OSO — An Arlington-area couple that’s gone missing, and is suspected of having been killed, was remembered fondly by those who knew them.

Aaron Hall first met Monique Patenaude, 46, when she stopped by Fruitful Farm & Nursery to buy vegetables.

Over time, she went from being a customer to a friend, as he visited her house to gather greens to make a Christmas wreath.

Hall is still processing the news he’s heard about the couple.

“I could hardly believe it,” Hall said. “Of course, things like this happen all the time, but I actually knew Patrick and Monique. They were very nice people. It’s the kind of thing you don’t quite believe until you hear it from a few different places. It’s quite shocking, and even now, the pieces aren’t fully fitting together for me.”

Patenaude shared her concerns with Hall about the property buyouts in her area in the wake of the Oso slide, as well as about the reopening of the Whitehorse Trail.

“She was worried about an increase in crime,” Hall said. “It was difficult for her, because she was one of the ones who saw the slide happen in front of them.”

Hall admitted he didn’t know Patrick Shunn, 45, as well as Patenaude, “But she was just a very pleasant family person. When her grandma came to visit, she picked up some cucumbers from my nursery to make into pickles.”

Oso Fire Chief Willy Harper acknowledged that the couple’s suspected murders is unrelated to the Oso slide, but because he got to know them as a result of that disaster, it’s stirred up many of the associated emotions of that event.

“They were both very courteous, very pleasant people,” Harper said. “Monique came to see us because her water was messed up after the slide, so we’d have conversations. She was a pleasure to talk to. I think it’s safe to say we’re all pretty upset and disturbed by what’s happened.”

Carrie Snow, owner of the Mystic Mountain Farm, lived less than five miles from the couple, but didn’t know them personally.

Nonetheless, she agreed with Hall that the deaths have brought more pain to an area that had no shortage of it.

“It’s a sad thing to happen in any community, but especially here,” Snow said. “The whole community is reeling. It’s just another blow for us.”