By the fall, Apao was talking about moving to Prince George's County to live closer to Lopez, and about bringing her children over from the Philippines to live with her.
But her daughter, who recently started nursing school, didn't want to move away, friends and family said. Apao talked often about missing her kids, whom she hadn't seen since she returned for her father's funeral a year earlier. Lopez said that Apao's general practitioner had prescribed antidepressants and sleeping pills.
"She just always said she missed her family so much," said Blanchard, the dress designer.
FOR THE RECORD - A photo caption accompanying an article in Sunday's editions about the suicides of two Filipino teachers misidentified the source of the photo. All photos of Irenea Apao were taken by Manny Lopez.
The Sun regrets the error.
Her frustration at school was also mounting. Despite trying to arrange a job over the summer at Frederick Douglass High, she returned to Talent Development, where she found herself working as a substitute for the first few weeks of school.
She was supposed to start a permanent assignment teaching math in small groups to struggling students, but because of her frequent absences, colleagues said, those classes never got off the ground.
"She didn't have anything to do," Lopez said. "She kept asking, `Where are my students, where are my students?' She wanted to teach."
Suicide attempt
On Oct. 9, Apao tried to kill herself by overdosing on pills in her apartment. A friend found her and called the police. The responding officer wrote in a report that she was unable to stop crying.
She was hospitalized for nearly a week at Sheppard Pratt Health System and then sent home to rest. Lopez said he'd check to see that she was taking her antidepressants.
At the school system, Curtis said she encouraged Apao to take advantage of a free employee assistance program that provides counseling. She took the information and politely thanked Curtis, as she had several months earlier when a Talent Development administrator made the same recommendation.
Curtis and Duque arranged for Apao to transfer from Talent Development to a co-teaching position at Booker T. Washington Middle School, to lighten her load and give her a fresh start.
She reported to Booker T. Washington for only one day, Monday, Nov. 5. She complained that night to a friend that the students weren't as well behaved as those at Talent Development. Schools were closed that Tuesday for Election Day, and on Wednesday, she didn't show up.
Lopez, unable to reach Apao since 5 p.m. Tuesday, was in a panic by Thursday morning and called the landlord. That afternoon, the landlord found her body.
