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• November 19, 2015
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Soldier Mountain’s New Owners:‘Stewards of the Mountain for Everyone’ • B5
Families Still Healing a Year after Tragedy
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soldiers operate in St. Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, Wednesday.
In a French Neighborhood Under Siege, ‘It Seemed Like Real War’ EMILY BADGER AND KARLA ADAM The Washington Post
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS PHOTOS
Jaiedene Watts pays her respects to her deceased daughter and granddaughter Wednesday at Sunset Memorial Park in Twin Falls.
"We try to live positive now, and these kids, they are tougher than heck." George Salinas Sr.
Parents and Children of Leann Schuldies, Brianna Cox, George Salinas Jr. Still Learning to Overcome
See a photo gallery online with this story on Magicvalley.com.
ALEX RIGGINS ariggins@magicvalley.com
TWIN FALLS • A black and white dog kept watch outside the family home of George Salinas Sr. and his wife, Cynthia. The home, southwest of Twin Falls, is modest and has four bedrooms but just one bathroom, and it sits on a five-acre lot their grandkids call “the farm.” Inside the home a kitten napped. Pinto beans flavored with a ham hock simmered in a slow cooker on the kitchen counter. With buttered tortillas on the side and a glass of orange juice to wash it all down, it was a simple but delicious meal. The laughter of two young boys made conversations between adults difficult at times. It emanated from Dallas Salinas, 8, and Gabriel Salinas, 7.
Gabriel Salinas, 7, plays Mexican Bingo while George Salinas Sr. talks about how it helps teach the kids Spanish Tuesday night in Twin Falls. Dallas played the computer game “Boom Beach” on one tablet, while Gabriel talked to a virtual cat on his tablet that repeated his words back to him. Each time the cat spoke, Gabriel giggled. That laughter seemed impossible a year ago.
If You Do One Thing: Cassia Festival of Trees will be open from noon to 9 p.m. at Oregon Trail Recreation Center gymnasium, 1700 Parke Ave., Burley. Admission: $1 adults, 50 cents for children.
It was a year ago, on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014, that George Salinas Jr. killed his girlfriend, Leann Schuldies, 38, and her daughter Brianna Cox, 17, before killing himself. “We go through our highs and our lows,” Salinas Sr. said. High
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“There are days when you can probably hear us yelling all the way in town. But then these kids always come up with something that’s funnier than heck. We just sit here and laugh.” Salinas Sr. and his wife, Cynthia, are raising the surviving children: Bryson Schuldies, 14; Alexandra Salinas, 10; and Dallas and Gabriel. “There was a lot of crying,” Salinas Sr. said of the months immediately following the deaths. “It was just tough. It was really hard. We were going through a hard time, and now we have four other kids, and they’re going through a hard time.” Six months after the deaths things improved drastically, and now scenes like Tuesday night’s are normal. Please see TRAGEDY, A7
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SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE • The clamor began about 4:30 in the morning. Ousmane Minteh, a 24-year-old student who lives with his mother in this suburb north of Paris, thought the sounds that resembled gunfire in the middle of the night were a joke. Louna Colleuille, who was sleeping four floors above what would become a crime scene, thought it was a dream. Sladana Vuckovic, in her small apartment overlooking Rue du Corbillon, thought it was an attack—but from where she could not tell. “I didn’t understand if it was happening down below or if we were being bombed from above,” Vuckovic, 44, said. At an apartment in the middle of this neighborhood, more than 100 police and elite special forces fired over 5,000 rounds in a dramatic assault that killed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected ringleader of Friday’s attacks, two senior European officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. Neighborhood residents were awakened by the noise of gunfire, then helicopters overhead, then an explosion that could be heard blocks away. Please see FRANCE, A6
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Tragedy
R E A L E S TAT E
Continued from A1
The two young boys play computer games and laugh; Cynthia cooks soups, beans and potatoes; George Sr. talks in a booming, raspy voice. “We try to live positive now, and these kids, they’re tougher than heck,” Salinas Sr. said. “They’re more resilient than grownups, they really are.”
Healing
COURTESY PHOTO
Leann Schuldies with her five children. and George Jr. died. “About two months ago, I was just having a bad day, and I just jumped in the car and left,” Salinas Sr. said. “And that’s where I went. And I just sat there. And I cried. My wife told me she did the same thing one time. She’d had a little too much one day, and she went to that house and just sat there.” One of the toughest days though was the date that marked one year since the tragedy. “On the 14th I went to bed crying, and I woke up the next day the same way,” Salinas Sr. said. “We just kind of didn’t want to do much. I don’t think I was in the mood to be out. I don’t think the kids were either.” Watts followed her daily routine. “I just tried to get through it,” she said. “I went to their graves, I did do that. That’s when I found an angel with a broken head.” Someone had left glass angels on both graves but strong winds knocked down the angel on Brianna’s. “I wish people would stop leaving things,” Watts said. “It’s not that I don’t love the thought, but the wind blows it all over the place, and I have to pick it up. I’ve got a collection of stuff on a shelf at my house that people have left.”
health issues if he didn’t have to work to support his wife and four grandkids. “Let’s educate everybody in the Magic Valley that it can happen to you, it really can,” Salinas Sr. said. “Never in a million years did we think it would happen in our family, never ever. And it can happen to someone else, it’s going to happen to somebody else.”
