Family devastated by death of Omaha mother killed by husband

CHALCO, Neb. (WOWT) – Holding each other through their pain, the family of 45-year-old Rebecca Geiger somehow finds the strength to remember the wonderful person they lost.

“Loving and caring not only towards her family, students, neighbors and all her friends,” said Cindy Ostdiek, Rebecca’s mother. “She loved cooking and baking for everyone.”

Rebecca usually talked about Becky to those who knew her. She was a special education teacher at Westside High School and was beloved by many students in the school district. Her family even more so.

“Becky was my best friend,” said her sister Jennifer. “My first word was ‘Becky.’ She was perfect.”

Jennifer and Becky’s nephew, Jayden, was shoulder to shoulder with Cindy, trying to understand what Sarpy County sheriff’s deputies told them happened at Becky’s house around 3 a.m. on Monday.

“I just kept saying, ‘That’s no, that’s not Becky,’” Cindy said. “That’s not Becky, that can’t be Becky.”

Unfortunately, it was Becky. According to police accounts of Monday’s events, one of Becky’s daughters told a 911 dispatcher that her dad – Rory Geiger, 44 – had shot his wife at their home in Chalco, on the southwestern edge of the Omaha metro. Rory also died during this incident.

“It was terrible,” Cindy said. “The worst pain a parent can ever feel.”

It’s still unclear how Rory died. In press conference on Monday, Sarpy County Sheriff Jeff Davis said that after police arrived on the scene, Rory fired shots through the window of the house, prompting five officers to fire.

When authorities entered the house, Rory was dead from a gunshot wound. Davis said it was unclear whether he was hit during the exchange of gunfire or a self-inflicted wound because the entire investigation is still in its early stages.

Becky’s family told 6 News they knew all was not well in the Geiger home, but she wanted to keep the family together.

“Becky was quite a private person,” Cindy said. “She didn’t really want to share much with anyone. I asked her, “You know, why don’t you just leave and go home?”

She didn’t come home, and although Becky’s family told 6 News that Rory was never physically abusive to Becky, their relationship was in turmoil. Davis said his department responded to a domestic incident that occurred at his home just over a month ago, and he was told not to return.

“Even if they don’t hit you, it’s still abuse,” Jennifer said. “He never hit my sister once, but it did get violent and that was the final result.”

“He was mentally abusive to her,” Cindy said. “He used to blow up her phone every day at work. He knew where she was and where she was going.

To Jayden, Becky was his aunt, godmother and best friend.

“I’m hurt,” Jayden said. “I lost a piece of my heart. I’ll be fine.

Cindy claims her daughter was brutally taken away and that her granddaughters had to watch.

“My granddaughters are in good physical condition, but mentally and emotionally I don’t think they will ever be able to process this whole experience,” Cindy said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to deal with it.”

Davis said police action saved the lives of two girls, but their parents are dead, leaving a huge void in the lives of everyone they left behind.

“I’m crazy,” Jayden said. “It’s like you can’t get justice out of this. This is another one of those incidents where nothing good comes from.”

Nothing good came from Geiger’s house on Monday. A wife and husband are dead, two daughters are without their parents, a family has to pick up the pieces, and Becky’s mother has been taken to a place she was never meant to go.

“I never thought I would be in a club of mothers or parents who have to bury a child,” Cindy said. “Now I’m a member of this club and I don’t want to be.”

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Digital Producer Nick Stavas contributed to this report.

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