The Anchoring Hope for Mental Health Facebook page that Bailey Koch maintained, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
COZAD — Over 23,000 people followed a Facebook page where a central Nebraska wife and mother would provide near daily updates on her family’s journey through her husband’s mental illness and depression.
Bailey Koch will never post another update, but her advocacy and willingness to speak up caught the attention of thousands.
The last post on the “Anchoring Hope for Mental Health: Jeremy & Bailey Koch” Facebook page was made at 12:25 p.m. on Friday, May 9.
Bailey detailed that the paperwork for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatment for her husband, Jeremy, has been submitted.
“We spent over an hour going through every aspect of our 16 year journey of ups, downs, failures, fears, and celebrations related to Hottie Hubby’s (her pet name for Jeremy in the posts) suicidal ideations, attempts, and hospitalizations,” Bailey wrote, “We feel heard, seen, and supported…Please pray for insurance approval and that we can get started ASAP.”
At 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, May 10 the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to Plum Creek Canyon, No. 1. Upon arrival the deputies found four deceased individuals inside the residence.
According to the Nebraska State Patrol, Jeremy Koch, 42, had killed Bailey, 41, and their two sons, Hudson, 18 and Asher, 16. Jeremy then died by suicide. All four were found with fatal knife wounds and a knife was located at the scene.
The death of the entire family sent shockwaves throughout central Nebraska. The impact was felt deeply within Cozad, where Hudson was set to graduate on Saturday and Asher was a freshman student.
“In light of yesterday’s tragedy, we understand that some students may be experiencing some difficulties. We will also have support available for students and staff when school resumes on Monday,” Cozad Community Schools stated.
The community of Holdrege also felt the pain of the loss, as Bailey was a special education teacher at Holdrege Middle School.
“Our Holdrege school community is grieving after a tragic event that has deeply affected us all. Our hearts are with everyone impacted,” Holdrege Public School stated.
In her posts, Bailey said Jeremy was diagnosed with severe depression in 2009 and for years they kept this a secret among their family. However, they began to publicly speak about their journey through mental health in 2015 after Jeremy had survived the latest of at least four suicide attempts.
Several different medications were tried, but they were wrong for Jeremy’s situation, his first suicide attempt followed a medication change, over the years he made several attempts to take his own life.
The worst she noted was a nearly fatal car accident in 2012 when Jeremy intentionally drove into a semi-trailer on Highway 30.
“He was left with a leg broken in four places, punctured lung, fractured pancreas, complete colon reconstruction, brain bleed, and still depression. When he awoke, I was in awe and relieved. He was destroyed his attempt hadn’t worked,” Bailey wrote.
After recovering, and through therapy and medication, Bailey said that Jeremy was able to go seven years without any dark thoughts.
During the early morning hours of Saturday, June 29, a thunderstorm impacted western Dawson County, and the hail core would pass directly over Cozad.
Residents in Cozad reported the hail lasting for 15 minutes as the storm passed overhead. After it was over, residents left their homes to find golf ball sized hail that damaged home siding, smashed home windows and windshields of cars that had been outside.
Bailey and Jeremy were the owners of Natural Escapes in Cozad, where they operated two green houses full of annuals, perennials, trees shrubs.
“You may or may not know that our small family business, Natural Escapes, was devastated, along with our community, by a hailstorm in June of this year. What you may not understand is that we had just switched to a high deductible in order to afford insurance coverage. This turned out to be a horrible decision, as the only help we got from insurance was for vehicles and windows,” Bailey wrote on the Natural Escapes’ Facebook page.
“All other repairs (roof, greenhouse coverings, siding, inventory, etc.) have been out-of-pocket, with many repairs left incomplete. Financially, we are struggling as a business, and that’s hard to say. But it’s true,” Bailey wrote.
She also posted a link to a GoFundMe page to help raise additional funds to help with their business.
Bailey noted that in August 2024, Jeremey was mostly unable to work and said that Natural Escapes was struggling as a result. She said they had both cashed out their retirement accounts in December and January just to pay the bills and debt.
Bailey then noted an episode that took place in March.
“I woke to Jeremy shaking me awake saying, ‘Something is wrong.’ He was standing over my bed with a knife ready to end his life. I was able to talk him down and into accepting help. He went to our safe place, Richard Young Hospital in Kearney for inpatient mental health treatment for the fourth time in our marriage and stayed for four nights and five days,” she wrote.
After this was decided that Jeremy may benefit from Electroconvulsive Therapy Treatments (ECT) for his mental health, because he had been denied Ketamine infusions twice. It was hoped to provide a “factory reset,” for Jeremy.
It didn’t work, Bailey noted.
She said the treatments were stopped on April 28 because his symptoms were becoming increasingly worse. He was unable to get out of bed, he did not eat or drink on his own or take medications.
Bailey said she tried to bring him back their “safe place” at Richard Young, but they didn’t have enough space to take a “Failure to Thrive” case as Jeremy was considered at the time. She said they needed to keep room for immediately suicidal individuals.
She then took Jeremy to Cozad Community Hospital, where he was admitted into the emergency room where he was treated for severe dehydration and nutrition deficiency.
Jeremy would then be accepted at the Mary Lanning Behavioral Health in Hastings in their behavioral services unit for mental health.
“I have begun the process of looking into selling our family business because the stress is too much on my husband, and nothing is worth losing him,” Bailey wrote on May 3, “I have no pride left. Mental illness is taking my husband from me, and I’m begging you to open your eyes and see the reality that is this society’s mental health crisis.”
“And they just cut funding from mental health programs in schools; we will see more of this when kids like my husband, who grew up being told they must be perfect and always put on a happy face, buck up buttercup and don’t show weakness, are not taught how to express emotions and accept help,” Bailey wrote.
“Please just pray Jeremy is able to somehow be with us Saturday for our oldest son’s high school graduation,” she wrote on May 4.
Jeremy would be released from Mary Lanning on May 7.
“I wish I had better news, as Jeremy was so happy to be released from the mental health hospital yesterday to go home in time for our oldest son’s high school graduation on Saturday. But it appears Jeremy is reacting negatively to our attempt with a new mental health medication, one he’s been on for a whole three nights,” she wrote on May 8.
She also noted that Jeremy was still healing from the ineffective ECT treatment.
“I will not take him immediately back to the mental health hospital because missing his son’s high school graduation would be more detrimental to his mental health,” Bailey wrote, “I’m not special; I’m just a wife madly in love with a man whose brain tells him I’m better off with him dead.”
Bailey noted that May was Mental Health Awareness Month in one of her most recent posts.
“Please see our story and know that accepting help is what makes you strong. We fight the same battle, and we will win it together. As always, please share and help others know they are not alone,” she wrote.
After the news of their deaths were announced, thousands took to social media to tell of how Bailey’s honest and unfiltered sharing of her story and journey had impacted them. Others called for action regarding support and funding for mental health services.
Peg and Lane Kugler, the parents of Bailey, stated in a social media post, “We can make a difference. Bailey believed that with all her heart. We can help our fellow human beings. Don’t give up. Bailey didn’t. Right up to her last breath.”
