuries appeared serious enough to cause her death.


The daughter of Paul and Robin Ignatowski, Amy graduated from Sault High in 1998. Principal Ken Sherman said he did not move to the high school until the year after Ignatowski graduated, but he did recall her from his days as an elementary physical education teacher.

"She was always very friendly," said Sherman. "Always quiet - very easy to work with."

Those who knew her later in life provided their own descriptions for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

"There wasn't a day she wasn't smiling, happy and thinking of the next adventure in her life to undertake," friend and former roommate Lindsay Weber told the Texas publication. "Even when things weren't great in her life or she was having a bad day she didn't let on."

Another friend and former roommate from Ignatowski's days at Grand Valley State University, Katie Kopelman, shared similar memories.

"She was a force of nature," said Kopelman. "There are just so many people whose lives will never be the same now... She touched everybody that she met. If she met somebody one time, they instantly fell in love with her."

Juan Carlos of the U.S. Coast Guard Sault Station said Ignatowski joined on Nov. 15, 2005 and, after completing basic training, was stationed on the Polar Sea out of Seattle. She went on to the Humboldt Bay Air Station before attending Aircraft Maintenance Technician school. After completing her training, she was stationed at Corpus Christi - working on airplanes and helicopters.

Funeral services will be handled by C.S. Mulder Funeral Home of Sault Ste. Marie. Visitation is scheduled from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday with funeral services scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral.

Burial, complete with the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard, will follow the funeral at Oak Lawn Cemetery.