KING

Brandy Lambertsen was killed in a murder suicide at Mail & More near Kent where she worked on Friday, June 1, 2007.

KENT - It was a murder-suicide that rocked the Kent community this past June when 32-year-old Brandy Lambertsen was gunned down as she worked at the Mailbox & More store in the Panther Lake Shopping Center.

The man who killed her, someone she'd briefly dated in the past, then turned the gun on himself.

Her murder left her two teenage children - Jessica and Cody - reeling. Since then, they've faced numerous challenges, from transitioning to life without their mother to identify theft.

Brandy was remembered fondly as a woman whose ready smile and outgoing personality created fast friends out of strangers. After her death, the community quickly responded by leaving flowers and cards and contributing to a benevolent fund created to help her kids.

The teens moved in with their father, but understandably, the transition has been difficult.

"It's a whole difficult thing," said their grandfather, Jay Lewis. "They've got to do a lot more for themselves. Things that she did. Everything down to cooking and laundry. My son works, helps them a lot, but it's a lot for them."

But yet another challenge has been added on. Roughly two weeks after Brandy's death, her younger child, 15-year-old Cody, learned his identity had been stolen.

Lewis tells KING-5 the bank overseeing the siblings' benevolent fund called saying they had to close it because someone in Yakima was using Cody's social security number.  Not only did they have to worry about the teen's stolen identity, but people contributing to the "Jessica and Cody Lambertsen Benevolent Fund" were no longer able to find it.

"Its just one more thing piled on," says teens' grandfather. "I don't know if it's made a lot of difference to the kids, but financially I'm sure it has made a difference." 

The account has now re-opened, solely under Jessica's name, but Lewis says some people aren't aware the fund still exists under a slightly different name.