LINTON, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Longtime friends of a Greene County woman remember her with great love, much laughter and many smiles.
Samantha Jerrell or Sam as she was known was inseparable from Sabrina Stockrahm, Jessica Carter and Dusty Lake.
The four girls, were thick as thieves, inseparable in high school and friends ever since.
“All through high school we did everything together,” said Sabrina Stockrahm.
Jessica carter, “She was just the life of the party. Just a silly sweet girl,” said Jessica Carter.
“She introduced me to my husband. I was there for the birth of all of her children,” added Stockrahm.
Sam’s friends, along with a couple of their mothers, met at Linton’s city park. They told some great stories about Sam.
“She would clean to the point when we were teenagers, that she would not go to bed until her room was exactly like she wanted it. It was sooo frustrating,” laughed Stockrahm.
“She would get to laughing, she would almost pee her pants every single time,” joked Carter.
They said when they heard the news that Sam and her son Colton disappeared, they were scared.
“Sam’s meticulous. She’s a planner. She doesn’t do anything on a whim,” said Stockrahm.
“Everyone in town was just so worried, because it was just one of those things that was not like her,” said Dusty’s mom Terrie Smith.
“This is not anything you ever expect get notified of, like that stuff doesn’t just happen every single day,” added Jessica Carter.
And then when they found out the unthinkable had happened, that Sam and Colton were found buried in a shallow grave at Bear Run Coal Mine and Sam’s ex-husband, Joshua Penick, was accused of killing them, it was almost unbelievable.
“I cried a lot. It’s been 22 years of friendship. I love her with my whole heart,” said Stockrahm as she choked up.
“Sorry, it’s been very hard,” said Smith as she held back tears.
“My heart was crushed,” added Jessica Carter’s mom, Wendy Cook.
They mourn the loss of the woman, who despite having a child before graduating from college, went on to earn earn a college degree. Sam Jerrelll worked as a postal clerk at the Linton post office.
They also remembered 14-year-old Colton.
“On Friday and Saturday nights most kids are hanging out with their friends and he’s in bed watching a movie with his mom,” said Stockrahm.
The public visitation for Sam and Colton Jerrell is Friday, October 25 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Welch and Cornett Funeral Home in Linton.
