Local residents are mourning the loss of Harrison County native Mary McGinnis Morris this week.
Her body was found inside a car Monday in Houston, with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Houston police are investigating the incident as a possible homicide and are also looking into the alleged homicide of another woman named Mary Morris, whose body was also found a few days earlier in the Houston area, according to Morris' sister, Stephanie Loar of Bridgeport.
Loar returned from Houston this week and has since been flooded with calls from people who knew Morris, wanting to know if the rumor was true.
"People are confused because two Mary Morrises were killed," Loar said. "Everybody is in shock. It's very tragic."
Morris was 39 and had been working in Houston for Union Carbide as a medical director, Loar said.
She graduated from Liberty High School in 1979 as one of the class' valedictorians, according to Loar.
She was active in the Liberty marching band and was also in theater productions at the school.
She later attended West Virginia University, where she participated in marching band.
Morris moved to Putnam County and worked as a registered nurse at the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department and at Union Carbide Corp., Loar said.
Morris had returned to Clarksburg this summer to attend her high school class reunion, Loar said.
"She was so full of life. She did everything," Loar said. "People loved her."
A memorial will be held Friday at 7 p.m. at the Bible Baptist Temple, Loar said.
Staff writer Jennifer Biller can be reached at 626-1449 or jbiller@exponent-telegram.com.
