Only two weeks after being reunited her the daughter she gave up for adoption, an Illinois woman’s celebration halted when her son was slain in the Fort Hood mass shooting April 2.
Mary Muntean, 77, received that devastating call from her daughter in law that her son, US Army Sgt. Tim Owens, had been gunned down. Owens, along with three others, including the shooter, was killed. Muntean just reconciled with her 54 year old daughter whom she gave up for adoption. After an intense search from the daughter, she met her mother for the first time on March 23.
Still in awe and in a joyful state sitting on her couch on Wednesday, Muntean caught wind of the news on television of the shooting rampage. Unable to reach her son, Muntean contacted his wife, who delivered the heart breaking news.
“He was one of those kids who wanted to wear camouflage and wanted to wear bomber jackets and sunglasses,” said Welton, himself a National Guard veteran of Iraq. “It took him a few years before he got himself in.” said Glen Welton, Owen’s cousin.
“She finds one child and loses another,” said Betty Goodwin, Muntean’s niece and Owens’ cousin.
A memorial service will be held at Fort Hood on April 10 to honor Sgt. Timothy Owens, Sgt. Danny Ferguson, and Sgt. Carlos A. Lazaney-Rodriguez, the three men who lost their lives during the attack.