Tragic Ending To Love Story
Utah couple on 25th-anniv. trip
American couple Kurt and Melissa Cochran were out for a romantic afternoon stroll across the River Thames on Wednesday to wrap up a dream tour of Europe for their 25th anniversary.
At the same time, homegrown terrorist Khalid Masood was behind the wheel of a rented Hyundai barreling toward the span, bent on death and destruction. The couple from Utah never had a chance.
The impact sent Kurt, a 54-yearold musician, plunging to his death onto a stone landing below the walkway. Melissa, 46, was left splayed out on the roadway, with a broken leg and rib and blood covering her face next to a toppled postcard kiosk.
Kurt was among three fatal victims of Masood’s death drive toward Britain’s Parliament building. The jihadist then got out of his car and stabbed a cop to death before he was gunned down by police.
The couple was part of a crowd on the south side of Westminster Bridge as Masood, 52, began his attack.
“Our family is heartbroken to learn of the death of our son-inlaw, Kurt W. Cochran, who was a victim of Wednesday’s terrorist attack in London,” Melissa’s brother, Clint Payne, said in a family statement. “Kurt was a good man and a loving husband to our daughter and sister Melissa. They were in Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary and were scheduled to return to the United States on Thursday.”
Relative Shantell Payne added on Facebook, “With a heavy heart I must pass the sad news of our beautiful brother, father, husband, son and friend Kurt Cochran.
“He could not overcome the injuries he received in the London terror attacks. This pain is so heartwrenching and raw it has rocked our family and all that knew him to its core. We will miss Kurt beyond words.”
The Cochrans were on a twoweek-plus trip that took them to several countries, including Holland, Germany, Ireland and Scotland.
They had stopped in London to visit Melissa’s parents, who are serving as missionaries in the London Mormon temple.
“Germany. Beautiful. Went to a cathedral that is from the 12th century in Bad Münstereifel. So cool!” Kurt wrote in one of several Facebook dispatches.
Friends and family said Kurt and Melissa, who built their own recording-studio business from the ground up, were a perfect match.
“I think that the tragic part of it is that him and his wife — you know those marriages that you see and you’re like, ‘Man, I want that one day,’ that’s it, you know, and they had one of those marriages,” pal Karlie Matthews, of Salt Lake City, told the BBC. “They loved each other and valued each other so much, and my heart just breaks for her, and, yeah, it’s rough.”
Melissa treated Kurt’s children from a previous relationship — Tyler, 31, and Dallas, 26 — as if they were her own, relatives said.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better stepmother to my boys. She basically was a second mother to them,” Kurt’s former partner, Danielle Wiley, told The Post. “I pray for a quick and speedy recovery for Melissa, and my heart goes out to Kurt’s remaining family.”
President Trump called Kurt “a great American” in a Thursday tweet, adding, “My prayers and condolences are with his family and friends.”
Three other victims died in the terror attack, including Police Constable and father Keith Palmer and Aysha Frade, who was on her way to pick up her two young daughters when Masood came speeding along the bridge.
An unidentified 75-year-old man died on Thursday after being taken off life support, police said.
Frade, 43, a British woman, worked nearby at DLD College London, where she taught Spanish.
“We are all deeply shocked and saddened at the news that one of the victims yesterday was a member of our staff, Aysha Frade,” said her boss, Rachel Borland.
“She was highly regarded and loved by our students and by her colleagues. She will be deeply missed by all of us.”
Patricia Scotland, one of Frade’s former neighbors in London, told The Guardian that she was “a lovely person, with two lovely, lovely girls.”
Palmer died on Parliament grounds when Masood stabbed him repeatedly with two knives.
A crowd-funding page set up for his family on the JustGiving Web site had already received more than $446,000 in donations by Thursday night.
“Keith will be remembered as a wonderful dad and husband,” his family said in a statement.
“A loving son, brother and uncle. A long-time supporter of Charlton FC [Football Club]. Dedicated to his job and proud to be a police officer, brave and courageous. A friend to everyone who knew him. He will be deeply missed.”
During an address in the House of Commons, UK Prime Minister Theresa May called Palmer “every inch a hero” and said “his actions will never be forgotten.”
Meanwhile, police said Thursday that five victims remain in critical condition and at least one person has life-threatening injuries.
The injured include a Romanian architect, Andreea Cristea, who was on a birthday jaunt in London with her fiancé when she plunged into the Thames as Masood came speeding over the bridge.