Gail Palmgen's friends still looking for closure

Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson spoke with the media during the Real Deal in the Rock on Saturday afternoon. This marks the first year coaches have been able to evaluate talent in the spring.

Anderson talks Real Deal

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Gorillas at the zoo interacted a little more than usual with the visitors today.
People tossed brown sandwich bags, filled with cereal, dried strawberries, hay and some plastic gift bows, into the gorilla enclosure this morning for the Little Rock  Zoo's  breakfast with gorillas.

Zoo visitors toss breakfast to gorillas

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First news came of the red Jeep Rubicon being found.

The next day authorities said they located remains a couple hundred feet below the crash site.

And with it came the realization that Gail Palmgren would never be seen again driving the Jeep to her home in the St. Ives subdivision of Signal Mountain.

"I adore Gail," said Susie Button, who has lived across the street from the Palmgrens since they moved in three years ago. "She was such a sweet, kind, generous, honest person."

Button gathered with girlfriends at one of the neighborhood homes to watch news coverage and remember Gail. The subdivision's Christmas celebration has been canceled.

"We can't wait till they have a good look at the car to see if anything was mechanically wrong or if it was pushed over. I hate to think it was anything of her doing," Button said.

Gail Palmgren's husband, Matthew Palmgren, issued a family statement Friday through his attorney, Lee Davis.

"It appears that Gail Palmgren lost control of her Jeep on East Brow Road," the letter states.

Plans for a memorial service are under way, it states. In the meantime, Davis said the family is asking for privacy.

"We ask the community to give Matthew Palmgren and the Palmgren children the necessary space and time to deal with their loss and the proper respect for their family during this extremely difficult time."

Arlene Durham, a close friend of Gail Palmgren who lives in Wetumpka, Ala., still feels a lack of closure. She plans to travel to Signal Mountain today.

Durham said she hasn't rested well in the seven months since Palmgren disappeared. She looked continually for resources that would bring her friend home.

"It's been hard. It's been heavy on my heart. I knew in my heart last night," she said. "I'm glad the kids know their mom didn't leave them. The next question is what really happened."

Durham knew Palmgren was upset about something the day before she returned to Signal Mountain on April 30. She doesn't feel that would have caused her to wreck, though.

"I feel she was in a regular state of mind. She was upset, but not out of her mind," she said. "Why was she on that road? I don't think she did it on purpose. I believe it was an accident; either that, or someone bumped her."

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