Update: 4-28-24 There will be a fundraiser for the children sponsored by Dockside Dogs Gourmet Hot Dogs - all sales & gratitudes will go to support the kids. If you've never been there, it's at the Marina near Anthony's, a gorgeous place. And I hear they make the best dogs around.
If you can't make it, they have a gofundme site you can donate. https://gofund.me/6a8d7f54
So far they've raised over $80,000 for the children, very close to their goal of 100k.
Update: To date, the authorities have not found the dad. (The waters under that bridge are crazy treacherous. I've gone through there with my boats over the years and it's full of wild currents and vortexes. One time on a calm day, I made the mistake of going through there a ways behind a huge boat which did not slow down as most big boats. The result was a most tumultuous battle with the over exaggerated waves from the wake that almost flipped my 17' boat.)
Anacrotes, WA It is both with a heavy heart and total astonishment beyond belief that I write this article after getting a shocking call from my fiance just an hour ago.
Now memories are coming to me of a little toddler with a football like helmet (to shape his head), whom I would often greet with "morning little football player", to which he would show his big smile, and laugh; all while I was dropping off my little girl at June's Playschool right there on 12th St, in the past. Memories of his sister's birthday party, where I met their grandparents, talked with the grandpa, father and mother, and enjoyed a wonderful winter afternoon just a couple of years ago. Or just last December, being told by my fiance: "it's that little guy who doesn't need to wear that helmet you used to call a football helmet", at a birthday party at the Bellingham skating rink, and seeing his big smile. And I said, "Oh it's that little football player". My little girl knows all 3 of them. Now I'm so sorry to say, he, his sister and the other sibling are all orphans!
Yesterday, Tuesday April 9, their father, Kevin dropped them off at school & daycare as usual, and then returned home. What possessed him to do what it is suspected he did next is totally unfathomable, and unbelievable. It is believed he stabbed his wife Caitlin Follstad to death, who is also a 5th grade teacher. The Anacortes school district announced her death yesterday:
"It is with heavy hearts that we announce the tragic loss of Caitlin Follstad, a cherished member of the Island View Elementary community. Her passion for education led her to Island View Elementary, where she served as a teacher, mentor, and friend. The Anacortes School District extends its sympathies to Caitlin's family, friends, students, and colleagues during this difficult time." (2)
Kevin is believed to be suicidal and proceded to the Deception Bridge. The Sheriff has found his car at the Deception bridge middle island, and are fearing suicide. Also a body has been reported in the water nearby, but not yet confirmed to be his. (1)
It's just unbelievable! You meet people and even attend birthday parties, eat with them, laugh and engage in small talk, never imagining that something like that could happen to them, and in quaint little, quiet and sleepy Anacortes. May they RIP, my deepest condolences to the family.
(1) https://mynorthwest.com/3957069/anacortes-school-teacher-found-dead-missing-husband-considered-person-of-interest/
(2) https://www.asd103.org/District/news/3064-Tragic+Loss+at+Island+View+Elementary.html
***Article Photo: Caitlin Follstad on Linked-In
[ ] Brackets are used to correct the spelling of a person's quote or add more descriptive words to avoid English and Literature Teachers from having a heart attack, LoL.
By Chief Editor Angelo-Lk-Whatcom-Rider-Writer, Published: 4-10-2024 Updated: 4-11-24
About The writer: I've lived in Bellingham since February, 2011, and love the beautiful trees & greenery producing all that oxygen, and of course, the lake, bay, hills and mountains too. I've also been in the lovely Anacortes area for part of that time, going back and forth, since moving here.
Educational/Professional Background: Economics & Political Science Degrees at UCF. Attended Graduate School of Economics at FSU, and have worked for the FL Labor Dept as well as consulted for the FL Labor Dept on behalf of the US Labor Dept. I've been happily working in my own businesses since 1993.