Rest in Peace, Samantha

A few months ago, Anchorage citizen Samantha Koenig, was abducted from a local coffee cart. It was nearly two months before she was found, murdered and placed beneath the ice in Matanuska Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. No one deserves what happened to this young lady.

Her family, friends and community members who did not even know her, searched, contributed money to a fund dedicated to looking for her, and held out hope that she would be returned home, alive and ready to live her life to the fullest.

A send off for Samantha at West Anchorage High School April 22.

That did not happen. And today there was a memorial service of her life at West Anchorage High School. Hundreds attended, including Anchorage Police and Firefighters.

A note appeared on Facebook asking if there would be a memorial ride, and so since it needed to be done, I said I'd organize one. Samantha had worked for a time at the House of Harley, and made a lot of friends and acquaintances during that time. I don't know that I met her, but have heard of her friendliness, her lovely smile and infectious laugh.

Lime green was her favorite color, so I put together 40 armbands of lime green ribbon and lime green and black netting. There were also lime green ribbons for the bikes.

Armbands for the memorial ride.

As we gathered at the shop today, those 40 armbands disappeared in five minutes. Sixty-three bikes and more riders came out for Sam's memorial run. What a wonderful turnout by our biker community. The motorcycling community and the City of Anchorage citizens came together in this time of tragedy to provide a beautiful and heartbreaking send off for their angel.

Bikers for Samantha.

Sixty-three bikes rode in the memorial parade.

Samantha Koenig – taken long before her life had really begun. Rest in Peace, Samantha.