NEW SALEM, N.D. (AP) -- Larry and Eunice Morgenstern raised four children north of here, in a farmhouse where his mother was born. Now they are mourning the death of their youngest, and asking why.
Mindy, 22; April, 23; and Michael, 32, were adopted by the Morgensterns in Bogota, Colombia. Rebecca Young, their oldest daughter, lives in New Salem. Michael recently returned from duty in Iraq. April lives in Bismarck.
Larry, 57, and Eunice, 54, had just gone to bed last Wednesday night when Eunice noticed someone outside. It was Rebecca, and she was crying. Then Larry saw a sheriff's deputy next to her.
They came to tell the family that Mindy, a 22-year-old Valley City State student, had been found dead in her off-campus apartment in Valley City that night. Authorities said she died of a knife wound.
Police are still looking for her killer.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mindy was supposed to have had a modeling shoot earlier that day, April Morgenstern remembered. She said she didn't know much about it, just that her sister had called last Tuesday to ask advice on what to wear.
April Morgenstern said her sister had found it through the Internet and had checked it out with the Better Business Bureau. She remembered telling Mindy to be careful.
The night before, Mindy's mother said, she had a "wonderful conversation" with Mindy on the telephone.
"We talked about everything," Eunice said.
On her last visit to the family farm, Mindy had helped her father load hay bales.
Mindy had attended Valley City State since 2002, her family said. She had participated in track at the university before she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, her sister said. She took her old green baby blanket to college with her because she felt safe with it.
Mindy was taking one class at Valley City State, and had planned to graduate in December.
She lived off-campus in part because her doctors told her living in a dorm could expose her to illnesses. She had been diagnosed with MS in her freshman year and recently had been part of a trial to find a cure. She was taking experimental chemo treatments, her family said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mindy wanted to be a physical therapist, a basketball coach or a missionary, April Morgenstern said.
In high school, Mindy took part in track and played basketball for the Lady Holsteins in New Salem. Basketball was her passion and her hero was Michael Jordan, her family said.
"She loved the way he played, his attitude, and thought he was good looking," April Morgenstern said.
The girls would play basketball in front of the farmhouse until after midnight. Mindy would work on trying to imitate Jordan's moves, her sister said.
Valley City State planned a community memorial service in the Vangstad Auditorium on campus at 4 p.m. Monday.
Funeral services for Mindy Morgenstern have been scheduled Tuesday at 2 p.m., at the New Salem High School Gymnasium. Her family asked that memorials be given to a scholarship fund set up in her name at the New Salem Credit Union.
