Kendra Dvorak, 43, of Pawnee County is survived by her two teen daughters along with the hundreds of students she taught over the years who she considered her "kids."
Beloved Oklahoma teacher Kendra Dvorak was killed in her Pawnee County home Thursday night alongside her ex-boyfriend Jim Two-Feathers in what authorities are calling a murder-suicide. Both Dvorak and Two-Feathers were found dead of gunshot wounds, with Two-Feathers’ “clearly” self-inflicted, authorities said, according to Tulsa World.
“Everybody knew our suspect, everybody knew our victim,” Pawnee County Chief Deputy Nick Mahoney told KOTV.
The tragic night began as a hostage situation, when Two-Feathers showed up at 43-year-old Dvorak’s rural mobile home with a gun and barricaded himself inside, Mahoney said, according to Tulsa World.
A relative who identified herself as Dvorak’s daughter was able to contact authorities at around 6:30 that evening, KTUL reported, saying that there was a gun being held to her mother’s head.
Responding deputies made unsuccessful attempts to contact anyone inside and eventually requested a search warrant and additional assistance from a tactical team, Tulsa World reported. Authorities were still unable to establish contact and eventually breached the home’s door at 10 p.m.
That’s when they found both Dvorak and Two-Feathers dead in the mobile home. No one else was injured or found on the property.
Authorities believe the shooting occurred before the responding deputies arrived, but did not enter the home earlier as they did not hear any sounds.
“Had we heard gunshots, we would have made entry,” Mahoney told Tulsa World.
Now, the tight-knit community is mourning the tragic loss, which investigators called an act of domestic violence.
Dvorak taught at Pawnee Elementary School for the last 16 years after having attended early schooling in the school district. She spent her summers working at a summer camp and was a well-respected member of the local Baptist church, according to her obituary.
Dvorak is remembered for her generosity, involvement in the community and love of life.
“When you think of the word love you automatically thought of Kendra,” the obituary read. “She loved everyone with all she had.”
In addition to being survived by two daughters, 19 and 16, she is remembered by the hundreds of students whom she called her “kids.” “She was the light in lives of every single kid that walked through her classroom doors,” the obituary said.
Mahoney said of the deceased, “They were a part of our families and so being a small community and being a small county this loss affects everybody and impacts everybody,” according to KOTV.
A donation to Kendra Dvorak's Memorial Fund has been requested in lieu of flowers.
