TRAGEDY ON GRADUATION DAY

In Cozad, Nebraska, the Koch family had once seemed like a portrait of resilience. Bailey spoke openly about Jeremy’s mental health battles, hoping that honesty might save lives, including his. Instead, those same struggles ended in a horror that silenced an entire community just hours before Hudson’s high school graduation. Friends, classmates, and neighbors now gather at vigils where caps and gowns have been replaced by flowers and shaking hands.

The tragedy has forced a painful conversation: how many pleas for help never reach real care? School officials and relatives are demanding more than sympathy, calling for accessible treatment, crisis support, and systems that act before families break. As autopsies proceed and investigators piece together the final hours, Cozad is left holding a brutal truth—awareness alone was not enough. What failed the Kochs could fail the next family, unless someone finally decides it can’t.