LYNNWOOD, Wash. — The people who lived with 33-year-old Liheang Ho in Everett say they knew he worked in electronics and they knew he had a girlfriend -- but that's about all they knew about him.
By their accounts, he lived a very quiet, introverted, private life.
They say his girlfriend, the bright and lively Kandra Tan, seemed very different from Ho.
They didn't realize she was a high school honor student, 17 years younger than he was, or that there was any trouble between them.
Some of Tan's other friends at Mountlake Terrace High School thought Ho was her uncle.
Now, Snohomish County investigators are trying to figure out what led Liheang Ho to walk into Kandra Tan's family home in Lynnwood on and shoot her once in the abdomen, before shooting himself in the same place.
At 3 p.m. Thursday, Tan's family members discovered their bodies, with the gun nearby.
The principal of Mountlake Terrace High School shared the tragic news in a letter to students Friday.
"We learned Thursday evening that junior Kandra Tan died at her home," Greg Schwab wrote. "Her family gave us permission this afternoon to share this news with our school community."
Schwab asked students not to jump to conclusions about what lead to the deaths, out of respect for the Tan family.
"The family asked for privacy as they cope with her sudden loss," Schwab wrote.
Tan's close friend Maddy Caiola was told by her teacher, when Tan didn't show up for her sixth period class.
"When she told us, it was really shocking because it really didn't feel real," she said.
Caiola and other friends told KIRO 7 Tan was a gifted student on track to graduate early. She was very proud of her Cambodian heritage and never let friends know about any potential danger or trouble in her life.
"She was so excited to get her braces off recently, and even with her braces, she was always smiling and always wanting to help people," Caiola said. "She was so caring and kind, and she had such a great sense of humor."
While classmates struggle with painful, vexing questions, Maddie and her friends spent Friday evening at Mountlake Terrace's varsity football game, encouraging classmates to sign a memorial poster with love notes to Tan. They plan to deliver the poster to Tan's family.
"I just want them to know that she will truly be missed," Caiola said. "Our prayers are going out to them, and everybody was so blessed to have a friend like her."
KIRO