The last year has been just as difficult for Leann Schuldies’ mother. Jaiedene Watts visits her daughter and granddaughter’s graves nearly every day. “It’s very hard. Very hard to deal with,” Watts said. “But I’m a lot better than I was a year ago.” Watts sees her four grandkids every other Saturday. “We’ve managed,” Watts Symbolism said. “The kids seem to Both the Salinas’ and be doing good, and that’s Watts have found ways to what’s important is their keep George Jr., Leann and Brianna’s memories alive in welfare. If I didn’t think they were doing good, I would not small ways. be happy.” Watts sees her daughter and granddaughter when The Salinas’ agree that she looks at her daughthe kids are doing well after months of intense grief. ter’s children. “When they first moved “They look just like her, in, we spent a good long time especially my (two younger) just trying to deal with it, boys, they look just like their momma,” Watts said. “They trying to get over the shock,” Salinas Sr. said. “So we just look so much like her it’s finally said, ‘we’ve got to unreal. And Bryson looks like Brianna. I got the best get some help.’ So we finally of both worlds. When I see started seeing a psychiatrist. them, I see Leann and BriAnd that did help, it helped, but we stopped going after anna both.” about five or six times.” Watts also has a new Leann in her life — her son It was at that point that Jason in October named Alex — that’s how the family his newborn daughter after refers to Alexandra — asked her grandpa: “Why do we his sister. Less than a week after the have to keep bringing up the past and crying?” deaths of Leann, Brianna “I told her, you know and George Jr., an owl landed what, I feel the same way,” on a tree outside “the farm.” Salinas Sr. said. “And we And then a second owl kind of started backing up showed up. And then a third. from the psychiatrists, and A Message “They would sit there on I think it really did help us. “A year ago, when this all that tree and look through There was no more crying. happened, I probably didn’t that window at the kids,” Now if we cry we kind of cry say thank you to anyone,” Salinas Sr. said. “In the at home.” Watts said. “Now I just want morning, the kids would The four kids say they like to say thank you to everyone walk over to the bus stop. At living with their grandpar- who was concerned.” least one of the owls would ents. Their grades are good. Salinas Sr. also said the wait on the pole until the They’re eating a lot – 23 eggs community has been help- kids got there safe, and then for a Saturday breakfast; six ful and parents have warned he would fly back.” gallons of milk and three their children about saying The Salinas’ said they’d boxes of cereal a week; doz- things to the four surviv- never seen an owl on their ens and dozens of tortillas, ing grandkids at school that property until those three might make the situation showed up. One day the too many to count. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of worse. For the most part, smallest owl landed on the laundry,” Cynthia said. “And other kids have behaved, ground outside the house. The kids went outside to we’re on a budget, we have to he said. try to save everywhere. And Salinas Jr. underwent a look at it, and the owl linthe toilet paper. God, we go mental health evaluation gered for minutes looking at through a lot of toilet paper.” less than a month before the them before it flew away. The grandkids are homicide-suicide. A The symbolism was so designated examiner powerful, the lock screen on also growing — Bryson said Salinas Jr. was Cynthia’s phone is still a picis nearly 6 feet and not a danger to him- ture of the three owls. One outgrowing his size 12 shoes; Alex has grown self on Oct. 27, 2014, large, one medium sized and documents said. one small. three inches; Dallas But his family said and Gabriel have both “What was the owl’s stresses were piling name?” Salinas Sr. asked his grown two inches and, despite the age gap, Salinas Jr. up. Salinas Jr. had three youngest grandkids. put money down on look like twins. “Georgie!” Alex, DalThey’re learning to ice- a house in town but Schuld- las and Gabriel shouted skate and picking up Span- ies, whom he believed was in unison. ish phrases from grandma cheating on him, didn’t “They called the other and grandpa. The boys play want to move there, Salinas one Leann,” Salinas Sr. said. organized sports. Alex went Sr. said in January. “And the small one was Bribowling Sunday with her Now, Salinas Sr. said, he anna, the daughter. They uncle and a cousin who’s her would like to advocate for named them, we didn’t. It age. The younger kids took better treatment of mental was strange.” swim lessons this summer. The Salinas’ other two sons, Fernando and Jacob, Announcing the come over and help with the kids. The uncles come over Opening of her to babysit or just hang out new Family with their niece and nephews to be good role models. Medicine Office For Salinas Sr., the toughest part is having to be a father figure again. “That’s one thing I really, really hate,” Salinas Sr. said. “I can’t be a grandpa anymore. Now I’m grumpy Dr. Tangen has served magic valley grandpa because I have to patients for the past 22 years. lay the law down and they Her new office is located at: have to follow it. So I’m the grumpy grandpa. It’s not fair for them, and it’s not fair 1100 N. Lincoln Ave. for me. But we have to live Jerome, ID 83338 with it.”
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Nov. 15, 2015
There are still tough days. Both George Sr. and Cynthia have returned to the home where Leann, Brianna
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