Friends remember former HHS student
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Described as an "achiever who was geared a lot like her mom," Jana Mackey's work to fight violence against women was cut short last week.
Mackey, 25, who grew up in Hays, was found dead in an ex-boyfriend's house in Lawrence late Thursday night.
The murder suspect, 46-year-old Adolfo Garcia-Nunez, an artist from Lawrence, was apprehended Friday night in New Jersey. Garcia-Nunez then took his own life a few hours after being taken into custody.
Mackey -- the daughter of Christie Brungardt, instructor of leadership studies at Fort Hays State University -- was in her second year of study at the University of Kansas School of Law.
This summer, Mackey was enrolled in the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project, representing state and federal prisoners in appellate and post-conviction litigation in state and federal courts.
Brungardt said her entire family had plans to meet for the Fourth of July holiday at their lake house in Council Grove.
Brungardt became concerned when Mackey's best friend at KU called Thursday and said she hadn't heard from Mackey, who was supposed to have met her for lunch before leaving for the lake.
So Brungardt took off for Lawrence, and her friend found Mackey's vehicle in the parking lot of Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
She called police, and at about 11:30 that night, authorities found Mackey's body inside Garcia-Nunez's house, which is near the hospital.
The search began for Garcia-Nunez, who was found Friday in New Jersey.
The couple had dated for about a year, but Brungardt said her daughter had told her three weeks ago the relationship was finished.
Brungardt has since learned Garcia-Nunez had spent time in prison a few years ago for domestic violence.
Mackey moved to Hays with her family when she was 5 years old and attended Hays public schools.
She was active in dance, music, theater and 4-H, where she consistently was a leader in the Gemini Juniors club in Hays.
"I remember her as a girl with lots of talent and leadership," said Donna Maskus, mother of two former 4-H'ers in Gemini Juniors.
"That girl had so much potential," agreed Betty Meis from Hays, a long-time 4-H leader for Gemini Juniors and also Mackey's Sunday school teacher at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hays. "She was going to go far, and this just isn't right."
An honor student at Hays High School, Mackey graduated in 2000 and headed east to Lawrence and the University of Kansas, from which she received scholarships in vocal music, in which she decided to major.
She continued to excel across the board and received honors for her theater performances.
Mackey eventually switched majors and received a degree in women's studies in 2004.
"Jana was never afraid to try something new," Meis said. "What an achiever, a lot like Christie."
Mackey worked as a volunteer advocate for a nonprofit organization that provides support for survivors of sexual assault.
"Advocates are people who are on call 24/7," Sarah Jane Russell, executive director of the Ga Du Gi Safe Center, said in a story in the Lawrence Journal-World. "They do the front-line work with victims; they're the ones who have heart."
"It takes a heart, and it takes being honey on steel, and she had that," Russell added. "She had everything, and above all, she had compassion for others."
Last August, Mackey started law school, where she also was awarded several scholarships for her work.
"Jana had a beautiful voice and could dance and was very smart," Meis remembered. "She had it all, a wonderful kid. I feel very privileged to have gotten to watch her grow up."
* Funeral services are set for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Liberty Hall on the campus of the University of Kansas.
In addition to her mother, her stepfather, Curt Brungardt, also lives in Hays, as do her older twin brothers, Todd and Travis Mackey.
One of the speakers at Wednesday's funeral services will be Gail Agrawal, dean of the KU School of Law. Mackey will be buried in Harper County in south-central Kansas, where she was born and still is the home of her father, Mike Mackey.
A complete obituary will appear later this week.
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