Slain Tecumseh couple were looking forward to becoming grandparents
The timing for these childhood sweethearts seemed ideal. Two years ago they had lost their jobs after the GM plant in Oklahoma City shut down. The Haases, both 61 and living in Tecumseh, had not gone out in search of other employment. Instead, they traveled back to Southwest City to check on property that had remained in the family even after they moved away in the 1970s.
Their only daughter, Cathy Byus, was five months pregnant and they were excited about becoming grandparents.
But the couple’s dreams ended last week when they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Linda Rook, of Joplin, said her brother and sister-in-law were on their way to the Singleton Ranch outside Santa Rosa, N.M., where they had been several times on camping trips. Somewhere along the way, authorities said, they encountered three fugitives who escaped on July 30 from the Arizona State Prison near Kingman.
The couple were killed and their bodies found Aug. 4 in their charred camper in eastern New Mexico. Their pickup was found later; 100 miles west of Albuquerque.
Two of the fugitives have been captured, but a nationwide manhunt for John McCluskey and his fiancee Casslyn Welch, who allegedly assisted with the escape, continues. Forensic evidence has linked the Haases deaths to McCluskey and Welch.
“We got the call that their daughter’s dog was found running around by itself,” said Rook, who works as a skilled nurse for Freeman Health System.
“They had taken her dog. They located Cathy from the tags on her dog. I knew then, even before they found Linda and Gary, that something horrible had happened,” she said.
“I don’t think they even made it to camp.”
The Rooks are in Santa Rosa where they were called to identify their family members. They continue to stay to assist law enforcement there. Linda Rook said a third dog accompanying the couple has yet to be found.
Rook said her brother and the former Linda Ann Perkins were high school sweethearts and in fact, had never dated anyone else. They had been married 41 years.
She graduated from Southwest City, while Gary was among the first graduating class of the McDonald County High School.
After the couple were married Gary Haas joined the Air Force while his wife attended Missouri Southern State College, graduated and then taught second grade in Anderson.
“Linda was smart, super smart. After they moved to Oklahoma to work for GM, company officials found that out. They put her to work teaching their employees who hadn’t graduated from high school. She helped them get their GED’s,” Rook said.
Later her sister-in-law wrote manuals for GM.
“This is the kind of thing that you hear about, but you never imagine happening,” Rook said. “I just want to make sure Linda and Gary are remembered for what wonderful people they were.”
